riesling – The Cellar Club

3 July, 20243 July, 2024

Looking Back – Brockenchack, Eden Valley, South Australia, June ’24

Darren Naylor from Brockenchack Vineyard in Australia, and a family representative [son-in-law converted from swimming coach], presented to us last month, when we had 26 people for the evening. Those that couldn’t attend missed a great evening and an opportunity to taste some new flavours, as this is the first time this family-owned vineyard has presented to us.

Their vineyard is in Eden Valley, which is described as being ‘Barossa’s beautiful high country, one of Australia’s premier cool climate wine growing regions, characterised by its rugged beauty and varied topography’. Darren explained to us the complexities of their property and vines, and the weather that effects their harvests, and how they work with other vineyards at times. And while all their wines matter to the family, their Shiraz is their primary wine.

He also revealed that other vineyards have started to use casks from Hungary, but they had found these to be inferior to the French or US casks, so they don’t use these in their productions.

While their senior vintner is Joanne Irvine, if you would like to know more about their vintages, please go into Brockenchack vintages – Brockenchack Wines.

To remind you of the wines we tasted on the night:

NV Great Scott Sparkling Shiraz the Welcome Wine
2023 Mackenzie William 1896 Riesling – cellars well, they are drinking their 2010 now
2021 Charli Jaye Chardonnay – made from Mendoza clone, only planted 12 years ago
2023 Tru-Su Rosé – made from their Shiraz
2021 Zip Line Shiraz – 60-95 years old vines
2021 Miss Bronte Cabernet Sauvignon – from 12-year-old vines
2018 Jack Harrison Shiraz – this will cellar for between 10-14 years
2018 William Frederick Shiraz – a special taster of premium wine and one of only two corked wines in their cellar. The rest of their wines are screw-cap.

Contact details for Brockenchack

Email NZ Agent, based in Queenstown
+64 277 034 616

Wine orders on the night were good, thanks to everyone.

29 May, 20243 July, 2024

Brockenchack tasting, June ’24

Brockenchack With Representative and Global Business Development Manager, Darren Naylor

Wednesday 12th June, 8 pm Start

Door Price: Members $14 / Guests $18

Brockenchack Wines | One family, connecting wine-enthusiasts across the globe through a shared love of storytelling and fine wine. All it takes is one memorable bottle of Brockenchack wine for the family reunion to begin.

Our presenter Darren has his own wine named after him (D.E.N Reserve Cabernet), is married to owner Trev’s daughter Sue (aka our Tru-Su Rose) and is father to Mack (aka Mackenzie William 1896 Riesling) and Bronte (aka Miss Bronte Cabernet), two of the grandchildren that Brockenchack is named after.

The heart of Brockenchack is our family, each member contributing their unique rhythm. If I steer the ship, Marilyn is our Bridge Watchkeeper as she continues her recovery with great-grandson Archie keeping her on her toes, and keeping us both young (at heart, if nothing else). The next generation; Mack, Jack and Charli step into the limelight, propelling the Brockenchack brand forward with fresh ideas and lots of energy. Darren’s relentless efforts span across Australia, NZ, Asia, and the USA, seasoned with a generous dose of dad jokes. Susan continues the hard-working genes, propelling her own business forward.

Bronte continues to immerse herself in the world of dance, seamlessly balancing that with her commitment to university studies and prac placements. Whilst Trudi seizes every chance to revel in precious moments with her grandson Archie, whenever she’s not at the helm of the bottling plant.

Brockenchack’s name is made from an amalgamation of the grandchildren’s names: this is a family endeavour, and is named after their four grandchildren; BROnte, MaCKENzie, CHArli and JaCK; Brockenchack is a cool climate, single vineyard wine producer in the Barossa’s picturesque Eden Valley nestled between world-renowned Henschke and Yalumba vineyards. They soared to new heights in 2023, taking their wines international. From South Korea to New Zealand, Malaysia to the UK, France to Switzerland, and across the USA, their wines made a global statement. Wine trips and tastings resonated with
enthusiasts on every continent.

NV Great Scott Sparkling Shiraz, the Welcome Wine
2023 Mackenzie William 1896 Riesling
2021 Charli Jaye Chardonnay
2023 Tru-Su Rosé
2021 Zip Line Shiraz
2018 Jack Harrison Shiraz
2021 Miss Bronte Cabernet Sauvignon

2 May, 20242 May, 2024

Gold Medal Winners from the New Zealand International Wine Show October 2023, Apr ’24

What a brilliant evening! Organised by Wayne and hosted by Michelle Fraser from Clearview, a wine judge in her own right, plus with an extensive knowledge of viticulture and wine making.

Due to illness and holidays, we had only 27 attend the evening, but book your diaries for next year, as this may be repeated with next year’s Gold Medal Winners!

Michelle filled the evening with knowledgeable tips about the different growing regimes, different classes of grapes, the different way grapes are treated/processed, i.e. in stainless steel or oak barrels, skins in or out; plus her sayings that kept us laughing:

ABC – Anything But Chardonnay
Pinot Gris – Puma wine, younger girls juice
Chardonnay – Cougar wine, older women’s juice
Gewurztraminer – how to says this: Girls Get Meaner

She gave us updates on what some of the bigger personalities in the Hawkes Bay area are now doing, with Gordon Russell now in retirement, until he decides what his next project will be. However, his daughters are now up and running through their new brand Three Fates.

This was an evening that was full of surprises, and to those of you who couldn’t make it, the below wines that we tasted are available from New World, The Good Wine Company, and other NZ locations.

Lindauer Special Reserve Rose NV -Gold Trophy from a female wine maker, Jan DeWitt.
2023 Giesen Estate Riesling – Double Gold Trophy For Champion Riesling
2022 Leefield Station Gewurztraminer -Double Gold Trophy for Champion Gertz this is owned by the same family who own NED wines.
2022 Brancott Estate Letter Series O Chardonnay – Double Gold Trophy for Champion Chardonnay + Champion Wine of the Show again a female wine maker, Laura Kate Morgan
2021 Daisy Rock Reserve Pinot Noir – Gold Medal
2021 Esk Valley Artisanal Hawkes Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold Medal sadly Esk Valley is now more, so snap up this one if you like Bordeaux style wines.

5 April, 2024

Gold Medal Winners from the New Zealand International Wine Show Oct ’23

Hosted by Michelle Fraser, Clearview Sales Manager and occasional Wine Judge

Wednesday 10th April, 8 pm Start
Door Price: Members $14 / Guests $18

Immediately after the Gold Medal Winners from the New Zealand International Wine Show were announced last October, your club set out to acquire 3 bottles of 7 gold medal wines for us to taste
this month. April was chosen to do this as that is a time of the year when the wine industry is busy with harvest and thus many wineries are unavailable to present to us.

The beauty of doing this immediately that the announcements were made were two-fold. It meant that the wines were still available and more importantly it also gave us an opportunity to secure 5 that were trophy wines, one of which was also the overall Champion Wine of the Show.

And to help us present these wonderful wines to you all, we have invited Clearview Sales Manager, Michelle Fraser back to help us. You may recall that last year she mentioned that she has been a wine judge but she also comes with an extensive knowledge of viticulture and wine making, so is well placed to provide background and her take on each of our wines that we will be tasting.

The wines we will be tasting are:

Lindauer Special Reserve Rose NV – Gold & Trophy for Champion NZ Sparkling Wine
2023 Giesen Estate Riesling – Double Gold & Trophy For Champion Riesling
2022 Leefield Station Gewurztraminer -Double Gold & Trophy for Champion Gewurztraminer
2022 Brancott Estate Letter Series O Chardonnay – Double Gold, Trophy for Champion Chardonnay plus Champion Wine of the Show
2021 Daisy Rock Reserve Pinot Noir – Gold Medal
2021 Esk Valley Artisanal Hawkes Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold Medal
2021 Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah – Double Gold, Trophy for Champion Syrah, Trophy for Champion Syrah & Predominant Blends & Trophy for Champion Commercial Red Wine

3 March, 2024

Looking Back – Riverby Estate w/ Kevin Courtenay ‘Feb 24

Kevin presented to us, with his views on the Marlborough history of wine growing, supplying and the present, as well as his predictions for the future of the area. All very informative and well received, leading to more than a bit of discussion by the members present. An intriguing evening of information and wine tasting.

A reminder of the tastings we had during the evening:

Riverby Rosé 2023 – Welcome wine – gold medal winner at NZ International Wine Show
Cicada Gewurztraminer 2023 – gold medal winner at NZ International Wine Show
Riverby Reserve Chardonnay 2022
Riverby Sauvignon Blanc 2023 – gold medal winner at NZ International Wine Show
Riverby Gruner Veltliner 2022
Riverby OVB 2021
Riverby Reserve Pinot Noir 2020
Riverby Noble Riesling 2019 – multiple award winner.

As well as the above, we were offered a small tasting of two of Riverby’s Rieslings:

Sal’s Block Riesling 2023 – this was a dri-ish tipple with 20gm of sugar
Eliza Riesling 2023 [blend of Riesling and sweet grapes] with 40gm of sugar

Both well received, depending on how sweet you like your wines. Kevin mentioned that most of his Rieslings go to the Scandinavian countries in Europe.

This tasting was clearly enjoyed, as evidenced by the 141 bottles ordered from Kevin. Well done.

3 March, 20243 March, 2024

Pegasus Bay, Waipara Valley w/ Ed Donaldson ‘Mar 24

www.pegasusbay.com
Wednesday 13 March, 8 pm
Door Price: Members $16 / Guests $20
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR GLASSES

The Family, mmersed in the wine industry since the early 1970s and were pioneers of local grape growing and wine making.

The Donaldson family have been seriously involved in wine since the early 1970’s and were pioneers of local grape growing and wine making.

Associate Professor and Consultant Neurologist, Ivan Donaldson, first became interested in wine when his girlfriend at the time, Christine, gave him a book simply called ‘Wine’, penned by English industry legend, Hugh Johnson.

After travelling to explore the wine regions of Europe, Ivan return home to plant one of the first vineyards of modern times in Canterbury, and to marry Christine, who has been an integral part of the Pegasus Bay story.

The first vineyard was a hobby with Ivan making wine in the garage at home on the weekends. In-between seeing patients at his private practice in the evening and after his shifts at the public hospital. He also started writing a wine column in the local newspaper and was a judge in numerous wine shows around the globe.

By the mid-1980s Ivan and Chris had decided there was definitely a future for wine making in Canterbury. They went on to plant Pegasus Bay with the help of their four sons, who have all ended up working in key role within the business.

Ed will be presenting a selection of wines from their premium Pegasus Bay label as well as some from their Main Divide collection:

Main Divide Rosé 2023
Pegasus Bay 2021 Sauvignon Blanc
Pegasus Bay 2020 Chardonnay
Pegasus Bay 2023 Bel Canto ‘Dry Riesling’
Main Divide 2021 Te Hau Pinot Noir
Pegasus Bay 2020 Merlot Cabernet
Pegasus Bay 2021 Finale ‘Noble Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

24 November, 2023

Looking Back – to our Bubbles Evening

This was a superb evening featuring worldwide bubbles.

The special food matched some of the wines and was well thought out and tasty. It is always interesting to see what change the food makes to the wine you drink.

This has left everyone with some thoughtfully selected wines to source for Christmas celebrations.

As a reminder of what to put on your shopping list, the wines we tasted were:

De Bortolli Family Selection Sparkling Brut NV – Australia
Graham Norton Prosecco D.O.C. – Italy
Perelada Brut Reserva Spanish Cava – Spain
Pongracz Sparkling Brut – South Africa
Hunter MiruMiru Marlborough Methode Traditionelle Brut – New Zealand
Aimery Grande Cuvee 1531 Cremant De Limouix Rose NV – France
The Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz NV – Australia
Pegasus Bay Encore Noble Riesling 2007 AND 2017 – New Zealand

It was an interesting and fun evening for everyone, thanks to Wayne, Murray, Terry Gayl, and everyone else who helped with the food on the evening.

2 June, 2023

Looking Back, Confident Wines with Victor Kattenbel, April ’23

Wow, nine wines! This was an interesting evening full of updated information about the Esk Valley region and touching on areas of Portugal that most members present haven’t been to yet.

The variety of wines was great, beginning with Linden Sparkling Rose’ from Esk Valley, a blend of Merlot and Pinotage, a delicious start to the evening. The rest of the evening’s selection was:

Confidencial Reserva Rose –10-grape blend
2020 Casa Santos Lima Chardonnay
2022 Moutere Hills Riesling
2020Waipara Downs Pinot Noir
2020 Confidencial Tinto-Red – 10 grape blend
2019 Mosaico De Portugal
2017 Colossal Reserva Casa Santos Lima
Parcelas Portuguese Tawny Port

Most of the wines for the evening had received at least one gold medal in competitions, with some receiving ten gold medals.

2 June, 20232 June, 2023

Askerne, Hawkes Bay with John Loughlin, June ’23

Wednesday 14th June, 8 pm Start | Door Price: Members $12 / Guests $16

Askerne Estate Winery commenced in April 1993 when wine lovers John and Kathryn Loughlin purchased the original 11.6 hectares site in Te Mata
Mangateretere Road. John and Kathryn had studied winemaking and viticulture in the previous years, with Kathryn, as the more diligent student, achieving the higher grades.

They called the property Askerne, being the olde English name of Kathryn’s birthplace, Askern, in Yorkshire, England.

John took up the role of Finance Manager of the large Richmond Limited meat company to provide the finance for the developing wine venture, and Kathryn assumed management of the vineyard operations.

Sauvignon Blanc vines were planted in late 1993, Semillon and Riesling in 1994, Chardonnay in 1995 and Gewürztraminer in 1996. The first wines were made at the Waimarama Estate Winery (then owned by Dr John Loughlin, John’s father) in 1996. These wines were released under their initial white label with green trees.

2015 Rebecca, the second Loughlin daughter joined the Askerne team working in the cellar door.

In February 1997, the Askerne cellar door was opened to the public, and it also sold Waimarama Estate’s red wines, including the then-famous Waimarama Dessert Cabernet.

The 1997 vintage produced very fine wines from Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay which confirmed the potential of the site.

Askerne commenced exporting with wines from the 1997 vintage and in 1998 Dr John Loughlin sold Waimarama Estate Winery and from the 1999 vintage Askerne’s wines were made on site.

John last presented to the Club in February 2019 and his presentation was a delight, both because of his delivery and the wines themselves. This month’s tasting promises to be equally compelling as we get the chance to taste the following wines:

2022 Askerne Sérieux Rosé
2020 Askerne Sémillon
2022 Askerne Reserve Chardonnay
2021 Askerne Gewürztraminer
Askerne Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon
2021 Askerne Cabernet Franc
2019 Askerne Late Harvest Sémillon

This selection of Hawkes Bay wines promises a lot and I’m sure we will not be disappointed by their taste or quality. Make sure you are there to find out which will be your favourite.

2 May, 20232 May, 2023

Looking Back – Victor Kattenbel, Confident Wines Apr ’23

Wow, nine wines!

This was an interesting evening full of updated information about the Esk Valley region and touching on areas of Portugal that most members present hadn’t been to, yet.

The variety of wines was great, beginning with Linden Sparkling Rosé from Esk Valley, a blend of Merlot and Pinotage, a delicious start to the evening. The rest of the evening’s selection was:

Confidencial Reserva Rosé – 10-grape blend
2020 Casa Santos Lima Chardonnay
2022 Moutere Hills Riesling
2020 Waipara Downs Pinot Noir
2020 Confidencial Tinto-Red – 10 grape blend
2019 Mosaico De Portugal
2017 Colossal Reserva Casa Santos Lima
Parcelas Portuguese Tawny Port

Most of the wines for the evening had received at least one gold medal in competitions, with some receiving 10 gold medals.

10 April, 202310 April, 2023

Looking Back – Forrest Wines with Carlos Rojas Stiven, March ’23

This was an evening of tasting grape varieties from around the world but produced right here in NZ.

Adding to this international flavour was our presenter Carlos, who was born in Chile and came to NZ in 2010, and now resides in Marlborough with his wife and daughters. Carlos informed us that Forrest is now second-generation owned and operated and that they loved working with many different grape varieties.

As a reminder of the wines we sampled during the evening:

The Doctors Riesling 2021 – German style wine
Forrest Albarino 2022 – Spanish/Portuguese grape variety
Forrest Chenin Blanc 2022 – French/now South African grape variety
Forrest Gruner Veltliner 2022 – Austrian grape variety
Tatty Bogler Pinot Noir 2020 – Burgundy French grape style
Forrest Lagrein 2020 – Piedmont Italy grape variety
Forrest Botrytised Riesling 2018Forrest has approximately 150 ha of grapes plants in Marlborough, with additional plantings in the Waitaki Valley, with the latter having limestone ground, similar to Burgundy conditions.

70% of their Sauvignon Blanc goes overseas each year, with 100 cases to Waitrose per year!

Notably, most of their Forrest Botryised Riesling, with a honey/marmalade taste – is made for and sold to Air NZ. So when COVID19 hit NZ, the unwanted stock was stocked by NZ based stockists – a bonus for the NZ public.

There were 15 orders from Club members for this tasting, evidence of just how much this tasting was enjoyed by our members.

Thank you to Carlos and Forrest Wines for your support of our club.

9 April, 20239 April, 2023

New Zealand and Portuguese Wines with Victor Kattenbelt, Confidant Wines

If you drilled down from New Zealand through the earth’s centre, where would you come out, Iberia? If it were not in Spain, it would level with the wine heart of Portugal.

Therefore, there must be something special that links the viticulture and the wines of our two countries.

Victor from Confidant Wines will present a mix of special boutique wines from New Zealand, some wonderful new wines from Portugal, and several repeated favourites.

This is your chance to try some new varieties and vineyards and support one Hawkes Bay vineyard (with a great sparkling Rosé) that was impacted after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle. The evening will take a small journey from Hawkes Bay to Nelson to Waipara in North Canterbury; and then to Portugal with an array of blended wines and, to finish, a Tawny Port. Be prepared to be impressed.

We will see the influence of terroir in Waipara wines, the influence of climate on Nelson wine, what makes Hawkes Bay special, and some delicious red styles from award-winning Casa Santos Lima vineyard in Portugal. The Portuguese selection will focus on new vintages and some previous wines that were very popular and still available. Do you remember Waipara Pinot Blanc? Something new, something known, gold medals, new vintages, comparisons and varieties to experience. This array of wines has been specially selected we believe to suit the members’ preferences for this tasting.

In summary, we will kick off with a Linden (NZ) Sparkling Rosé, followed by a Portuguese Rosé and two classic NZ white wines, Riesling and a Viognier or Chardonnay. We will then compare the new award winning Portuguese Confident red and a blended Mosaico red with a NZ Pinot Noir. We will conclude with a delicious Tawny Port from the home of all great ports.

We look forward to enjoying these wines with you. Please remember your tasting glasses.

Contact details for Brockenchack

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