Author: waynek

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Have you heard – Nov 2011

This months contributor is Wayne Kennedy

wine-taster
No. Not Wayne Kennedy…

At a wine merchants, the regular taster died and the director started looking for a new one to hire. A drunkard with a ragged, dirty look came to apply for the position. The director of the warehouse wondered how to send him away.

They gave him a glass to drink. He tried it and said, “It’s a Muscat, three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers”. Low grade but acceptable. “That’s correct”, said the boss.

Another glass…. “It’s a cabernet, eight years old, a south-western slope, oak barrels, matured at 8 degrees. Requires three more years for finest results.” “Correct.”

A third glass…”It’s a pinot blanc champagne, high grade and exclusive” calmly said the drunk. The director was astonished. He winked at his secretary to suggest something.

She left the room, and came back in with a glass of urine. The alcoholic tried it. “It’s a blonde, 26 years old, three months pregnant and if you don’t give me the job, I’ll name the father.”

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In the News – Sept 2011

Drinking Wine Could Prevent Sunburn & Even Skin Cancer

Written by Rob Soto on Aug 02, 2011, www.etidbits.com

Looking to go out in the sun? Drinking wine may protect your skin, according to a new study. The study was recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and the research team was led by a biochemisty major at the University of Barcelona.

The study states that a certain compound found in grapes or grape derivatives may protect your skin from ultraviolet radiation.

It was found that the grape derivatives, called flavonoids (found in red wine), can stop the chemical reaction when the sun hits your skin that causes cells to die and cause skin damage. This, in turn, can help protect the skin from sunburn that many experience while out in the sun at this time of the year. It has been even linked to possibly even prevent skin cancer.

With the new study in place, Marta Cascante, the biochemist that led the study, is encouraging those that develop skin cream products to
incorporate the grape derivatives with the newly-found results. “This study supports the idea of using these products to protect the skin from cell damage and death caused by solar radiation, as well as increasing our understanding of the mechanism by which they act”, Cascante said.

For those that aren’t a big fan of drinking wine, or simply can’t, Cascante says that simply eating grapes can be just as effective. Previously, drinking wine in moderation has also been linked to preventing cavities, fighting Alzheimer’s, and preventing prostate  cancer.

Wine improves with age.
The older I get, the better I like it.

DrinkingWine

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Quote for the Month – Sept 2011

“You have only so many bottles in
your life, never drink a bad one.”

~ Len Evans

Len Evans was born in England 1930 of Welsh parents. He migrated to New Zealand in 1953, then to Australia in 1955. After various experiences, he became the first regular wine columnist in Australia (1962), he was the founding director of the Australian Wine Bureau (1965), and he wrote the first major encyclopedia of Australian Wine (1973). He was one of the first leaders to recognise that the future of Australian wine lay in table wines rather than in the sweet fortified wines in which the country then specialized. He died in August 2006.

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Important Stuff – Sept 2011

Thanks to Sandy Morrison for being our first member to help out with out new pouring regime. Also thanks to Heather McPherson from Olssens wine for supplying a big box of screw caps to Anne. Don’t forget to do the same.

And if your Subscription of $25 is still unpaid please send it to Wayne ASAP. Better still, pay it direct into the club bank account (06 0541 0056031 00).

wizardID01

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Glancing Back – Sept 2011

North vs. South

What an interesting tasting this proved to be. Not only did we get to contrast some fine wines, but we also got to compare the styles of our presenters, Roger Fraser from Murdoch James and Heather McPherson from Olssens.

MurdochJames  olssens

The evening opened with our mingling wine being 2010 Sauvignon Blancs from the two vineyards. These were followed by 2010 Rieslings with the Murdoch James release being particularly to my liking.

The Pinots were the highlight. The contrast of the savoury farm-yard Pinot Noirs of Martinborough with the more berry fruit style Pinots of Central Otago were glaringly obvious to all, as were their colour differences. This was clearly demonstrated with the last Pinots of the evening which were presented to us blind. Not only did everyone pick that they were Pinots, but there was 100% success in picking which was the one from Murdoch James.

That our presenters should choose to use their premiere Pinot Noirs, Slapjack (Olssens) and Fraser (Murdoch James) to test us in this way simply showed that they too weren’t adverse to having some fun at our expense.

And who won the battle? Whilst I know many present thought Murdoch James the winner on the night, for me it was Olssens with their Central Otago Pinots giving them the slight edge for the evening.

31 people attended the tastings and our thanks go again to Roger and Heather for the presentation of some great wines in such a fun but
informative way.

Oh yes, before you all rush off following my recommendation, I had better disclose a bias, This writer was born in Central Otago.

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Looking Forward – Sept 2011

rwcThe world in grapes

Not to be confused with “The World in Union”, next month we welcome back an old friend of the club, Malcolm McIntyre who will present wines from some of the participants in this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Which countries will be competing in our tasting is a closely guarded secret although I imagine countries like Japan, Scotland and Fiji will have missed getting into the qualifying pool since drinks like Sake, Whiskey and Kava are not derived from grapes.

And whilst this is intended to be a fun tasting, Malcolm’s company, Blackboard Wines is the distributor for a number of very good value wines from around the world which I am sure will make it onto the playing roster.

More details next month.

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From the Editor – Sept 2011

I should begin by apologising for this newsletter yet again arriving in your mail and email boxes late. I wish I could blame the Auckland rail system or the printing presses for the delay but alas, there just seems to be too much going on resulting in too many distractions. Time to replace yours truly.

So it is with some relief I welcome back Robin to take over his role as editor. Whilst I did enjoy the experience of putting these last two
newsletter s together, I shall equally enjoy returning to just my bean counting. And talking of returning editors, the club welcomes back a previous editor, Terry, and partner Caroline from Darwin. I am sure we all look forward to hearing about their various wine experiences albeit a little birdie tells me that cold beers might have replaced the wines on a lot of occasions in those warmer climes.

You will also be pleased to learn that no sooner had I told you about the cancellation of October’s tasting than a replacement was arranged in keeping with all he RWC festivities that have engulfed our nation. More about that in the next item.

Cheers
Wayne Kennedy, Acting Editor

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Next Event – Sept 2011

Neudorf Vineyards Wednesday 14h September, 7.45 for 8 pm Johnsonville Community Centre Hall, 3 Frankmoore Avenue, Johnsonville Members: $16, Guests: $20 Presenter: Judy Finn

Judy Finn - Owner at Neudorf Vineyards.
Judy Finn – Owner at Neudorf Vineyards.

Do you need a respite from the Rugby World Cup 2011? Then this week’s tasting with Judy and her daughter will be the perfect tonic to do that. As most members know Neudorf vineyards is an iconic NZ vineyard that not only has been operating for over 33 years, but it has marked its progress with a string of international awards for its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This week we will get to taste their new releases and decide whether we think that they measure up to the wines that were released last year to such critical acclaim. We will start with the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc when you arrive and the tasting proper will look at the following wines:

  • Brightwood Reisling 2010
  • Moutere Chardonnay 2010
  • Nelson Chardonnay 2010
  • Maggie’s Block Pinot Gris 2011
  • Moutere Pinot Noir 2009
  • Tom’s Block Pinot Noir 2009NeudorfI hope you share my sense of excitement at our good fortune to have Neudorf visit us this Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you there.

PS. One of the reasons for Neudorf’s success is their innovation and eagerness to try new things. And this flair for innovation extends to their website. Go to their home page and you can join their Twitter updates or click on a couple of web cams and view the activity in the vineyard.