Tag: boutique

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Tasting – Wairiki Estate, & Petane, Esk Valley presented by Brent Linn, July ’24

Sustainably Crafted New Zealand Wine

NOT TO BE MISSED: These are two vineyards you normally don’t see and taste,

Wednesday 14th August, 8 pm Start
Door Price: Members $15 / Guests $19

Wairiki Estate was founded by Brent Linn in 2008, but his passion for wine began long before that. Brent’s interest was sparked when he worked in banking, helping winemakers find the funding to plant their vines in the soil and establish their labels. From there, his curiosity about the industry grew.

In 2008, a special property was found on the terraces high above the Garuroro River in the Maraekakaho area of Hawkes Bay. ‘The winery was named ‘Wairiki’ because of the importance of this land. Wairiki means ‘little water’ in te reo, and our land is blessed with a small stream that runs through it in Winter. Our soil, climate and passion for viticulture have brought us here: we’re proud of the results. Our small batch Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines are select, special and full of flavour.’

In 2010, family and friends worked together to plant just under 2 hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. After supplying commercial wineries with our grapes for several years, we grew restless, wanting to see the true potential of our land realised in our wine label. The first Wairiki vintage under our label was released in 2018.’

Feast on the flavour of our handcrafted, small-batch wines. Wines for the evening will be:

Petane is in the Esk Valley and was severely impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, with their vineyard suffering extensive damage. Thanks to the support of their family and friends, community and customers, they continue to create beautiful wines made with love and dedicated to the production of boutique single-vineyard wine. Their wines are unique from vintage to vintage.

To give us an understanding of the quality that these two wineries can  produce, we will be tasting the following wines:

  • Grace White Pinot 2023
  • Petane Viognier
  • Wairiki The Matriarch Chardonnay 2023
  • Wairiki La Briar Rosé 2021
  • Wairiki The Optimist Pinot Noir 2020
  • Wairiki The Redeemer Reserve Pinot Noir 2020
  • Petane Merlot Cabernet Franc

If you want to read about these wines in more detail, you can go to the following websites:

Wairiki Wines Hawkes Bay
Petane Wines, Esk Valley

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Hawkes Ridge Wines, March 2021

Hawkes Ridge owner & winemaker Douglas Haynes with a small range of his wines.
Hawkes Ridge owner & winemaker Douglas Haynes with a small range of his wines.

Douglas Haynes with the assistance of Anne Boustead presented a well-received tasting last month and a great turnout. This was an exciting evening, with some very different expressions of wine varieties on hand to taste. Interestingly this vineyard also has its own brand of olive oil.
Hawkes Ridge Wine Estate is a family-owned, boutique winery located in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The wines we tasted were:

  • Cest Beau Rose: The introductory wine. This was a non-vintage Viognier base
    with both Tempranillo and Semillon that was late harvested in the Moscato
    style
  • Deux Blanco 218: A Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 50/50 blend that was entirely
    barrel fermented where the grapes were picked early
  • Viognier 2020 was also completely barrel-fermented. Viognier is Douglas
    passion and this Viognier did not disappoint.
  • Rosado 2020 is a 100% Tempranillo rose being entirely stainless steel fermented and aged. This wine was one of the highlight wines of the evening.
  • Pinot Noir 2014 was a surprise wine from Hawkes Bay with an interesting
    back story. The wine was aged in French oak for 10 months and just bottled
    before Christmas 2020
  • Syrah 2014 had classic Syrah characteristics of dark berry fruits with coffee,
    chocolate and subtle spice
  • Grand Reserve Tempranillo 2015: This is Hawkes Ridge Winery’s premium
    wine. It was another highlight of the evening. The wine was only bottled in 2018 and should cellar well
  • Late Harvest Viognier 2016 is one of three late harvest/noble wines that Hawkes Ridge Winery produce. This wine was bottled in 2018 and although very rich, it was true to Viognier’s varietal characteristics.

Thank you to everyone who supported Hawk Ridge by ordering wines, as well as their olive oil which was on the order form, albeit not tasted. This meeting was great to start our tasting year.

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Confidant Wines August 2020 tasting

We are meeting as usual on 12 August at the Johnsonville Community Hall, Ground Floor for an 8 pm starts with Confidant Wines, a small (boutique) local importer of Portuguese wines in Wellington distributing the well-regarded Casa Santos Lima winery and a range of notable NZ wineries that are available in selected retail outlets and a number of Wellington restaurants.

Victor Kattenbelt has been around the Wellington wine scene for a number of years and travels to Europe every year (even early 2020), for wine trade expos in France, Netherlands and Germany, and to visit his suppliers in Portugal.

Victor’s Portuguese portfolio is extensive, and some of his wines this time round are new to his portfolio and we have decided to expand the tasting to 8 wines for the tasting to do justice to his wide range and to celebrate our European tasting country of the year.

If you are interested in doing more reading see Casa Santos Lima winery. The wines for the evening are:

  • A Portuguese bubble – Casa Santos Bruto [NV] to begin the evening
  • 2018 Galodoro Rose
  • 2016 VK Gewurztraminer (NZ)
  • 2018 Linden Estate Chardonnay (NZ)
  • Then an array of 4 unique Portuguese reds:
    • 2017 Bons Ventos
    • 2017 Confidencial Red
    • 2018 Valcatrina
    • and to finish a superb Alicante Bouschet premium red

The member door price will be $15 and guest price $18.

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The Crater Rim – June 2020

The Crater Rim Ltd is a family-owned boutique winery situated in the rolling hills of Waipara, in the South Island of New Zealand.  They grow, make and market limited quantities of terroir-specific wines produced from their own two vineyards and contracted sites in the Canterbury sub-regions of Waipara, Omihi and Banks Peninsula and in Central Otago.

These sites have been carefully selected for their particular mix of varietal, topography, soil and microclimate – creating high quality, site-specific wines of individual character and drinkability.  The Crater Rim manage their own vineyards and work closely with each grower to ensure that vines are cropped low and managed sustainably, guaranteeing the best quality fruit possible from each vineyard site.

The Crater Rim from above

The result is exceptional wines from exceptional regions. So many good wines that we may try 8 for the tasting. Remember to drink sensibly if you are driving.

Lyn is a Sales Rep who works independently and has represented The Crater Rim for just over 3 years. She says “They are a wonderful family and team to work with and I have grown their brand extensively in the top of the South Island and the lower North Island.  As mentioned previously, her background is in retail and marketing, but she thoroughly enjoys both marketing and drinking the Crater Rim product.

Because of uncertainty about recommencing our programme, and with Lyn making the appropriate arrangements, we are not able to be definite about the wines to be tasted.   They will be chosen from the range produced by Crater Rim including their “From the Ashes” and Waipara ranges plus maybe one or two of the icon brands.

By the time we meet, hopefully, social distancing will be a thing of the past.  We do however ask members to respect other people’s space and avoid close contact where possible.  Will be great to get back into the tasting groove.

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