Tag: Chris Wilcock

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Lots of news from Ash Ridge

With another great vintage in the winery, we can all take a small breath and focus on having a little bit of downtime, and enjoying some older vintages! As always, there are lots of new things happening at the winery, and more to come, here are the current highlights.

Online Ordering is now live

New York Brownie with Raspberry Compote

As promised you can now go to our website http://www.ashridgewines.co.nz, and order online. Get your wine club discount of 25% by simply using ASHRIDGECLUB181 in the coupon code. We have updated the site with all of our current release wines. Hopefully, this will make life more convenient for you. We aim to have orders dispatched within 24 hours. If you prefer to order via email, simply send me the details to cellar@ashridgewines.co.nz.

As the home of Ash Ridge our cellar door has been a major focus, and we are constantly upgrading everything we do. The latest change is the new menu we have just launched. We are moving to a more Bistro style menu with entree, main and dessert options. So if you feel like a treat please book in for a lunch! Please remember that as a Wine Club member you get 25% off food as well as wine.

Functions and Weddings

Our new facility really opens up a myriad of options for us and you. The new building capacity is 100 people, so we can host functions for much larger groups in beautiful and comfortable surroundings. Our dining area allows for group sizes of 40-45 people seated, and we are also looking at hosting weddings. We are licensed until 10 pm, so we are able to accommodate evening functions as well.

If you have any interest in any of these options, please contact me at cellar@ashridgewines.co.nz.

Wine Boxes all now sent

We have completed the May deliveries. Thank you for your patience, we have tried to ensure that all packages have been delivered in a timely manner through Toll, but if for any reason your box has not arrived please contact me at cellar@ashridgewines.co.nz, and we will hunt down the delivery.

I really want to thank you, everyone, for all your support. As a small winery, we can only do what we do with your ongoing support. In a world were access to retail channels is becoming harder and harder, having the direct support of wine lovers is what keeps us going, and we appreciate your current and ongoing support.

Chris and the Team at Ash Ridge.

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Hawke’s Bay Young Winemaker of the Year

News from Ash Ridge – 3 Aug 2015

lauren-swiftBig nights out are becoming a bit of an occupational hazard at Ash Ridge, and last Friday was no exception. Our very own Lauren Swift was crowned the Hawke’s Bay Young Winemaker of the Year, in the inaugural competition held at a gala dinner at Mission Winery. Up against some stiff competition, with winemakers from Dry River, Te Awa, Elephant Hill and Mission, the contestants had to perform a series of tasks over the whole day, covering all aspects of winemaking.

Lauren now goes into the national final against the winners of the Central Otago and Marlborough regional competitions, later in August, so we will be cheering her on. But what a fantastic accolade for a young and very talented winemaker, we are very proud (and a little bit hungover!)

Other Accolades

The 2014 wines continue to accumulate awards and great reviews.

The 2014 Estate Syrah has received 92 points from Bob Campbell, 4 stars from Michael Cooper and has just won a Silver Medal at the Spiegelau Wine Awards. And this is the entry level 2014 Syrah!

Our 2014 Estate Merlot also was awarded a Silver at the Speiglau Wine Awards, whilst the Chardonnay received a Bronze. So once again all the wines we entered were awarded medals, a great result.

ashridge-logoUpcoming News/Events

We are planning another event in conjunction with Summer FAWC (beginning of November), to be held at Ormlie Lodge in Taradale. Details will be announced soon and we will keep you in touch. This is an exciting White Wine themed event to keep in the spirit of spring.

We are of course working towards the next release in November. We are currently in the stages of bottling the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc and Rose, all ready for summer, as well as something new! If you did enjoy the wines in the May release, we have been asked by a few people about reordering. Please send me an email,chris@ashridgewines.co.nz, or call the cellar door on 06 650 4324 to take advantage of wine club pricing.

Regards

Chris and the team.

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In the News – Ash Ridge wins wine award

Ash Ridge wins HB A&P Bayleys Wine Award for 2014 – (October 2014)

in-the-news-ash-ridge
Winemaker Lauren Swift and owner Chris Wilcock

Winemaker Lauren Swift and owner Chris Wilcock have plenty to celebrate after Tuesday night’s awards dinner. A couple of the staff were running a little late for work yesterday but Ash Ridge Winery owner Chris Wilcock wasn’t too concerned as they had a good excuse. As did he for his slightly “slow start” to his own working day.

The 14th annual Hawke’s Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards served up the second top accolade in two years for the Bridge Pa grape growing “triangle” based Ash Ridge – Hawke’s Bay Winery of the Year. “It’s not bad is it,” he said modestly. “We are one of the youngest wineries in Hawke’s Bay and to win this trophy twice is just fantastic.”

Mr Wilcock and his partner Sonya did not enter the wine industry until 2007 when they released their first commercial wines after planting vines two years earlier. Until then it had been a life of working in foreign exchange trading rooms in London, Zurich, Singapore and Sydney – until they spotted two potential vineyard sites on the Heretaunga Plains in 2000. It simply moved on from there. “It has been a lot of hard work and we are a young team – we only built our own winery this time last year,” he said.

Mr Wilcock reserved special praise for the devotion of his team, as well as the EIT. As he told the gathering at the awards dinner – “all of us here have gone through the EIT”. His winemaker Lauren Swift only graduated from the EIT’s winemaking course a couple of years ago and had already claimed success – Ash Ridge Merlot 2013 picked up a gold trophy at the awards. “For her first effort – that is mighty.”

Mr Wilcock said his philosophy was simply to make the best wine they could, and he said Hawke’s Bay was the best place to achieve that. “The wine industry here is in a fantastic place at the moment – we are making wines people want to drink and more people are discovering us – exciting times.” Despite picking up the title for the second time in as many years there was still “plenty of work to do” and the morning after the awards he was back out among the vines.

At this stage of the winery’s development the focus was on the Kiwi market rather than the international. “We are very domestic focused at the moment – that is most important to us and where we put our efforts.” But in the years to come that focus could also move toward the international market.

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