It’s a daunting prospect tasting more than 50 Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs before 10am. Then, just when you’ve recovered from the Savalanche haze, you’re assaulted by a blur of 50 super-ripe Aussie Shirazes before lunchtime. And we volunteer to do this!
Before tasting the Sauvignons at Liquorland’s wine show, all 20 judges discussed what we should be looking for: elegance, balance, freshness. It’s an unusual time of year to be looking at Sauvignon Blanc. It’s usually judged in October as it falls off the bottling line or at Easter. Yet, it’s probably one of the most useful times to see how those wines are holding up a year after they were harvested. Moreover, these wines are going to be the ones the export market drinks for another six months.
The class we judged was pretty solid (which, was a lot more than we could say for the Chardonnay and Merlot category) although there were more wines than I expected with reduced characters: think burnt match, cabbage, garlic. Not something you’d want in your glass.
I’m astounded why people enter faulty or tired wines past their best in a competition. They’re not going to win anything. Yes, it’s less prevalent than it used to be but it still exists today. So, I asked some winemaker judges why so many people entered their wines to a rigorous judging process. One response was winemakers become too close to their wines and believe they are worthy of a medal; another claimed more wineries are entering competitions because they are desperate to help sales; if they can sneak a silver, it’s going to give them a boost.
If you’ve ever been to Marlborough, you’ll know it has its own château. It’s not quite Margaux but Château Marlborough is swish enough, although the exterior faux turrets leave a little to be desired.
Yes, I’m back in Marlborough – again – judging at the Liquorland International Wine Competition. And after just one day, my teeth are killing me. I’m writing this with tooth mousse smothered over my gnashers in a futile attempt to ease the pain. And we haven’t even started on the Sauvignon Blanc category. That’s tomorrow. Aaaggghh.
It’s been off-dry Rieslings, Pinot Gris, other whites (Chardonnay/Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer/Semillon blends: why, oh why?), rosés and Aussie Cabernet Sauvignon for my panel today. Inevitably, there have been some shockers, a few stunners and a lot in between. The Aussie Cabernet line up was pretty consistent and threw up lots of good wines while there were sadly a lot of disappointments in the off-dry Riesling department.
We all get to wear fetching Liquorland aprons although I’ve have to pin mine as the front droops to my belly button thus defeating the purpose of wearing it. If only I had bigger boobs, it would prop the apron up.
There’s also the threat of wearing a crazy Indian/parrot headdress if your phone rings during judging so please don’t call me in the next two days between 9 and 5! The drooping apron is enough to cope with.
It’s only been a week since I arrived in Marlborough to work part of the 2010 vintage but I’m already in need of a rest!
I thought I was fit before I arrived at Jackson Estate but pulling hoses, plunging unyielding caps and working 12-hour shifts is a real test of stamina. The cellar boys have worked 12 days on the trot and I don’t know how they do it. If you wanted to get fit but hated the gym, taking on a cellar job would do the trick.
I’ve talked to the boys in the winery today and the hours are certainly the worst part of working vintage but the flip side is meeting people from all corners of the globe and seeing those grapes turn into the delicious final product. A glass of wine at lunchtime also makes life more bearable.
It’s back to the day job for me now and while I’m looking forward to resting my aching limbs, I’m sorely tempted to stay on for the vintage party, complete with a pig on a spit.
Winery dogs are so last year. The ultimate winery accessory this season is…a hen.
In a strange turn of events, one of the cellar hands at Jackson Estate turned up for his shift with his pet hen, Beaker, which clucked around the grape press to pose for a few photos.
There have been two ‘Winery Dogs’ books published already, and I’m sure there’s room for spin offs.
If there’s time for hens then things must be slowing down in the winery. Indeed, all the fruit is in the cellar. Those working the graveyard shift will return to day walking next week and the staff’s free hot lunches will come to an end (much to their disappointment).
The last batch of Sauvignon Blanc for the Grey Ghost is waiting for a wild fermentation to kick in, the barrel-fermented Chardonnay is almost dry, and the first batch of Pinot Noir, which arrived at the end of March is about to come off its skins after extended maceration. Something’s going on in most of the tanks but there’s a sense of calm after the storm (or is that exhaustion?) in the winery.
Check out my latest interview with John Stichbury, founder of Jackson Estate on why Marlborough needs to tighten up its labelling laws.
I have never seen 3000 empty cartons of milk in a vineyard but I had to believe my eyes this morning at Jackson Estate’s newly-planted Pinot Noir site.
Viticulturalist Geoff and I headed down to one of its Lower Waihope vineyards this morning and there were the So Good Soya Lite milk cartons in their new life as vine guards, stopping rabbits from getting their hungry paws on them. Best of all, they’re biodegradable.
The naughty rabbits and hares have been getting stuck into the irrigation lines too after a remarkably dry summer. “They must have been thirsty,” said Geoff. It’s more spurt than drip irrigation where those rabbits have been chewing the pipes, giving the vineyard team even more work to do.
How to solve it? Rabbit stew. I’m sure it would go lovely with a glass of Pinot. Geoff likes his slow cooked with duck – or if you need a good recipe for Thai chicken rice, he’s your man.
Back in the winery, all the Pinot Noir is now harvested. The final parcel has come in and there’s just a little Sauvignon Blanc to follow. There’s a chance Jackson will make a botrytised Riesling for the first time in four years plus its first-ever botrytised Chardonnay, so we’ll probably head out into the vineyard to see how that’s going later in the week.
I’ve been enjoying stirring the lees of the Shelter Belt Chardonnay again today and am finding it quite therapeutic: 15 stirs forward, 15 stirs back, breathe (not too deeply or you’ll get woozy from the CO2), and on to the next barrel. Who needs yoga when you’ve got wine?
