Unfiltered with Nick Pegna of Berry Bros
Sunday 26 September
Nick Pegna, MD of Berry Bros & Rudd in Hong Kong a.k.a Lord of Asia has his 60 seconds to discuss Bordeaux 2009, the Hong Kong wine scene and drunken prawns.
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Nick Pegna, MD of Berry Bros & Rudd in Hong Kong a.k.a Lord of Asia has his 60 seconds to discuss Bordeaux 2009, the Hong Kong wine scene and drunken prawns.
Gary Boom, founder of fine wine merchant Bordeaux Index has his 60 seconds to discuss the 2009’s, his hot tips on wine investment, cleaning cars outside his local Tesco, and his love of won ton soup….
Can we really say we’re surprised that another New Zealand vineyard has gone under owing a whopping $24 million (£10.8m)?
No.
There’s been a slow trickle of grape-growing and wine producing companies that have gone into administration in the past year but I believe Awatere Vineyard Holdings’ demise could push the flood gates open.
Vineyard plantings have tripled since 2000, with grape prices falling as much as 50% following two consecutive bumper harvests, in 2007 and 2008. There have been a host of new entrants to the industry with romantic dreams of making their own wine or investors wanting to jump on the bandwagon and make a quick buck. If only they had done their research before making the plunge, they would have found that the soil wasn’t flecked with gold.
Central Otago producers Anthem Hodings and William Hill winery, and Marlborough’s Cape Campbell have already fallen victim to the oversupply and economic downturn and others will follow.
It’s a sad situation for those affected but the imbalances that have been created in the last three years need to be redressed. We’re likely to see the bigger companies getting bigger as they swallow up vineyard land; vineyards will be pulled out and replaced with other crops, and life will go on. Hopefully, the industry will have learned its lesson too.
I’ve had an abstemious weekend in preparation for a triathlon. So, I was designated driver at Newcastle races on Saturday where my dad’s horse was running (badly). Unbeknownst to us, it was ladies day and, the Geordie lasses really put on a display of What Not to Wear and spray tans. It was sponsored by Matalan which gives you some idea of the calibre of clothing on display.
You wouldn’t think the UK was still suffering economic woes, considering the amount of Champagne the bars were selling. If you are an importer or sales rep, try and get an account with a racecourse. It seems to be a goldmine.
The other drink ordered on many occasions at the bar (when I was having a glass of water – joy) was rosé and lemonade. The ladies of Newcastle have decided that pink wine spritzers are quite the thing. I’d never thought of drinking rosé spritzers before – and I’m not sure rosé producers have either. Rosé on the rocks, yes, but never with lemonade.
Rosé continues to fly in the UK. According to recent figures released by the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, sales of rosé wine increased 21.4% in value in the past year, with volumes ahead by 18.4%.
WSTA chief executive Jeremy Beadles said: “Given the fact that sales of other wines in bars, clubs and restaurants are down over the course of the year, the big rise in rosé is all the more striking.”
“The recent good weather will have continued to boost its popularity.” Yes, Jeremy – and its new role as a spritzer.
Wine producers and retailers are always claiming they want the wine to reach the consumer as the winemaker intended but then they don’t have any control over what people add to it. I suppose rosé with lemonade is a Pimm-type quaffer on a hot afternoon and I ought to try it before dismissing it like a wine snob. So, that’s something I’ll do this week now I’ve dragged myself through a swim, bike and run.
The latest herbal remedy renaissance is resveratrol. I can’t walk into a chemist to buy a packet of plasters without being confronted by an all-singing all-dancing resveratrol offer. Yesterday there was an ad on the radio extolling the virtues of it and I found myself telling the radio it should just have a glass of wine.
Obviously, a radio can’t hear me nor drink wine, and the men in white coats have been alerted of my latest penchant for talking to the radio. But come on, there’s a global wine glut. Why do we need to take a tasteless pill for something we can obtain from a delicious glass of wine? Beats me.
So what wines should you look for if you want to up your resveratrol intake? Reds should be top of your list. Research has found red wines have ten times more resveratrol than whites – damn, there goes my excuse for having another glass of Riesling.
In the red corner, Muscadine has the highest concentration of resveratol of all grape varieties but how often do you see Muscadine on the shelves outside of the USA? And if you did, would you want to drink it?! Pinot Noir also tends to have high levels of resveratrol whereas Cabernet Sauvignon has lower levels. According to the bible, a.k.a The Oxford Companion, cooler regions tend to produce wines higher in resveratrol, so think Burgundy, Washington and New Zealand - not Australia or India.
If there’s a market for selling resveratrol pills, then surely there’s a gap in the market for wines high in resveratrol. Well, so it seems, but that gap has already been identified by a Hunter Valley winery. Pendarves has created a Resveratrol Enhanced Wines that contains between 1,500% and 10,000% of the ‘normal’ levels of the antioxidant resveratrol. It claims resveratrol levels in its ‘Wine Doctor’ red wines are increased from 3-6mg/l to about 100mg/l, and those in its white wines are also increased from 1mg/l to about 100mg/l.
But does it taste any good? I’ll seek out a bottle and let you know. If you’ve already tried it and been impressed/distressed, let us know.