Blenheim, Marlborough, Nelson

Kenepuru Sound, Marlbourgh.
The view from Marge and John's.

Sometimes your own back yard is as nice as any overseas holiday, or, (as is more correctly the case for us) if you're not going to go overseas, you might as well enjoy your own back yard!  I recently heard someone refer to it as a 'Stay-cations' - staying close to home is the big thing.  

Any which way, we made our way down to the South Island and reacquainted ourselves with that beautiful part of the country, with 2 nights each in Blenheim, Kenepuru Sound, and Nelson.

Pick one, eat one... good think they didn't weigh us before we picked raspberries!

The trip highlights: 

1. Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough Sounds.  Staying with Marge and John at their batch. Wow, what a beautiful corner of paradise. Whilst we did a virtuous walk on one of the many beautiful tracks on New Year's Day (after a not so virtuous New Year's Eve!) this was only just a small taster, but the scenery we did see was beautiful and we passed plenty of happy hikers.  We stayed close to Te Mahia Lodge, which would be a lovely place to stay, and much to my surprise, the owner made a decent Soy Latte (though he somehow didn't take it as a compliment when we said it was almost as good as Ponsonby! Must have been the South Island pride)
Check out my latest favourite foodie experience - BBQ butterflied lamb weighed down and infused with the 'terroir' of a Kenepuru schist rock - yum!  Inspired by Annabelle Langbein and skillfully barbecued by John.

The Famous Kenepuru 'terroir' infuses into butterflied lamb.

The finished product - delicious

2. Camping on the beach in Mapua, outside of Nelson, going for Fish and Chips on the wharf at the Smokehouse, eating at a cool little restaurant there called Jellyfish Cafe (their chef just won best chef in the Nelson area), and checking out all the cool arts and crafty places in the area.  We loved the Upper Moutere area and it almost felt a bit like the Adelaide Hills.  I had bought some Moutere Gold Passionfruit Curd at Farro for Christmas and we met the producer there - I didn't realise they make these in batches of only 8 at a time.  Imagine making an order of 1000 for Farro a Christmas!  Apparently they are quite exhausted at the end of it.

The Ponsonby camper

3. Nelson.  I just love this town.  It still has the same artistic, earthy, backpacker vibe as it did about !$@ years ago when I went through the first time on my own backpacking experience. Morris St Cafe is worth checking out for a good coffee and some other cool places to check out were the South Street Gallery, a collection of about 25 potters from the area, and also the World of WareableArts (WOW) exhibition.

I could spend a lot of money here... Lots of nice pottery

4. Hans Herzog, Blenheim, for a degustation dinner.  A great little winery restaurant in Blenheim, with a great sommelier, and with great food and wine matches, though we did find the service a bit too slow.  Whilst I don't like rushing through a degustation, it took 3 hours to get through the first 4 of 7 courses.  


The Wine....

As expected, we went to some good wineries - some favourites and some new.  Here are the ones we got to:

1. Himmelsfeld, Moutere.  We spent almost 2 hours talking to the winemaker and listening to the many stories she had to tell.  If this was any other winery, we would have been greeted by the accolades:  "2006 Chardonnay served at the world's top restaurant (Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck)" and "served at Meredith's, one of New Zealand's best restaurants", and "2003 Noble Chardonnay awarded top honours in 2006 Paris wine show", highly awarded wines, etc. etc. etc.  Instead,  Beth Eggers is a down to earth, unassuming, passionate, sustainable, sheep farming winemaker. (Her sheep are employed to help with the leaf plucking!) Of course the Chardonnay was superb.  She likes to age her wine, which we like, so as long as this is your style, it's worth a visit.
2. Fromm, Marlborough.  The Pinot Noirs are exceptional, especially the Clayvin Vinyard, which is probably one of my favourite Pinot Noirs in New Zealand.  This is a winery we make it to every time we get to Marlborough and the cellar door experience hasn't disappointed yet.

Cool shot by Al in the Framingham cellar

3. Framingham, Marlborough: Go the Select Riesling, one of New Zealand's nicest sweeter style Rieslings.  We hadn't been here before, but will certainly be one we'd return to.
4. Forrest, Marlborough: Dr. John Forrest does good wine. Worth a visit.
5. Neudorf, Moutere: Some bloody good wines, though it was a bit busy on the day we were there.

We did also go to Cloudy Bay, and Seresin which both have great wines, but disappointingly, the cellar door experience was lacking.  Seresin had the frostiest cellar door person (we almost rushed to get out of there - a real shame given their stunning reserve chardonnay which is one of our favourites) and Cloudy Bay was just too commercial with about 30 people at the counter.  I guess that is the price of their success.  If you go to Cloudy Bay, try to avoid the busy times.



Well, we are going to try to get in a few more camping trips this summer, but to be honest we are about to become seriously distracted by the addition of new dogs, which we also visited on the way home.  In the meantime, here's to living in a beautiful country and nice summer holidays.

Some holiday pics from the trip:

Dinner at Floridita's,Wellington

Enjoying a coffee at Finc, Wellington

Te Mahia Lodge, Kenepuru Sound

Enjoying a coffee at Te Mahia Lodge,
with a wet bum after Kayaking there from Marge and John's a few bays over!

Gaspacho with Fino and Manzanilla Sherry - Marge is studying fortifieds so we all learned heeps.

Made it! New Year's climb up to the look out.  

Enjoying a beer at Mapua on the wharf

Fish and Chips, The Smokehouse, Mapua

Cool artists in the area.  This is Katie Gold in Moutere

Jellyfish Cafe and Bar, Mapua

Yummy Asian pork salad at the Jellyfish Cafe

Good coffee at Kush, Nelson - plus great Carrot Cake.

Stopped on the way to see the pups.  Think they like Al....

How cute......

Happy Holidays - Cheers to 2012

Santa on the Southern motorway, Auckland

Well, here I sit, finally relaxing at Mt Maunganui after what seems like the craziest of years, taking a deep breath and enjoying a fine glass of champagne. Though it sometimes feels I was the only one exhausted by the events of the past year, my mother- in-law has rightly reminded me that everyone has had a crazy year. I won't be alone then in saying "Cheers - I'm sure glad I made it through that one!"


So, as is often the case at this time of year, its time to reflect, take stock, give thanks, and make sure to get enough relaxation for the next installment. Or....... here's another version we decided on over Christmas dinner last night (and I like this even better):

Look back, look forward, and drink lots of champagne in between!

Looking back

• Mark and Cath had Felix in February and we became fairy god parents
• Went to Melbourne and Rutherglen for Stu's birthday in March.
• Canada for my Mom's big 70 in April.
• Bought a new Car - dogs friendly of course!
• Melbourne again for Adam's big 40 in Sept.
• My baby sis got married in October - a fabulous occasion, complete with lots of family from overseas. 
• A busy year at work - a bit all consuming but kind of rewarding just the same.
• Not the healthiest year - lots of colds and flus so next year will hopefully be a bit better.

 Add a few (too many!) fabulous wine and food events and presto the year was as eventful as ever.
As always, I am thankful for my great family and friends who made this year and this life more interesting. 

Christmas Dinner: Confit Duck with Cranberry Dressing and a nice glass of bubbles

Looking forward

• Tomorrow we are going to visit next year's new additions, our Airedale pups who will be coming home around end of January. I am certain that will keep us entertained.
• We just won a trip to Margaret River in Western Australia, the most amazing prize, care of our favourite wine shop, First Glass in Takapuna.
• Al and I turn a mid way milestone birthday this year (a bit scary! half way to another 'oh')
• We are already muting the possibility of next Christmas in India.
• More crazy work/life balance challenges
• Hopefully some productive new years resolutions on the health front
• And of course lots of fun food and wine events

So....... Here's to the bubbles in between.

Right now here's to relaxing and living for the moment! Next year will be busy enough.

All the best for the holidays, may the bubbles flow for you also, and may you feel nice and recharged by the time the next year begins.

Cheers!
Ev

The view on boxing day from my Mother In Law's House, Mount Maunganui.  A bit overcast, but not too bad  

Wine Age

Decanting and the right glassware. Yes it makes a difference

The one drawback about buying a great wine is that you usually have to cellar it (read wait) for a number of years before its worth drinking.

Old good wine = great wine.
This requires patience....... Not my strongest virtue.

So all the more reason that I would be amazed at the 10 x 10+ year old wines I've had in the period of about a week - it's been completely crazy and reads more like something that perhaps a wine writer might be exposed to, and I feel very fortunate.

So what makes an older wine so great? Many have described this, but I like the words of Hugh Johnson, the well know wine writer -

 "It always takes me a few sips and a silent pause, my nose deep in the glass, to focus and find the measure of the highest quality. Description involving currants and tobacco and tar and strawberries are rubbish when you meet the sheer rightness of great claret reaching maturity."

So, here's what happened in a week:

1. 2002 Vintage Moet Champagne 

2. 2002 Simon Bize & Fils Latricieres Chambertin Grand Cru - an amazing burgundy which went superbly with an amazing Beouff Bourguignon.
3. 2002 Chateau Pichon Longueville - an equally amazing Bordeaux that tasted devine.
4. 1996 Penfold's Grange:  This is the grand puh bah of Australian wines - it is coveted by wine collectors around the world (Mehran take note!) and 16 years has been kind to this wine.  This was rated at 97 points by James Halliday. It had been well decanted and drank as beautifully as one might expect.
5. 1996 Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz: This has got to be close to the top of the list of Aussie favourites (we recently also had a 1999).  A sensational example of what you can expect from cellaring a good Aussie Shiraz.
6. 1999 Vidal Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon - a magnum of New Zealand unctuous delight which was drinking beautifully.
7. 1993 Coldstream Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon - James Halliday's winery.  The master himself.

8. 1997 Cranswick Botrytis Semillon from New South Wales.  Yummo with dessert.
9. 1995 Stonyridge Larose Waiheke Island Cabernets.  Just stunning.  This is an iconic New Zealand wine and it was amazing to see what all the fuss is about.  We've recently bought some 2008. Patience........
10. 1987 St Nesbit Bourdeaux blend - cabernet high.  (The 87 was cabernet, their newer wines are merlot high) I have only recently been introduced to this cult NZ wine and what a treat.




Aged wine....well what good is it without the matching company and food?  Wine was designed to go with food and all of these were.

Jambon Persille

A number of these were served with the most amazing French dinner with some friends who have recently returned from a trip to Burgundy. Marge is a fabulous cook and we were treated to Jambon Persille (ham and parsley terrine) and Boeuf Bourguignon.  Apparently these are served ad nauseum all over Burgundy and one can quickly get a bit too much of these dishes.  (Well, I will be more than happy to put myself to the challenge one day when I make it to Burgundy myself!) As New Zealand's current wine option champs,  Marge and John know a thing or two about wines and the food and wine matches were sensational.

Le Beouf Bourguignon

A beautiful and delicious almond tarte

A few more of these were brought out at Pinot Plus at our regular monthly lab night ... watch this space - Lab Night is about to celebrate 2 years.  This is the ultimate monthly get together over food and wine.

The Larose was brought out by Curt during a Tuesday night dinner at the Pitts.  You have to say that's a bit of a surreal wine to bring out on a Tuesday - almost a bit philosophical - Curt, I still think you should check out "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom.

The St Nesbit was tasted on a Saturday afternoon at a tasting and led to an amazing food and wine experience later on that I will have to get to on another day.....

Matakana: New Zealand's Hunter Valley?

View of Omaha and surrounds from OBV vineyard

Matakana....maybe it's even New Zealand's up and coming Sonoma county....  Ok, that might be a stretch, but wouldn't that be fabulous.

Matakana is only 42 minutes door to door from our Auckland home (according to the new GPS), so it was a no brainer to rent a bach at nearby Omaha Beach for the weekend with some friends as a quick winter getaway.

So......The ingredients of a worthy wine/food country region according to me:

Fresh, seasonal, locally grown produce:
High marks for Matakana.  It's compulsory to visit the Matakana Market on a Saturday Morning.  I got the most amazing winter carrots and root vegetables and some buffalo mozzarella, from which we made dinner that night.  There are also the roadside honesty boxes, which don't have a lot of press outside of New Zealand - it's a bit of a novelty to live in a place where people trustingly leave food and a box full of cash on the side of the road!

A view across Matakana Market from Matakana Market Kitchen

Food: 
The choices are starting to increase, but this is where a huge opportunity lies in my opinion.  Sonoma/Napa really does have the edge on this, but I guess they've been going a lot longer.  Will we ever have a French Laundry or Cyrus (or even Girl and the Fig)?  Who knows, but what we did have wasn't too bad.

Worth a visit: Matakana Market Kitchen. As the name suggests, it's right at the market, so it was the perfect place for brunch. The coffee is good and the menu has some non standard dishes.  I had the Welsh Rarebit which was made with a number of locavore ingredients.  Absolutely yummy.

Welsh Rarebit, Matakana Style

The coffee went down well......

OBV Vineyard for a lunch platter: Talk about a spectacular setting, overlooking Omaha and the coast.  The platter was interesting, but the scenery was really the main attraction.  A notable mention goes to the nice glass of their Montepulciano.  They are onto a winner here.

OBV Vinyard

Other places we didn't go to this time, but which deserve a mention:
Sawmill Cafe in Leigh - this is a bit of an institution which serves good pizza and nice bistro food.
Ransom Wines - great platters to go with some up and coming wines.  I particularly like their 'K Syrah'.
Plume:  Haven't been here but it's getting a lot of good reviews, so might need to put this on the list for the next visit.

Wine:
The wine needs a bit of work before it's at the level of some of New Zealand's other wine regions.  There are a few pockets of brilliant individual wines, but by and large, it's pretty average. Wineries worth keeping an eye on other than OBV and Ransom as above: I do like some of the Hyperion, Heron's flight and Ascension wines.  The big daddy is the Bordeaux blend of Providence. Their wines are in the +$200 range, so more of a special occasion wine and it really is a stunner.

Arts and Crafts:
Well, an honorable mention must go to Morris and James, who do the loveliest pottery.

But...
The piece de resistance for Matakana is its proximity to the coast.  Get your veggies, grab some food and then take a walk along some of New Zealand's most beautiful beaches.  Last weekend we even saw two whales.  I have not really done any whale watching to date, so this was a real treat for me.  It turned out to be a mum and her calf who were splashing around just of the coast.  Allister and I watched them for over an hour, it was just magical.  Attached is the link from the paper the following day.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10829911

Omaha Beach at Sunset

Sea Shells by the Sea Shore.... Omaha

 So I guess we'll watch this space on Matakana.  It certainly is nice to watch it develop and become the Auckland playground.

Dinner of locavore ingredients -
roast vegies and watercress from the market

The Chef's Table at Euro

The other night we had a real foodie highlight - a 10 course degustation at Euro at the Chef's Table.  This would definitely be a top 3 experiences for me to date - it was an awesome time.

Euro's Simon Gault is a household name in NZ as one of the judges on Masterchef but he is also known for his love for molecular gastronomy (think Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria, from whom a lot of his ingredients come) and The Chef's Table at Euro is his attempt at showcasing some unique and experimental dishes for 8 people at a time seated around a kitchen bar.

Apparently he started The Chef's Table a few years ago but for publicity he recently did a half price deal which we got a couple of seats for.  It sold out very quickly, but the chef told us to watch this space - they'll either do another 'grab one' deal or give details on their Facebook page.

So on with the show:  (it's referred to as 'entertastement' on the Euro web site!)

1. Spanish Bellota ham with creme fraiche and shaved fresh NZ truffles.  We were asked to roll this into a cigar and eat. Only 3 ingredients but honestly, this was a taste sensation and a true example of what can happen if you have the best ingredients.

2. Smoked Caprese Salad.  The first of the 'gastro' dishes.  An array of gastro ingredients such as olive oil which was in the form of little caviars, which was then subjected to smoke under a dome to infuse with the ingredients.

Adding smoke to the caprese salad

3. A deconstructed shrimp coctail.  Probably the most normal dish of the night.
4.  The risotto was to die for. Well, there was half a kilo of butter in the risotto alone, so 'to die for' has a dual meaning!  It was done with an anchovy butter (more heart attack material) and calamari rice.

5.  Favourite Dish: Fois Gras ice cream with sherry vinegar candy floss. The sherry vinegar was freeze dried in a powder form and sprinkled over a candy floss nest. The sweet and savory and textural combination was absolutely mind blowing.

6.  Ravioli.  Ok, in case you thought this was a healthy degustation, the ravioli was made with 300g of flour and SEVENTEEN egg yolks!  Your average home recipe calls for 1 egg / 1 yolk per 100g of flour, and of course this extreme amount of eggs is for the richness (read fat content) of the yolks. The Beurre Noisette had another 1/2 kg of butter....

Some 'crowd' participation

7. Wagyu beef with a venison jus and........  fries cooked in duck fat!  I could feel my arteries bracing themselves but this was certainly good.

8. Freeze dried mandarins and raspberries in liquid nitrogen.  As soon as you put it in your mouth the smoke comes out of your nose and mouth! (OK Curt, we may have to discuss the 'puff' thing!)
9. Deconstructed Pavlova, warm sauce, liquid nitro Pav and fizzy sherbet strawberries.
Hot, cold, fizz, crunch, yum.

The Chef making sorbet with liquid nitrogen

10. Grappa hot chocolate with a a chocolate fig truffle.  Oh my goodness.  I could have drunk a cup of this, not just the pipeful, but once again, an explosion in your mouth.  Definitely a grand finale.

Well,  this is not something we would do every weekend, but as far as foodie treats go, this certainly was worthwhile.  I will have to wait for the butter and duck fat to work their way through my system before the next time!