ALCOHOL -Permissum imbibo caveo

I drink alcohol and have done so for many years. My current preference is for wine consumed as both an aperitif and with food.
Previously I have consumed beer and some spirits and am familiar with most forms of alcohol.
My first experience with alcohol was in my first year of University at age 18 going on 19. Beer was the drink of both choice and necessity - choice because the taste was easier to get used to and necessity because wines and spirits were much more expensive (the old import quota and duty structure made it so). Friday night was usually the only drinking night with many Victoria University students meeting up at the Grand Hotel in Willis Street.
When I entered the liquor industry it was as a part-time employee of Murray Roberts LTD in the summer of 1972/73. I was seduced by the cornucopia of choice in the very wide range of beers, spirits, wines and liqueurs that was on offer. I had a very obliging boss who encouraged all employees to try most of the offerings, which we did (and the more expensive ones after hours) in order to become more knowledgeable. This really worked to the point where the others and I became expert salespeople and helped boost the company's profits (necessary due to the aforementioned after hours sampling). I tried and learned about all of the products on offer. This wasn't just about alcohol it was an insight into centuries of tradition. Every bottle had provenance and to me was exotic from the Israeli liqueur Sabra to the Yugoslavian Kruskovac and Slivovitz, the Greek Metaxa 5 and 7 star brandies and the rare and expensive cognacs and armagnacs. The aged Malt whiskies weren’t just a spirit they were a place, a time and a country that I wanted to visit. The wines were my particular favourite. I learnt as much as I could about the German and French wines especially. The source names were a fascination and at the time much more meaningful than today (except for the rarest and most expensive ones) where branding and marketing have diluted the individual characteristics. My learning was useful as I collected wine for my personal cellar and bought and sold rarer ones. I was lucky in that the First-growth Bordeaux wines could be bought for less than $20 a bottle and sold just a few years later at over $100 a bottle – a good investment. My education was also useful in my future chosen career in the liquor industry. Over the years I have marketed and sold many of the world’s premium brands. Today when I visit a fancy bar I look at the top shelf and see many brands that I have brand-managed for example Drambuie, Cointreau, Frangelico, Dubonnet, Martini & Rossi, Chartreuse, Grand Marnier, Pernod, Remy Martin, The Macallan, Johnny Walker, Mount Gay, Coruba, Teachers, Cragganmore, Glenmorangie, Highland Park, Bacardi, Appletons, Cutty Sark, Famous Grouse, Carolans, Tanqueray, Beefeater, Canadian Club, Marie Brizzard, Effen, Ursus – just to name a few. In beers I have managed Carlsberg, Tuborg and Swan and in wines Pol Roger, Krug, Charles Heidsieck, Lanson, Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Rosemount, Hardys, Banrock Station, Ruffino, Nederburg, Torres, Mondavi, Ravenswood, Nobilo, Selaks, Langenbach, Sichel, Bichot, Rothschild, Langenbach, Drappier, and many others. These to me were not just brand names but exciting products each with their own histories and unique locations. Over the years I visited the vineyards, wineries and production points of these brands on a V.I.P. basis as part of my job to see the production, experience the place and to discuss marketing matters. I consider myself privileged. I also have visited other winemaking locations, wine companies, distilleries and breweries over the years and have made the industry my life. Needless to say over the years I have consumed a lot of alcohol. Sometimes I have consumed too much and even today I sometimes regret that last glass of wine the night before. I am lucky though in that I have not become a slave to alcohol. I enjoy the evening glass or two but never feel that I need it. I rarely mix drinks and if I have a cold beer in summer I don’t follow that with wine. Similarly if in winter we have a glass of good Cognac or Malt whisky we don’t have wine before that.
This brings me to what I want to say. Unfortunately alcohol is not kind to some people. A couple of people very close to me had their lives ruined by alcohol that directly led to their deaths. Some friends and people I know have over the years had to seriously review the amount of alcohol they were drinking as it was having a detrimental effect on their lives. This Christmas someone I know has sworn off drinking alcohol because of memory gaps after drinking. Alcohol can be both a friend and an enemy.
We read daily about binge drinking by young people and alcohol-fuelled violence. There is a direct link between the more liberal drinking hours, the more prevalent liquor advertising and the irresponsible marketing of RTD’s, alcopops and cheap alcoholic sodas which are deliberately targeting young people. Unfortunately the ‘fantasies’ inherent in these brands and labels don’t have the sense of place, history and culture that I experienced when I was young.

...BUT I'M STILL GOOD FRIENDS WITH HAWKES BAY CHARDONNAY

I might have been a bit premature there by swearing off of chardonnay in favour of Riesling for the Summer. The fact is aromatic varietals don't cut it when there are some nice pre-dinner starters or BBQ meats and salads to be had. Chardonnay is still unbeatable and in New Zealand terms, a good Hawkes Bay (wooded) Chardonnay is the thing. There are lots of good ones to choose from (and unfortunately still a lot of ordinary ones) but my current choices are, in no ranking order of price or quality:

Te Mata Elston
Sacred Hill (orange label)
Selaks Founders
Selaks Winemakers Favourite (previously known as The Favourite)
Villa Maria Cellar Selection (there are some disturbing rumours that the newer variants of this are all Marlborough fruit).
Sacred Hill Riflemans
Clearview Reserve
Craggy Range Les Beaux Cailloux
Villa Maria Keltern
Church Road Reserve

Mea Culpa

GOOD-BYE CHARDONNAY HELLO RIESLING

I go through phases of the type of wine I drink. Over the last year my drink of choice has been Chardonnay. We in New Zealand are pretty lucky with our Chardonnay choices with many companies making pretty reasonable ones and there not being too many bad ones about. Sure, some are indifferent but the price points are often a warning to keep away from them (you won't get a decent Chardonnay below $10 unless it is hugely discounted). Of the rest some decent drinking can be found in the $12 plus area covering unwooded, lightly wooded through to properly barrel aged variants. As regards Chardonnays from other countries some careful selection is needed. We don't see a lot of good Chardonnay from France here. What is coming in is very expensive (avoid the cheaper ones). Australian Chardonnays are simple and blowsy at the cheap end and big and over-wooded at the top end. Careful selection in the middle can turn up some nicely balanced wines but these all have a 'tropical' character that is not as satisfying as a good 'stone-fruit' New Zealand style. Californian Chardonnays are at the extreme end of the Australian style and good South American and South African Chardonnays are seldom seen.
My drink of choice over the Summer will be Riesling again as it has been over the last couple of years. Good Riesling is refreshing and satisfying in a way that few other wines can be outside of Champagne or good Methode Champenoise. Riesling is versatile with dry, medium-dry and medium styles all being of high quality. There is a range of alcohol options also so a lunch-time or afternoon choice can be a wine with less than 10% alcohol by volume. There are some very good German wines available that cover a range of styles and most are at the lower alcohol end. Australian Rieslings, particularly those from the Clare Valley are good albeit very dry and austere, but once again New Zealand Rieslings offer the best value for money and price:quality ratio. The best New Zealand Rieslings are from the South Island (although Martinborough can produce some stunners). There are plenty of good Marlborough ones but I prefer the Waipara style. The best ones like Fiddlers Green are rich and luscious but with a refreshing and elegant edge to them. Try them if you haven't already. You will be amazed.

COOKING

I watched Nigella Lawson making cocktails, soups and desserts earlier this evening.
Actually, I can't remember much about the dishes as I was just watching Nigella Lawson.
She is an incredibly beautiful woman. Her beauty though is not just 'skin-deep' and of course critics would say that she is now larger than life because of her appreciation of good food and wine. No, Nigella has a wonderful hedonistic appreciation of the good things in life and doesn't give a hoot about any critic's view of this. When drizzling a Stilton and cream topping onto a rich roasted vegetable soup she said " I know that this is very 80's but who cares" (or something like that). I like that.
As I prepared dinner (spaghetti Bolognaise for me and roasted potatoes, mini-sausages and peas for my visiting sister who thinks that spaghetti is way too exotic), I opened a bottle of Stonehaven Reserve Shiraz 2001 (Padthaway). Now this is a classic Australian wine but it was showing a bit of age. Still classy but getting a bit blowsy (aren't we all). In the best Nigella tradition I opened a bottle of 2007 Tempranillo (Altovela from La Mancha) and mixed it up with the Stonehaven. The result - sensuous and sinewy older Shiraz with robust and vibrant Tempranillo. Lawson would have approved.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

I would like the New Zealand wine industry to 'stick to the knitting' and do what it does best - make the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world, some of the most exciting Chardonnays and keep improving on the Pinot Noir offerings. We are still underdone in producing and marketing these varietals as well as the 'waiting in the wings' Riesling, Gewurztraminer and the Bordeaux blends.
Often too much resource is wasted on that godawful Pinot Gris and every now and then wine writers get all excited about emerging varietals like Viognier. Arneis is like this but perhaps has the advantage of being essentially an interesting enough varietal to justify experimentation and to be on offer from boutique producers.

The grape is Italian in origin from Piedmont in the north of Italy where it makes elegant white wines that have an almond and peach character. While it is made for white wine consumption it is mostly used as blending material with the more famous Nebbiolo red grape. Arneis generally tastes of pears, peaches and apples with a floral aroma and a slightly herbal edge. It often has the aforementioned almond character.

There are a few producers in the upper North Island growing Arneis and some interesting results have been seen.
Last night I opened a 2007 Kim Crawford 'Doug's Arneis' from Gisborne.
The wine was dry but had a fullness about it which came from the small amounts of Riesling and Gewurztraminer that have been added.
It had a beautiful pale green colour. There definitely was an almond character amidst the lovely floral aroma. The flavour was astounding - rich pears and peaches but with some nice citrus edges. With no oak ageing the wine was nevertheless full and powerful and almost chewy. It is well worth seeking out.

Now I hope that we don't get too excited about the prospects for Arneis and plant too much of it as has happened with Pinot Gris. I hope that it doesn't become a 'shelf-warmer' like Viognier, but I do hope that a few boutique producers continue to make some. I know that Kim Crawford is not a boutique producer. The brand is owned by Constellation NZ and produces hundreds of thousands of cases (mainly Sauvignon Blanc which is spot on), but the Kim Crawford viticulturists have traditionally kept in touch with very good growers like Doug and Delwyn Bell and manage to secure very small parcels of incredibly good fruit to add mystery and quality to their brand's offerings.

...WHERE EVERYONE GETS A BARGAIN

New Zealand must be the worst country in the world for retail sophistication.
Most differentiation between similar retail traders is on price. It is all price off, cheaper, on special etc. Just look at the stupid platform that stores like Bunnings operate on - "if you can find it cheaper elsewhere we will match the price". What crap. This ultimately means poor service because of reducing staff numbers or minimal wages paid (look at The Warehouse's current labour problem). It also means poor quality product as the cheapest produced items make up the bulk of the stock. Too frequent sales cycles is another problem. Kathmandu and Briscoes have given away franchise integrity by having 40% off sales. How can consumers believe that what they are buying is quality when this is the case and with the frequency no-one in their right mind would buy anything outside of a 'sale' period.
The wine industry has followed the same dreary path - lead by supermarkets. Now supermarkets set up the 'Wine Sale' concept a few years ago and found that there was a massive spike in sales. The frequency of the sales has increased to a point now when one of the chains is generally having a sale every couple of weeks. Once again anyone wanting to buy volumes of wine would be crazy to buy outside of the special cycles. The long-term result of this special ling though will be inferior product as wine companies will be forced to engineer the quality of the wine downwards to cut costs.

Now, for what I really want to say.
A week or so ago the National Wine competition results were published with details of the medal and trophy winning wines made available. A few years back these results were eagerly awaited by retailer and consumers. The retailer so as to secure the top wines and make good profit and to help leverage sales of other wines. Consumers to scramble to buy scarce and sought after product. Many years ago prices of trophy wines would inflate as some profiteering took place.
This year, as soon as the Gold Medal and Trophy wines were named several retailers (not supermarkets to blame this time) immediately advertised that the wines were on special at vastly reduced prices! How dumb is that? If we want to have a quality industry and to encourage winemakers to strive for the best this practice is self defeating.
Basically it is due to laziness and very pedestrian thinking. Retailers (of any sort) need to differentiate on all sorts of other things before price. Giving away margin is the simplest thing to do but ultimately the most costly as not only is the product being sold for less than it could or should be but brand franchise, store franchise and consumer loyalty are all put at risk.

MYSTERY WINE

Well its not a real mystery as to who drunk it - The Curmudgeon did and didn't save me a drop. The wine is/was Selaks Founders Reserve 2007 Hawkes Bay Chardonnay. This is from fruit grown on the Corner 50 vineyard that Constellation NZ own close to the Gimblett Road area known as the Triangle. Chardonnay from here is always ripe and full with a delicious stonefruit character (as opposed to the more grapefruit characters found in plantings further south. Constellation are sourcing all of their North Island Chardonnay from here and some other Hawkes Bay sites due to the consistency from year to year and the now mature vines.
The fruit for this wine should have been (if I had got to try it) rich with peach and butterscotch flavours offset by strong oak characters. The Founders Chardonnay is always heavily wooded. In its early stage the wood is quite dominant which I assume was the case here and not quite in balance (I hope Curmudgeon choked on the splinters). With time - possibly another 12 months the wood will integrate nicely with the fruit.