I made the mistake of hauling the heavy wooden box holding all of our family photos down from the top shelf in my wardrobe right when I needed to be knuckling down to work. “I’ll just take a peek at one or two” I said to myself. One or two rapidly became an avalanche of family history that sprawled across the bed like an enormous blanket of smiles and milky babies and toddlers birthday parties and sleeping cats and fish being held high and hugging and laughter and weddings and over-bubbled bubble baths full of squirming, grinning siblings. I lingered over the rare photos featuring me and my children (I tend to be the photo-snapper in our household. Unless of course there are actual snapper around, in which case my husband will take a whole album’s worth) and it was everything I could do not to get a tad weepy. To stave off the tears, I yelled out to my (now) teenagers “Oi! Come and look at these!” and forced them to scrutinise every picture and endure endless outpourings of “awwwww look at you!” until I actually made them late for school.
I look back on those years when my children were little and feel guilty that I wasn’t present as I’d have liked. I had just landed my first proper wine job and had just started my wine marketing study programme when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had my second in my third year. We also had a mortgage and one income was not an option, so I worked multiple jobs in order to cram as much wine industry experience under my belt as possible, and my children were shuffled between kindy, daycare, school, after school care, school holiday programs because we couldn’t take time off (or afford) holidays. But as mother’s day (and mother’s guilt) looms large, those piles of smiley photos must mean I can’t have done too bad a job. And for that I’m going to treat myself with a goblet of something gorgeous on Sunday 13th.
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Giesen The Brothers Marlborough Pinot Noir 2016 $29 (4 stars)
Scooping silver at the NZ International Wine Competition is no mean feat, but this intensely cherry and berry-focused pinot noir hits all the sweet spots. Succulent, juicy mildly spiced and nicely balanced, there’s an earthy, generosity with this wine that I really like.
www.finewinedelivery.co.nz
Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage 2009 $100 (5 stars)
To clarify, Moët rhymes with ‘poet’. So from today. It’s not okay. To say ‘mow-way’. When the Chef de Cave (French for ‘Chief Winemaker’) Benoît Gouez declares a ‘vintage’ it’s something to notice because the quality doth skyrocket. This is the 73rd time in the history of Moët that it’s happened. Aged for 7 years before release, it has luxurious creamy, cashew-like characters, tiny, delicate beads, biscuity, lemony lusciousness in the mouth and a long, finely-tuned, zesty-fresh finish. Oysters? Of course.
www.thegoodwine.co.nz
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Richmond Plains Organic Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2016 $21.99 (4 stars)
The team at Richmond Plains produced New Zealand’s first vegan-friendly sauvignon blanc from fully-certified organic and biodynamic grapes years ago, and this new vintage could be their best one yet. Lemongrassy, lighty-structured and showing leafy, herbaceous notes alongside a hint of feijoa that stitches it all together. It’s a ripe, bouncy, citrus-stacked sauvignon blanc that I think gets added complexity from the diversity of groundcover plants growing amongst the vines. www.organicwines.co.nz
Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap Franschhoek Viognier Chenin Blanc Grenache Blanc 2015 $22 (4 stars)
This is one of my go to wines of the moment and this blend of 48% viognier 41% Chenin Blanc and 11% grenache blanc should be on your shopping list too. Layers of white peach, apple, hints of citrus oil and jasmine and a mash-up of minerality on the finish make it a complex, juicy, fresh and slightly musky little glass of magic.
www.planetwine.co.nz
Wild River North Canterbury Sauvignon Blanc 2017 $13.99 (4 stars)
2017 was a tricky vintage for Cantabrian wine producers, but Catherine Keith and Tony Rutherford made a cracking go of it to turn out tangy, lemony, passionfruity sauvignon blanc that will keep the crowds happy at that Spring wedding or for those family fish and chip Friday nights.
www.centrecity.co.nz
