Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 22 Feb 2016
If you’re sitting at home or at the café or the hairdressers or possibly on a plane or a bus or at your computer reading this newspaper, then you’re possibly feeling that it’s all very well being kept up to date with the current affairs of the world, but you’re finding yourself agonising internally that your mental quotient of not-so-useful information is diminishing to dangerously low levels. Well fret not, because wine is here to help and I don’t mean in a drown-your-sorrows kind of way. I’m talking about being the foundation of all sorts of fun facts that’ll see you sail like a star through the chitchat at your next dinner party. Here are just a couple to get you started.
Ever since the English began bottling wine in the 1700’s, consumers have wrestled with the task of extracting the corks. The earliest reference to a corkscrew was a crude instrument called a “steel worm” which was a variation on musket barrel cleaning tools or ‘gun worms’ manufactured by gunsmiths. Over the next 300 years inventors would file hundreds of patents, relentlessly improving upon the concept of cork extraction.
The Mesopotamians were credited with producing the very first wines back in 6000BC. There are over 10,000 wine grape varieties growing around the world. It takes approximately 177 grapes to make a bottle of wine.
A standard oak barrel contains 300 750ml bottles of wine.
More wine is drunk per person in the Vatican City than in any other country in the world. Saying “cheers” and clinking glasses apparently originated back in the middle ages when poisoning was a popular way of offing your enemies. To be sure their glass was poison-free, drinkers would first pour a bit of wine into each others glass, meaning if poison was in one, it was now in both. The clinking sound of the glasses was also believed to ward off evil spirits.
McManis Family Vineyards Petite Sirah 2014 $24 ★★★★
If two of your favourite scents are berries and vanilla then you’ll probably be tempted to dab this behind your ears before you even sip it. Vibrant, exciting and despite being soft and silky on the palate, it’s absolutely loaded with flavour. Petite Sirah is known as ‘Durif’ in Australia and its delicious vanilla, pepper, dark cherry and mocha notes are really shining through in this Californian example. Drink with spicy-rich venison pie. www.winedirect.co.nz
Clearview Two Pinnacles Malbec Cabernet Franc 2013 $29 ★★★★
Named after the two jagged rocky pinnacles clinging to life against the relentless Cape Kidnappers surf down the road from Clearview on the southern tip of Hawke’s Bay – this wine has real ‘edge’ and complexity. Unfiltered and oozing deep damson plum, pepper and smoky tones – it’s a pocket monster of a wine, warm and fuzzy but with some bite. Serve with barbequed butterflied lamb and mint guacamole. www.clearviewestate.co.nz
When ‘wine people’ talk about the group of wines known as ‘aromatics’, they mean varieties like pinot gris, gewürztraminer, viognier, riesling, gruner veltliner, albarino, arneis and the like. Wines that rely on that instant floral, citrus and mineral punch in the nose to create a brilliant first impression. Here are three that I’m loving right now…
Allan Scott Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2015 $19 ★★★½
Just in case you needed a refresher, it’s pronounced (gah-werts-tra-meener) and it translates to ‘spicy wine’ in German, it’s spiritual homeland. Fans of Turkish Delight will want to do a little dance as soon as they sip this, because with its alluring rose petal, ginger and musky-sweet lychee-like aromas and tangy, spicy mid-palate punch – it’s a stunner. It’s dangerously easy to drink with spicy pork Thai larb salad heaving with chilli, lemongrass, ginger and coriander. www.allanscott.com
Palliser Martinborough Riesling 2015 $22 ★★★★½
Allan Johnson has been the Chief Winemaker at Palliser since 1991 and since then he’s helped load over 80 gold medals into their trophy cabinet. And luckily for us, riesling is one of the things he does best. The word here is purity. It’s all about pristine, clean, white florals, sleek citrus, a splishy-splash of honeysuckle and a long, flinty finish. It’s one of the best of its kind and it’s amazing with grilled peach and salted ricotta salad. www.palliser.co.nz
Spade Oak Voysey Gisborne Pinot Gris 2015 $18 ★★★★
What Steve and Eileen Voysey don’t know about growing grapes in Gisborne probably isn’t worth thinking about. They’re experts in gleaning every drop of excellence from their vineyards and this stonefruit-packed pinot gris is no exception. With nashi pear, quince and classic, baked apple and musky spice characters, it’s a little stunner. There’s also a squeak of fruit sweetness that adds extra flesh to the finish. Try sipping it with coconut crumbed tiger prawns with sweet chilli dipping sauce – outrageous. www.spadeoak.co.nz
