TINY WINERY WINS BIG: How do an ex guidance counsellor / education manager and a civil engineer produce amazing wine? For Judge Rock’s owners Paul and Angela Jacobson, 50 JULY 2016 the answer is a lot of hard work. “Firstly, we read every viticultural and winemaking book we could find, learnt from the best New Zealand Pinot Noir producers, and made wine in Burgundy under the Central Otago Winegrowers exchange,” Angela Jacobson says. “We have total hands-on quality control of our vines ensuring that only the finest quality grapes are harvested for our skilled contract winemaking team, but as a small producer with a very limited budget, marketing has always been our greatest challenge. Winning these trophies will be a significant boost to our national and international profile.” Judge Rock has won the Pinot Noir Trophy and the Red Wine of the Show Trophy at the recent Australia & New Zealand Boutique Wine Show. “We are one of the world’s smallest vineyards from the most southerly wine growing region of the world with four hectares of vines and an annual tonnage of around 18 ton,” Jacobson says. “We are so small we are almost invisible – we are the Higgs Boson of world Pinot Noir. Our vineyard has proven its ability to consistently make great Pinot Noir, and our 2012 Decanter gold medal Pinot Noir is currently exported to the United Kingdom, and we have exported wines to China, Hong Kong and Australia. ” The 2014 Pinot Noir is yet to be released in New Zealand. NEW TECHNOLOGY: Time-strapped wine-lovers from overseas and around New Zealand won’t have to spend hours travelling to vineyards to taste the best this country can offer from now on. A Queenstown company is offering a comprehensive wine tasting service that’s a little different from the rest. The Wine Company has a choice of 80 of this country’s most acclaimed wines for tasting, along with a selection of leading European wines and premium whiskies delivered by the Enomatic wine-serving system. Chief executive Rick Nelson says with the simple push of a button, the customer self- serves from a choice of wines, enjoying either a taste, half or full glass from the company’s wide selection of world-acclaimed local Pinot Noir to the classic Sauvignon Blancs of Marlborough, making it easy to compare different wine varieties and styles from throughout New Zealand. Eight well-regarded whiskies are also available, displayed and dispensed in the same system. The customer buys a $30 wine card from an assistant, which allows that customer to explore each wine variety and self- serve. The Enomatic wine serving systems are designed and manufactured in Italy, and its main focus is on retaining the organoleptic characteristics of wine. It solves this problem by replacing the displacement of the wine in the bottles with food-grade inert gases such as nitrogen and argon. This means the characteristics of the wine remain perfectly maintained for up to four weeks, just as if the bottle had just been opened. Nelson is bringing the system to wine events around the country as well, thanks to a Volkswagen Kombi. VA R I E TA L ON THE MOVE: Hawke’s Bay winery Crossroads will celebrate its 25th birthday by moving its operations to Marlborough. Acquired by Yealands Family Wines in 2011, Crossroads is renowned for its boutique hand-crafted winemaking and small parcel sourcing within Hawke’s Bay, and Yealands – the first winery in the world to be carboNZecocertTM since inception in 2008 – will establish Crossroads into its Awatere and Wairau Valley sites because of the increasing benefits of centralisation. Yealands says the heritage, history and quality of Crossroads will continue to thrive. “From a winemaking perspective, Yealands Family Wines is committed to producing high quality wines with sustainability at the forefront of our thinking,” the company says. “With Crossroads, this will remain paramount. The opportunity to centralise winemaking in Marlborough also means that a strong grower-sourcing model can be established, further expanding on the diverse quality found in small parcels throughout Hawke’s Bay, and other key growing regions throughout New Zealand.” Over the past eight years, Yealands has grown and developed into a state-of-the-art winery and vineyard in Marlborough, and the opportunity to bring Crossroads winemaking to the estate will ensure that the 25-year history of quality and craft in its superior wines will continue to grow. "The goal for Crossroads is to further establish a strong global brand, steeped in quality and heritage. The ability to utilise the best resource and assets, state of the art winery, expanded grower sourcing, and expert winemaking, will help to ensure Crossroads’ success both in New Zealand and abroad.”
FT AUG 16
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