New Zealand wines - working hard to save French souls

A face full of freezing water is not something one expects when you're tucked up in bed, but that's what happened the other night when my sleepy dream suddenly became a nightmare of Niagara Falls proportions.
"Gradual damage?" I quizzed the insurance company assessor as he inspected our seeping bedroom ceiling. "How can it be gradual damage if we've been here for seven years and this is the first sign that anything was wrong?"
A long list of clauses involving pipes, structures, silicone, our ancient 1940s aluminium roofing, flashings, guttering and downpipes followed - meaning we weren't covered for the exterior. They would, however, cover the interior ceiling once we'd fixed the roof, but our excess would be $1000. A thousand dollars!
I cursed myself for choosing a high excess just to save a few bucks on our premiums. Insurance haunts me because I'm eyeball-deep in it. House, contents, car, health, life, disability, trauma, income protection, credit card repayment policies - you name it, we're insured for it.
That said, I cursed myself a second time for not buying pet insurance when I had the chance. That's because no sooner had I said sayonara to the leaky-roof assessor when the phone rang. It was the vet announcing that we were up for the best part of three grand to fix our dog's bung knee.
I'd only just managed to hang up the phone and retrieve my jaw from the floor when my son marched inside and said: "Mum my bike's been stolen."
Total meltdown was thankfully forestalled by a large glass of Pegasus Bay Waipara Merlot Cabernet 2006 ($29). Ultra-satisfying and oozing character, this Canterbury-grown cracker is the absolute business.
Two years in barrel and a good four years of age has created cocoa, redcurrant, plum and earthy spice notes on the nose, followed by rich berry flavours, warming, solid tannins, and a long, persistent finish.
My mood lifted again hearing that a group of Bordeaux blends from Hawke's Bay's Gimblett Gravels region were given praise by some of the most influential chateau proprietors and winemakers in Bordeaux, as well as press and media at a tasting held in France last month.
Led by Steve Smith MW (director of wine and viticulture for Craggy Range), the guests included Christian Seely of Pichon Longueville, Jean Claude Berrouet, winemaker of Chateau Petrus and Jane Anson of Decanter.com.
Wines from Craggy Range, Trinity Hill, Church Road, Villa Maria and Sacred Hill across three vintages were presented.
"These wines, crafted by the inspiration of Bordeaux, are from a young fledgling part of New Zealand, the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District. They represent some of the very best examples of this wine style produced in our country. They make no aspiration to be Bordeaux-like as these wines are ours. They make no statement of a comparison. They simply speak of our place and our people and this is why we invited the Bordelaise to have that experience."
The response from the Bordeaux winemakers was enthusiastic. "We loved the tasting of this new region from New Zealand. It was interesting to note that the terroir is also important and that vintages are very distinct too," said Lilian Barton of Chateau Leoville Barton.
Jean Claude Berrouet of Chateau Petrus noted: "They do not create wines that compete with ours but rather wines which are ambassadors, expressing the classic basics, namely harmony and balance."
Nathalie Schyler of Chateau Kirwan also commented: "A magnificent tasting! Remarkable 2007s ... great balance, finesse, great harmony and complexity."
I quickly decided if Pegasus Bay can make merlot that good that far south, and if New Zealand can impress the French with our reds, then I can beat my bad luck. Now, where did I put that Lotto ticket?