Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Lifestyle

New Zealand wines - working hard to save French souls

By Yvonne Lorkin
Bay of Plenty Times·
16 Jul, 2010 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

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?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Bay of Plenty Times

The secret sauce of the bar named NZ's best

Bay of Plenty Times

Robyn Malcolm, Toni Street, Kiri Nathan and Cassie Roma share defining moments

Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

Tactix book ANZ final spot with comeback win over Pulse
Netball

Tactix book ANZ final spot with comeback win over Pulse

'Hazardous' tsunami warnings after 7.4 magnitude quake strikes off Russia's coast
World

'Hazardous' tsunami warnings after 7.4 magnitude quake strikes off Russia's coast

Halasima scores stunning solo match-winning try to beat Knights
Warriors

Halasima scores stunning solo match-winning try to beat Knights

Should teen rapist be sentenced as a youth he was at the time, or the adult he is now?
New Zealand

Should teen rapist be sentenced as a youth he was at the time, or the adult he is now?

Financial mentors warn of $300m debt risk in family payment changes
Politics

Financial mentors warn of $300m debt risk in family payment changes

All Black legend shares new health update after shock gym collapse
Sport

All Black legend shares new health update after shock gym collapse



Latest from Lifestyle

The secret sauce of the bar named NZ's best
Bay of Plenty Times

The secret sauce of the bar named NZ's best

'I’ve always wanted to be called an institution – that’s my goal.'

08 Jul 10:00 PM
Robyn Malcolm, Toni Street, Kiri Nathan and Cassie Roma share defining moments
Bay of Plenty Times

Robyn Malcolm, Toni Street, Kiri Nathan and Cassie Roma share defining moments

26 Jun 10:00 PM
Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood
Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga couple's 'amazing journey' to parenthood

20 Jun 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search