Pressure on to find top wines

After watching the experts working their way through tasting some 74 bottles of white, red, dessert and sparkling wine, I began to appreciate their skills ... even if I did not exactly understand what they were saying.
 Last night was all about "wine speak" in the Cuve Room at Church Road Winery in Greenmeadows as three leading winemakers sniffed and sipped (then spat out) samples from the many bottles before them.
All in the name of seeking the dozen very best wines to accompany the sparkling dishes, created by chef Jenny Parton of Dish, to be presented to the 300 people who will turn out for this year's Midlands Hawke's Bay Charity Wine Auction on June 5.
It is one of the most prestigious events on the national wine calender and, as with previous auctions, the proceeds will go to Cranford Hospice.
Recent upheavals concerning Cranford had not deterred the region's winegrowers from pledging their support - support which over the past 18 years has raised $2 million.
So the pressure was on winemakers Chris Scott of Church Road, Hugh Crichton of Vidals and Roland Norman of Tukipo Estate to get the selections spot on.
"No pressure lads," I said quietly, but they were too absorbed in the testing scrum.
Like a three-man front row, they reacted not to "crouch, touch, pause, engage" - rather, it was a case of "swirl, sniff, sip and spit."
Being one who can barely spell sauvignon, let alone critique it, I tried to join in but was hopelessly out of my depth.
"That's a bit developed," Chris said, and his colleagues nodded. So I did too.
"This is a bit hard - not sure about the palate," Hugh noted, and I mumbled "Mmm palate, not sure."
The bottles were all in plain brown wrappers so there was no telling where they had come from. The judges scored them from numbers and letters written on each bag.
"That's quite nutty ... complex," Roland said, and the others agreed. So I did too.
Chris said the prerequisites were intensity, balance, and not too much dominance.
I asked about the taste buds, and Roland said tasting 70 or so wines was no problem.
"It's when you're doing 300 or so ... that's when you get palate fatigue."
Auction event manager Carol-Ann Stubbs paid tribute to the skills of the winemakers and the chefs. "They help create a remarkable evening for us."
At the auction, attendees can expect to bid on rare and unique wines from more than 30 Hawke's Bay wineries - offered in large-format bottles, including Balthazars (12 litres) and Methuselahs (6 litres), or in quarter, half or full-barrel lots.
There will also be tribute wines to long-time wine industry supporters Richard Weston, Bob Walch and Doug Wisor, while an artwork by internationally acclaimed artist Piera McArthur titled Wine Tasters will be this year's painting for auction.
Tickets to the event are available by phoning 0800 442 9463 or emailing info@hawkesbaywineauction.co.nz.