What really struck me at Te Mata’s recent Showcase 2010 tasting: the fact that they are part of that small group of producers which operate an inverse relationship between the quality of the wine they produce, and the amount of nonsense and hyperbole they spout promoting themselves.
An invitation to a 30th Birthday lunch with Tim and Judy Finn, owners of Neudorf Wines and John Kavanagh their winemaker, was one of those that come along once in a blue moon. To taste the latest releases would be carrot enough, but the older vintages too? I was off up Mt Eden Road as fast as my legs could carry me and arrived at the French Cafe simply bursting with excitement.
Although I'd like to think I was a founder member of the 'no holds barred, all singing, all dancing, bigger is better' school of gewurztraminer, I have been persuaded to be more sympathetic to the delicate, ethereal examples.
We attempted to gain some insight into the development of Healy and Sutherland’s Dog Point but, looking back through my notes, it seems after all the jokes, gossip and discussions on cheese and small goods, there was precious little wine stuff left to report. And Kevin could be described as laconic only on a good day so little more was gleaned on the evolution of Greywacke, though he did appear to be quite tickled that Jane thought the label was a photo of a woman’s bum.
The March 2010 issue contains reviews of : Hawkshead, Camshorn, Sacred Hill, Vidal Estate, Church Road, Montana Letter Series, Ti Point, Tolaga Bay Estate, Grasshopper Rock, Sileni Estate, Walnut Block, Paritua, Anchorage Wines, Bouldevines Wines, Mahi, Locharburn Wines and Framingham.
Perhaps a few years ago I would have enjoyed a glass or two and then been tempted to drive but the older I become, the less tolerant I am of this position. I am coming to the realisation that there really isn't any wine, however fabulous, that would tempt me to risk the lives of my family. Or myself come to think of it.
