Kiwi Kapers

John & Jane introduce the evening

On Saturday 19th November we had our tenth wine tasting in Tongham Village Hall and for the first time indulged in some New World Wines - the wines of New Zealand.  We had our biggest attendance to date and Jane cooked eight courses for over sixty people!   The fund raising element was also successful and we raised over £1,000 for the maintenance of the Hall.   Below is a report on the evening and some food and wine facts about New Zealand produce. 

NEW ZEALAND FOOD AND WINE FACTS

The Maori, New Zealand’s indigenous people, originally came from Polynesia from where they brought with them the kumara sweet potato. Traditional Maori cooking is done on hot stones in an earth oven known as a hangi. Apart from Maori influences, New Zealand cooking has developed alongside Australian cooking and has strong British, Mediterranean and Pacific Rim elements.

Classics of New Zealand cuisine include;

Jane's Kiwi Pavlovas

Pavlova – A meringue dessert that was created in honour of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in about 1926. Both Australia and New Zealand claim they invented it first.

Anzac Biscuits – Oat biscuits created during World War 1 to send to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers fighting on the front line.
Lamington, Leamington or Lemmington cakes – These sponges covered in desiccated coconut are a common cake in Australasia. The raspberry ones are more common in New Zealand.

Raspberry Lemmington Cakes

Meat Pies and Sausage Rolls – Both of these British classics are popular in Australasia and are often served with tomato ketchup.

Lamb – There are more sheep than people in New Zealand and although much lamb is exported it is still a favourite ingredient.

Green-Lipped Mussels – New Zealand is an Island and thus seafood is bound to play a part in its cuisine. The big mussels are good on their own or in curries or soups. Other seafood such as prawns, scallops and oysters also find their way into New Zealand cooking.

Kiwifruit - Originally known as the Chinese gooseberry, the Kiwifruit plays a part in New Zealand cuisine as it is so widely grown there.

Fusion cooking – This is a style of cooking that combines different culinary traditions. In New Zealand this often combines European and Asian elements.

New Zealand has been making wine since the middle of the nineteenth century but did not really become one of the world’s important wine regions until the 1980s. Amazingly Sauvignon Blanc was only planted commercially in New Zealand in the early 1970s. New Zealand wine comes from about ten designated regions some on the warmer North Island and some on the cooler South Island.

The South Island includes Marlborough which is New Zealand’s largest wine district. This is where much of the NZ Sauvignon Blanc comes from but they also grow Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. South of Marlborough is Canterbury where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay dominate. Even further south is the Central Otago region where Pinot Noir is the rising star. The other main region of the South is Nelson where smaller artisanal growers are more likely to be found.

The North Island’s biggest and best known region is Hawkes Bay where you will find Chardonnay and loads of different red grapes – many of the best NZ reds apart from Pinot Noir come from this region. At the southern tip of the North Island are the Wellington regions of Martinborough and Wairapara – these are other good regions for Pinot Noir. Other regions on the North Island include Gisborne, Auckland, Northland and the lesser known Waiheke Island where the small producers dominate.

New Zealand wines are never the cheapest wines in the supermarket but they do offer very reliable quality and some superb examples of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and increasingly other varietals.

NEW ZEALAND WINE TASTING DINNER MENU

Pelorus with Salmon Blinis

1. Cloudy Bay Pelorus Brut NV
New Zealand Chardonnay Blend Sparkling White Wine made using the traditional champagne method (Majestic and Waitrose £16 to £19))
Served with Smoked Salmon Paté on homemade Blinis
This is one of NZs best sparkling wines made by a winery owned by Veuve Cliquot. It has creamy, yeasty, apple and hazelnut flavours.  A great way to start off any special evening.  Buy some for Christmas.

2. The Ned Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Marlborough
New Zealand white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes near the Waihopai River (Majestic and Watirose £7 to £10)
Served with Beetroot and Goats Cheese Verrine
This is my favorite NZ Sauvignon Blanc as it doesn't have just the classic New World fruitiness but a good minerality as well.

Jane prepares the salad

3. Lone Range Heretaunga Chardonnay 2009 Hawkes Bay
New Zealand oaked white wine made on the North Island with Chardonnay grapes (Marks & Spencer £10 to £11)
Served with Prawn, Avocado and Mango Salad
NZ doesn't just make Sauvignon Blanc whites and here is a fine example of a Burgundy style Chardonnay with citrus, peach and apple flavours.  Beautiful as long as you don't mind the oakiness.  I loved it.

4. Clocktower Pinot Noir 2009 Marlborough
New Zealand red wine made with Pinot Noir grapes (Marks & Spencer £10 to £12)
Served with Johnny's Fusion Sausage Roll served with Jane's Homemade Tomato Ketchup
Pinot Noir was the first red grape that really made it big in New Zealand and this one has a fruity acidity to offset the typical fattiness of a sausage roll.

Jane's Tongham ketchup

5. Wild Rock Gravel Pit Red 2009 Hawkes Bay
New Zealand red wine made with Merlot and Malbec grapes (Waitrose £10 to £11)
Served with Lamb and Kumara Hot Pot
This shows that the North Island can make great reds using grapes other than Pinot Noir. Its big dark fruits and spicy flavours should stand up well to a hearty stew.

6. Man O'War Syrah 2008 Waiheke Island
New Zealand North Island red wine made with Syrah Grapes (Noel Young Wines, Harvey Nichols £17 - £18)
Served with a Cheese Board (Cheddar, Gouda and Manchego)
This is a seriously good red wine even if it doesn't have the classic New World syrah/shiraz flavours and enhanced our classic cheese board.  The white pepper complexity of this wine makes it a exceptional tasting experience.  A wine also great for drinking on on its own.  Do try this one.   Here is a link to Noel Young wines.

A lovely first course

7. The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Marlborough
A late harvest New Zealand sweet dessert white wine made with Sauvignon Blanc grapes (Majestic £9 to £13 a half bottle)
Served with Kiwi Fruit Pavlova
Dessert wines from New Zealand have only recently started to be imported into the UK. We are serving ours with a classic NZ dessert.  Pleasant and worth a try but too one dimensional to beat a classic dessert wine.

Fusion Sausage Roll

8. Coffee served with Raspberry Lemmington Cakes

Thanks to everyone who turned up and made this a special evening.  Special thanks to Jane whose cooking makes these evenings a culinary experience and also to Christine, Bob and others who also put in much hard work.  Finally, thanks to Clive for some of the pictures that accompany this post.
 
Coming soon - my recipe for the sausage rolls!

For other recipes from this evening, visit Jane's blog Why is there Air.

Its all Greek to me!

For our November 2011 Tongham Tasters evening we were back in home territory following our October trip to Farnborough. It proved to be another fun evening of good wine, food,conversation and laughter.  Our host was Sheila. She had gathered together six wines and some food from Waitrose. What would our six intrepid tasters think of them? Find out below with scores out of twenty in the order John E, Sheila, John S, Steve S, Jane and Ian. As usual the wines are presented in descending order of preference. All were tasted blind so that we could test our lack of wine tasting skills and score them without prejudice.

1.. Organiki Tsantali Cabernet Sauvignon Private Collection 2006, Greek Red, Waitrose £8.99. 14.5%

Two Thirds of our tasting team had this as their top wine of the evening and everyone had in their top three wines. It was a very smooth tasting wine with some raspberry, tobacco and herbal flavours. Ian wondered if it was from Portugal and John E wondered if it was an Argentian Malbec. Jane complained that she couldn’t taste the sunshine! John S spotted that it was a Cabernet Sauvignon but nobody guessed it was from Greece. Scores were 13, 13, 17, 15, 17, and 16. This was a Greek red that we can definitely recommend for slightly under £9.

2. San Leo Vino Spumante Prosecco Aromatico Brut NV, Italian Sparekling White, Waitrose £8.99. 11%.
The other third of our tasting team voted this sparkling wine their top wine. Only John E didn’t really rate it at all, and he was also the only one to identify it as a Prosecco. It has a nice bouquet and Ian thought it had lots of umph! Quite a few thought it was chardonnay but they were wrong. Scores were 10.5, 16.5, 13, 13, 18 and 14. Most of the team rated this a good sub £9 sparkler.

3. Neethlingshof Estate 2011 Stellenbosch Gewurtztraminer South African White, Waitrose £6.99. 13%.
Both Jane and Ian wondered if this from the Alsace. Others wondered if it was an Italian Pinot Grigio. With a slightly smoky taste, it was in fact a pleasant South African Gewurtztraminer from this year’s vintage. Everyone had it in there top four wines and the scores were 12, 16, 12, 12.5, 14, and13. Another good buy white wine at this price.

4. Waitrose Seriously Plummy Grande Reserve Maury, French Dessert wine, £9.99 for 37.5ml, 16%.
With some wondering if it was Spanish or Californian, John E confidently said it was French and a 100% Grenache Vin Doux; for once he was right! Steve S said he thought it was well made. What was absolutely certain was that it went perfectly with chocolate; Sheila thoughtfully providing us with some 85% cocoa chocolate pieces. Scores were 11, 12, 12, 10.75, 15 and 15. This sweet red wine is an absolute must for chocoholics.

5. Champteloup Selection Rosé d’Anjou, 2010, French rosé wine, Waitrose £6.99. 11%.
John E confidently announced this wine was a white wine, somehow totally ignoring the cough mixture colour! Sheila though it had not a lot of flavour, John S thought it floral and Ian described it as rose hip syrup. Not a popular wine with no top four votes, the scores were 10, 10, 9, 6, 8 and 11. Probably one for those who don’t really like wine!

6. Chateau Musar 2004 Gaston Hochar, Lebanese Red wine, Waitrose £18.99,
Although there was some taste of blackcurrants there was also an unpleasant taste of glue in this light coloured red wine. Nobody really liked it and when we unveiled what it was we found out it was a similar wine to the Lebanese wine that bombed at our tasting a few months ago. Scores were 8.5, 8, 8, 8.75, 12 and 8. I wonder if it tastes better and you decant as they instruct on the bottle. At this price we wouldn’t bother trying.

Thanks to Sheila for selecting these interesting wines. I particularly appreciated the Greek red and the Maury. With the wines Sheila served some cheese, Polish sausage, bread crackers and a selection of dips. Her conservatory proved another great location for one of our tasting sessions.

Next month is our Christmas party on Thursday December 15th in Grange Road Tongham. Three of our group will be competing to find out who can produce the best mulled wine. We will also be having a raclette cheese dish served with some Savoie and other French wines. If you want to join in the fun, click on Wine Circle at the top of this blog. Cost will be slightly more than the normal £10 for our December evening but everyone is welcome if they have an interest in wine, food and socialising.  Before this we have our New Zealand wine tasting dinner in Tongham Village Hall for which we have already sold out our 57 tickets.  See you there!