Trudie Styler and Sting have launched the Il Palagio Tasting Tour at this year's ProWein, the world's leading trade fair for wine and spirits that was held in Dusseldorf, Germany from March 19 to 21. The traveling caravan has been designed to create a welcoming atmosphere for wine lovers from all over the world as they stop to taste Il Palagio wines and learn more about the Tuscan estate and winery during Sting's tour. The Mayor of Dusseldorf and the Prowein team welcomed Sting and Styler at the Prowein fair on Sunday. During the event, Sting also paid tribute to the late, great Chuck Berry, playing Johnny B. Goode at the fair. Il Palagio, the winery owned by world renowned singer Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, a film producer, director and human rights activist Featuring wines named Sister Moon, When we Dance, Casino delle Vie, Beppe Rosato, Message in a Bottle White and Message in a Bottle Red, the first stop of the traveling caravan was in Dusseldorf. The … [Read more...]
Ichiyo Terauchi: From Japan to New Zealand with focus and determination
In the last in a series of interviews with new New Zealanders involved in the wine scene in New Zealand, Isabel Gilbert Palmer interviews Ichiyo Terauchi, sales and marketing executive of Te Mata Estate, New Zealand's oldest wineries Ichiyo, you are the last person I have chosen to interview in my series about new New Zealanders living and working in the Wine Industry in Hawkes Bay but you are working in a different but important area and are passionate member of the New Guard Group there. What is your interest and involvement in the industry? I am in Sales and Marketing Executive for Te Mata Estate. Its a family owned winery which was established in 1896 where the three original vineyards planted then are still in use and one of New Zealand's oldest like Mission Estate. What led you to come here? I first came to New Zealand when I was 17 years old on a school exchange program to learn English because I was fascinated by it as a language. At the time we could chose to study … [Read more...]
Dan Brennan: ‘Time makes the wine’ and time makes a wine career
Isabel Gilbert Palmer interviews Daniel Brennan, an American who has settled in New Zealand and is working to do something different with wines in Hawkes Bay. His advice to anyone taking a step towards a winemaking career is to be ready to work hard and not make much money for a very long time. He says its important to work with people who have the same mindset as yours and are passionate. Here is his story. Lets begin with a timeline Dan. What year did you come to New Zealand and specifically why? 2008 to study Wine Science at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) in Hawkes Bay. Where do you live and from where did you come from originally ? I live in Hawkes Bay. I am New York-born, and grew up in Philadelphia in a Sicilian-Irish family. What brought you from the East Coast of USA not exactly known for wine growing to the East Coast of New Zealand and Hawkes Bay, well known for it? I can answer that partly with a question for you. Do you think tasting a wine … [Read more...]
Summer wine and cheese pairings – Jeriann Watkins
Summer is a great time for food-centered social activities. The weather is great for eating outdoors, meaning that people with small homes can utilize their yards or even local parks and invite as many of their friends and family as they want. I love hosting small get-togethers with friends. This year, my focus has been on brunch, because who doesn’t love a good mimosa in the morning? I also like to host wine and cheese tastings for my friends who love wine. Here’s how we set them up for maximum fun and class. Find a Theme When it comes to wine, you can pick a theme based on any number of factors. A few choices are: Country of origin Varietal Main taste profile (sweet, dry, etc) Colour If you build the theme around the wine, it’s easy to pick matching cheeses and music to accompany the night. If a region is involved, your theme can even affect your décor and outfits. Focus on the Pairings Of course you’re having a tasting to spend time with your friends, … [Read more...]
Guillaume Thomas (Maison Noir): A French harvest nomad follows his dream in New Zealand
Isabel Gilbert Palmer interviews a French man who has settled in Havenlock North, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand and who has just started to produce wine under the Maison Noir label. Like many in the food and wine world, he took a long time to find out what he wanted to do in life and after a life in music decided to work in the wine industry, studying winemaking and wine marketing and then becoming a harvest nomad to travel around the world. He finally settled in New Zealand, the place where he met his wife and had a daughter. Guillaume as the first New New Zealander in this series lets begin with.. So where are you from originally ? I was born and spent my childhood in a very small French village,there were only 12 homes, in La Vrignais in the Aigrefeuille-sur Maine, the Loire-Atlantique department of western France, in fact near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast, in Brittany. Its perhaps an assumption to say that because you were born in a historical wine growing … [Read more...]
Living in the Antipodes: New world wines, new New Zealanders and the new guard
History tells us that in the early 1800’s, French Missionaries, Brothers from the Order of Saint Mary, at the direction of France’s Pope Gregory XV1 in Lyon set sail for Nouvelle Zealandia, or Aotearoa (Land of the Long White Cloud) armed with their bibles, sacramental robes, rituals and seedling grape vines. Their destination, a collection of sparsely inhabited islands, (except for its indigenous race who named them) in the South Pacific. Here, these pioneering Marist Brothers chose Hawkes Bay, a Province in the North Island of their adopted country consisting of 1.4 million hectares on 350km of Pacific Ocean coastline, to settle. An eastern sea board and famous for being the first country in the world to see the sun rise on every new day, it climbs from sea level to several hundred metres inland to the Southern Hemisphere. Warm north-facing hillsides, its natural river valleys and terraces, offered them then and winemakers now a diversity of low vigour vineyard sites … [Read more...]
Matthieu Chaumont (Hortense): The man who introduced a cocktail culture in Brussels
The cocktail bar scene in Brussels was pretty non-existant before Matthieu Chaumont, the owner and cocktail master of Hortense opened his bar in Place Sablon in 2012. Although the cocktail bar scene in Belgium is pretty vibrant particularly in the Flemish cities of Antwerp and Gent, Brussels did not have a proper cocktail bar like the one created by Matthieu four years ago. He attributes this to the fact that there was no cocktail culture in Brussels despite the presence of a large expat community for a very long time. "For example, I don't remember my parents ever drinking a cocktail. When they would go out, they have a tendency to order a glass of wine or beer but I have never seen them drinking a cocktail," he tells me. Matthieu has over the past four years worked to change this trend and he seems to be managing thanks to a receptive audience which is now becoming more and more interested in exploring new things. "In our first year, our crowd was mainly composed of expats but … [Read more...]
A blind wine tasting: France vs the rest of the world
There is nothing like a blind wine-tasting to get you out of your comfort zone. And if you do not know what wines are being served, it makes it all the more difficult particularly since you have no indication whether the organisers are pulling out any tricks to make it even more difficult. On a recent visit to Malta, we participated in a blind wine tasting with the theme being France vs the rest of the world. The event was organsed by R,W&R, Amateur Wine Appreciation Group at the Commando restaurant in the idyllic village of Mellieha in the Northern part of this Mediterranean island. At the end of the evening the outcome was a 2-2 draw between France vs Rest of the World. But as they say comparisons are odious and it was more about the fun of testing our palates and finding the wines we loved without any influence whatsoever. The only hints we received before the tasting - there would be four flights of three wines served. These would be Alsace wines, Oaked Chardonnay, … [Read more...]
Syrco Bakker launches unique liqueur Hierbas de las Dunas in Belgium and the Netherlands
Hierbas de las Dunas, a new unique flavourful liqueur made from fresh organic dune herbs was officially launched this week in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the creation of top chef Syrco Bakker (restaurant Pure C, Cadzand). The liqueur is made from 18 different types of herbs, flowers and plants from Cadzand's dunes. Usually liqueurs are made using only fresh ingredients. This technique gives Hierbas de las Dunas a pure, salty-sweet flavour that makes it a perfect apéritif, after-dinner drink or cocktail ingredient. The liqueur was launched in Amsterdam and Antwerp on 2 May. It is the perfect way to start the sunny season and it is already available in dozens of stores and shops and soon on their own online store. The price of the 50cl bottle is € 27.50. Bakker, is the chef of Pure-C in Cadzand which forms part of Sergio Herman's group of restaurants and is also founder of Inspired Events which promotes the food region of Zeeland. The Dutch chef told Food and Wine … [Read more...]
First craft beer masterclass organised in Malta by Lord Chambray
Lord Chambray organised the first ever Craft Beer masterclass in Malta in collaboration with Lorenzo Dabove, one of the world's renowned craft beer experts who is considered as one of the most important expert on Belgian beers and who is known worldwide for promoting lambic beers and craft beers. We attended this masterclass in Malta a few weeks ago. Dabove said that the craft beer revolution, that had swept through the United States to Italy and many other countries has now reached Malta. "Lord Chambray is the southernmost craft brewery in Europe. We can now say that there are craft breweries from the Lapland to Malta". There are now over 1,000 micro breweries in Italy, 3,000 in the United Kingdom and 5,000 in the United States. The tasting started with a wheat beer or White Beer, the Blue Lagoon. Wheat beer originated from the Belgian village of Hoegaarden and has been made since the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, the village had 13 breweries and 9 distilleries. In 1957, … [Read more...]