Lisa gets some more gongs
Right in the midst of one of the busiest times of our year with the restaurant in full swing and the beginning of our harvest for the 2022 Vintage, we had some great news... Lisa got some more gongs!
It’s bad form to be boastful, but hey, not just a single gold, but two more on Lisa’s mantlepiece. And let’s not forget contributions from the stalwart viticulturalist. And maybe the sun?
So, after a year of Covid-caused delay, the NZ International Wine Show, N.Z’s largest competition, finally got done.
And the winners were:
Coney Piccolo Pinot Gris - DOUBLE GOLD (don’t really know what double gold signifies but it’s better than a double chin).
Coney Ritz Riesling - GOLD.
Gongs are always welcome news because they validate your own idea of excellence, with stiff competition provided by thousands of entries.
Of course, one only puts forward wines that are considered by the entrant to be worthy of a silver or gold medal. Often, this is greeted with stony silence.
Then Coney grumps around the vineyard muttering uncharitable thoughts like “what would those pricks know anyway”. Then, light in the tunnel and they dole out a couple of golds. Rather hypocritically you might say, Coney suddenly changes his position with a speed worthy of some politicians to “Well, their palates (the judges) seem to have improved!”. I think it’s called human nature.
The bad news is (and this is not sales speak but factual) we have miniscule stocks of both medal winners. Which is code for - if you want a few bottles to ease the pain, better be in quick!
Who deserves the credit?
In the wine game there is a perpetual tussle for recognition - is it the vineyard/viticulturalist or the winemaker who deserves the pat on the back for a medal. Of course, grownups know that this is a perfectly fruitless conversation and usually boils down to little more than a trivial contest of egos.
First, your mother told you that it’s difficult to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear i.e. the raw material (grapes) need to be in good nick - ripe, clean, no botrytis or other blemish. There is also a saying when such fruit is delivered by mother nature to the winery that if the winemaker can’t concoct a nice wine, murder has been done. The real skill and judgement are needed and tested in those years when the grapes are less ripe than you’d like or have some disease attached.
This could be 2022 because of the 150mls+ of rain delivered recently and the rather tepid ripening conditions so far. However, with a few days to go before harvest starts in earnest the game is far from over.
To give ourselves the best chance of ripe fruit somebody (the owner?) has to shuffle through the vineyard snipping off any bunches that have not gone through veraison (colour change) or have any hint of disease that could cause off flavours. The picture below shows this purgatory.
Mutual cooperation is the name of the game.
When harmony descends between mother nature, viticulturalist and winemaker the wine turns out fine. In the Coney cabal occasionally, there is disagreement and discussion, so if when passing 107 Dry River Road you hear the sound of raised voices and weeping, this is no cause for alarm - a lively (robust is the modern word) argument is unfolding - no blood.
Here, armed only with his snips, an old hermit spends his day peering through the white net to identify and remove any bunches that haven’t coloured up.
Lucinda, our tally clerk, asks “Where does the decimal point go Mum?".
It's in the limerick...
Years ago the dependent relationship between vineyard and winery was captured in the limerick attached to our Pizzicato Pinot Noir.
They say wine is made in the vineyard
Good vintners are apt to agree
That a happy phenolic is as truly bucolic
As the ruby red hue that you see
But the succulent raspberry and cherry
Needs some coaxing from opulent berry
And the only conclusion we reach, is a fusion
Pizzicato is beautiful, very.
Eat your heart out Edward Lear.