Last Friday (26th Aug) I received a phone call giving me advance warning of a merger between Ager Sectus (brands = The Crossings, Crossroads Winery, 3 Stones, Braided River and Southbank Estate) and Yealands Estate (brands = Yealands Estate, Peter Yealands, Yealands Way, Full Circle, Pete’s Shed, Flaxbourne, Violet). The caller advised that the new company would represent the country’s sixth largest (measured by tonnes crushed) and would have a combined vineyard area of more than 1,500 hectares. I asked who was buying who and was told that Ager Sectus was purchasing a share of Yealands. The information was embargoed until Sunday when a media release would be provided.

The media release duly arrived, followed by an article in the Marlborough Express headed “Yealands buys wine co.” with the introductory sentence, “Marlborough wine company Yealands Estate has absorbed Hawke’s Bay-based Ager Sectus Wine Estates, to form the sixth biggest wine company in New Zealand.”

That didn’t equate with what I’d been told so I called Ager Sectus founder and chairman, Peter Cutfield, who explained that the Marlborough Express had taken a liberal interpretation of the facts. He would not confirm the exact size of his company’s investment but said that Ager Sectus had made a “significant purchase” of Yealands Estate shares and that the two companies would merge.

I then got on the blower to Peter Yealands who had a rather different view of the merger or acquisition. “I’ve bought Ager Sectus lock, stock and barrel for cash and shares”, explained Yealands, adding that business was booming. “I needed Ager Sectus for their distribution network. We’ve sold two-thirds of next month’s budget already and I’m buying in wine because I’ve run out”, he enthused.

Confused? So am I.

Daniel le Brun post-sabrage

Virginie le Brun opening her namesake wine

Daniel, Adele, daughter Virginie and son Remy recently celebrated their 30 years as specialist sparkling winemakers in Marlborough with the release of their latest vintage of Virginie, their flagship sparkler. The event was help at Mollies in Auckland where Daniel performed a sabrage, the ceremonial removal of a double-magnum neck with a sword. This is not a trick that one should perform after more than a couple of glasses of wine. Like father like daughter. Virginie followed in dad’s footsteps by performing the same daring act a few minutes later.

When Daniel and Adele planted vines in Marlborough 30 years ago they were the country’s first sparkling wine specialist. Much later, after the original winery was sold, the family started a second venture called “No.1 Family”.

I had previously awarded No.1 Family 2006 Virginie a score of 93 points – see tasting notes.

Virginie performing a sabrage. The shadowy figure behind her is dad.

Monty - top dog at Dog Point

Last weekend I attended a relaxed lunch at Dog Point, Marlborough’s hottest new (well, new-ish) winery partnership between ex Cloudy Bay winemaker James Healy and ex Cloudy Bay viticulturist Ivan Sutherland. The al fresco lunch was prepared by the dynamic duo Al Logan and Steve Brown from Wellington’s Logan Brown restaurant.

We kicked off with a glass of Roederer Cristal before moving on to Dog Point 09 Sauvignon Blanc, 08 Section 94, 08 Chardonnay and 08 Pinot Noir (that’s their complete range – why don’t more wine producers “stick to the knitting” rather than try to boost sales by adding more wines to their list).

Every wine impressed. Section 94 is appealingly funky without going over the top, the 09 Sauvignon is certainly one of the best I’ve tasted from the vintage, similarly the 08 Chardonnay - just tasted in my current review of NZ Chardonnay where the second bottle (the first was corked) scored 93 points and the 2008 Pinot Noir is an absolute knockout – clearly the best so far from Dog Point. I plan to formally review the Pinot Noir at some stage (I don’t make notes at lunch)  and also to buy a case.

The food was equally impressive. We started with salmon and cucumber sandwhiches, fantastic Bluff-type oysters (from the Marlborough Sounds) freshly shucked by Logan Brown head chef Shaun Clouston who told the Marlborough Express: ”he had been trialling oysters farmed by Marlborough’s Bruce Hearn on and off since about September last year and his customers “loved them”. “They are a beautiful oyster. They look like a little shell, but when you open them up they are a big oyster. “I could sell them all (10 dozen) on the same day.” He said some diners even preferred them instead of Bluff oysters. Mr Hearn has been experimenting with commercial oyster farming in the Sounds for some years. The same species is harvested under quota from Furneaux Strait and near Nelson. He has successfully trialled harvesting with a mussel harvester to get round the problem of build up on the farmed oysters.

Mr Clouston said fresh oysters from Bluff and the Sounds were like comparing “apples with apples”, but he reckoned the Marlborough ones were superior to Bluff pottled oysters. “If I have a choice between a (pottled) Bluff oyster and a Marlborough oyster I would take Bruce’s 10 times over.”

As a fully paid-up card-carrying member of the oyster lovers club I totally agree with Shaun’s comments. If you’re serious about oysters – try them!

We then had the Logan Brown signature dish, Paua fritters. I’ve eaten a lot of Paua but have never had it this good before. It’s worth buying Al Brown’s book “Go Fish” just to get the recipe (I did).

Entree was half a crayfish with a knockout sauce. Main was perfectly cooked venison with various salads. Dessert was passion fruit ice cream between two wafers (we called it an icey slicey when I was a kid).

Altogether a fantastic day which will be repeated next year and should not be missed!!

Dog Point winemaker, james Healy with (unusually) an empty glass

Marlborough sunset from Ivan Sutherland's house

Enjoying lunch

I’ve now tasted a little over 200 different samples of Sauvignon Blanc from the 2009 vintage. It’s fair to say the vintage has been kind – I’d give it a score of eight points out of a possible ten, that’s a jump on the 2008 vintage which scored four points but not as high as 2007 which earned nine points.

Here’s my list (prices in NZ$):

1. Astrolabe 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $19.95
2. Vavasour 2009 Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc,, Marlborough $21
3. Blind River 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $25
4. Palliser 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough $19.95
5. Mud House 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $20.90
6. Saint Clair 2009 Pioneer Block 2 Swamp Block Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $24.95
7. Babich 2009 Individual Vineyards Cowslip Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $25
8. Villa Maria 2009 Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $25.99
9. Greywacke 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $26
10. Saint Clair 2009 Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough $32.95

Top-of-the line Pinot due for release in February 2010

Seresin winemaker, Clive Dougall, dropped by with an armful of soon-to-be-released Pinots that impressed. The fruit comes from three vineyards; Home (on a terrace below the winery), Tatou (5 Kms from the winery on stony plains) and the flagship hillside vineyard, Raupo, in the Omaka Valley on clay-rich soils.

We kicked off with a white wine, Chiaroscura 2007 $65. It’s an unusual blend of three varieties; Chardonnay 40%, Pinot Gris 40%, Riesling 15% and Pinot Meunier 5%. Clive explained that they hold the juice of the earlier varieties under refrigeration until all of the grapes have been picked then blend and co-ferment in barrel before the wine spends 17 months in oak on the yeast lees. It’s more about a rich mouth-filling texture than taste with attractive but rather muted fruit flavours that get a little mixed up with yeast aultolysis and subtle oak characters. An intriguing wine that clearly demands to be enjoyed with food. I liked it, awarding 93 points on the day although I’d like to taste it again blind. (Not officially reviewed because a winemaker was whispering sweet nothings in my ear). Only 30 cases made. Not made in 2008 “the fruit wasn’t good enough” but a similar blend was made this year without the Riesling.

Leah Pinot Noir 2007 $35     This is Seresin’s “commercial” Pinot Noir if you can call a biodynamically grown, hand-made red commercial. All Seresin’s Pinot’s are made using the same winemaking techniques with the vineyards making the difference. Elegant, spicy, supple wine with red cherry and wild herb flavours. Pretty good now but will probably shake off a little adolescent akwardness in another year or so.

Raupo Creek 2007 Pinot Noir $50    (400 cases mostly sold from cellar door). Fleshier, richer and riper than Leah with a much richer texture. This is a class act with fragrant cherry and floral aromas plus savoury, earthy nuacnces.

Home Vineyard 2007 Pinot Noir $50    (50 cases only) Smooth, silky wine with less herb character and generally riper flavours. Integrated, lengthy, fragrant and surprisingly accessible. I liked it very much.

Tatou 2007 Pinot Noir $50     (50 cases) A big, chunky and grainy-textured wine with firm, ripe tannins. Classy red but not hugely Pinot Noir-like.

Rachel 2007 Pinot Noir $55     Made from grapes grown in the flagship vineyard – a blend of three hillside sections. Impressively sweet fruit, very concentrated, supple, and attractive. It has a Musigny-like texture which is high praise indeed. Worth the extra $5 in my view.

Sun & Moon 2007 Pinot Noir $120    (71 cases, to be released in February 2010). From grapes grown on the highest part of the hillside vineyard plus 20% of the Home vineyard. Great weight and concentration with more complexity than Rachel. Impressive length and layers of “peacock’s tail” flavours on the finish.

Clive left me a full glass of Sun & Moon with instructions to “taste it in a couple of hours”. Unfortunately Marion tipped the contents down the sink when she was cleaning up after us. Damn!!

I’m a keen but very amateur photographer who seldon takes anything other than wine-related subjects. I’m immensely impressed by the very professional work of Kevin Judd, wine photography specialist. When Kevin invited me to join him on a photoshoot during a recent trip to Marlborough I jumped at the chance. He’s already found the spot to photograph – a high point on Yealand Estate’s Awatere vineyard that looks east out toward the sea and the rising sun. We had to be there just before sunrise – around 6pm. Upon arrival we drove rapidly up and down the vineyard looking for the perfect spot to set up. Having found the spot and set up the gear it was just a matter of waiting. Of course it helps if you’ve got a high-end roll-film camera, a stout tripod and a four-wheel-drive with a ladder giving roof access. I on the other hand had my trusty Canon D20 SLR, a borrowed tripod and thin jersey which didn’t really keep out the cold. As the sun rose Kevin began to press the shutter, framing each shot with different shutter speeds to get the perfect shot. In around 30 minutes he filled three rolls of film – for one photograph!! I on the other hand took 150 very different shots – most of Kevin. To tell you the truth I didn’t want to compare my effort of the sunrise shot against Kevin’s. I might never have clicked a shutter again.

Yealands vineyard and coast

According to Kevin taking good photos is easy. All you need is good gear, you must know how to use it and you have to be prepared to get up before sunrise.