Warmth stirs the senses

Neil Hodgson's wine column

We are getting to the time of the year where all sorts of interesting things happen. It is early, but spring is in the air, with the days getting noticeably longer and the temperatures warming up.

There is bound to be a sting in winter's tail yet, but a little more sunshine makes us feel positive and encourages us to get out and about.

We are seeing 2010-vintage wines on the shelves with some exciting new wines. There are dinners to attend, courses to gather information from and of course wine to enjoy.

NMIT's restaurant, The Rata Room, has a number of events coming up. On September 1 it will host a degustation dinner with Fleur Sullivan, owner of the highly regarded Fleur's Place at Moeraki near Oamaru. The last dinner Fleur created at The Rata Room was outstanding and this is not to be missed.

Also at The Rata Room, NMIT's hospitality training team has joined forces with Nelson Wine Art to deliver a series of seminars to help you learn about wine. The first session is on August 31 from 7-9pm, where I will host an introduction to wine tasting. Each Tuesday after that for the following five weeks, a different winemaker will help you explore a range of wine varieties.

The cost is $150 for the whole series and you get to taste about six wines at each session. Book your space by calling 0800422733.

One of the most exciting new wines to be released in Nelson for some time is a variety new to this region, muscat. Blackenbrook Vineyards planted what they believe to be the first muscat vines in the South Island a few years ago and this first release is stunning.

As the Nelson region is considered a cool climate region for grape growing, planting the vines was very much experimental, but the results have been outstanding and reinforce this region's ability to extract wonderful flavours from aromatic wine varieties.

And finally, a few days ago I had the somewhat dubious pleasure of judging a cooking and wine and food matching competition at the Katrina Gordon Trade Show. Local personalities were asked to recreate a dish prepared by a chef and then match a wine with the dish.

The results were somewhat mixed, but Jonathan Poff and Afeleki Pelenisi from the Makos emerged from the carnage as the winners by making a fine job of recreating NMIT tutor Matt Fahie's venison dish and matching it with Kaimira Estate 2008 Pinot Noir.

I have been drinking:

Blackenbrook Vineyards 2010 Muscat – $23 from Casa del Vino and Mediterranean Foods. This is a highly aromatic wine, bursting with rich, floral and spicy turkish delight and orange blossom aromas that are reflected in the sweet, intense flavours. Delightfully balanced with soft minerality and tantalising ginger spice flavours in the very long finish with ripe acidity that leaves your mouth watering for more of this luscious delight. I will be drinking plenty of this fantastic wine in the coming summer months.

Millton Opou Vineyard 2008 Riesling – $27.50, but look for it on special for about $20. Its 8.5 per cent alcohol content, with plenty of succulent residual sugar and delicately balanced acidity make this the perfect aperitif. Luscious honeyed citrus flavours mean it will also work very well with seafood.

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