Why so indulgent? Well unbelievably today is my last day in Blenheim, the place I came to to learn as much as I could about the wine industry in a few weeks. So how well have I done?
- I've learned on the vineyard about the year of the grape and how to berry count, bunch count, yield estimate, irrigate, fix irrigation, grape varietal feel and taste, harvesting (machine and handpick and when to use which)
- on the winery I've learned how to clean tanks and barrels, snow wine, sparse wine, transfer wine, press grapes, run labs to test Brix, ph and acids
- pulling both of these together I'm claiming the inaugural Tohu Pinot Noir as mine...I've counted the bunches and berries, sampled them and run the labs for them, been on the harvester as they're picked, and the winery as they've been processed and tanked
- in the office I've applied my experience to build procedures for all of the above winery processes, propose a new stock control and management system, build the induction programme for the vintage staff
- for the future I have secured samples of the best boutique wines to bring home, test on customers and potentially import to the UK.
- I've experienced an office where you wear shorts and big boots, get picked up in a ute and spend the day looking at mountains and vines and deer and hawks and plants.
So all in all a pretty productive seven weeks topped off last Tuesday when I was blown away with the team turning up for a drink and some food as a thank you and farewell. Very much appreciated and I look forward to keeping in touch with all of the team.
Watch this space for future developments of my wee business.
On a social note, I've been on holiday since last Wednesday and had a great few days hanging out with my cousin Claire. We fitted in:
- 25km walk of the Queen Charlotte Track
- booking a big trip to South America for November (still hyperventilating)
- 14km walk and scramble of the last bit of the Abel Tasman Track we couldn't previously do
- a mad "drink too much, dodgy dance too much" night in Nelson with the Yummy Mummies who are Kirsty and Anna (3:30am is never a good time to be getting home let alone dancing on a stage, planking and teaching the youth of today the moves to Blame it on the Boogie). ***some (or should I say most) photos have been held back to protect the guilty!!
And so to tonight...my farewell dinner at the house with Claire, Gareth and Sarah. They're cooking a course each, I'm on the wine...will report next week on whether it was successful though I can already predict that it could be a wee bit messy....my liver and waistline are ready to retreat to the northern hemisphere and some form of dietary and alcohol normality even if I'm not.
So as I bid farewell to the north of the South Island it's a huge thank you to everyone for all they have done to make my stay amazing. To the Whanau (extended family) of Claire, Gareth, Kirsty and Jamie; to the new friends Sarah, Luke, Chris and The Tohu Team (Mondo, Mike, Murray, Alex, Bruce, Craig, Anna, Adam, Liz and Stefan). Until next time...
Whilst out and about in Blenheim / Nelson this week I...
...HUNG OUT at Queen Charlotte Track, Abel Tasman and too many wineries and watering holes...
...WINED ON...if I were to summarise all the wineries visited and wines drunk in the last few weeks it would scare me. The stand out wine for me this week was not a standout in the critiquing sense. It was The Climbing Shiraz from Aus...why? New Zealand makes amazing Pinot noir however to taste a big, bold, heavy red for the first time in weeks was yyyuuummmm.....thanks Craig...
...DINED ON....many things but two stood out....Claire and my homemade pizza competition (hers tomato, onion, mushroom, salami, cheese whilst mine was half smoked salmon, rocket, crime Fraiche and lemon and the other half chargrilled capsicum, eggplant, red onion, pumpkin with feta and pesto base).
Then there was the hangover cure of open steak sandwich (with ginger beer...that's how bad it was) at Rockferry yesterday (hence I'm now back for dessert). Despite my delicate state of being it was amazing
So tomorrow it's the bus trip to Christchurch and the start of another wee adventure.
Til next week...take care and have a good one.
G
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