Before harvest is a distant memory…

I thought I had best get some harvest photo’s up before harvest 2011 is a long forgotten memory. We had a real mixed bag with weather this year but we managed to get the camera out on some of the better days. So without further ado here are the harvest and vintage photos for 2011. Some of our visiting vineyard team and cellar rats took photos of their time here as well. One of them is Shelley Buck whose blog you can see here. Finally to finish there are some gorgeous photos by Russel McCaffery. You can catch up with him at his Twitter account or read up on some New Jersey wines at his site.

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CP in Zest Mag – Wine Sights Set High

CP, our wine maker here at Mountford was recently interviewed for an article in Zest – a food and lifestyle magazine that is part of The Press newspaper here in Christchurch. You can read the full article here. Just to tease you here is the first line:

“No-one can accuse CP Lin of mincing his words. He was offered his job as winemaker at Mountford after telling the Waipara estate’s founders their wines were “crap”. “

Tooting Our Own Horn…

Well actually, The Los Angeles Times is doing it for us. There is an article that got forwarded to us from our distributors in The States: Infinity Imports, that discusses our 2007 Liaison Pinot Noir and names it WINE OF THE WEEK (insert excited giggle here).

You can read the full article here, but in part it states:

“what a lovely expression of Pinot Noir” and the article goes on to describe the 2007 Liaison as “elegant and smooth”.

We are rather fond of our wines, so it is always great to hear that someone else agrees!

CP Lin’s tasting notes for this wine are as follows: “Smokey preserved meat with a hint of vanilla and wood from the French oak. Slight autolysis hint in the background, aromas of bouquet garni with time in the glass. Strong fine tannins with velvet character backed up by good acidity, and under this layer there are smoky characters and sweet roasted beetroot with green gauge plum. Intense fruit concentration gives a lingering finish.”

Here’s to them….

Here’s to the vineyard team working in the wind, the rain, the sun and the pain of protesting muscles. Here’s to the winery team fighting jet lag, sore muscles, cold high pressure hoses and unfamiliar languages. Here’s to the owner/manager/chef/cleaning lady/office girl/girl friday all wrapped up into one whirlwind who has no time for luxuries such as sleep.

Here's to those who earned it!

We often laugh here at Mountford that the wine industry is far from the glamorous world that people think it is. When I tell people I work at a vineyard and winery their eyes light up. I can see them thinking we sit around and drink fabulous wine with fascinating people all day long. The reality is far from that (although our wine is amazing). But I have no right to complain since my job is about as cushy as it gets here at Mountford. I get to sit in a nice office and work on the computer. So this blog post is dedicated to the hard workers here at Mountford.

To the vineyard team rushing to get the fruit picked at just the right time. To the vineyard manager trying to organise it all with one eye on the precious vines and one on the sky watching for changes. To the winery team just in from overseas and having to hit the ground running, lifting, plunging, pressing, de-stemming and the non stop cleaning. To the wine maker directing, hovering, tasting, trialing, planning and losing sleep to make sure his creations come out just right. To the owner/manager rushing between helping out at the vineyard and making sure all who are here get feed hard-earned hearty home cooked meals whilst trying to get into the office to attack the piles of papers, phone messages and urgent emails that await within.

From all the fans of the wine that comes from the sweat off your brow and the ache in your back: We hope you enjoyed yesterday’s slight breather caused by the downpour and we thank you.

Heres to you.

Getting Dressed

I love this time of year here out at Waipara , New Zealand. All the vineyards are gearing up towards harvest and the vines are full of fruit. The promise of what this vintage will bring us hangs in the air. But, the best part? The nets. There is something magical about the birdnetting. When my mind is waxing lyrical I imagine the vines are all dressed up likes brides, breathlessly waiting for the big event: the harvest. Enough rambling from me, here are some pictures of Waipara getting dressed up.

I’m calling them drop dead gorgeous.

John Hawkseby put up his list of his favourite wines for the previous year.

Here is what he said about our 2007 Estate Pinot Noir (which he listed as favourite Pinot Noir for the Year):

Spookily magnificent but sadly there’s only five cases left and the winery will not be bribed to part with them – I can understand why. This small Waipara vineyard has a habit of turning out world-class wines.

A Black Day

They way we were

This is just a brief note on a black day.

We are all shocked here at Mountford, but all staff are accounted for. Friends and family are alive and well, although we are still holding our breath and waiting on word from some. Mountford Estate is ok, we are far enough away from the centre to not be to bad here. Our hearts are going out to our friends and family and staff that have lost homes etc. Our thoughts are with those that have lost loved ones or still have loved ones missing.

We just dont know what to make of this. The relief we felt that the September the 4th earthquake happened at the time it did, meaning no loss of life, has turned into a nightmare. This is what happens. Christchurch is shocked and wounded. We will have the strength to go on, we are witnessing that from the many volunteers offering their services, their homes, their clothing and food.

We will all do what we can and we will survive, but today Christchurch grieves.