Industry News

A Feast of flavours this Sauvignon Blanc Day

This year’s Bayleys Friday Night Feast shares its place on the calendar with International Sauvignon Blanc Day. Feast Marlborough chair Fiona Fenwick says the event, to be held in central Blenheim on Friday May 7, has “treats in store for Marlborough foodies”, with street food vendors encouraged to use as much local Marlborough produce as they can in their dishes. “And how exciting that this year we also share the date with International Sauvignon Blanc Day,” says Fiona. Wine Marlborough will have a Sauvignon Blanc Lounge at Feast, matching some of the region‘s best wines with some of its best food, says general manager Marcus Pickens. “We’ll be celebrating the variety within our own community by showcasing Sauvignon Blancs that won gold at the 2020 Marlborough Wine Show.” He says the lounge, which will be set up on Wynen Street, behind CPR, is “the perfect place to enjoy a feast of flavours on International Sauvignon Blanc Day”.

Fiona says Feast is an opportunity to demonstrate to visiting celebrity chefs what makes Marlborough food and wine so special. Feast is a family friendly event, with music and entertainment, as well as a “future foodie” area with games for the kids. Over 5,000 people attended last year’s event and similar numbers are expected this year, with the event falling the night before the Saint Clair Vineyard Half Marathon. Bayleys Friday Night Feast will be held in and around The Forum in Blenheim from 3.30pm to 8.30pm on May 7.

Cellar doors

Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith’s proposed bill to parliament to allow cellar doors and wineries to charge for tastings without needing an on licence has been welcomed by the industry. Customer experience manager at Cloudy Bay Nicky Hewett says by charging for tastings, cellar doors can be better resourced and staff better trained allowing for an enhanced overall customer experience. Cloudy Bay is not directly affected, as it charges for its tastings but Nicky welcomes standardisation in the industry saying it allows wineries to provide a quality product. “It means wineries can offer back vintages and rare wines and a range of wines you wouldn’t get if you weren’t charging,” she says. It also allows staff to manage their host responsibility better, she says.

Currently, cellar doors and wineries cannot charge for tastings if they don’t have an on-licence and with that comes responsibilities such as offering a range of food and non-alcoholic beverages. Stuart says the required law change was “simple but important” and if accepted would make it much easier for wineries to run a successful cellar door operation. His proposed bill has been put in the ballot and it is now a case of waiting for it to be drawn, then it needs to go through various stages such as readings and select committees. Sydney International Wine Competition

The Sydney International Wine Competition will return this year, with entries accepted from July 12, and judging to take place in late October. The 2021 competition will have a panel of 13 judges from Australia and New Zealand, including four Masters of Wine, chaired by Warren Gibson (pictured). The final 400 wines will be set aside for rejudging with appropriate food, leading to about 250 wines being awarded Top 100, Blue Gold and Gold medals, along with 25 trophies. Competition co-convenor Brett Ling says that given the difficulties faced by the wine industry over the past year, it’s important for competitions such as the Sydney International to proceed, to highlight to consumers the exceptional range of food-friendly wines available to be enjoyed at restaurants and at home. “This is a very important year for the Australian and New Zealand wine industries as they come out of Covid and have to face additional issues with international distribution.” He says there will be greater emphasis on wines from Australia and New Zealand this year because of logistical issues, but he expects “very keen interest in the competition from across the world”. sydneywinecomp.com

New Zealand Landcare Trust

The New Zealand Landcare Trust now has a Marlborough catchments coordinator in Marlborough, with Wendy Sullivan coming on as one of seven new staff members funded through the Ministry for Primary Industry’s Productive and Sustainable Land Use Fund. The New Zealand Landcare Trust is an independent charitable trust that works with farmers, landowners and community groups to improve the sustainability of land and waterways. Wendy previously worked for the Department of Conservation as both biodiversity ranger and community ranger, and says she enjoys seeing landowners feeling empowered to protect the natural assets on their land and develop a deeper understanding on how to enhance what is there. Her main role is to support landowners in their projects, and to coordinate workshops, field days and other learning opportunities for land managers to gain the confidence and technical ability to manage fresh water and biodiversity on their properties. “I see my role as a connector. Connecting landowners with resources; to offer or source technical advice; help with funding applications or to gain support for on the ground mahi.”

She wants the trust to form partnerships with the viticulture industry. “Many vineyards in Marlborough have already shown huge commitment to restoring wetlands and streams on their land, and I believe that we can showcase these to other land users. I’m looking forward to supporting winegrowers with the Sustainability Guardians programme.”

Wendy encourages any winegrowers needing support to manage their waterways or natural areas to get in touch at wendy.sullivan@landcare.org.nz

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Marlborough Biodiversity Forum

The Marlborough Biodiversity forum, on Sunday May 2 from 9am to 3pm at the Renwick Sports and Events Centre, is a platform for community groups, landowners, iwi, youth and agencies to network, support and learn from each other to grow conservation in Marlborough. The day will consist of a morning speaker series, and in the afternoon participants will join one of two discussion groups on weed control or pest control, with the theme ‘how can we advance these topics in Marlborough’. To receive information and/or to register please contact biodiversitymarlborough@gmail.com Carbon zero at Lawson’s

Lawson’s Dry Hills has achieved carbon zero status, receiving accreditation from Toitū having met the requirements of ISO14064 which specifies the principles and requirements for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals, and includes requirements for the design, development, management, reporting and verification of an organisation’s GHG inventory. “We have always considered sustainability in our decision-making across the business and to attain carbon zero status is an achievement we are very proud of,” says General Manager and shareholder Sion Barnsley. Group Marketing Manager, Belinda Jackson says sustainability is becoming increasingly important for those making purchasing decisions, “So we’re delighted that our environmental credentials add further value to those enjoying our wines”. Lawson’s Dry Hills is the only New Zealand wine producer to be certified with both ISO14001 and ISO14064. Zephyr’s zeal for organics

Award-winning Marlborough winemaker Ben Glover has released Zephyr’s first certified organic wines from the Glover Family Vineyards. The winemaker and owner behind Zephyr says it has been an exciting road to release the first tranche of his organic wines from the 17 hectare home vineyard in Dillons Point, which he and his wife Susie converted to organic farming in 2017. Ben, who was awarded the Leadership Award at the 2021 Gourmet Traveller Wine New Zealand Winemaker of the Year Awards, says Zephyr’s approach to organic certification through BioGro New Zealand has been to keep things pure and simple, “concentrating on creating a good growing environment through soil health and biodiversity and continuing through to mindful consumption”.