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Wine Blog

Taste Of New Zealand - All About The Specialists

By Anto Coates

I overheard Natalya say to someone a few days after the show: "It was good, but if you've been to one food show, you've been to them all".

In a way that's fair comment. She didn't mean it scathingly; she loves food shows. It was more that New Zealand is a relatively small place and food shows often involve the same producers at similar venues run by the same events companies.

But at least one thing was different for Taste of NZ: it was Rugby World Cup final weekend. There was an extra dimension of interest as Kiwis celebrated the All Blacks first RWC final appearance in 16 years (a neat tie in with the alleged food poisoning too). I had no idea what to expect of the show, since I'd only found out about it that day, so I was pleased to see some of the more interesting food, wine and beer producers had made the effort.

Things of note were:

- The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand are a real treat, especially the Destiny Bay, Wooing Tree and Hay Paddock wines. The Vinoptima is really starting to show its quality after a few years in the bottle and is delicious too. The Specialist collection is a must for serious wine collectors (but what I would really love to organise a 6-course dinner with the wines).

- The two Tasmanian Pinot Noirs we tried were not flash at all. Both from the same producer, they were quite opposite: The more expensive Piper's Brook was over-extracted with quite hard square tannins, the other, the Ninth Island was simple, red fruited dilute pinot noir you'd grudgingly pay $10 for.  Not great ambasssadors for the region. We bought a Cascade beer (delicious) so we didn't feel like we were free-loading

- The Villa Maria Seddon Pinot Noir 2007 wasn't looking great on the night. I picked it thinking it would be a good safe option for a glass, but it was a big, clumsy kind of wine with too much wood. In reality it was probably well suited to the situation and had a fairly mass-market appeal, but I certainly wouldn't hurry off to fork out $50 odd dollars for it.

- One of the true stars of the Auckland fine dining scene, The Grove, was a little disappointing. I had the crayfish tail for $20. Very ordinary and kind of like "The Grove - drive thru". It's a bit of a mixed blessing for these great restaurants to be pedalling their wares at food shows. Obviously it's good to get the brand in front of lots of new customers, but when it comes at the expense of their high standards, it's maybe not such a good idea.

The Products...
CASCADE PREMIUM PINT SINGLE 375ML
Cascade Premium Pint Single 375Ml
Clean and easy drinking lager ...
$2.80 375 MLS
More...
HAY PADDOCK SYRAH 07
Hay Paddock Syrah 07

$69.85 750 MLS
More...
THE SPECIALIST PRESENTATION BOX OF 6
The Specialist Presentation Box Of 6
The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand are a collective of winemakers solely dedicated ...
$399.00 sale! 4500 MLS
More...

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Staff Recommendations

DAVID

Easter weekend I flew up to Auckland and had a great time visiting family. I made sure I went to Maison Vauron, a must if you enjoy French wines and also Galbraiths to try a few craft beers.

RICHARD

Roast Chicken for dinner evidently. Which Kumeu River Chardy shall I choose?
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