Durvillea Wines

A new wine label from Marlborough, New Zealand

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Sounday Competition

February 1st, 2010 · On the road, durvillea, jane, sophie

After a fantastic Sounday concert on Saturday at Hagley Park, we are running a competition from all the photos we took of people drinking Durvillea wine.  Go to our face book page, vote for your favourite photo of the day by “liking” it and the photos with the most “likes” on Friday 5th February will win a 6 pack Durvillea Wine.  http://www.facebook.com/durvilleawines

You may also find you know some people, so feel free to tag them and encourage them to vote for themselves! Thanks to Karyn, Jonnie, Janelle from Fabel for organising a fabulous day out, and to the great line up of artists.

     

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Sophie’s Wrap Up

January 29th, 2010 · durvillea, jane, sophie

Three weeks ago I decided to sign up for the Saint Clair vineyard half marathon (for those of you reading this who want to do the run aswell, go to www.vineyardhalf.com). While I used to be quite fit back at school, I haven’t really run since, and it is an effort for me to run 3km, a half marathon is 21km!  However since I have signed up a couple of good things have come from it;

1. We have decided I will run it in a Durvillea singlet, adding to the motivation of doing it, and wanting to do well.
2. I have managed to convince some friends to do it with me, also a good way to get them to visit me in Marlborough, also good motivation as I don’t want to be the last one out of all of us!

It is 14 weeks till the run tomorrow, and so far I am up to running comfortably 5km, a great website I have been using has been www.mapmyrun.com. I went into Newman Graphics yesterday who do all of aprons, t-shirts etc and they have got me a singlet, and we are currently trying to think of a design for the back. So far we are going with the Durvillea logo and “Durvillea Girl” Libby, I think you should come back and run it too, I can get another one printed!

Later this afternoon, Jane, Bella and I are off down to Christchurch as Sounday is on tomorrow, for those of you who are going make sure you come and say Hi to us, we will be there most of the day and hopefully getting some snaps of people drinking Durvillea, we might even chose a photo of the day and the winner will win 3 bottles of Durvillea, feel free to post your own up too!

Another event that we are busy organising (Jane is ordering the hesian for the table as I write this!) is the Wine and Food festival, this is a great event, but does require a lot of time to be put into it. The black boards are being printed, and we have just okay’ed the banner this week. Jane is going to make us pinny’s in the next couple of weeks, and we are just finalising who will work the day.

While all this is going on I am entering some of the national and international shows that are coming up, it is always a litle stressful trying to make sure you remember all the deadlines for entry, stock delivery etc. I have also just added us up to the www.lovewine.com website, a social network for wineries and those that love wine!

I am looking forward to going to CHCH, will be nice to be home, must remember to run though, hopefully will be up to 8km next time I blog…..

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Akaroa

January 22nd, 2010 · durvillea, family, jane

It seems like such a long time ago that all the Forrest-Waghorn family were in Akaroa getting ready for Christmas. Even though it was a while ago we took some lovely photos down there so I thought I would share some with you all. There will also be some recipes to follow in the next few weeks.

We Waghorns have had a  very close link with Akaroa and Banks Peninsula since 1850 when our ancestors arrived on the Randolph from England. At the moment my Waghorn grandparents live in Akaroa, along with my dad Simon’s brother Hugh and his sister Sarah. Uncle Hugh along with his wife (our aunt!) Pip owns a few businesses in Akaroa.

The main one is Akaroa Dolphins , who provide nature cruises around Akaroa Harbour. Of course we would highly reccommend them if you are in the area! Who knows, you might get to enjoy a glass of one of our Astrolabe or Durvillea wines on board!

Hugh & Pip also have another business called Captain Hector’s that hires out kayaks and paddle-boats. We really like their logowhich features their cute dog Hector. Hugh has a good little vege garden going on out the back of the Akaroa Dolphins premises.

Jane and her dad Barry in the vege garden

We sent out a few raiding parties to augment our summer meals.

Hugh has bought several electric bikes for visitors to Akaroa to enjoy. Libby and Arabella, along with our cousin Rose, took them for a test drive.

Libby on one of the electric bikes

They took them for a reasonably long run and found them really enjoyable. You don’t need to use the motor all the time, just when you need a little boost. They worked well even on some of the quite steep hills that surround the harbour. Libby & Bella even rode them up to the bach where Mum and I were preparing some food for Christmas and I had a go.

I really liked them and thought they would be great for commuting, especially somewhere hilly like Wellington. However, I’m too much of a scaredy-cat for cycling in Wellington yet so I’ll stick with the bus for now.

One place in Akaroa that we hadn’t been before was The Giant’s House. It is a lovely old house and garden filled with amazing sculpture and mosaic. Here are a few photos of us there:

Arabella at The Giant's House

Libby and Bella

The garden at The Giant's House, Akaroa

There are more photos of The Giant’s House and our Akaroa holiday on our Flickr page if you are interested!

-Meg

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Another update from Libby

January 20th, 2010 · durvillea

Some photos of her second day at the school in Santa Maria de Jesus, beautiful photos and it looks like they are having an amazing time.

Libby with some of her new friends

http://henny-eesa.blogspot.com/

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My Mum’s Salsa Verde Recipe

January 18th, 2010 · durvillea, family, recipe, sophie

This is my mum’s Salsa Verde recipe, but it actually originates from an Annabel Langbein recipe, all of us have many of her recipe books and she is a bit of a favourite in our family.

This is a summer staple for your fridge and is great with beef on the barbeque, baked salmon, bean salad or just a loaf of half baked bread.

Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde
1 packed cup parsley
½ packed cup mint leave
1 bunch chopped chives
¾ cup olive oil
¼ cup capers
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
¼ medium onion chopped
1 small can of anchovies

Blend together until smooth. Store in the fridge and keeps for several weeks.  Makes about 1½ cups.

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Libby is in Guatemala!

January 13th, 2010 · On the road, libby

For the next 6 weeks Libby and her friend Genivieve are in Guatemala, follow their travels on their blog    http://henny-eesa.blogspot.com/

Libby at the top of Volcan Pacaya, Guatemala

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Down on the Farm….A new year

January 12th, 2010 · astrolabe farm, durvillea, jane, recipe

Happy New Year to you all. Monday morning and back at work in the office. Actually I covered the office between Christmas and New Year but everyone is back at their desks looking bright eyed or is that just the lovely strong coffees Simon made us all.

After spending most of November and December away it is great to be based at home over the next couple of months and boy does the garden need it! Weeds, wind and water. The first two in abundance the last is more of an effort. However it has been raining for the last 12 hours. Hooray. One of the things I love about the garden is how forgiving it can be. Seasons come and go and you have a chance to try again.

You will be pleased to hear that the chickens are all well and reasonably productive. They have eaten all the lettuces in the garden. This is the downside of letting them free range. The vegetable garden is I am afraid rather depleted. However I have begun the campaign and I think I am beginning to regain control. Lack of water and chicken attacks mean that the salad greens have been compromised but the courgettes are coming along. I harvested some potatoes, peas and broadbeans and made a great salad. Now broadbeans have been quite a revelation for me. I have always loathed those nasty grey offerings served up traditionally. However peeling them has changed my life! I am a born again broadbean eater. Below is the recipe I used.

Broad bean, pea, potato and green salad

1 small new potatoes, fresh broad beans podded, fresh peas podded, a few handfuls of green leaves (I used spinach), shaved parmesan cheese, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, 2tbsp red wine vinegar, olive oil.

Cook the potatoes and set aside. Nice if keep warm. Boil the broad beans about 2 mins until their skins start to pop but not too long. Refresh in cold water. Pop them out of their skins. I boiled the peas with beans. Wilt your chosen greens in a little olive oil over a high heat. Split open the potatoes and place a single layer on a serving dish. Add broad beans, peas, greens,  parmesan and season with salt and pepper. dress with red wine vinegar and oil. (I adapted a recipe from”Fuel for your Family: The Waihi Cooks”. This is  a lovely cookbook put together by the families of Waihi School in South Canterbury.

My attention is turning to our abundance of plums and Simon and I thought we might try using our favourite tomato kasundi recipe for plum sauce. We have enjoyed a moderate crop of apricots and we have a huge crop of pears coming on. The swans and ducks on the pond will be very pleased. The coppice is growing so well. Although we have never watered them they are thriving. Grovetown has a very high water table and they seem to be very happy. However Arabella made the observation that at the moment they are kindling size rather than firewood.

Simon and Jane inspecting the alders

We have noticed lots of hegehogs about. I love them, too much Beatrice Potter I suspect. However there have been a number of fatalities in the little pond and pool. Arabella and I have both managed to rescue a couple frantically swiimming with their wee noses poking just above the water.

A shy hedgehog

Next blog I thought I might tell you about how the Durvillea girls are getting crafty.

Jane

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Back on board

January 6th, 2010 · family, sophie, the girls

After 10 days away from the office, it has been rather hard to get back into the swing of things. Christmas was spent in Christchurch with my family, the Forrest Waghorns and my other cousins on my Dad’s side the McLernons. It was a beautiful day so Christmas lunch was spent outside on the lawn (photos to come once my Mum loads them onto the computer!) we had a beautiful starter of smoked salmon with wasabi mayonaise that our Great Aunt brought, followed by a fantastic Roast Turkey and lots of wine.

Boxing day my family and I packed up to head up North to Gisborne, a car trip I haven’t done with my parents since I was 13 (It is about 4 hours from Christchurch to Blenheim, a 3.5 hour ferry ride, and another 8 hours from Wellington to Gizzy!) I was heading to Gisborne to meet up with a group of friends to head to the Rhythm and Vines Festival, I have been to this festival twice before, but this is the first time that it was held over 3 days.

Rhythm and Vines, Vines Stage

Acts from all over the world came and played, including some great local acts, one really good band that played on the 31st was some of my friends, six60. One of the best ones that played, that I had no expectations for was Moby! Gisborne is first to see the sun and it is definitely one of the most beautiful places to see in the New Year.The other Durvillea girls have been scattered around the place, Libby was en route to Guatemala where she will spend the next 2 months, to follow what she is up to check out her blog http://henny-eesa.blogspot.com/ Meg was up in Ohope Beach, near Whakatane and Jane was holding the fort back at Astrolabe Farm in Blenheim. However, after a fabulous holiday, and despite it being a little hard to settle down into being in the office it is lovely to be back in sunny Marlborough. Jane has done a great job covering while I was away, putting through all the orders that streamed through between Christmas and New Year, so there has not been too much to come back to.Photos were just sent through yesterday of Durvillea Wines in Antarctica, (see past blogs to read about how they got there), the team over there have taken some fantastic photos that I have pasted below.

Durvillea in front of Mawson's Hut

 

Durvillea and Astrolabe in front of Mawson's Hut, Antarctica

 

The Team in Antarctica getting Creative!

I am just about to make a coffee and sit down with Jane now to organise the next few Durvillea events we have coming up, Sounday and Wine and Food Festival (and just for fun I am heading to Rippon first weekend of Feb!)

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Durvillea Girls on Tour – London Update

December 23rd, 2009 · On the road, durvillea, libby, the girls

Well! We’ve been home for two weeks but everything has been super hectic so its taken a long time to put up our update from the rest of our trip, as well as what we’ve been up to for the last fortnight.

Carnaby Street, London

London:

We had about a week in London. We had rented an apartment in Bloomsbury, which was great as it was pretty close to a tube station. London is a festive place to be at this time of year, especially around the central city, where there are very impressive Christmas shop windows and street decorations and lights.

We took advantage of some down-time to visit galleries and museums (the V & A, the Tate Modern and the National Gallery) and do some Christmas shopping. Arabella and I even managed to join in a huge climate change march, and marched with the crowd from Trafalgar Square down to Westminster Abbey.

One of the most fun things we did in London was visiting the Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park, which has an ice-skating rink, carnival rides and a traditional German Christmas market. We ate pretzels and donuts, and Arabella and I went on several of the rides while Meg and Jane, being far more boring sophisticated sipped mulled wine and watched from the sidelines.

Christmas treats at Winter Wonderland

Can you spot Libby and Bella?

Jane met with our distributors, Ellis of Richmond, to talk business. On the train to meet them, in a bit of a freaky coincidence, she happened to run into Libby Johns, the daughter of one of our Astrolabe growers!

The next day, all four of us girls (Jane, Meg, Libby and Arabella) traveled out to Richmond to meet the Ellis team. We went out with Mike Webb from Ellis to meet Matthew Curran, who manages a really wonderful hotel, Langshott Manor. Langshott is a fantastic restored 16th century manor house with beautiful gardens. Matthew told us it is particularly popular for weddings, and we could certainly see why. While we were there, we ran through the Astrolabe and Durvillea wines with Matthew and the hotel’s restaurant manager, as they are interested in putting more of the wines on their wine list. We were also lucky enough to eat lunch in the Langshott Manor  restaurant, which was beautiful. We even had our first Christmas fruit mince pies of the season!

Mike & Jane at Langshott Manor

All and all it was a pretty busy week in London.

Over the last two weeks Arabella and I have been home in Blenheim at Astrolabe Farm. Its a busy time in the vineyard, with bud rubbing (removing buds and shoots from the ‘trunk’ part of the vine) and de-lateralling (taking little off shoots off the growing part of the vine to allow more light and energy to reach the fruit-bearing parts), so Arabella and I have been helping Nick with that in the vineyard a bit. As well as that, we’ve been baking up a storm, making shortbread, cheese biscuits, florentines, pastry twists and Christmas cupcakes to give as Astrolabe Christmas gifts. We had the Astrolabe growers’ party last week at the Farm as well.

Now we’re down in Akaroa, catching up with our Waghorn relatives for Christmas. More on that later!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Heading towards Christmas

December 14th, 2009 · durvillea, family, sophie

While Jane, Simon and the girls have been over in Ireland for the past two weeks I have been holding the fort back in the office, and things have been hectic. As always at this time of year, the orders start to come in strong and fast, and we try our hardest to make sure that they all get out and delivered on time- as you can imagine, it can be difficult.

Hemi and Bridget from Wineworks

Hemi and Bridget from Wineworks

Luckily we have a great team at Wineworks Marlborough (where we store and dispatch our wine from) who also work as hard as they can to get our orders out!

Not only have we had an increase in orders, but we have especially had an increase in Durvillea orders as we start to get more recognition as a brand and for our wine. The Durvillea Pinot Grigio just won Blue Gold and Top 100 at the Sydney International Wine Competition 2010, which we are particularly pleased about.

As I have mentioned previously, we were approached by David Jensen several months ago in regards to supplying the l”Astrolabe ship with wine, on its recent trip to Antarctica. As the ship was called l’Astrolabe we thought it seemed fitting that we supplied the wine, giving them a mixed case of Astrolabe and a mixed case of Durvillea. The ship finally set out on Friday 4th December, and reached Antarctica yesterday, to follow the blog of where they are, and how the Mawson Hut restoration is going click here. We look forward to reading about their progress, and hopefully seeing a few photos of Durvillea being drunk in Antarctica!

l'Astrolabe
l’Astrolabe

As I also mentioned last time, we have partnered up with Sounday to be the wine for this music event that is held in Hagley Park, 30 January next year. The line up has now been announced, and to buy tickets you can go to the Fabel or RDU website, it will no doubt be a great day, and some of us Durvillea girls will be there wandering round too!

Another exciting event that Jane and I are also already thinking about is the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, this is a couple of weeks later on the 13th February, this is the first time Durvillea will be at this festival, so we want to do it well.

With all these things coming up, there is lots to plan and organise, the 2009 Durvillea Pinot Noir was just bottled on Friday. As we have made so little of it, it must be allocated out so that everyone who has requested and is interested in it has enough to last them through to the next vintage, this is always a bit of a guessing game, but generally seems to work!

Another thing that must be organised is Christmas, as I write this, I have just come back from Nelson where I finally started my Christmas shopping! This year we are having Christmas in Christchurch (home) with the Forrest- Waghorns (mum’s side) and the McLernons (dad’s) all of us cousins are all around the same age, so I am looking forward to catching up with them all and having a few drinks with the family!

Merry Christmas everyone, till next year! Sophie

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