Art and Craft-musings on the banks of the Thames

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Jane

Lois Waghorn

This morning Simon and I woke ridiculously early as we struggle to adjust to Northern Hemisphere time. We went walking along the Thames. It was breathtakingly beautiful looking down the river as we crossed the Vauxhall Bridge. We marvelled at everything from the lamplights to Westminster. Walking back through St James Park Simon won the spot the squirrel competition.
As we wondered down the river pathway we thought about Simon’s Great-Great Grandfather Arthur Waghorn who worked as a lighterman on the Thames. He left England with his wife Louisa and young family to settle on Banks Peninsula. I always think it is interesting to consider the influence of these ancestors on who we are. These people we assume left in the hope of making a better life and taking an opportunity. They were brave and bold and I hope we reflect a little of that strength of character.
One of the traits that undoubtedly runs through the Waghorn family is creativity. As I listen to Simon discuss his wines I think it is clear how important his skill as a winemaker is balanced with his creativity in crafting the wines. Art or craft – maybe both?
Creativity is openly expressed by the women of the extended Waghorn family. Simon’s mother was a potter and a painter. His sister Sarah carries on this and is indeed a wonderful potter. “Sarah’s pots are hand built sculptural pieces. Using the coil method she uses a few simple tools and concentrates on form and natural shapes. The majority of her work is in sculptural and earthenware clay.”
www.sarahford.co.nz
Our niece Julia Waghorn is a talented graphic designer.

Julia Waghorn

She is stylish, creative and also very funny. Stealing from her website she describes the influence of a creative family. “Julia’s grandmother was the person who began her interest in Graphic Design. As a child they would spend hours in Lois’s games room drawing and painting. “
www.juliapenelope.com
Arabella, our youngest daughter is also bitten by this creative bug.

Arabella screen printing Meg's wedding invitation

She is in her 3rd year at art school at Auckland University. She is currently involved in an interactive installation in Myer’s Park as part of the Fan Trail project which is part of the Rugby World Cup activities.
“Inspired by Myers Park’s history as a colonial shanty town, Elam students combine what little is remembered from the past with the contemporary. Abstracted dwellings of geometric forms, clustering and lacing through the grassy hills, suggest community and a collective culture.“

“The living sculpture explores the displacement of those who once lived on this site as well as travellers who’ve come from near and far to attend the Rugby World Cup 2011 games. “

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/events/amped-in-the-park

Check out their blog.

http://elamfantrailproject.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoy a glimpse at the artistic work of our crafty lot.

-Jane.

Winter Ramblings

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Jane

Now is the winter of our discontent…….
So it’s my turn to write a blog. Yes, I could tell you what is happening down on the farm but that essentially is pretty much the same as last year. It is mid-winter. Pruning is the keyword. For the past week the sun has shone every day and every morning there have been frosts -3, -5 that sort of thing. While Nick is working his way through the vineyard I have been working my way around the garden. In the vegetable garden very little is happening but the garlic is in.
Tonight I made friends with an old friend on facebook, which set me musing on using social media. Of course we use it communicate our brand story and it feels a very immediate way to reach people. I love the contact with “old friends” and new. I like keeping in touch with my girls , their friends and my lovely neices and nephews. I love the random nature of the comments and being able to engage and disengage at will. But most of all I love Skype. I love seeing the girls. This week was also a first as Simon held a skype tasting with our new agents in the US. It was fantastic to meet their team and for Simon to take them through the wines all without leaving home. I’m not sure it will replace market visits but it is a good option, cheap and ecologically sound.

Really my main focus is getting the garden ready for the wedding.

“The wedding” you say… “wasn’t that in March?” Indeed Meg and Henry’s was, but now Libby and Peter are getting married next March. I am so desperate to start planting. I have lists of seeds I plan to buy from Kings Seeds.
www.kingsseeds.co.nz.

Pink Peony Poppy

I also plan to do a mass planting of hydragenas. This all works out quite well for the company as we hold all tastings here at the farm. It is a nice side effect to have things under control. I have quite a sense of urgency because in September we are off to the UK on a sales trip (no skype date this time). We will be serving Durvillea at a wine dinner at Providores in London.
So if you are in London come along we would love to see on Tuesday 13th September. Here is the link:
http://www.theprovidores.co.uk/news/news_2011.php

[Up date]: I have come home today to finish this blog quietly in front of the fire. There is a polar blast sweeping up the country and this afternoon it has been snowing. This is extraordinary in Marlborough. It has been cold but beautiful. I have spent most of the afternoon gazing out the window. We just don’t see snowflakes in Marlborough. My sister Nicola lives in Christchurch. Here is a photograph she took of Reilly the Jack Russell stretching his legs.
So it’s quiet winter focused on family, garden, books (the Man Booker Longlist out) and trying to keep warm while dreaming of flowers. However there is also Friday office drinks……watch out for Miss Ferrier’s social report in our next Durvillea dispatch.

Oh, and to finish: http://vimeo.com/27709878 Check out this lovely video of snow on Cuba St in Wellington by Ro Tierney

South Australia and a lovely review

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Jane

One of the obvious side effects of your parents being in the wine industry is that you always live in a wine region! We have lived in Marlborough since 1995 but all we three girls were born in different regions. Before Blenheim we lived in Gisborne where Arabella was born in 1990, Libby was born in Huntly in 1986 when Simon was working at a winery in Te Kauwhata and I was born in Adelaide in 1985. Dad did his wine making training in South Australia. So, yes, that means I am technically Australian by birth!

When we last visited South Australia as a family we spent time in both the Barossa and Clare Valley wine tasting. Unfortunately, at that time Libby, Bella and I couldn’t care less about tasting and stayed in the car listening to cds at half of the places! Adelaide is famous for its food and wine culture and although we didn’t take advantage of the wine at the time we did have some great food experiences. The most memorable was probably visiting the Jerusalem Sheshkabab House – an Adelaide icon that Mum & Dad frequented as young people! Lebanese food is very popular in our household – hummus and tabouleh were some of the very first things I learnt to make. Dad taught me his own variations on recipes that I think came originally from the Moosewood Cookbook. Just quietly, I make the best hummus ever (as long as you like heaps of lemon and garlic)!

Anyway, I would love to go back to Adelaide as an adult to really take advantage of the great wine and food. My partner’s parents were just over there last week and really enjoyed it. His mother spotted a great review for the Durvillea 2008 Sauvignon Blanc in the Gourmet Traveller Wine magazine and kindly brought the magazine back for me. The reviewer was Bob Campbell.

Thanks Bob! We are glad you enjoyed it! If you are keen to see if you agree with this review we still have a little ’08 Sav available. Just visit the Astrolabe site here: http://www.astrolabewines.co.nz/wines/durvillea.

Also, if you are interested in reading more reviews please check out our “Nice things people are saying about us” tab up at the top of the page.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Meg

On the road

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Jane

Week Two: Dublin

We are on the train from Limerick on the way back to Dublin. We travelled down this morning, which took about 3 hours. Now Limerick is an ancient city formerly inhabited by Vikings and more recently by Frank McCourt of Angela’s Ashes fame.

: Some of the O’Briens staff with the family at an Astrolabe tasting

We are here to launch Durvillea with the O’Briens Wholesale team. Durvillea will be a restaurant brand in Ireland. It is a challenging market in these times but Mike Curran is doing a great job and we wish him well. The weather today in Limerick is also challenging. It has been raining for a week and there has been a lot of flooding and road closures. Tonight the Shannon river is expected to flood and conditions are expected to worsen. In spite of this it has been great to begin in this market and to get to know Mike, Lynne Coyle the Head Buyer for O’Briens, and of course Kevin O’Brien. So here we are on the train with a bag of lovely Irish cheese and crackers, a bottle of Rioja left over from the tasting and 5 paper cups. We can’t wait to come back.

: Jane and Arabella making tasting notes!

While we are off on our Durvillea journey Simon is in Dublin doing a tasting at the Blackrock O’Briens store. Last night we all attended another tasting at the Westbury Hotel for about 100 O’Briens loyal customers. It was the first time the girls heard their dear old dad talk formally about the wines to an audience. Tomorrow it is a winemaker’s lunch at the Royal Irish Yacht Club and then Simon is presenting a masterclass at the Good Food Show.

Tomorrow is our last day in Dublin. We head of in separate directions on Saturday. Meg and Henry head off to Liverpool and London. Arabella, Libby, Simon and I are off to Paris for the weekend. On Monday Simon is off to Perth to meet Jason and fly the Astrolabe flag for the first time in Western Australia. The girls and I are meeting up in London and I will spend a couple of days in the trade, visiting customers.

Dublin is such a fantastic market for us. O’Briens import us into Ireland and distribute us through their 28 stores and now Durvillea through the wholesale division. They are terrific stores and a wonderful family based company. We enjoy working with them all. Coming here is like visiting old friends and we have grown very fond of the city of Dublin.

- Jane.

Sophie’s Wrap Up:October Promo and The Winery

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Durvillea

It has been another busy week, Jane and Simon left Blenheim on Monday bound for Invercargill. A roadshow that they do every year with our South Island rep Preston Clark. This year they even managed to pick up Pops (Jane’s father, our grandad) and take him down for the ride!

: Kaikoura Coast on Simon and Jane’s trip down. If you look closely you can see the Durvillea in the middle of the picture

It is normally just an Astrolabe thing, but they managed to tie in Durvillea as well this year, doing a few tastings along the way.

Tim in the winery, checking on the wines

While they have been down south it has been all go here. Tim has been doing trials and final adjustments for the 2009 Durvillea Sauvignon Blanc, particulary looking looking at the balance and structure of the wine, to get it just right! We have just booked in a bottling date for the 16th October.

The 2009 Durvillea Pinot Noir is a work in progress, it is still in barrel and we are waiting for the malolactic fermentation (MLF) to finish (rounds and and softens the palate) before we finish this wine ready for bottling.

Photo may have been digitally enhanced!

While Tim has been looking after the winery and production side I have been organising a new promotion for Durvillea. This is for the month of October and is to encourage people to load up fan photos of themselves drinking Durvillea. While the one I have put up is of a a friend and I in Greece earlier this year, you get the point of what I’m hoping we’ll get some people doing( though not necessarily photoshopped). Especially with an incentive of a 6pack of wine to win! (Visit www.facebook.com/durvilleawines for more information)

I am off to Seafest this weekend in Kaikoura, but I look forward to looking at photos of you all drinking Durvillea in different places on Monday morning. Have a great weekend, and I’ll leave you with a couple more photos of Jane and Simon’s trip down south. -Sophie

: Simon and Sam (my brother) on Sam’s 21st (29th Sept) , Nova Cafe Dunedin

: The Railway Hotel, Simon, Jane, and Pops’ accommodation, Invercargill

: Jane and Pops in Bluff

Durvillea Wines

A wine label from Marlborough, New Zealand

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