Tag Archives: marlborough

Who’s that girl? Introducing Genevieve!

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Genevieve is the newest member of the Astrolabe/Durvillea team. She has taken over from Sophie who has left Marlborough on an exciting overseas adventure! Gen’s official title is Sales & Marketing Administrator. You will see her posting on this blog and on our facebook and twitter accounts. She is also the person you will most likely come into in contact with should you ring or email Astrolabe Wines.

Here is Genevieve’s “Who’s that girl? interview” – questions from Libby.

What is your role at Durvillea Wines? 

As the new Durvillea Girl, my role at Durvillea Wines is to liaise and facilitate Durvillea Girl business-talk (alright, and chatter), to help man the social media desk, and to assist in promoting this wonderful wine to any and all that would like to know.

What makes Durvillea Wines different from the other wine brands out there?

Durvillea is unique in that it has been a way for the ladies in winemaker Simon Waghorn’s life to share in and celebrate what a lot of their lives have been shaped by; wine making. They have put their unique style, their tastes and their beliefs behind this great product, creating a distinct and personal finishing touch to their husband’s/father’s creation.

How did you become interested in the wine industry?

I have always loved cooking – ever since I was very young – and after graduating high school in South Korea midway through the year (American system) I had 9 months with which to do whatever I pleased before the start of university in NZ in February. Going to culinary school had always been a dream of mine, and thus I enrolled at the New Zealand School of Food and Wine in Christchurch. There, I learnt the basics of classic cooking and delicious wine from a wondrous starting age. And then, my first year of university in Wellington rolled around where something quite magical happened… I met Libby and the Waghorns.

What is the best bit about working in wine?

The people. Everybody you meet is interested in such simple (yet rewarding) pleasures; wine (of course), yummy food, fresh Marlborough air… however whilst still maintaining  a positive work-ethic, and producing great products. And I think you can taste this lifestyle in the wine.

How are you enjoying life in Marlborough?

Loving it. I enjoy having the ability to pick oranges from the bush outside and squeeze myself fresh juice for breakfast, to collect eggs from the hen-house for scrambled eggs – and to dry one’s washing in the sun [a wise woman has told me that feeling the sun on them makes wet clothes feel happy]! I also like how most things are closed on Sundays… it lets you know that Sunday is meant for better things.

Most of all; I like how you can see all the stars at night.

What is your favourite wine in the Durvillea range, and why?

My favourite would be the Durvillea Pinot Noir. I enjoy its more subtle qualities. With the Marlborough region not being known for its Pinot Noirs, it is nice that Simon has taken the grapes and created a style a bit different from the full-bodied reds you would find in Central Otago etc. Instead of trying to mimic their successes, he has created his own Marlborough-styled Pinot. I find it quite delicious.

What is your favourite non-DV wine varietal?

Feijoa sparkling wine… the world needs to get ready for this. Okay, okay maybe not. I most enjoy a light sparking white/champagne for special occasions.

Tell us about your best food and wine experience ever.

To me, this is a very big question. To be honest, I have yet to experience the two together in harmony. I recently had the pleasure of dining at Martin Bosley’s … which was out of this world. Popcorn Ice-Cream: Salty. Sweet. Delectable.

Other top food experiences range from fondue in a tiny French restaurant in London shared with my mum, fresh soft-shell crabs sitting at a table on the beach – under the stars – with friends in Thailand… the list could go on…

For the wine, on a recent trip to Wellington I had a glass of Francis Ford Coppola’s Syrah. It was so unique to anything I’d ever had before… very strong bouquet of vanilla bean… I found it so silky – my palate was quite intrigued.

Top tip for a visitor to Marlborough? 

For a visitor to Marlborough I would recommend a walk on the Wither Hills (beautiful views to be had), a browse in Thomas’s, a trip to the summer farmer’s market… but perhaps most importantly, to just sit down and enjoy the wine, the people and the peace.

What is your favourite winter comfort food? Give us a recipe!

Being a good New Zealander, I love my lamb… and being a good human-being, I love Jamie Oliver.

For my favourite kind of winter comfort dish, I would use this recipe – but with lamb –and change the white wine to a glass of red… the Durvillea Pinot would be more than just swell here.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/game-ragu-with-pappardelle

 

Enjoy!

To see the previous Who’s That Girl? interviews click here.

Easter Eggs and Pinot Noir

Posted on by Meg
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We hope everyone had a good easter break!

It has been a busy easter weekend here at Astrolabe Farm. Arabella is home for the university mid-term break and Meg arrived home on Good Friday. We got straight into some chores – waterblasting, mowing, harvesting the quince and picking up walnuts. This was all in preparation for Saturday which was a full on day as Jane and Sophie were hosting a wine tasting at Astrolabe Farm for some American visitors off a cruise ship and Meg & Bella were scheduled to pick some of the Pinot Noir grapes.

It was beautiful weather so picking the Pinot Noir was not too difficult a task. We were picking what we call the “sandybank Pinot” which are grapes from a small section of the vineyard that grow on an old creek bed. The soil is very sandy so it doesn’t retain water as well as other parts of the vineyard. It was easy to see which grapes needed to be picked as the vines had started to yellow and defoliate. The Pinot is under nets as that part of the vineyard is very attractive to the birds who populate the hedges that border the property.

The first task is to lift the nets so that we can pick under them. This is quite difficult for some of the more diminutive members of the family! Simon came out to double check the fruit and confirm the rows that needed to be picked. We pick using snips and wearing gloves. You end up with pretty sticky hands by the end of the day. Although it looks a bit silly we often pick in cotton dresses and skirts as they are nice and cool to work in. We often add a flowery apron to hold our snips in too! We place small yellow bins out along the rows and when the row is finished Arabella drives the truck along and we empty the small bins into a larger one that then gets driven out to the winery.

We had almost finished when the visitors from the cruise ship came out to see what we were up to. They were very interested in the whole process and we even managed to get them to help out with some picking. When we had a pretty full bin Dad came to pick it up and we cycled back to the house for some refreshments.

On returning home Arabella was straight into the kitchen working on a spectacular easter cake. We will post a recipe later in the week but until then here is a preview!

There are heaps more pictures from the Pinot Noir picking on our Flickr account here – check them out, it will make us happy!  – Meg & Arabella.

Sophie’s Wrap Up

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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…..

Who’s that girl? Introducing Libby!

Posted on by Durvillea
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libbydressfixedThe third ‘Who’s that girl?’ interview in an occasional series – questions and write up from Meg.

Born in Te Kauwhata/Huntly in 1987 Libby is the middle daughter in the Forrest-Waghorn family. Now living in Australia she represents the Queensland ‘branch’ of Durvillea. You’ll hear from Libby on our facebook page, this blog and she tweets the occasional update from Oz via our twitter account (@durvilleawines).

What is your role at Durvillea?: As the middle Waghorn daughter, I have so far been involved in the brand development and social marketing aspects of Durvillea. Also, living in Brisbane, I do a bit of pro bono work putting in a good word for the wine to anyone and everyone I meet over here. Inevitably, my role has included a bit of ‘product sampling’ as well. Tough job.

What’s the reason behind your move to Brisbane?: My boyfriend Pete lives here in Queensland; I moved over at the beginning of last year after spending two years to-ing and fro-ing between Brisbane and Wellington. I am now studying Law and International Relations at the University of Queensland. Luckily, my parents were pretty supportive of my move over here – in part, perhaps, because their own love story followed along similar lines: our mother Jane followed then-aspiring winemaker Simon to Australia when he moved to SA to study oenology at Roseworthy nearly 30 years ago. I certainly haven’t regretted the move; Brisbane is a great, easy going city, and I love that the climate means people spend a lot of time being active outdoors. Best of all, its only a three hour flight from home.
Perhaps why Libby lives in Queensland?

Perhaps why Libby lives in Queensland?

What are your other jobs?: Here in Brisbane, I work part time in a wine shop (Vintage Cellars in Indooroopilly for any Brisbanites who want to pop in and say hello), as well as working a few hours a week as a volunteer law clerk at the Refugee and Immigration Legal Service, which I love. At home in Blenheim during the summer holidays I can usually be found in the vineyard at Astrolabe Farm earning some pocket money wire-lifting and leaf plucking.

How has your family being in the wine industry impacted on you?: This is a hard question; Pa’s been a wine maker longer than I’ve been alive so the wine industry has always been a part of our family life. As a child, it meant we spent a lot of time at the winery (Corban’s in Gisborne was the first I can remember). When we moved to Blenheim in 1994 (I was 7) most of the people we knew were part of the wine industry in Marlborough, so a lot of our close family friends are wine people too. Moving to Astrolabe Farm a few years ago, with a vineyard in our back garden, meant getting involved in the practical side of wine production. And it is a direct result of growing up in the industry that I am now involved in wine retail and marketing.

Any childhood memories of being a winemaker’s daughter?: One of our favourite things as kids was this elaborate game we invented called ‘Winery Mice’. I can’t remember the specifics, but I remember it involved a lot of running around the winery and climbing over barrels. Riding on the mechanical harvesters at night during vintage was always pretty exciting. Oh, another of my favourite things was putting the magnetic beaker stirrer in the winery lab on the fast setting so the magnet flung off across the room at high speed. I don’t think we were terribly helpful…
Libby & Meg plunging some pinot c.1996

Libby & Meg plunging some pinot c.1996

What’s your favourite thing about coming home to Marlborough?: Marlborough is a really beautiful place – much prettier than I realised when I lived there! I love flying into Blenheim in the tiny single-engine planes from Wellington over the Marlborough sounds. At Astrolabe Farm itself, its great to come home in winter to a roaring fire and Ma’s cooking. A winter trip home isn’t complete without toasting some marshmallows with Pa as well. In summer, sitting out on the verandah on the long warm nights with a book is nice. And I love our Christmas dinners in the Astrolabe Farm garden, with family and friends.

Any Blenheim local knowledge or tips you’d like to share?: Bamboo Garden chinese restaurant has long been a family favourite. I love the Wither Hills for walking, and the Tip Top Store on Scott St to get an old-school scoop icecream on the way home!

How about some Brisbane highlights?: I really like the South Bank cultural precinct for a wander through the galleries, or the New Farm markets on a sunny Saturday morning.

Libby and Simon on a family trip to San Francisco
Libby and Simon on a family trip to San Francisco

What’s your favourite wine?: Being a student, wine I buy has to be affordable. Lately, I’ve been drinking a bit of German riesling; the Dr Loosen Villa Wolf Dry Riesling 2006 is one of my current favourites and is only about $15.

And a meal to go with it?: Dry rieslings go well with Asian foods – I like making a stirfry of chicken and Asian greens like Bok Choy, and onion, garlic and ginger.

Who would you recommend Durvillea wines to? I think Durvillea wines are great for younger people becoming more familiar with drinking wine and who want to branch out from the entry-level big name brands, or for any one who hasn’t got a huge budget but wants to drink a quality wine with a bit of class.

Can you sum up the Durvillea range for us?: Top quality, good value wines that are classically ‘Marlborough’ in style while still managing to stand out from the crowd.

Who’s that girl? Introducing Sophie!

Posted on by Durvillea
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sophie Sophie McLernon is officially the ‘Client Relationship Manager’ at Astrolabe Wines. More importantly to us she is also our cousin. Sophie is behind a lot of the tweets from @durvilleawines on Twitter. So that people could put a face to her tweets and facebook messages I (Meg) emailed her a few questions:

What is your role at Durvillea?: The official title is Client Relationship Manager, but my role is very broad, I am in the office, look after exports, accounts etc. I look after our distributors nationally and am starting to focus on Australia as well. I ensure they are supplied with enough marketing material- both Astrolabe and Durvillea, that they have enough wine, and manage their allocations. More recently I have been doing a lot of the social marketing for Durvillea.

What is your favourite part of the job?: Interacting with people from the many different markets we go into, and getting the chance to understand how each market works. Each market is so unique and must be approached differently. One of the best things is having your wine available in so many different countries- such as Mexico, Israel, Slovakia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Ireland, UK… to name a few!

And your least favourite part of the job?: Not sure if I have a least favourite part… maybe some of the paperwork, but you get that in any job…

What’s your favourite varietal?: Chardonnay – I’m sure it’s coming back into fashion!

Any recommendations for a great meal with a glass of Marlborough Sav?: Prawn and Avocado salad with a citrus dressing.

How did you come to be working at Astrolabe?: I moved to Marlborough in February 2008 to work a vintage at Whitehaven Wine Company. I became passionate about the industry and an administration role at Astrolabe came up at Astrolabe so I applied. This role has changed dramatically since I started and I have started to take on more responsibility, I now have Jane (my aunt) and who comes in to help me out three times a week, which takes a lot of the pressure off.

Meg & Sophie on Wainui Beach in Gisborne showing an early interest in seaweed

Meg & Sophie on Wainui Beach in Gisborne showing an early interest in seaweed

What’s it like working with your extended family: Great fun! I miss Jane not being in the office for our morning coffees! [She’s just on a short holiday – Meg]

How do you like living in Marlborough and working in the wine industry?: Living in Marlborough is a bit quieter than what I am used to, but there are enough bars, and a good crew of people that there are always things going on. We are close enough to the mountains to ski in winter and we are so near to the sounds that we can pop down after work for a few drinks or a skurf in summer. Working in the wine industry is great as there are always things going on and the year is never dull. From Vintage, to new release, to Christmas and then back to Vintage it is always busy and exciting and you are always learning. Plus the perk of getting a free bottle of wine now and then isn’t half bad either!

As a relative newcomer to Blenheim have you got any bar or restaurant recommendations?: Scotch is a great new wine bar that has opened, it has an interesting and international wine list and a great choice of tapas- the chilli salt squid is a favourite!

If you could visit or work in any wine region in the world where would you want to go?: I would love to go and visit France and tour around the country, spending a good few months there, exploring all the different wine regions. Friends have just started a winery in Spain, so that would be another option! Or completely off the wine regions, I would like to live in Canada, we are looking to expand our market share there now, and the way they do things is so different, the idea of working for an agent and with the liquor boards there is quite intriguing…

Who is your favourite Durvillea daughter?: Argh, this is awkward….

And finally, who would you recommend Durvillea to?: Anyone who is after a great wine, with an eye catching label and story, at an affordable price.

The interviewer (on left) and interviewee (right) 1986
The interviewer (on left) and interviewee (right) 1986