It has been a very long time since I wrote on this blog, but, in my defence, I have been quite busy finishing my MA, having a wedding and starting Teachers’ College so at least I have been doing something somewhat useful with my time!

A few weeks ago it was my partner Henry’s birthday and his sister Jessica was kind enough to bring down some Chinese dumplings from Auckland to serve at his party. We had been to the restaurant that she had got them from and really enjoyed them so she bought some frozen ones and carried them down to us in her hand luggage.

I love dumplings and enjoyed having them at home so much that I thought I would try making some. I used frozen dumpling wrappers that I found in the freezers at Yan’s supermarket here in Wellington. I would guess that you could find them in your local Asian supply store too. If you can’t find them and you are not as lazy as me you can google “dumpling wrapper recipe” and find plenty of options. Please excuse my dodgy food photography!

I mixed the following ingredients to make my dumplings:

• 500g pork mince
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
• 3 finely sliced spring onions
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice (although I did have some constructive criticism that less spice might have been good).

Just mix everything well. This part of the recipe is easy!

Next, take a dumpling wrapper and place about a teaspoon sized ball of mixture in the middle. You may need to lay a damp tea towel over the wrappers so they don’t dry out. They defrost pretty quickly and they can’t be refrozen. The next step is to wet your fingertip and rub it around the rim of the wrapper to make it stick. You then fold the two sides together, making sure to get any air out.

I then attempted to pleat the edges of the dumplings to make them neater. I don’t think it has much effect on taste or cooking time but it does make it a bit tidier when it come to eating and steaming.

We then cooked them in bamboo steamers although there are lots of instructions on the internet for pan frying and then steaming in the fry pan. If you use bamboo baskets don’t forget to put down wax paper or cabbage leaves as they are very sticky!

I served them with some noodles and bok choy stirfried with lots of garlic and with some oyster sauce on top (please ignore the dish brush that has snuck into shot!).

Next time I’d like to try a vegetarian recipe so if any one has a good one please do leave a link!

Last week I was lucky enough to have dinner at Martin Bosley’s restaurant. As you may know, Sophie is leaving Astrolabe (this Friday!) so it was nice to have a chance to catch up. Of course she is my cousin so it isn’t like we won’t see each other again but it was still great to catch up with our Durvillea hats on. Also joining us was Genevieve (the “new Sophie” so to speak). We had a great time – here’s a little picture of Gen, Sophie and I outside.

-  Meg

One thing that I really enjoy about Christmas is having so many drinks and nibbles! As you can imagine we always have a well stocked drinks fridge at Astrolabe Farm and as we all know it is very important not to drink on an empty stomach. My favourite classic Christmas nibbles would be Jane’s mini mince pies (which her grandmother used to make for my grandfather) and the delicious smoked salmon pate from the Mapua smokehouse. Another Waghorn family favourite are Devils on Horseback and the recipe is very simple!

All you need are pitted prunes and streaky bacon (free range bacon pretty please!). Wrap the prunes in the bacon stick a toothpick through and bake. Super easy, sweet and savoury, delicious crowd pleasing appetisers!

Last year we celebrated Christmas in Canterbury. We had Christmas morning in Akaroa with the Waghorn’s and Christmas lunch/dinner in Christchurch with the McLernon’s. For lunch our responsibility was the dessert.

We made a chocolate log and a lemon/lime cheesecake. For the top of the cheesecake I made some sugar lemon slices. They are quite easy to make and can hide a multitude of sins on top of any kind of cake!

Step 1. Thinly slice lemons (or limes), put in a bowl and pour over boiling water.

Step 2: Leave to cool, take out and rinse to remove bitterness.

Step 3: Simmer one cup of sugar with half a cup of water until dissolved. Add lemons and simmer for five mins.

Step 4: Place on drying rack. When dry toss them in sugar (caster sugar is probably best).

Then use them for decorating whatever you like!

Competition details:

Post up your favourite Christmas recipe, meal, or serving suggestion on this blog and we will do the second draw this coming Friday 26th November for the next two bottles of Durvillea wine (your choice)

Terms and Condition to Enter:
* Must be over 18
* Comments must be posted on this blog, not our facebook or twitter accounts
* Only those in New Zealand and Australia are eligible for this competition
* One person’s recipe a week will be drawn from a hat each Friday until the 17th December and that lucky person will win 2 bottles of their choice of Durvillea wines
*Everyone who posted a recipe will go in the draw for the Durvillea Sauvignon Blanc magnum to be drawn 17th December

I’d like to share a recipe with you – but it isn’t for food! I got sick of buying exfoliating scrubs that were too harsh or not effective so I decided to make my own! Here is the very difficult recipe:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup Olive Oil (I used Astrolabe Farm olive oil of course!)

A drop or two of any essential oil if you feel like it (I used lemon)

Add the ingredients to a container of your choice

That’s it! Now you have a lovely natural face or body scrub. You can make it in bigger or smaller batches too. It seems to last really well. The olive oil leaves your skin feeling lovely and soft. It would be a good cheap christmas present too!

- Meg

Last weekend Sophie came up to Wellington to do two tastings at Thorndon New World with me. I really enjoy the chance to do tastings, it is definitely a skill and I am feeling pretty confident with them now. I think the supermarket tastings are really worthwhile – it is such a competitive market at the moment and consumers can feel overwhelmed with the sheer volume of wine available. Having a chance to taste and have a chat with us will hopefully inspire them to pick up a bottle next time they see us on the shelf. The Pinot Grigio was very popular, lots of people who weren’t big Pinot Gris fans were surprised by how much they liked it. I also think customers really appreciated the fact that we are a family business rather than just merchandisers hired to sell the wine (not that there is anything wrong with that either!). As usual our Durvillea aprons made by Jane went down very well. Sophie also did an Astrolabe tasting at the City Market which she really enjoyed – although it is a pretty hard sell getting the public to taste wine early on a Sunday morning! I personally love the City Market – it gives Wellington a proper city feel I think. Gusty Gourmet is a terrific blog which has some recent entries about the city market – well worth checking out.

This weekend I had another go at making Quince Jelly. Last time I had my mum to help me out but I went solo this weekend. I used the instructions from our own quince jelly post. It is a real family tradition for me – my granny is very good at making it and she was taught by her mother who was in turn taught by hers. This time I used more apple and it worked out well. It is lovely and clear and set quite firmly. I think that the extra pectin and the clear apple juice helped. I also strained it through three layers of stockinette which may have kept it clearer. It is also a deeper ruby red this time. The quinces were brought up from Astrolabe Farm for me by Sophie.

The other main news in my life is my lovely new bike. It is going to help me cut down on my car use especially for short trips. I’ll write more about it later but will leave you with a pretty picture of it.

- Meg

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.

We set up the tent the day before and were very pleased as all the hard work Jane had put in making decorations was well worth it. We went for a green and brown palette for the Durvillea stall and a pretty gothic dark look for the Astrolabe side. The big pile of real life Durvillea seaweed and the handmade pinnies were a particular hit.

We were a little worried when we arrived on site to very heavy rain. It is local Marlborough lore that it never rains on festival day. However the rain cleared up about eleven and the rest of the day was very sunny and hot. Since the temperature was so high our chilled white wines were very popular. There was particular interest in the Pinot Grigio with punters interested in the choice to go with Pinot Grigio rather than the more usual Pinot Gris. There are two reasons that we call it Pinot Grigio, one is that we sell wine in the UK where they are more used to seeing Pinot Grigio’s and the other is a stylistic decision as the winemakers are aiming toward creating a wine more in the Northern Italian style as opposed to a French style.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk to people about our wines. It is equally nice introducing the wines to new customers who haven’t heard of us before as it is meeting self described “Durvillea fans”. We also got a chance to catch some of the musical acts. Sophie went to watch Ladi 6, Henry, Claire and I were impressed with Liam Finn and Jane discovered Gin Wigmore. After the festival we packed up and headed back to Astrolabe Farm where Arabella was busy preparing lots of her delicious pizzas. Today I’m hoping that the rain holds off so I can get all the aprons dried!

Jane and Simon are headed down to Gore today for a tasting and Sophie and Jason are off to Melbourne tommorow. As I write this now in the Blenheim office people are busy planning the upcoming harvest with Jeremy our viticulturist and winemaker Tim. Looks like another very busy week for the Astrolabe/Durvillea team. For more photos from the Wine Fest check out our flickr page!

- Meg

The fourth ‘Who’s that girl?’ interview in an occasional series – questions from Libby this time.

Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1985 Meg is the eldest daughter in the Forrest-Waghorn family.

Where do you fit within the Durvillea family?: Well, I’m the eldest of the Forrest-Waghorn girls. In terms of Durvillea I’ve mainly been in charge of setting up and maintaining our social networking sites – particularly this blog. Along with Libby, Bella, and the Astrolabe team I’ve had some input into the design and development discussions.

What is your favourite part of being involved with the brand?: I really like the way I can legitimately spend lots of time on the internet! It’s also nice to be able to find a place for some of my skills in the family industry. I have also come to appreciate all the different skill areas we have in the family and business.

How would you describe the Durvillea range?: Approachable and affordable wines that don’t sacrifice quality and integrity. I also think we have a great back-story and a classy, identifiably New Zealand label.

Do you have a favourite amongst them?: Normally I’m a dry riesling fan but I’m really falling back in love with Sauvignon Blanc as a result of my Durvillea involvement. In the face of some uncertainty about the future for Marlborough Sav Blanc it’s great to see our wine still getting a great reception as a quality example of the variety.

Libby, Arabella and Meg. Gisborne, c.1993.

What was the best thing about growing up in the wine industry?: Well, as Libby has said, wineries are reasonably entertaining places to play and vintage is always an exciting time. The wine industry is great as it is so seasonal; it keeps you in touch with nature in a way. Another nice thing about the industry is the types of people who are drawn to it, people who care about hospitality and the finer things in life in general.

You live in Wellington, what do you do there?: I moved to Wellington to study in 2004. I’ve been working at Wellington City Libraries for several years now. Librarianship (although I’m not a qualified librarian) is another ‘family industry’, Ma [Jane] is a trained librarian and that’s been at least as influential as the wine stuff! I’m also working towards a Masters degree in New Zealand Literature.

Client relationship manager Sophie McLernon, and Meg. Te Kauwhata, circa 1987.

What would your ‘perfect day’ in Wellington be? Any tips for visitors?: On a fine day a stroll around the city waterfront accompanied by Café Eis gelato and a lovely Wellington soundtrack by the excellent Phoenix Foundation. On a wilder day I love the south coast. I also like to show visitors around my lovely home suburb of Newtown which has a surprising amount of great food and coffee options and cute little stores. For visiting tips I recommend the expert advice of the Wellingtonistas.

How about at home in Blenheim?: The absolute best place to eat in Blenheim is the cramped but cosy Cruizie’s café on Maxwell Road in town. I love their chicken stuffing sandwiches more than I can say. On a summer’s evening the Craiglockhart River in the Waihopai Valley is a lovely place to swim and you get a good look at the famous spy balls on the way there.

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

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.

Libby is currently in New Zealand from Brisbane for her university holidays so we had a one day window to meet up and have some photos done.

It was pretty fun to get all made up and we amused ourselves in between by taking quite a few silly photos. We all dressed in black, so we looked like mafia widows when we grabbed some lunch after.

Now we just have to wait and see how the professional ones turn out!

Libby’s best Top Model/Covergirl style shot.

Bella is unimpressed by our candid photography.

I included this picture purely because Libby looks so much like Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl in it!

See?

- Meg