Who’s that girl? Introducing Genevieve!

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Meg

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.

Update from Sophie and a delicious Duck recipe

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Durvillea

We are only a couple of weeks into the duck shooting season and yesterday we were lucky enough to be given four ducks, so it was therefore a given that we would be having duck for dinner.

One of the best mobile websites I have been using recently is the New York Times Recipe Search site (http://mobile.nytimes.com/recipes) simply click on the link and you can search for recipes with up to three ingredients. This was exactly what I did yesterday, searching for recipe in which all the ingredients needed I had at home already! Eventually I decided on the Duck marinated in Red Wine and Orange which was so delicious, tender and juicy that I had to share it with you http://nyti.ms/jg4FY0.

Ingredients

1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon chili oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 orange, juiced, rind cut into strips
4 whole duck breasts, skin and fat removed
Olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced chives, for garnish

Preparation

1.

In a large freezer bag, combine wine, chili oil, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, orange juice and orange rind. Mix well and add duck breasts. Seal bag and mix again. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
2.: Remove duck from marinade and shake off excess liquid. Heat and lightly oil a grill, ridged skillet or heavy flat skillet. Cook duck breasts to taste, turning frequently, 10 to 15 minutes. If desired, cooked breasts may be wrapped in foil and held for 10 minutes until serving.
3.: To serve, thinly slice breasts diagonally and arrange on a serving plate. Pour any juices in pan or foil on top. Garnish with chives, and serve.

I also then reduced the marinating sauce and put it as a side when serving. While I didn’t have a bottle at home, I think our Durvillea Pinot Noir would have been a great match with this dish.

Aside from eating and drinking it has been a busy few months for the Durvillea girls, when I blogged last time, Jane was in Canada and as I blog now, she is in Brisbane visiting our Queensland distributors. I had four emails last week from Queenslanders asking where they can get our Durvillea Pinot Grigio, so for the rest of you QLD Grigio fans who also want to know where to buy it from, check out these retailers, or email Paul: paul@smashingbottles.com.au

Chalk and Cheese
Spiro’s
Thirsty Camel Balmoral

Durvillea was also released in Canada last month (30 April) the Sauvignon Blanc is now available at Vintages in Ontario and has already had a great review from Beppi Crosariol. Read his review here.

Bob and Jo tasting fruit with Simon in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough

We have also had a few visitors, with Bob Campbell and Jo Burzynska coming down last month for a look around our vineyards, a tasting and lunch with us, it was a great day and we were extremely lucky with the weather also, a fabulous day to show Marlborough in its best light!

We did an Astrolabe vertical tasting as well, managing to find Sauvignon Blancs all the way back to 2002, one of the most interesting and exciting things was how good these SB’s were drinking, with the 2003 and 2006 being favourites.

Simon and the Astrolabe Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc vertical tasting

On a different note,one of the other things that is going on is that I am sadly leaving Astrolabe and Durvillea Wines (not till the end of June though). I am going travelling through Europe with some of my best school friends and am then planning to get a job in the wine industry in either the UK or Australia. So, while it is going to be hard to leave, at least there are some exciting things in store for me and we do have a fabulous new replacement for me coming on board who we will introduce to you soon.

One of the big questions we have been pondering in the office is whether I can still be a Durvillea Girl…… I sure hope so!

Edible but not for eating – sugar scrub recipe

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Meg

It is a busy week for the Durvillea team. Yesterday came the news that the Durvillea 2009 Pinot Noir has won a gold medal at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards. This is a great recognition of the high quality of such a reasonably priced wine. Awards aren’t everything of course but a little positive reinforcement is always nice! Sophie is in Brisbane meeting with our Australian distributors and Jane (along with Simon) are currently in Toronto on the first leg of a big world trip meeting with all sorts of people. At the moment Arabella and I are the only Durvillea girls in New Zealand but soon Bella is heading to Brisbane for the summer. I don’t really like being the only one in the family in the country but everyone will be back for Christmas at Astrolabe Farm so that is something to look forward to! Speaking of Astrolabe Farm, Arabella and I were at home for Labour weekend and she took some great photos. Jane has been working very hard in her garden and it shows. Here are a few pics:

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

Sophie’s Wrap Up and a new Competition

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Durvillea

We are only three days into the week and it already feels like so much has happened that we should be at the end!

I am into my third week being back in the office after three weeks away in South East Asia, I had a fabulous time starting at the top of Laos and travelling right down to the bottom and then into Cambodia. They are both amazing countries, and I recommend it to anyone thinking of visiting either of these places, the scenery, people and food are all incredible!

Durvillea Girl at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

While I was away Jane covered for me, it seems we had a lot of exports and other things going on, so she was rather busy by the sounds of things, she did a great job, and I am very grateful to her!

A few things have happened for Durvillea in the last few weeks. One is that all three Durvillea Wines are now available up at Mt Hutt Ski Field, so you can now enjoy a glass of Durvillea up the mountain.

The second thing is that we had a great review from Yvonne Lorkin for both our Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio. She named our 2008 Sauvignon Blanc as wine of the week a couple of weeks ago on her National radio show, and then last Friday mentioned that our 2009 Pinot Grigio was “possibly one of the best Pinot Gris I have ever tried” (http://bit.ly/d57THw)

The third thing was that as we started to get organised for another promotion on facebook we had it pointed out to us by a kind twitter follower that there are in fact Facebook guidelines against the sort of promotion we were planning to run, which was a bit of a surprise to us! For more information on these guidelines visit http://bit.ly/93IFYq With social marketing, things are always changing and evolving and since these guidelines have been set in place by Facebook, we are going to follow them.

We are still running our July competition though, it is just in a different format now! All competitions will be run on this blog and you can enter them now by commenting on this blog post. We will give you four chances to win, and the best comment each week will win a mixed three pack of Durvillea Wine. The weekly winner will be decided on a Wednesday morning.

As we are in the middle of winter, and our Pinot Noir seems to be flying out the door.
We want you to tell us your favourite way to enjoy a glass of Pinot Noir (comment below on this blog). If you have any questions please email me at sophie@durvilleawines.co.nz Otherwise we look forward to your comments and the first winner will be drawn Wednesday 8th July.

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 compeition
* One person’s comment a week will be picked Wednesday mornings each week for the whole of July by the team in the office and that lucky person will win a mixed 3pack of Durvillea wines

Easter Eggs and Pinot Noir

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Meg

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- The Start of Vintage

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Durvillea

Today we made our first pick for the 2010 harvest for Durvillea and Astrolabe, this is the first pick of about 60 picks that we will do over the next month.

The Wrekin

The pick today started at 7.30am at the Wrekin Vineyard, up the Brancott Valley which is part of Southern Valleys. As there are so many clones here we will probably return and do about 4 more picks so all the fruit and clones are picked at the optimum times.

This vintage will start off slowly over the next few days, and probably be all go by the middle of next week, we are looking at picking some Pinot Gris tomorrow, and then some more next week. It is hard to know exactly what is being picked when as it is up to to our Viticulturist and the Winemakers, and the weather of course!

I managed to pop out to the vineyard this morning to get some photos of the picking in action. Below is a video of Marge and the team picking Pinot Noir, clone 114. It is the first video I have taken, so please excuse the sideways camera angles! Should have it sorted for next time!! More photos available on our face book page www.facebook.com/durvilleawines

It has been a good couple of weeks in the office, on Tuesday I headed over to Nelson for the day to visit customers over there, it was a fabulous day and I managed to squeeze in 12 visits and get Durvillea on a couple of new wine lists, I also managed to fit in a visit to Shoe Clinic to buy a new pair of running shoes.

The training hasn’t been going so well for the Saint Clair half marathon, it is 6 weeks away tomorrow and I seem to have half the motivation I had 2 months ago when I started training! A friend has been giving me tips and has started me on an interval training programme once a week, I have been wearing my Durvillea singlet and looking like such a mess at the end of each session I am not sure if it is good advertising! The training is a 2km jog then 400m sprint 1minute rest, 600m sprint, 1minute rest, 1km sprint, 1minute rest, 2km sprint, 1minute rest, 1km sprint, 1minute rest, 600m sprint, 1minute rest, 400m sprint. I must admit, I seem to have long minute rests in between, and I haven’t quite made it to the 2km sprint yet! Am hoping to try out a 12km run at some point this weekend.

As it is Easter next week Meg and Bella will be coming home, and it will be good to see them. Our younger cousin Alice and her friend Jaleesa are over here from Australia doing a vintage with Whitehaven at the moment, and are staying with Jane and Simon, so it will be a very full house-may need to have them at my house for the weekend.

Pinot Noir

We are also starting a new competition in April, so keep watching our facebook website for your chance to win a bottle of two of wine!

Heading towards Christmas

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Durvillea

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

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

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

Harvest ’09

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Durvillea

Claire & Arabella

Looking back towards our house from the vineyard

Here are a few pics from this year’s vintage. Picking the Pinot Noir at Astrolabe Farm this day were Jane, Bella & Meg. We also had much appreciated help from our cousin Claire and her partner David.

It was a great Marlborough day that day. We really do get great weather! We were handpicking obviously and because we are all somewhat ‘vertically challenged’ we didn’t bother taking the nets off – we just picked underneath.

Handpicking grapes is pretty social & pleasant work. The grapes are at a nice height and you aren’t carrying anything much around with you.

Just after these were taken we went inside for a delicious lunch of pinwheel scones made by Arabella & picked some walnuts & pears for Claire and David to take back to Christchurch with them.