Tag Archives: simon

South Australia and a lovely review

Posted on by Jane
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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

Down on the farm – Home at last

Posted on by Jane
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It has been a ridiculous month. Mexico, Simon’s birthday and then Marlborough Wine Weekend. I am tired and happy to be home…for a little while.

Firstly a word about the birthday. For me to have so many family and friends together and to have such a great night was overwhelming and fabulous. Also lots of silly dancing. To my girls (and Genevieve you get included here), my sister Nicki, Sophie, Aunt Maureen, Liz Morgan you are wonderful women who made it work and of course Vicky and Janet the ladies in the kitchen. Simon isn’t just a great winemaker he is also a good chap. We should celebrate more often.

So post events I have time work in the garden and Monday was a public holiday and I had a terrific day weeding and pottering in the vege garden. The tomatoes and broad beans are in flower, strawberries and raspberries are forming and weeds are flourishing. My main concern is to weed and mulch as we are away in November. In the flower garden the irises are glorious and roses beginning to bloom.

However roses are a constant challenge as I am determined not to spray. The roses look terrific at this time of year in the full flush of new leaves and blooms and then they succumb to disease. My current problem is scale.Scale treated with olive oil

On a suggestion from a friend I took the left over olive oil from the party and painted it on the stems with an old pastry brush. The results are fantastic. The scale has died and healthy systems have emerged. I am encouraged.

The young chickens are broody. I have lifted them each day but it is amazing how drugged they appear. They are completely passive and let me carry them about. I have checked out the chicken blogs and it would appear I need to get them off their warm, snug nesting box and lower their body temperature. IMG_0711
Tomorrow they we go into the more spartan isolation unit (aka dog run). However the other broody hen is Widow Twanky, our lady pheasant, who is living amonst the rhodenrodens and is currently sitting on 7 eggs. I shall leave her to fruitless task.IMG_0715
My latest project is to make seaweed soup for the garden. On Wednesday Simon and I headed down to Ward Beach and collected some Durvillea. Ward Beach is very beautiful and Durvillea flourishes there. I love stony South Island beaches. So we hauled some durvillea ashore, bundled it into the truck and headed home. I chopped it up into a half wine barrel and added some comfrey. Now it is steeping.IMG_0710IMG_0688
The vineyard is full leaf and Nick is busy bud rubbing. Arabella and Libby will be joining him in the vineyard when we get back from Ireland. Durvillea is being launched in Ireland in 2 weeks so we are all very excited to be heading over there. Hopefully all those alders we planted will help off set the carbon emissions. So the next blog from me will be from Dublin.

About Durvillea

Posted on by Durvillea
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Durvillea 2008 Sauvignon Blanc NZ$65.94 (6pack)
Durvillea 2008 Pinot Noir SOLD OUT
Durvillea 2009 Pinot Grigio – $167.88 (12pack)
 
All along Marlborough’s wild coast, clinging to rocks at low tide, is the seaweed Durvillea. To locals, it is known as Bull Kelp or Rimurapa. Its strong lines, shapes, textures and colours were the inspiration for our wine.
Our winemaker Simon Waghorn was drawn to Durvillea when studying toward a Masters of Natural Resources in 1980. He was planning to farm seaweed but changed course to undertake a career in winemaking.
His wife, Jane Forrest Waghorn has stood alongside him for more than two decades in the wine industry. Jane recognised a market demand for a high quality, accessible wine. Together with her daughters, she utilised Simon’s winemaking skills to create Durvillea and have shaped a product that is environmentally sensitive.
At Durvillea we are interested in working towards a more sustainable wine industry. The label is printed on recycled paper, the bottle is lighter in weight, and the grapes are sourced from sustainable vineyards.

The result is a strong distinctive brand, producing beautiful wines.