The End of Vintage

Yes, we're still at Ash Ridge Vineyards! We planned to stay until the end of vintage, which was completed last Sunday, and it was fantastic to see the whole process throughout. When I last wrote we had just picked and crushed the Merlot and Malbec for Jon & Emma's own wine. This was followed by a period of approximately 10 days while the grapes fermented and oak chips were added. Throughout this period they needed plunging several times a day (a messy though satisfying job) as the grapes release carbon dioxide during fermentation, making the skins rise to the surface and form a thick cap. The plunging ensures the gas is released and keeps the skins from drying out. I particularly loved plunging the Malbec, which is a gorgeous deep rich colour, and froths a beautiful bright cerise colour when plunged, while smelling utterly divine - think cherries! You know when the grapes have finished fermenting as the cap disappears and they are officially 'wine', though in a very rough state. (I should add that this is an extremely basic account of the processes involved, and only applies to reds!)

While the grapes were fermenting we did a few odd jobs around the vineyard, of which the most exciting was undoubtedly collecting old vines for firewood. Bizarre thing to get excited about? Well no, especially for Su who in fact found this one of the most exciting things we have done so far! That's because she got to drive the tractor, and no Su-sized tractor this time, a proper 'adult' tractor at that! And this was no mean feat as she had to manoeuvre it up and down between the vines, a tight space with only a few centimetres to spare, while pulling a trailer that we were throwing wood onto. Oh, and the gears are in a completely different place, the clutch is very heavy and to use the brakes she had to stand up and put her full weight onto it! Not only did she manage all of this perfectly, but she did it grinning and laughing manically. In case you're wondering, I had a go afterwards, but only driving up and down on an open piece of ground - the tight rows were a little daunting considering I haven't driven for years (except a quad bike!)

Anyway, once the grapes had finished fermenting, the wine needs pressing from the skins, and for Jon and Emma this means a visit from their good friends, Ross and Helen, accompanied by their utterly adorable 8 month old son, Stevie, with whom Su and I instantly fell in love! Ross, Helen and Stevie's arrival signalled the beginning of a lovely weekend celebrating the end of vintage and was accompanied by some exceptionally good wines (though we were all disappointed on the first night to find the 1998 Trinity Hill Reserve was corked). As well as bringing some wonderful wines with them, they also brought a wine press, which was quite an important part of proceedings. The press is controlled by water pressure: the black inner tube is filled with water, a circular metal tube with lots of holes surrounds this, and the whole thing was covered by a sack (and a low-cost one at that!) to prevent us all from getting too messy. In a nutshell, the wine is poured into the metal casing, the best quality stuff pours straight through and once almost full a lid is put on. Then the water is increased so the inner tube expands, pushing the rest of the liquid through the holes and leaving the dry skins behind.

We had a fun morning pressing and the arrival of Marco to help out meant that there were 3 winemakers & connoisseurs present, all with different ideas of the best way to do things, which was interesting to listen to (and whoever says men don't gossip hasn't heard these guys!) We were also entertained by young Stevie who was very interested in the morning's events, and Hooky, while I concentrated on taking yet more photos, and have been experimenting with black and white as you may have noticed. Events were rounded off nicely with a lovely lunch in the sun.

The final big job for this year's vintage was the picking of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes for the Ash Ridge red. We had additional help from Hans, Tracey, and her two children Keelie and Lochlan, over a slightly frustrating morning - the unpredicted rain beforehand meant that the grapes were not in their desired condition, and it continued to rain throughout the picking, while we were working to a very tight deadline to get the grapes to Moana Park before they closed for their vintage party - whoever thinks working on a vineyard is all glamour needs to experience this side of things! Still, we managed it, helped enormously by the delicious barbeque and nibbles provided by Em, then I went with Jon and Ross to deliver the grapes and see the crushing on a slightly bigger scale than I've experienced here. The following day we handpicked the rest of the Cabernet for the homemade Quaffer, and that was that - the end of vintage for this year.

The weekend was topped off magnificently by a vertical tasting of Ash Ridge wines, preceded by another Ross & Helen special, a 1999 Brookfields Chardonnay. For the tasting we had 5 homemade wines from successive years but of different grape blends, plus a professionally made wine from Ash Ridge grapes, a 2004 Artisan Cabernet Merlot. The 6 glasses were lined up in front of us and we did a blind tasting, then had to describe the aroma and palate, try to identify the grape variety, then say which wine was which. It was extremely good fun, a good indicator of just how much we've learnt since being here, and interesting to see how much of this is simply down to personal taste and preference. (And while I don't like to boast I identified more than Jon!)

Now the vineyard falls quiet for a couple of weeks, and it is amazing to walk around and see how quickly changes are happening. Autumn is definitely here and the vines are full of vivid colours, a myriad of reds, oranges and yellows, the leaves getting ready to drop. And Hooky notices the difference too. He is noticeably mooching about, sad at the lack of activity in the vineyard, the lack of wires to chase and gets so over-excited and happy to see you when you pop out to take him for a stroll.

A Little Bit of Exploring

In addition to hanging around the vineyard and practising tractor driving, we have made the odd venture into the wide world beyond. We've been back to Napier a couple of times and had a lovely walk along Marine Parade, round to the port of Ahuriri where we ate a delicious meal at an alternative Brighton-style cafe called Hep Set Mooch, before storm-dodging and running for cover! But our best day out was a walk to Cape Kidnappers, the largest mainland gannet colony in the world which is only accessible via a walk around the coast from Clifton to the reserve, a 19km round trip with a 30 minute climb at the end to the main breeding colony. The walk has to be carefully timed as the beach is completely cut off at high tide, and while we picked a good day in terms of the times, it was during a full moon so even at low tide we had to lose our boots at certain times and paddle, or in one case, wade! The fact that we were walking against the clock was not helped by the pain in my thighs from the previous day's work, when I'd effectively been doing squats all day and my muscles had ceased, making stepping out painful!

But all of that paled into insignificance once we were walking - the coastline is absolutely stunning. We had the pleasure of Jon's company for the walk, it was a little too far for Emma at 7 months pregnant, and we began as every good walk should begin, with a delicious sustaining breakfast at the Bay Expresso cafe who make outstanding Eggs Benedict. It was an absolutely perfect day for walking, a clear blue sky with occasional wispy clouds, and a perfectly still sea, sparkling in the sun, that we kept looking at in the vain hope of seeing a dolphin or seal. The cliffs were a perfect geology lesson in themselves, and Jon, a soil scientist by trade, was pointing out lots of features to us and explained that the cliffs at the actual cape were the oldest cliffs in New Zealand. It was a peaceful, tranquil walk with hardly another soul in sight for most of the day: a couple set off ahead of us and promptly left us behind (I kept taking photos...); we came across a Kiwi who had passed us on his quad bike and set himself up fishing in a peaceful spot (we approached him with dread as he was hidden behind a rock, but thankfully he had left some clothes on!); and the only other people we saw were those who had opted for the tractor ride - cheats! The high tide was also a constant source of amusement, I think if Jon hadn't been with us we may have turned back on a couple of occasions as we did have to wade out some way, but we pulled each other through the water and over rocks, and kept ourselves sustained with chocolate!

The only disappointment was the colony itself. The DOC booklet says that the chicks have all left the Cape for Australia by the end of May. What they omitted to mention was that there would only be 4 chicks left on the main breeding ground and 7 adult birds on Black Reef Point! We climbed with such anticipation, and our faces fell somewhat once we arrived. But on the plus side, at least you could see, and smell, where they had been - the site was covered with feathers and smelt extremely badly of fishy-poo (not a picnic spot!) But to be honest we weren't that disappointed; while it wasn't quite the wildlife spectacular we'd been expecting, we got to see the chicks at very close range, had a fabulous view of the adult birds, and the walk itself was worth it - we even saw a kingfisher on the way back.

Quite predictably, seeing as we're in one of the main wine-growing areas of New Zealand, we've also done a few tastings on the 'Wine Trail', including Church Road Winery, Unison, Trinity Hill and Te Awa. Su and I are getting quite pro at these now. They are all set out in much the same way: you start with the lighter whites, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc, move onto the heavier whites, Viognier and Chardonnay, then the reds, again starting with the lighter grapes like Pinot Noir and moving onto the heavier blends, and if you're lucky end up with a dessert wine. A little swill of the glass, deep inhalation to see what you can smell, then sip of wine, roll it around in your mouth to check the taste across your palate - we are pros! Hmm, I can smell an earthy smell, and violets, and get a kind of barnyard taste, with a hint of cigar box, etc, etc. It's also amazing how the power of suggestion can influence what you smell - Su could smell smoky bacon crisps once, and once she mentioned it we all smelt Frazzles! And because we're working at a vineyard (which we've tended to tell people) they become more interested in us - the lovely lady at Church Road gave us a blind tasting of one of their reserve wines (that you usually pay to taste) to see if we could identify it, and others haven't charged us when they usually charge as they've said we're working in the industry! Fun this! The trip to Church Road was particularly interesting as we paid for a tour of the winery and museum, which gave us an insight into the tools we would have been using if we'd done this trip several decades ago - we think this has been hard work!

Our Plans

So why are we still here? Well Jon and Emma are going away for a few days and have asked us to housesit, look after the animals and plunge the Cabernets. And of course the offer of a few more days living in luxury accommodation with a car to explore some more of the area was too good to refuse. So we're helping to paint the nursery, planning a few more walks and wine tastings, then moving on to the Bay of Plenty for kiwifruit work in a week's time.

Couple of things before I sign off for tonight: yes, I'm picking up my Hotmail, even if I don't always have time to answer straightaway; and I'm sorry to report that Ash Ridge don't yet supply to the UK so you won't be able to find a bottle yet Karen, but if there are any importers reading this blog, it's damn good wine, go on, give it a try!

Lots of love, Jo & Su xxxxx