October 13th, 2010
Yes its that time of year. Youve finished pruning, one of the more crucial, time consuming and costly tasks in the vineyard - the buds start growing and the season starts again. But around this time every season comes the frost alerts. Its seems to be the price we pay for our wonderful cool climate terroir which makes NZ wines so fantastic. A handful of times over the next few weeks the forecasts will ...
October 7th, 2010
Currently on at the Christchurch Art Gallery is the exhibiton by sculptor Ron Mueck which features over-sized hyperrealistic people such as the one above. The exhibition runs throughout the summer until January next year so no excuses not to get along.
Wine and art do share a synergistic connection of sorts so make sure you have a glass of quality wine to enjoy when you get home from seeing these amazing works of art. Might ...
October 4th, 2010
In fact some of these shoots are a stage or so beyond budburst. Seems marginally later than last year by a few days. Now all we have to do is nurse this, and thousands of other shoots like it, through until around mid April next year. Easy, right?
September 23rd, 2010
The new growing season is practically underway with most buds now in the 'woolly' phase. It has been a wet winter and spring to date with cooler temperatures but at last it seems the soil has warmed sufficiently and the sun is out so it all on from here. In a week or so we will see the first of the visible green tips and then ...
September 17th, 2010
Just driving past the airport when I noticed the Westpac Rescue Helicopter was about to spring into action. So I took a quick snap before it became airborne. I wonder if whoever it was that was being winched or stretchered onboard was able to just glance at the rectangular black marking on the door beforehand and noticed 'Sandihurst Winery'. Glad to have helped. We could have a customer for life there. And if you are ...
September 6th, 2010
Just to advise readers, especially those overseas, that the Sandihurst has been right in the thick of the recent Christchurch earthquake. The location of the winery is only 10-15km from the epicentre. There has been quite a bit of visible damage to tanks and bottled wine etc but like the rest of Christchurch the damage may only be the tip of the iceberg and we are still yet to conduct a full assessment of the damage. ...
September 3rd, 2010
I was going to title this post Drive-by Shooting in Christchurch but thought better of it. Its easy to get lulled into a false sense of spring at this time of year. One minute its sunny, the next its cold and wet. I took this photo of these Daffodils yesterday out of my car window as I was driving back from delivering some wine to Sezn restaurant (surely one of the citys best). Bealey ...
September 2nd, 2010
Just a shot of our 2500L tanks which we use for small batch fermentation and for experimental lots here at Sandihurst. Our 2007 trophy winning Riesling was a blend of 7 of these tanks, all dealt with in a slightly different way to add some complexity and interest to the final blend.
This photo is in fact a shot of me cleaning the tanks. Not a job for the mind ...
August 31st, 2010
Now that Spring appears to be in the air, a reminder that theres nothing an aromatic white wine at this time of year. Take a look at our online cellar door and discover our wonderful Rieslings, Gewurztaminer and Pinot Gris wines.
Not only that we also have an amazing deal through our actual Cellar Door on our 2006 Waipara Chardonnay. A brilliant wine, very popular in the tasting room but also practically sold ...
August 26th, 2010
The 2010 Bragato Conference got underway today in Blenheim. Its New Zealands annual grapegrowers forum where the programme is based firmly around all things viticultural (although there are vineyard based wine awards too). This years conference should have quite and extra bite to it as the industry is experiencing one of its worst economic periods ever, especially for growers of Sauvignon Blanc. There is quite a bit of Twitter activity already and you should be able to ...
A native of Christchurch, and a curious wanderer of distant shores, Kirk’s talent for beautiful wines can, at least in part, be attributed to his dark decade in chartered accountancy. There, amongst the spreadsheets, columns and rows, Kirk is said to have developed the finely-tuned attention to detail he was later to apply to Sandihurst’s advantage.
It was following a culturally eye-opening period in Europe and Asia that Kirk experienced the moment of truth that was to drive him to abandon his pinstripes and retrain. He had tasted life, French pastries and dim sum and now he wanted more. So, roll up his neatly pressed sleeves he did. Enlightened and decidedly un-accountant-like, Kirk then took his new-found talents to California and Germany’s Pfalz where he refined his vinous skills and gained further invaluable experience. And a family. Finally, and after several happy years, the lure of New Zealand proved too strong to resist, and Kirk returned home and into the veritable arms of Sandihurst Winery.
Artist and alchemist, whilst Kirk’s Mr Nice Guy persona belies a dry wit and wicked laugh, his genius knows only modesty. When he declares his wine to be “okay”, it’s time to bank another medal.
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