After-Work Drinks

It wasn't your average after-work-drinks, and normally the staff at Seresin Estate aren't the types to be drinking out of brown paper bags either.

We lined up a dozen bottles of 2006 and new-release 2007 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in a blind tasting for all staff. It was a first for many, and a fascinating and valuable exercise. The results aren't for publication here (we were pleased, but that wasn't the point of the exercise), but we recommend you give it a go yourself sometime - it really makes you think about what you're tasting and the differences between wines. Like some of us, you might even find it helps you discover, describe and distinguish what it is you like or dislike in a wine - and knowing what you like is what it's all about, after all.

By the way, the picture is taken in our winery lab, which explains the racks and pipes you can see in the background. The lab is not used for technical-winemaking-trickery, but for analysis and monitoring. We test acid and sugar levels in grapes to help us make picking decisions for example. Also, given our natural and traditional winemaking techniques, with minimal intervention, it's important that we keep a close eye on our wines to ensure they are developing as they should. For example, as we ferment a lot of our wines naturally, using wild yeast, we need to understand which yeasts are at work, and how they are getting on, to make sure they do the job. It's about letting nature do most of the work, but keeping a close eye on things to make sure we get the best wine possible.