Marama a 'Sauvignon Blanc like No Other'

Over the Marlborough Anniversary weekend, we celebrated in style with the Marlborough Wine Weekend. Visitors from around the world attended the event, which showcased the best the region has to offer. As well as a Gourmet Dinner, Garden Party, and a Sparkling Cruise through the Marlborough Sounds, guests had the opportunity to learn more about, and taste a number of the varieties produced in Marlborough. While we tasted through the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir flights here in Marlborough, TasteLive (a US-based company which organises online tastings in conjunction with real-time tastings) had arranged some wine media to taste the same wines live on twitter. One of these tasters was Grace Hoffman - aka CellarMistress. Grace, a self-professed 'walking encyclopaedia of wine', was rather smitten with the 2007 Seresin Marama - one of only four Marlborough examples appearing in a line-up of international Sauvignons. To see what she has to say about the Marama, and the other Sauvignons tasted, take a look at her blog...

...and if you'd like more information on the Marama, the tasting notes are available on our website.

Seresin - Organic Producer of the Year

Colin Ross attended the Organics Aotearoa New Zealand conference in Hamilton last week and was on hand to accept, on behalf of Seresin, the award for Organic Producer of the Year.

The annual OANZ awards recognise people and organisations leading the way in organics.

The award was presented by Dr Manfred Botsch, Switzerland's Minister of Agriculture, pictured here with Colin.

Colin says the award recognises Seresin's commitment to organic farming.

"We do our best to encourage others to consider organic farming by hosting workshops and field days. We try to be ambassadors for the region and organics through exporting our products and hosting international staff and visitors."

Sauvignons stand the test of time

A common topic of discussion around Malborough, famed for its Sauvignon Blanc, is about the ageability of the beloved variety. Jamie Goode tasted a couple of older vintages of Seresin Sauvignon Blanc, and the verdict was great! Seven years old, the 'very stylish' 2002 Sauvignon earnt 91/100. To see the rest of the blog, click here.

One Man's Vinious Musings

Aussie wine blogger Andrew Graham had a good look through all the wines shown at a recent NZ Winegrowers tasting of newly released New Zealand wines. He made special mention of the 2007 Seresin wines - 'extraordinarily good' he reckons! Check out his blog for more...

The joys of Spring

The weather is noticeably warmer and its finally starting to feel like spring time so we thought we'd celebrate in style with a long lunch at our Waterfall Bay Restaurant.

Seresin’s favourite Cook, Marcia Chang-Hong, will prepare a four course menu of new season local produce; Asparagus, Marlborough Sounds Scallops, Spring Lamb and Strawberries.

Marcia first cooked for Michael Seresin, while working as Chef at iconic London restaurant Kensington Place, and we have been enjoying her food since she moved to Marlborough six years ago. Seresin staff will serve lunch and matching new-release wines in the relaxed setting of the small dining room on the water’s edge.

Lunch: Sunday November 15th
Tickets: Lunch with matching wines $120 per person, water taxi $40 return from Picton.
Boat departs Picton at 11.30am, limited to 40 people.
Reservations: Contact Moir Laird: moir@seresin.co.nz or Ph +64 (0)3 572 9408

And just in time for the long weekend a spring recipe from Marcia using freshly picked artichokes from our garden and Seresin Lemon Olive oil.

Artichoke and Goat's cheese dip
6 artichokes
2-3 tbsp lemon oil
4-5 tbsp goat's cheese. You can use either a hard cheese, grated or a softer creamy one.
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon

Bring artichokes to boil in a large pot of salted water. Simmer gently till artichokes are just cooked. Test by gently pulling at an outer leaf, it should just slip off with the slightest tug.

Drain and cool the artichokes. Peel off the tough outer layers till you get to the heart and use a teaspoon to scoop out the hairy centre. Puree the hearts with coarse sea salt, pepper, cheese, lemon juice and lemon olive oil. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve with crusty bread or as a spread on sandwiches. Will keep up to a week refrigerated.

Enjoy!

A new staff member

We would like to welcome Moir Laird to the Seresin team. Moir joins us as the new Marketing Assistant. With a degree in Commerce and Marketing Moir has already experienced several sides of the wine industry – including wine sales, cellar door, trade shows and getting her hands dirty over vintage.

She says "my love of great wine, good food, and looking after the world we live in brought me to Seresin. My first day here, I was initiated with a mass application of one of our biodynamic preparations to the vineyard – the whole team applying 500 by hand across the Estate. A perfect way to start what I’m sure will be an interesting and fulfilling role!"

Logan Brown 350 Lunch

We're proud to be supporting the Logan Brown 350 lunch. The Wellington Restaurant has teamed up with climate action group 350 and Greenpeace to offer a three-course lunch for the princely sum of 350 cents ($3.50). The lunch is designed to raise awareness around the issue of climate change and to highlight the International Day of Climate Action festival on 24 October.

Steve Logan was inspired to do something after watching a film produced by a New Zealand documentary maker, Lizzie Gillet. The Age of Stupid looks at climate change from the perspective of future generations looking back at 2008 asking: why didn’t we stop climate change while we had the chance?

Thousands of people registered online to go in the drawn to attend the 350 Lunch, which is being held this Wednesday (October 21). Eighty have been selected to enjoy the bistro menu, which will be matched with a glass of Seresin 2007 Rachel Pinot Noir.

Why 350? This refers to the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (in parts per million), which scientist have deemed the maximum safe level to prevent catastrophic climate change. Their goal, this year, is to get the Government to agree a 40 per cent emission reduction by 2020 at the UN climate summit at Copenhagen in December. Greenpeace have a similar mission - a 40% reduction by 2020 is what scientists recommend is necessary to meet the 350 target.

Logan Brown are also offering a special screening of the film that inspired it all. Paramount Cinema will show The Age of Stupid at the Paramount Cinema on 27th October at 6.30pm. Tickets are $3.50! To buy a ticket click here.

Creative Cultivation

Our newest addition to the family… 2 little (mostly) wild pigs. These girls have been ‘hard’ at work cultivating a plot of land that we will use for planting veggies. They do an excellent job turning the soil as they root around for insects and roots.

Hands-On the Land

This spring, to nourish the land with both physical matter and our energy, we went for a real hands-on approach in applying Preparation 500 to our land. While we always hand-stir a portion of our Preparation 500, and always apply it by hand to a few select areas, because of the size of our Estate, most of it is generally stirred and applied with machines. Stirring and applying the Preparation 500 by hand is said to allow your energy to enter the Preparation 500 and bring a sense of aliveness to the property. We thought we’d give our land a little extra love by trying to stir and apply as much of our Preparation 500 by hand as we could. We put in an excellent effort! We hand-stirred a total of 32 barrels, with 4800 litres, over a 4-day period and hand-applied Preparation 500 to as much of our Estate as was physically practical. As part of this, we were able to cover our entire home block by hand, grapes, olives, orchards, gardens, animals and all! Staff, family, friends and colleagues joined us to form a band of over 35 merry stirrers and flickers. The joy and positive energy that spread over the Estate was palpable as we twirled and skipped, flicking our 500 on the land that provides for us in so many ways.

Seresin Estate's own Food & Wine Festival

We are looking forward to February and to welcoming guests to our occasional restaurant at Waterfall Bay. Chef for our 2010 February dinners is Hamish Brown from ROKA restaurant in London.

Chef Hamish Brown spent his formative years growing up amongst Canterbury’s farming community. Inspired by his father, a successful chef with restaurants in New Zealand and Australia, Hamish developed a sense for the quality of local ingredients and a passion for combining the Asian cuisines which make up the Western Pacific Rim.

After a successful early career in New Zealand, Hamish worked his way up to the position of Executive Chef at Christchurch’s George Hotel. Eager to broaden his culinary base Hamish left New Zealand for England. His first employer was expatriate Peter Gordon at his London restaurant Providores. After 18 months working with Peter Gordon, in 2006 Hamish left for ROKA and a position as Head Chef. Part of the worldwide Zuma-ROKA restaurant group, ROKA is renowned for its contemporary Japanese-inspired food.

Michael Seresin says “all the wine lists at Zuma-ROKA restaurants worldwide feature Seresin wines, and it was a natural progression to build on that relationship and welcome Hamish to Waterfall Bay. His imaginative cooking combines the best ingredients for texture and clean flavours, a perfect match for Seresin wines.”

Down the Rabbit Hole

The Wellington City Gallery re-opened last week after some major renovations and we were there for the opening celebrations.

As the official wine supplier of the Wellington City Gallery, Seresin wines were served alongside the opening night menu created by the team at Nikau Cafe.

In fitting style the gallery re-opened with the eagerly awaited Yayoi Kusama exhibition. ‘Mirrored Years’ features much of Kusama’s earlier seminal work, alongside some new creations.

The Japanese artist describes herself as the “modern Alice in Wonderland”, and certainly creates art unlike any other. A prominent figure in the art world of the 1960s, Kusama’s work is described as idiosyncratic and consistently original. She is considered one of the most acclaimed and respected contemporary artists working today.

For more information on the exhibition, check out the City Gallery Website.

Spring is in the Air

The Spring Equinox marks the beginning of a New Year for us. The Earth is warming, the Sun begins to stay with us longer and life unfolds before our eyes. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, our families gathered to welcome in the New Year together. We strolled through the vineyard collecting dandelions to thread into a garland and then blew and decorated eggs and made omelettes. And in true spring fashion, two little chicks hatched that day!

Reaching Noirvana

According to wine writer Yvonne Lorkin, Pinot Noir is a bit like Marmite because it polarises people; you either love it or you hate it. Good thing she seemed to like our new release 2007 Pinot Noir....check out her latest blog article.

Jancis Robinson's top NZ Wineries

We enjoyed a visit from top UK wine writer Jancis Robinson back in February, during a whirl-wind tour she made of New Zealand.

She has just published a list of her top four New Zealand wineries, including Seresin Estate.

Here is what she had to say about Seresin and some of the wines she tasted:

"SERESIN Film director Michael Seresin's estate, a pioneer of biodynamic viticulture in Marlborough with buried composts and cow horns and all sorts of not-obviously-Kiwi accoutrements. The bright young winemaker Clive Dougall arrived in 2006 and used to work for London brewers and wine retailers Fullers. I asked him if he ever deacidified (a common necessity in these parts) and he claimed he didn't even know how to.

Seresin Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough 17, Drink 2009-11
Slightly gassy. 40% wild yeast (not 100% out of fear because Sauvignon Blanc is so commercially important). 5% barrel-fermented Semillon. 10% of the SB is also old-barrel fermented. Honeyed nose with definite wild yeast nose. More mouthfeel than most NZ SBs - with real richness. Long and very different from the regular Marlborough SB. Real mouthfeel and substance. 13.5%

Seresin, Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough 17.5
[This wine was tasted in Sep 09 London.] Very restrained crop (three tonnes/ha) from the 17-year-old vines on the Home vineyard. Lifted, lively nose - rather flirtatious - more so than the first vintage, the 2007. Complete. Lifted nose. Lightly smoky with just a hint of oily pungency. Very racy and impressively long. Perhaps not as concentrated as the 2007 Reserve - and it could be more useful for it.

Seresin Pinot Gris 2008 Marlborough 16.5 Drink 2009-10
Very heady and focussed nose. Lovely clean bright fruit and not alcoholic. Quite full and finishes dry. Transferred to old barriques after stainless steel fermentation. 6% RS. Not amazingly complex but lovely texture. Quite long. Bravo! 14.5%

Seresin, Chiarascuro 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2009-10
Very unusual wine for Marlborough - a blend inspired by Jermann's Vintage Tunina of Friuli! Pale pear juice on the nose and quite round and appley....Interesting! Full and zippy.

Seresin, Home Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2010-14
17-year-old vines. Crimson, very luscious and fully ripe. All 115 clones. What's not to like? Loose and yet satisfying. Dry finish. Appetising. Fruit in the middle.

Seresin, Rachel Pinot Noir 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2010-14
From a special parcel in Raupo. Very luscious almost black cherry aroma and much finer and more refreshing than the Tatou - more succulent.

Seresin, Sun and Moon Pinot Noir 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2010-15
80/20 Raupo/Home. This is meant to be special. Finishes dry and lively. Good tension. Palate filling. Long. Quite fine and very savoury. Drive! "

Dandelion Days

Spring is upon us and the glowing yellow of the dandelions grace our land. A few rainy days followed by nicely warming temperatures has seen them burst forth in full force. On a sunny ‘flower’ day, we got a band of merry pickers together to gather dandelions, opened to just the right stage, for our Preparation 506. Aman, Lisa, me, Sean and Mauricio are pictured here with our sunny bounty. The flowers will be dried and stored until next autumn to be used in our preparation making.

Welcome Charlie!

Lambing is upon us and with it has come little Charlie. Unfortunately we had to take him from his mum but we’ve found another one for him. Amanda, our Cellar Door manager, is raising him with lots of love, even getting up in the middle of the night to feed him! Once Charlie is old enough, he will stay at our Home Vineyard with Rudy and Rosa, eating grass to his hearts content. But for now, Charlie comes to work every day with Amanda so if you’d like to meet him just pop into our tasting room!

Michael Seresin - Profile

Writing for the UK's Design Week, Mike Dempsey has compiled a very interesting article summarising Michael Seresin's film career. Check it out on Mike Dempsey's own blog.

When we spend time with Michael, we're normally talking wine, olive oil, food, the environment, goats, vegetable gardens, books, fish, ...all-sorts ... but very rarely the other, professional side of his life, so we were all interested to learn more about what he has done - including a charming commercial for Stella Artois, which was news to us.

Serious Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

UK wine writer Jamie Goode wrote an article which asked the question - can Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ever be serious?

In response we sent him a bottle of our new release 2008 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc and this is what he had to say.

"Amazingly full, aromatic nose with notes of grapefruit, passionfruit, herb and pear. Lots of richness, with a hint of greenness. The palate is complex and concentrated with sweet bold fruit and a subtle herbiness, as well as a nice minerality. Texturally rich but still fresh. Brilliantly poised. 92/100"

For the full posting check out Jamie's blog.

A Sheepy Day

Today we are wishing our pet sheep, Rudy, “Happy First Birthday!!”. (Pictured here, getting a cuddle from Erin and Sean)

And coincidentally, our first lambs of this season were also born today!

Another use for Pinot

A Marlborough beauty therapy clinic has developed a unique way to recycle the grape skins from our winery.



Pampers Escape use the Seresin Pinot Noir grape marc in a special treatment called the Caramalized Pinot and Lavender Bath.

Linda Davies processes the grape marc with her locally grown organic lavender. The grape marc helps to detox the body and the lavender calms and heals. We're yet to try it for ourselves but it sounds fabulous!

Wine for the Weekend - Seresin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

The folks at Esquire magazine are enjoying our 2008 Sauvignon Blanc as much as we are. They say: "Now well-established as a quality operation which plays up its organically grown grapes and pursuit of wine-making the old-fashioned way, the results can be seen in this 2008 vintage of their flagship Sauvignon Blanc - crisp and creamy with a subtle nutty note from the oak barrels, and a strong citrus finish combine to elevate it above the rest of the sauvignon Marlborough pack."

Pinot Gris

Writing in MindFOOD, we enjoyed Joelle Thomson's tip of the hat to the 'Southern Man' ad campaign, when describing the 2008 Seresin Pinot Gris:


‘It's a hard road finding the perfect pinot gris and here is one of the very few that stands out from the crowd in style, body, taste and sheer drinkability. This is a stunner from cinematographer Michael Seresin's Marlborough vineyard, which is steadily being converted to biodynamic. It's worth every cent. Ignore the others.’


If you don't want to take Joelle's advice to 'ignore the others', some recommendations from Seresin winemaker, Clive Dougall, include Pinot Gris from Escarpment in Martinborough (for a big wine) and Aurum and Lamont from Central Otago as nice examples in a more delicate way.

Please email us if you want advance notice of a special Pinot Gris we made in 2008 - less than 300 bottles made, to be released in October 2008.

Summer Wines (in Winter)

While Johnny Ray is recommending the 2008 Seresin Gewurztraminer as one of his top 50 wines for the English summer, the same wine is also receiving compliments in the middle of New Zealand's winter.

Writing in Hawke's Bay Today, Yvonne Lorkin describes the wine as "Ginger, pot pourri, citrus blossom, jasmine, concentrated and semi-emotional I think. Just a sensational wine from winemaker Clive Dougall and the team of organic champions at Seresin. It’s perfectly balanced, beautifully put together."

Whether its summer or winter we hope you enjoy this wine - even if you don't see the English summer and New Zealand winter being all that different anyway ...

Summer Wines

While it's far from summer here in Marlborough (minus 4 overnight, frosts and cool clear days), our friends in the Northern Hemisphere are thinking about which wines to enjoy in their warmer days and evenings.

Writing for The Telegraph in England, Johnny Ray recommends 50 summer wines. The 2008 Seresin Gewurztraminer makes the list as "a worthy rival of anything Alsace has to offer." Johnny recommends the wine is enjoyed "well-chilled as a stylish aperitif or partner to Thai food."

A Goode Look at Biodynamic Winegrowing

The Wine Anorak website by Jamie Goode has a wealth of information for wine lovers, and if you're looking specifically for information and perspectives on biodynamic winegrowing, make sure you check out his fascinating series of articles.

Moos Flash!

Our family just got bigger with the “adoption” of a 7 year old Jersey named Olga. She’s a lovely girl, very friendly and has an amazingly soft coat, reminiscent of a teddy bear! Lucky for us she was a “show” calf so she knows how to walk on a lead and is very relaxed around people. She’s due to calve in October and will become our next milking cow.

One Hail of a Day

Still sunny in Marlborough, but the cold spells have been leaving us with some deep down chills out in the vineyard. We were pelted with pea-sized hail in the middle of the day...! Thankfully we are about to turn the corner on winter with the upcoming Winter Solstice this Sunday.

'If only all pinot gris was this interesting'

Our Pinot Gris received a couple of nice reviews from 'across the ditch' over the weekend.

Huon Hooke selected the wine as his Best Import in the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘If only all pinot gris was this interesting. But it’s not everyone’s cuppa. Very rich and multi-dimensional, it’s opulent, powerful and loaded with flavour. Barrel-fermented, high alcohol (14.5%) and heavily worked.' 95/100

Writing in Sunday Life, Sally Gudgeon had this to say.

‘A rich Marlborough gris with striking fruit purity and length. The vineyard is biodynamic and six months in old oak adds impressive texture. Serve it with Thai Fish cakes.’

The Organic Wine Future

We're excited to be part of the first Organic Winegrowers New Zealand, Organic Symposium. The Symposium will be held here in Marlborough on July 9 and 10 and feature some of New Zealand's leading experts in organic viticulture and marketing. For a program please email us.

Seresin Lemon Oil

After the hard work of the grape harvest ends, our vineyard and winery teams quickly move into the olive harvest.

This year, the weather wasn't as kind to our olives as it was to our grapes. The coldest May in 77 years, including 20 days of frost, reduced our olive harvest volumes drastically and we spent extra time with very selective picking to ensure the best quality of fruit possible. We also timed our harvesting to work in with our bookings at Marlborough's olive press - which we own collectively with other olive growers. This meant our olives were pressed as soon as possible after picking - often within a few hours - which is very important for quality.

Our Olio Nuovo, the new season's oil which we bottle and release immediately is pungent and peppery. Our winemakers (and oil makers!) are blending up our Extra Virgin Olive Oil and co-pressed citrus oils, which we will release in September. To make the Lemon, Lime and Orange oils we cut and zest fresh, whole citrus, which we press with the olives, giving a wonderful integration of flavours. Pictured are Lisbon lemons and zest about to be pressed with olives.