|
In any business just paddling like a madman to keep one's head above water means one often forgets to take time out to smell the roses, taste the coffee or have a right old slap up wine lunch with a bunch of winemakers.
Well not known as a person to shy away from the opportunity to wine and dine- the visit to New Zealand of Robert Bath MS our California based US importer gave me the chance to meet the other NZ wineries involved over a glass or two and a fine meal at my favourite NZ restaurant Martin Bosley's in Wellington.
Lunch was a simple affair -NOT!
Clevedon Oyster on a bed of seaweed
Big-eye tune tartare, poached pear, red capsicum oil
EC2 Chardonnay 2005
Tomato terrine ‘presse’ cherry tomato salad, textured tomato air, saffron mayonnaise, air baguette
Tupari Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Spanner crab ‘Caesar’ salmon roe sauce, cucumber-apple caviar, prosciutto, iceberg lettuce-anchovy dressing, mimosa garnish
EC2 Chardonnay 2005
Duck Foie gras crème caramel, warm French green lentils, frozen apple foam, micro greens salad.
Millton Viognier Vendage Tardive
Grilled tranche of salmon, Oriental flavours, saffron gnocchi, apple soubise, caramelized onions, orange infused jus.
Borthwick Estate Pinot Noir / Tupari Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Grilled butterfish, bacon-wilted silverbeet, purple young carrots, pinot noir poached quail eggs, mushrooms, hot potato mousse
Borthwick Estate Sauvignon Blanc/ EC2 Chardonnay 2006
Black olive oil poached lamb loin, onion puree, young vegetables Barigoule
Greenhough Pinot Noir 2003
Martinus Pinot Noir 2003
Milk roasted pork fillet, truffled cabbage, house-minted garlic saucisson, bacon wrapped fondant potato, Albufera sauce, juniper sauce.
Millton Chenin Blanc
Tahi 2004
The Doctor 2005
Dessert Tasting plates, included a de-constructed peanut slab, a blue cheese ice cream and other gastronomic delights
Ch Suidaraut Sauternes Bordeaux 2001
Ch La Tour Blanche Sauternes Bordeaux 2001
Each winemaker had a number of wines they wished to show at lunch, Chef had firm ideas too, and was swayed by the ingredients available on the day at the last minute.
The food was so good we all swapped courses and tried each matched wine - so that lead to a severe glass shortage at one point - but we all had a good go at trying each others wines with all the courses.
On behalf of Hatton Estate I was comfortable to leave our heavy reds until the end of play as Martin Bosleys is predominantly a seafood restaurant as you can see from the courses above.
The NZ pinots fared well with the salmon and pork courses, my standout wines were the Millton Vendage Tardive with the Foie Gras dish, Tupari's Savvy with the first tomato course, EC2 with the raw oyster amuse, well all of them really!
We settled in to some road warrior story telling, great meals always lead to that - for which The Doctor Syrah 2005 and Tahi 2004 proved very good post prandial lubrication.
Congratulations must go to Chef Martin and his team for challenging and rewarding our palates- and to the very helpful wait-staff who dealt with all our obscure requests patiently and with understanding.
|
Right to Left: Glen Thomas From Tupari wines; Andrew Greenhough from Greenhough Wines; Bob Bath Importer extraordinaire; Robert Van Zanten from Martinus Wines; Martin Bosley of Yacht Club fame; Michael Daymond King, the big bad boss man of Hatton Estate; James Milton from Milton Estate; Annie Milton from Milton Estate; Paddy Borthwick from Borthwick Estate; David Turnbull, also Tupari Wines
Above is the same motley crew from a different angle, but a little later on. You can tell the passing of time through the amount of wine glasses on the table!
Rumour has it that at one point every glass the restaurant owned was on the table!
A sponge - intermittently called Bob.
|