Misha's Vineyard

Misha’s team continues SE Asia tour into Vietnam

We headed to Ho Chi Minh for the 2nd leg of our South East Asia tour and got right into the swing of things with Andy and Olly ordering some local noodles in the Ben Thanh market which was very close to our hotel in District 1 of the city. Ho Chi Minh is a city of motor scooters – and it really is the fastest way to get around town as Olly proved riding through the manic traffic with one of the Fine Wines team to our dinner on the first night in HCMC! Our new distributor in Vietnam is Fine Wines part of Indochina Dragon Importing Company, and General Manager Mr Son, has put together a fabulous team there including Audrey and Anny. As the distributor for Riedel glassware and Vintec wine fridges, they’re in the perfect position to ensure the restaurants and hotels they supply have the right glasses and keep the wines at the correct temperature – very important in a an emerging wine market like Vietnam.

We were able to get acquainted with the Fine Wines team as they generously hosted us for a dinner on the first night there at a wonderful restaurant called TIB where we drank some excellent Errazuriz wines from Chile that Fine Wines also distribute in Vietnam.The next day we headed out to some key accounts including Yacht which has an impressive wine cabinet (courtesy of Fine Wines) which was stocked with Misha’s Vineyard Pinot Noir, of course! We then went to M Saigon hotel and checked they were fully stocked with our wines too! For lunch it was a real treat to go to Maxim – certainly one of the icon restaurants of Ho Chi Minh and it was even more exciting to see our Pinot Noir gracing each table in lovely Vietnamese lacquer-ware bottle holders.

On the second evening we held a tasting event at Xu Restaurant & Bar http://www.xusaigon.com/

It was a very trendy place to have our official Vietnamese launch and it’s even more exciting that we now have two wines on the list of this very international restaurant. Thanks Bien for your support of Misha’s Vineyard and for the stunning food that accompanied our wines at the event. It was also great to have Graham Sims – NZ Trade Commissioner – join us for the launch.

Fine Wines are just about to move to a new retail store just one block from the Park Hyatt Hotel in one of the most prestigious areas of Ho Chi Minh and they are also moving to bigger and larger offices as the company expands. We are so lucky to have found a wonderful partner in this fabulous and emerging wine market in South East Asia.

Tags: Central Otago Pinot Noir, Fine Wines, Ho Chi Minh, Misha Wilkinson, Misha’s Vineyard, Olly Masters, Xu Restaurant

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Misha’s update on our recent trip to Singapore

We love working with our Singapore distributor, Crystal Wines, who really ensured we met with all the key F&B folks while we were in Singapore. On Monday 1st August, they organized a trade dinner at Victoria Peak, a wonderful Chinese restaurant at Suntec City, for 50 people. Guests were invited to come and do a formal tasting of Misha’s Vineyard range of wines followed by a multi-course Chinese banquet. Many of Singapore’s 5 star hotels and clubs were represented at the dinner including the Sheraton Towers Hotel, St Regis Hotel and Republic of Singapore Yacht Club. And some of Singapore’s best restaurants came too including folks from Flutes at the Fort, Lawry’s Prime Rib, Orgo Bar & Restaurant, Que Pasa, Renn Thai, Bali Thai, and many more.

The following evening we held a Misha’s Vineyard Wine Dinner at OSIA – with celebrity chef Scott Webster, who ensured it was one of the best dinners we’ve ever experienced! OSIA is a premium restaurant which is part of Singapore’s Resorts World, a huge Casino complex which has a variety of restaurants and hotels within it. The best menu match at the dinner was the Sea Salt & Vinegar Cured Petuna Ocean Trout with Honey Pineapple Dressing with our Misha’s Vineyard ‘Limelight’ Riesling – sublime! We had lots of friends attend the dinner. Thanks to you all for your support – it was great to see so many Singapore friends again. And thanks to the gorgeous Kori Millar – a Kiwi gal who runs OSIA and ensures it’s a five star experience for everyone, every time!

We also visited a few wonderful places whilst in Singapore where our wines are sold including the Marina Bay Sands Hotel & Casino who have our Sauvignon Blanc and our specially labelled Misha’s Vineyard “Lucky 8” Pinot Noir throughout the hotel and in their High Rollers Club “Paiza”, and popped in to see Kim Drew at The Cliff restaurant at Sentosa Resort & Spa

Tags: Andy Wilkinson, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Crystal Wines, Kim Drew, Marina Bay Sands, Misha Wilkinson, Misha’s, Misha’s Vineyard, Olly Masters, OSIA, Resorts World, Scott Webster, The Cliff

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Millesime Restaurant.

Misha’s Vineyard Wines were formally launched into the Malaysian market on August 11th with a stunning dinner at Millesime restaurant. Chef Max Chin prepared some stunning dishes to match the range of Misha’s Vineyard wines now stocked by Malaysian wine and food company Finlux Sdn Bhd.

Attending the dinner were journalists, sommeliers and trade buyers from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. The meal was a series of perfectly prepared small plate dishes including seared tuna, goose foie gras, Hokkaido sea scallops and venison loin. The desert was an amazing Cherve Goat Cheese with Macaroon delight which matched perfectly with Misha’s Vineyard Limelight Riesling.

Chef Max Chin left the kitchen once the food was out to provide entertainment – including getting our winemaker Olly Masters to perform a very brief “Haka” along with Finlux owner CK Chew.

We were truly delighted to see such good interest in the wines and to have a growing interest in New Zealand wines as a serious category of wines within Malaysia. With Asia emerging as a wine market the pure expressions and delicate flavours of New Zealand cool climate varietals is a perfect fit with the cuisine and palates of the region.

For more photos and information visit Misha’s Vineyard on Facebook!

Tags: Central Otago Pinot Noir, Finlux Sdn Bhd, Max Chin, Millesime, Misha Wilkinson, mishas vineyard, Olly Masters, pinot noir

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One of Singapore’s most established and popular wine bars – Que Pasa – hosted a wine tasting of Misha’s Vineyard Wines with our star winemaker Olly Masters presenting the range of wines. It was fantastic to see such interest from the mix of experienced wine aficionados to people who were quite new to wine. Some of the tasters were trying Gewurztraminer for the first time – and loved it!

During the introduction we talked about New Zealand and why New Zealand wine has made such a splash on the world stage in such a short period of time – and had them taste the “freshness and purity” that only can come from a country with such breathtaking beauty and pristine environment. We then went through a tasting of the Misha’s Vineyard wines that was accompanied by some delicious snacks put on by the Que Pasa team to match the range of aromatic white wines and Pinot Noir.

Singapore’s wine market continues to develop at a pace to match the F1! Misha and Andy recalled going to Que Pasa in 1995 when it was the only wine bar in Singapore. Now with wine bars and wine clubs all over the island city it was great to see the first one still delivering fantastic wines and food to its customers. As interest in wine develops in Singapore the style of wine from New Zealand is becoming even more popular. The palate style and Asian food match of our pure cool climate varietals is especially pleasing to Singaporeans looking for wines of elegance and texture.

Thanks to the amazing team at Que Pasa for a wonderful experience, to our great distributor in Singapore – Crystal Wines, and thanks to all those wine lovers who came along to try our wines. We plan to be back regularly to show you new vintages and continue our friendship.

Tags: Central Otago Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, Misha Wilkinson, mishas vineyard, Olly Masters, Que Pasa

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A Post-Harvest update from Vineyard Manager, Rich Williams

The 2010/11 harvest this year, I was very happy with. We had an enthusiastic team of about 15 workers who could easily pick 12 tonnes a day and ensure only quality fruit picked. On the whole I was very happy with the standard in a season that was full of challenges but came through with some stunning results and free from disease until the very end. The autumn brought about relatively settled weather after a very wet Summer. 1120 GDD were recorded this season which was slightly lower than last year even though our daily average temperature was 3 degrees warmer. This allowed for good flavour development and lower than normal acid levels across the board.

It was great to see the young House Block produce some amazing fruit for the first time this year. The 198.19 Riesling Clone was a real jaw dropper as well as the Pinot Noir 114. I was even quite happy how the unusually fickle Clone 4 turned out in the end as it trailed the 114 by quite a bit at one stage and was very different in flavour comparison. I thought the Sauvignon Blanc turned out extraordinarily well this year providing nice grapefruit and mango tropical fruit flavours with a hint of red pepper.

The hill slopes of the Highwire Block and Block 2 performed well, as did the Abel and Clone 6 in the Lakefront Block. Clone 5 in the Top Block that was taken back to 1 bunch per shoot also came through outstandingly well. I can’t wait to taste the wine that Olly and the team at the winery can come up with.

Nets are finally off the vines. Always a tedious time dodging the wind and rain and the relative humidity has been high, meaning nets stayed wet. The workers got a little cold and wet in the process but battled on in the conditions. This now marks the end of a successful 2010/11 season. Many thanks to the team and all those that gave a helping hand in this year’s vintage.

Pruning is now underway in the vineyard. I am trying a different tact now that the majority of the vineyard is fully established with almost complete wire-fill. We are targeting the odd spots that still need a bit of TLC such as areas like the Horse’s Head in the Top Block and the Pinot Gris in the Dress Circle where wind has prevented the vines from developing a full wire.

Giving the vines some extra strength by one on one pruning is the key this year. Correct bud number per vine is up to the skill of the pruner that will inevitably give the vines balance as the plants develop in maturity. We have always grown them a bit close to the hip on these lighter soils and just a little bit more vigour will promise a more even and fuller canopy, promoting fruit ripening and plant strength. As soon as we complete lay-downs in some blocks, a tractor mounted barrel pruner will trim last year’s dormant canes close to the cordon. This will enable the team to do a follow up pass and prune the vines back to a determined number of buds/spurs. This year we are blessed with the purchase of some of the most state of art battery powered Felcotronic pruners. A real investment into the prevention of worker repetitive strain injury which can hinder the even strongest pruner.

Last year I trialled a disbudding technique through the cane-pruned Sauvignon Blanc and this made a real difference in vine strength. Because the younger House Block this year struggled with power early on in the season. I intend to carry this idea through and try to gain some strength on these young vines, establishing a strong and uniform cordon using this disbudding technique. It will also buy some time come Spring and will mean some of the shoot thinning will already be done.

This year I also intend to assign the workers different blocks and will be assessing the work closely. This will hopefully produce more even pruning and will be allow each worker to put additional effort into their own patch.

Sadly we say goodbye to our Japanese friend Ken who has been with us since last November and plans to return back to Japan and start an online wine buyers site now that he has a good understanding how wine is made. Also we soon say goodbye to Ryan who has been with us for a complete year. Good luck to them both.

Tags: central otago, Central Otago Pinot Noir, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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Harvest Update

The 2011 growing season has thrown some interesting weather at us. The first half of the season was warm and dry but in January temperatures dropped and have stayed unseasonably cool and wet for much of the rest of the growing season. Overall we have still managed to come through with a great finish to the season due to some diligent vineyard management and keeping crops low. We’re delighted with the amazing fruit that’s been picked so far. This year’s harvest started slowly on Wednesday 30th March with a short day as we took a little Pinot Noir from the House Block. They were just 4 year old vines and their first “producing” season so we had to ensure the vines had a well balanced yield given the youth of the vines. Over the next couple of days we picked mainly Pinot Noir including the Abel clone of Pinot Noir from our Lakefront block– always a lush and flavorsome section of the vineyard! After three days of harvest we had partially picked 4 of our 8 clones of Pinot Noir – with still a lot of vineyard to go! Winemaker and official harvest scheduler, Olly Masters, tasted a lot of fruit on the Monday of Week 2 of harvest, and as usual, Olly is not in a rush to get the fruit off the vine as he waits for the berries to develop the flavours he’s looking for so we didn’t resume picking until Wednesday.

The first white varietal to be picked was the Sauvignon Blanc on our “Ski Slope”. It’s an interesting area to harvest. We pick mostly downhill as the bucket runners would simply not manage to get full buckets up the steep slope to the tractor and trailer and our picking crew would struggle to climb uphill as well. Thank goodness for the Misha’s Vineyard mini-bus to get them from the bottom of the hill to the top in order to start another downhill run. Ski Slope also tests the brakes on the tractors with two 400kg harvest bins on the trailer facing straight down the slope to the lake. The Sauvignon Blanc from Misha’s Vineyard is quite different from the more typical Marlborough style of Sauvignon Blanc produced in New Zealand. It’s more tropical and luscious than herbaceous and grassy. We think it’s the stunning view these vines have that makes the difference!

Friday started with 7 1/2 tonnes of Clone 667 Pinot Noir from Lakefront then we switched to Gewürztraminer – all .95ha of it in our “Fruitbowl” section of the vineyard. Gewürztraminer is one of the best varietals for being able to taste the wine flavours in the fruit before processing. It has really delicious lychee and musk flavours with a fruit sweetness that makes you want to munch on bunches while you’re picking!

Thanks to this year’s hardworking harvest team from Germany, Poland, Japan and of course New Zealand. It’s tough getting up in the cold to be picked up in town and driven up on site ready to start snipping at 7:30am. The starts can be quite icy until the sun starts to warm the air, but of course running up our hills warms everyone up!. However the spectacular view from Misha’s Vineyard on a beautiful Central Otago day is worth it!

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, mishas vineyard, Olly Masters, Sauvignon Blanc, Wine Harvest

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Is Central Otago Pinot as Good as it Gets?

Central Otago is a phenomenon in the wine world – a region that produces an infinitesimal amount of wine in global terms but a region which is not insignificant in terms of its reputation.

In the February edition of Wine Business Magazine Misha looks at whether the quality of its wines live up to the hype! The article explores the region, the organizations and the fast transition from pioneering wine district onto the centre stage of world wines.

To read the full article download the PDF version below.

Is Central Otago Pinot as Good as it Gets? – Download PDF

To subscribe to WBM – click here

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Misha, Misha Wilkinson, misha's, mishas vineyard, new zealand wine, pinot noir, WBM, wine Business Magazine, Wine Business Monthly

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The 2011 season continues to produce its challenges as the weather shifts between warm summer days and cold wet ones that make winter seem imminent. The fruit however seems to be handling the changing conditions well and with the extensive crop thinning to ensure only the right fruit is retained now completed, we are very confident in having a very good vintage. Vineyard Manager – Rich Williams – has provided another comparison chart to show how the various varietals are developing and it provides an interesting perspective when looking back to the chart from three weeks ago.

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Misha, misha's vineyard video, mishas vineyard, pinot noir, Rich Williams

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Vineyard Manager Rich Williams provides an up-close view of the varietals on Misha’s Vineyard as we go through the last month of the ripening season.

Hi All, Last year the regular photo comparison updates were very popular with wine industry ‘insiders”, sommeliers, wine enthusiasts and people just generally interested in seeing how the grapes develop. We hope this provides a good pictorial view of how the various varietals develop over the last part of the season. If you wish to look back on last year – these posts are still available in our archives. As you will see, they are a lot different to last year and out of interest I weighed each bunch before I tossed them away. The weight of each bunch is listed after the photos.

Top Block
PN 5 180g
PN 115 200g
PN 667 186g
PN 5 220g
PN 667 178g
PN 777 150g
PN 5 257g
PN 115 175g
PN 777 174g

High Wire
PG 2/15 223g
PN 777 166g
PN 667 245g
RS 239 180g

Fruit Bowl
GWZ 456 165g
RS 239 130g
GWZ 456 185g

Dress Circle
PG 2/15 308g
PG Barrie 234g
PG 2/15 213g

Lake Front
PN 6 225g
PN 667 290g
PN 6 248g
PN Abel 252g

Ski Slope
PN 6 259g
SB MS 197g

House Block
RS 110 124g
RS 110 104g
RS 198.19 95g
RS 110 98g
PN 114 209g
PN 4 125g

Regards

Rich Williams

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, Misha, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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It has been a while since my last update and I’m hoping everyone’s Christmas and New Years was an auspicious one… so very sorry about not keeping up to date to let you know how the vineyard is going.

Things have been moving along up here on the Bendigo terraces. But when I left for my Xmas holidays up north, I’m sure the vines were looking green and healthy. I heard rain had fallen but didn’t think much of it… when I return 68mm had fallen and gale force winds had been thrashing my poor vines around. They were in need of some real TLC.

So what happened to that great start we had? With the onset of one of the hottest flowerings on record, we have been gifted the most enormous crop of delicious grapes. That La Nina, hot summer weather that was due our way has not eventuated. Instead the summer has been grey and more windy and wet than the spring.
With every year there is a certain amount of balance needed between leaf area and fruit. Achieving this balance is needed to ripen our tasty grapes and produce great wine. Therefore off comes a large number of bunches down to one bunch per shoot. With such a sizable crop on still relatively young vines, and around 40% of nitrogen reserves are sent to fruiting parts of the vine which is why I believe some of the vines have lost their colour lately; well that and the grey days we’ve had. Now that most of the canopy management side of things has been taken care of, we are doing an all-mighty job removing bunches.

The vines have come out of their lag phase and have progressed into Veraison whereby sugar begins accumulating in the bunches and they change from green to their designated colour. We have completed the final wire tuck all round followed by a trim both sides and top to remove any lateral growth pertaining to shade. The dark side of the canopy has had a combination of lateral thinning and leaf plucking to allow light to penetrate the interior. Suckers have also been removed for the second time and the vineyard has been tidied up with a lawn mow. The crew today were 10 Misha’s crew leaf plucking, 20 Ni-van workers bunch thinning, 4 French exchange visitors with guest photographer snapping, 1 consultant milling, 1 Mainfreight truck delivering new bird nets, 1 fuel truck filling the diesel tank, a tractor trimming, and a very busy vineyard manager trying to coordinate it all.

Anyway how are the blocks looking after all that. Lake Front looking very nice with full green canopy, large bunch conformation. Ski Slope is going well with a good sized crop of Sauvignon Blanc this year. No need for much bunch thinning and all well open and trimmed nicely. Dress Circle Pinot Gris is looking quite good but will feel more comfortable after crop thinning has been done. There is plenty of fruit on here with a dark green canopy and good vine health. They are slightly wind-blown on one side of the block as with High Wire block but comes right up to Pinot Noir clones. The Riesling is looking really healthy and freshly trimmed today. Bunch size varies from quite big to very small so should be quite interesting. As with Gewurtz in the Fruit Bowl, my pick this year – I’m very happy with it! Nice and healthy with good crop of grapes, well in balance. House Block Riesling is also looking up to scratch. I was a bit worried early on there would be much fruit on these young plants but still need to do a bit of work opening things up and looking good what’s underneath. Pinot Noir down there is actually quite a bit heavier than first thought so we’ll get in there soon given the chance and cut it back to 1 bunch per shoot. Interesting to see the unusual bunches on the new clone 4 fill out. Block 2 is looking really healthy and green but a little patchy though improving on last year. Still some work to do in here. The Top Block is coming along very well. There are some real differences in clones when compared to last year. 667 and 777 seem to have produced a much smaller range than their Pommard counterparts. And YES I will provide a clonal comparison in due course. The canopy is full height with limited lateral growth this year but with large crop that is being worked on currently and coming up very well. Our High Note target is around 5 – 5.5 tonnes per hectare of which about half of the crop dropped on the ground. Looking to do nets late next week as the birds have already had a bit of a peck at a vine in the Abel and I’m not giving them the chance. Still I want everything finished and up to date before then so we’re busy, busy.
Anyway, that’s enough for now. We’ll be harvesting before we know it.
Rich

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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