UnScrewed - Independent New Zealand wine reviews - Latest Comments

Re: Holmes Point Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough

Dave — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:13:32 -0000

Still after this. Someone post a link please!

Re: The #BigSleepout and Anchorage Pinot Rosé 2010

Jayson Bryant — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:09:18 -0000

I'm sorry you feel like that Audrey, maybe watch and read some others and hopefully you change your mind

Re: The #BigSleepout and Anchorage Pinot Rosé 2010

Audrey Watt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:06:22 -0000

Don't hold your breath for an in depth wine review, starts at 8 mins in and doesn't say a whole lot....

Re: Pinot Noir: Perception is different to reality

Graeme of Tresillian — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:25:41 -0000

Well done Jason! I frequently get the same reaction from restauranteurs and sommeliers when showing them our Pinot from Canterbury Plains and Akaroa. Central has done an excellent job of promoting the region, but there is great PN coming from the Waitaki, Canterbury, Waipara as you said, Marlboro, Nelson and clearly, Martinboro! We just have to tell our story!

Re: Pinot Noir: Perception is different to reality

djlevin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:14:02 -0000

Are you sure? I think you are arriving at the wrong conclusion from your data. From personal experience, a consumer's focus on a particular wine region is just as likely to come from the tasting of consistent quality across several different producers. Having tasted consistent quality from a particular region, this experience tends to skew my attention towards other wines from the same region... establishing a consumer preference (which may not be deserved in all cases).

Re: Pinot Noir: Perception is different to reality

cono_sur — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:08:37 -0000

Agreed 100%. Even I find it difficult not to be swayed by the label.

Re: Wither Hills Single Vineyard Pinot Noir

Jayson Bryant — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:55:49 -0000

Thanks for the comment Jak, look forward to the tasting,
cheers,
me

Re: Pinot Noir: Perception is different to reality

Mike Matthews — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:19:18 -0000

It is amazing how our perceptions of wine are based on what we see on the label. They are, after all, our cues to understanding regions and varietals. Remove them and we are all blind.

Re: Wither Hills Single Vineyard Pinot Noir

Jak Jakicevich — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 06:40:02 -0000

It was a pleasure tasting the new Pinots with you Jason, I like your notes and well written account of most pleasurable visit. I can't wait to get some of the wines to share with my team, they love the Marl. Pinots. I will try and do a tasting around them and will give you a call.
Regards Jak

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Pty — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 06:49:18 -0000

Well said. Doug Freerange - what an egg.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Qtwn Local — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 23:02:35 -0000

Common knowledge with the Queenstown locals that the Queenstown Botswana Butchery has bad to average service but this is explained away with having seasonal workers, food sometimes special but can usually get better elsewhere.

Re: Like a virgin “untouched” for the very first time

Info — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:11:14 -0000

The name "Virgin Chardonnay" is a copy from Kirkpatrick Estate Winery.
Kirkpatrick Estate Winery has been making their Chardonnay under the Virgin Chardonnay label since 2005. Maybe you should try their Chardonnay Jayson.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Queenstown comments — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:52:33 -0000

Down here in Queenstown we might not be as sophisticated with good taste in Champagne......... but in our defense we can spell Veuve.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Sal Stevens — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:51:44 -0000

I'm not sure how a restaurant that's only been opened 5 mins could make it onto Metro's Top 50 Auckland Restaurant list? We dined there and felt we were being taken advantage of. The bar staff did not know very much about the wines they were serving and at $21 for a glass of red, they really should.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

ElaineDawn — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:26:18 -0000

What does everyone think about it being included in the Metro Top 50 restaurants without a year's trading to prove itself?

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Kirsty — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:15:51 -0000

The space deserves better. I remember the wee-but-excellent Fish Pot Cafe and I waitressed at Cin Cin for during it's first heady, hilarious, hedonist year. Will avoid the Butchery and keep good memories intact.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Cara — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:10:48 -0000

I have also heard that service is poor. They have just opened but I think I'll give them a decent settling in period before risking it myself.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Mark Graham — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:59:30 -0000

ouch. Have dined in Botswana Butchery in Qtown. Somewhat underwhelmed. Prefer the Bunker.

Re: Merchants of Venice – Wynyard Quarter

Sarah Williams Xo — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 07:19:39 -0000

Well I can say that an more than incredible evening at MoV, the food and wine were amazing as was the service. 5/5

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Vaughn Davis — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:39:16 -0000

Grim grey gruel indeed. Alliterated bile FTW.

Re: Botswana Butchery Butchered Service

Doug Freerange — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:21:15 -0000

Auckland diners are a tad more sophisticated than Queenstown folk so they've got their work cut out to make an impression here. Also I worry about some of the rich people from south who frequent the place. Their modus operandi is ply women with verve (not even good taste in Champagne) get them drunk and prey on their vulnerability - sexual predators in reality. There are better bars.

Re: Cibo Restaurant Parnell Auckland

Jayson Bryant — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:33:05 -0000

Definitely worth it. Hopefully catch your sister when over here.

Re: Cibo Restaurant Parnell Auckland

Leanne — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:31:36 -0000

Sounds like an adventure.... maybe when my sister is back in town I will take her! Will start saving.

Re: Royal Easter Show Wine Awards – 2012

Rydall2000 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:35:55 -0000

as someone whom is tied into the wine show i disagree with you on many of your comments,
i feel a lot of what you say is sour because you don't produce many cases of wine or variety and cannot enter the show because of that.
As you can see above there was not a home run hit by ALL big supplyers ..ie:Two Degrees and Sileni Estate & Clark Estate ect... won this year as well.
the show is not made for boutique winery's , its made for production wineries only that sell volume nationally.

i do agree they need to modernize there entry aspect and this is been looked at (so they tell me)
These are only my comments and not felt by the royal show group.

Re: Royal Easter Show Wine Awards – 2012

Misha Wilkinson — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:48:41 -0000

Jayson, certainly the entry forms for this show are outdated -even if the show isn't. I received about 15 pages of printed A4 info for the show - and it's a show we've never entered, so I guess all 700 wineries received a wad of printed applications forms and info from the organisers. When I did email someone to suggest they might like to do online entries, a response came from a someone saying she was only in admin but they'd pass the info on. I never got a response!

Regarding the entering of shows, I think a winery decides whether they're going to embark on a 'show strategy' or not. If they decide shows are for them, the best way is to enter as many wines as you can in each show and enter enter as many shows as makes sense in terms of your distribution and focus areas. It's no longer good enough to just win a gold, you need to be able to say you've won 4 Trophy's, or 8 golds etc. So to play the 'show game' to win, you need to have a large range of wines and deep pockets for all the entry fees (and additional costs that are required when your wines win). So, it's more the domain of the larger commercial players.

As a small producer, we make wines predominantly for on-premise. The last thing we would do is put a gold sticker on a bottle, or tell a sommelier we'd won an award - sommeliers make their own decisions as to the wines they like and think fit on their wine lists. It's different if you have a retail strategy as a gold sticker on a bottle in a supermarket or retail shelf can make a positive impact in sales.

Having written a couple of articles recently where I've asked some key wineries about their show strategy, I often heard back comments along the lines of 'by the time our wines are reaching their peak, they're all sold out anyway'.