Newsletters

2005 En Primeur Reserve Chardonnay

Welcome to our yearly special En Primeur newsletter to all our Reserve Chardonnay fans and supporters, some of many years. In line with our historical En Primeur release of our Reserve Chardonnay over the past 15 years, we present the 2005 for your perusal and purchase. 

I removed this wine from barrel on the 25th of January and it was bottled on 28th February. It has been available `En Primeur’ since Harvest Hawke’s Bay 2006 for $32per bottle. 

For the next 3 weeks you will have the chance to taste a barrel sample of this wine at our cellar door, and it will then be on general releasefor $35 per bottle from Easter this year.  

This is your chance to secure a case of this legendary wine, freight free for $32 per bottle, $384 per case*. 

This year for our 2005 Reserve Chardonnay, we present the fabulous ‘Clearview style’ big, bold, buttery chardonnay.  The grapes were hand harvested at 24-25 brix, then whole bunch pressed to maximise flavour.  Only free run juice and first pressings are used in the reserve to give the wine longevity and power. 

The juice was fermented in 50% new and 50% seasoned French oak and then aged for 11 months with weekly stirring of the lees. 

The result is our trademark Clearview Reserve Chardonnay; big, bold and luscious, with a beautiful creamy texture, rich, ripe tropical fruits and a backbone of toasty oak. 

*This offer expires on Friday 14th April 2006.

This wine continues the Clearview tradition of flavour & ripeness “arguably this country’s most concentrated  example of this variety” Bob Campbell, MW

In the words of Michael Cooper “if a prize were awarded for New Zealand’s most power-packed chardonnay, Clearview Estate would romp in.  It’s a hedonist’s delight”.

Accolades for2004 Reserve Chardonnay:

“Toasty bouquet, ripe and peachy. Very powerful on the palate, with mouth filling body and concentrated, sweet  fruit characters strongly seasoned with toasty oak.  Robust, rich and very promising.” Michael Cooper

Top of its class & Gold at the Romeo Bragato Conference, 2005

Silver at Air New Zealand Wine Show, 2005

Silver at Liquorland Top 100, 2005

Winery news from Tim

Vertical Reserve Chardonnay Workshop

Harvest Hawke’s Bay came and went with exceptional numbers through the cellar door and restaurant, which reflected the amount of effort all of our staff put in.

One of the highlights of the weekend was a vertical tasting of our Reserve Chardonnay from 1991 through to En Primeur 2005. 15 wines were tasted over 2 fully subscribed workshops, the second one having the perusal of our importer from the UK, Angela Osborne, and some friendly American wine writers and retailers. 

Some of the highlights:

The 1992: 14 years old, colour gold to lemon straw, oily rich palate with peach, honeycomb, butterscotch and a harmonious yeasty complexity.  A real surprise to me and a huge delight.  Other wines which stood out were 1994, the monster 1995 (15% alcohol!), 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004.

We tasted the 2005 tank sample and noticed the new tightness and restrained subtle complexity with the effect of the new Diemme press and also perhaps because of the help of Barry Riwai, whom I found invaluable during the 2005 harvest.  Barry stays with clearview as assistant winemaker for 2006, also working in the cellar door and helping to finish the 2005 wines.

The new air bag press purchased in 2000 was a huge leap forward for our white wines; combining this with our new screw caps and Diam corks, hopefully cork taint and oxidation will be problems of the past.

We are very proud of our daughter Katie Turvey finishing her winemaker’s degree at Lincoln.  Having already done a vintage at Cowco in Central Otago she has signed up with Sacred Hill in Hawke’s Bay.  Only 3 more years and she’s ‘allowed’ to come home for a vintage.  Plans to travel overseas for vintages are also on the horizon.

It’s been great to have 2 superb vintages in a row with 2004 and 2005; the first time since 1994 and 1995 here at Clearview.  In my opinion the 2005 Reserve Chardonnay and Reserve Sauvignon Blanc are second to none.

Restaurant news from Helma

The year began with our annual staff Christmas party, this time at Craggy Range, on a superb Sunday evening.  We celebrated our employee of the year award and this time there were two outstanding performers:

*Bernie Kelly, our long-serving property, maintenance and wine stocks manager.

*John Cornforth, our fabulous, creative, organised and efficient head chef.

Supporting John in the kitchen is sous chef Thorsten  Witzel, who trained in Germany. 

JOHN CORNFORTH PHILOSOPHY

“My philosophy in cooking is based on fresh clean flavours emphasizing the best quality, from personally selected regional ingredients.  These ingredients lead me to create the most satisfying flavours and textures, creating contemporary dishes which will linger in the memory for all time.”

Our recently appointed functions & restaurant manager is Jasmine Smith, who returns to the Bay after some time  in Wellington restaurants.

The BEEF & LAMB award for 2006 became our fifth consecutive recognition for food excellence, and our children friendly atmosphere was recently reviewed in the New Zealand Parenting magazine.

Having pioneered quality vineyard al fresco dining when we opened in 1991, we remain focussed on being the best, hiring great staff and staying fresh and successful. This is achieved with staff training, an eye on the grounds and facilities and doing what we are best at:

“providing a relaxing, high quality seaside winery  dining experience.”

With weddings and functions in the evenings, weekly Friday dinners in summer and the constant eagle eye of the original owners Helma & Tim, this has been our way since 1989.

Hot Red Hawke’s Bay

“Our world in your glass!”

Every year I travel to Auckland and Wellington, and this year to Christchurch, with Hawke’s Bay winemakers, helping to spread the word about the fabulous red wines we make here in Hawke’s Bay. 

More than 20 top red winemakers from Hawke’s Bay are heading your way in May, and for the very first time all red wine lovers can savour the experience.  In previous years only trade and media were able to attend Hot Red Hawke’s Bay, but this year it is open to the general public.

HOT RED Hawke’s Bay offers a unique opportunity to taste wine with the winemakers and talk with them about what makes red wine from Hawke’s Bay so special. 

Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s red wine capital, with over 80% of the country’s plantings of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.  Combining new world fruit flavours with old world structure, Hawke’s Bay red wines are unique in their style and are renowned world-wide. 

Tickets to HOT RED Hawke’s Bay cost $20 and are available from www.ticketek.co.nz

Auckland

Tuesday 16th May 4-7pm at the Upper NZI Rooms, The Edge at the Aotea Centre

Wellington

Wednesday 17th May 4-7pm Level 2, West Lounge at the Westpac Stadium

Christchurch

Thursday 18th May 4-7pm in the Great Hall at The Arts Centre

BE A WINEMAKER FOR THE DAY

Easter Monday - 17th April 2006 

Anzac Day Tuesday - 25th April 2006 

Meet at the winery dressed for grape picking and processing.  This is your chance to meet our winemaker Tim Turvey, and to get involved with the process of wine making from vine to barrel. 

18 months later you will receive a bottle of the wine that you helped to make. These work shops are great fun and always book out quickly, so contact us for tickets on 06 875 0150 or e-mail wine@clearviewestate.co.nz

Easter Monday workshop has now sold out, but we will offer an afternoon session if there is enough interest.

Tickets are $90 which includes lunch with the winemaker

SUPERB result for Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon BLANC

We are delighted that our Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2004 was placed 6th and awarded a 5 Star rating in Cuisine Magazine’s New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tasting, Issue 114 January, 2006. 

Out of a total of 158 Sauvignon Blancs tasted this was the only one from Hawke’s Bay, and only 31 wines were awarded 4 stars or more. 

“A top example of a barrel-fermented style, this is a  notably rich and well-rounded wine with concentrated, tropical and stone-fruit flavours. Weighty and complex, it is tightly structured, with finely integrated oak as well as lovely texture and depth.”

There are still a few cases of this hugely popular wine left for our mail order customers at $22 per bottle.

ROYAL EASTER SHOW WINE AWARDS 2006                                     

At the recent Royal Easter Show Wine Awards, 3 of our wines received excellent scores:

Old Olive Block 2004    — GOLD

Blended cabernets

Enigma 2004                — SILVER

Merlot dominant blend

Black Reef Blush 2005— SILVER

2006 VINTAGE UP-DATE from TIM

We are running about 7 days earlier than last year with lower yields per acre due to smaller berries and lighter bunch weights.  We’re very excited by this as it gives greater intensity to the fruit with very ripe flavours.  Barry has been out in the vineyard taking samples from the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc this week, and the sugar and acid levels look excellent. The first chardonnay was picked march 15th at 24 brix!

It looks like a great year for both reds and whites – very similar to 2000 and 2002.  We have had very low rainfall figures recorded to date, but there has been a good spread of rain that has fallen at the right time.

HAWKE’S BAY TOURIST numbers INCREASING

The number of visitors staying in Hawke’s Bay for the year ending December 2005 rose 4.8%, resulting in an extra 22,000 visitors to our region. 

The figures are telling us what we already know, that Hawke’s Bay is a fabulous visitor destination, with a great range of activities from mountain to river to ocean with markets, wineries, arts and family attractions guaranteed to entertain people while they enjoy an extended stay in the Bay.

The national average increase in tourist numbers was 2.4%, so more and more people are visiting Hawke’s Bay, experiencing what we have to offer. 

Here on the Cape Kidnappers peninsula, we have 2 wineries with cellar doors, extensive vineyards, an excellent local café: CLIFTON BAY, a world renowned golf course: CAPE KIDNAPPERS, 2 operators to the famous Gannet Colony, loads of arts and crafts and some of the best accommodation in Hawke’s Bay. 

Visit www.kidnappersescape.com for more information on our wonderful sub-region.