Winesale CEO Grant Archibald and General Manager Michael Mebus with this years winning art award : Breathe by Belinda Griffiths

The winner of the $10,000 Winesale.co.nz Wine Label Art Award 2011 is Auckland artist Belinda Griffiths. The Award was announced last night at the 2011 New Zealand Art Show’s Gala Evening attended by over 1,200 people.

Yesterday, Winesale.co.nz representatives viewed some 3,000 artworks by 675 artists before choosing to award this year’s Wine Label Art Award to Belinda for her painting ‘Breathe’.

Belinda has exhibited previously at the New Zealand Art Show and at the Seed Gallery in Newmarket.She works primarily in acrylic on canvas and hand pulled monoprints. Her works concentrate largely on the expressive qualities of mark-making and the conveying of emotion through the human form.

The Winesale.co.nz Wine Label Award is open to any artist whose work is selected for exhibition at the New Zealand Art Show. Winesale.co.nz’s Michael Mebus created the award concept. Michael is a Wairarapa winemaker, an art collector, and General Manager of Winesale.co.nz.

Michael Mebus said, “Belinda’s ‘Breathe’ will feature on the label of two wines, a Martinborough Pinot Noir and a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Five thousand bottles of each varietal will be produced in time for Christmas and be named the ‘Griffiths’ Wine Series.”

The ‘Griffiths’ Series wines will be sold online by Winesale.co.nz and the New Zealand Art Show website, and be available at the Museum Hotel’s Hippopotamus restaurant.

This prestigious Award aims to promote the work of emerging New Zealand artists, provide national recognition for the winning artist and highlight the relationship between fine wine and fine art. Last year’s winner was Seatoun artist Richard Thurston who provided the artwork for the ‘Thurston Series’ wines.

Art and wine have a long association. Since 1924, Chateau Mouton Rothschild has commissioned a contemporary artist to create an original work to illustrate its label. Artists commissioned have included Salvador Dali 1958, Henry Moore 1964, Joan Miro 1969, Marc Chagall 1970, Pablo Picasso 1973 and Andy Warhol 1975.

The Winesale.co.nz Wine Label Award builds on this association between wine and art, but aims to assist an emerging New Zealand artist rather than reward an established name.

Michael Mebus said, “We salute Belinda, making great wine takes time and passion, just like great art. This Award is a celebration of the natural association between art and wine, and Winesale.co.nz is pleased to be able to sponsor this Award. We are committed to support the New Zealand Art Show and, through the Wine Label Award, helping this country’s emerging artists develop their art and careers.”

First, a note to all you wine lovers on the Mainland.  Where were you???  I know there are more wine consumers here on the South Island because Peter and Andrea would be starving if they relied on my wine purchasing habits to stay in business.  There were wine reviewers from up north who didn’t even start writing reviews until February and they were on this trip.  It’s not hard.  Really.  You don’t have to write technical mumbo-jumbo like I do.  All you need to do is describe your experience with the wine – the occasion, the meal, what you liked about it.  That’s it.  And the Winesale staff indicated that there would be additional trips and prizes for wine reviewers in the future.  They’re also gearing up to monitor participation in the community, so give those reviews the “thumbs up” if they’ve helped you with your purchasing decisions – your feedback might help boost you into the top 10 next time around.  So, what are you waiting for?  Start writing!!  You could be involved in the next trip featuring great food, fabulous wines, good company, and luxurious accommodation.  What more could you ask for?

After our arrival at the airport, we were transported to the main Winesale offices and warehouse for a champagne reception (No. 1 Family Estate), brief tour, and Q&A session with Michael Mebus and Grant Archibald.  Then it was off to Martinborough.  Once checked into our rather sumptuous lodgings at the Parehua Estate (complete with spa tub and kitchen facilities), we headed into town for a multi-course meal with a large selection of wines including Lammastide sparkling, Mebus Pinot Gris, Kea Point Riesling, Dusty Road and Alana Pinot Noir.  There were rumours of a Sauvignon Blanc at the other end of the table, but we had our glasses full enough with the selections listed above.

Clive Paton (right) gives the crew the down low on his fabulous wines at the beautiful Ata Rangi Vineyard.

Saturday started with a lovely continental breakfast including fresh-baked croissants.  We had been warned to eat lightly as both lunch and dinner were going to be huge.  Breakfast was followed by a trip out to Ata Rangi for a private tasting with winery founder Clive Paton, where we sampled the majority of their Spring 2010 Release wines.  I would personally recommend the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, which had some nutty overtones with a touch of vanilla, and opened up to express some lovely apricot on the nose.  This is a full-bodied wine with a great long finish that should pair nicely with cheese, light cream sauces, and heavier fish.  If you feel like a splurge, you can’t go wrong with the 2009 Pinot Noir, which has “5-15 years of cellaring potential”.  It’s a lovely wine, but I’d store it for a while to allow all of the components to blend.  It’ll be worth it.

After Ata Rangi, it was off to Gladstone Winery for a lovely outdoor lunch and (you guessed it) more wine.   We sampled their Riesling (honey tones, lemon/lime, a bit of minerality – good acid on the palate), Sauvignon Blanc (not too grassy, crisp with good acid that stood up well to our lunch of Balsamic Lemon Chicken), and Pinot Noir (2009) (still a bit young, firm tannic structure – will balance out with a bit of aging).

Lunch at Gladstone Vineyard.

Our next stop was Urlar Winery (where they were in the thick of harvest), where we chatted with founder/owner Angus Thomson.  He explained their dedication to organic farming practices, as well as the different harvesting methods for the Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc that were both currently coming off the vines.  The Pinot Noir was being hand-picked, and the big harvester was in action in the Sauvignon rows – my partner Bill was thrilled that he had the opportunity to climb up on the big machinery and see how the harvester worked.  We also tried some of the grapes to get an idea of what flavours they start out with.  We sampled a Sauvignon Blanc (amazing depth, character, and body) as well as a Pinot Noir (incredibly complex but should get even better with a bit of age to allow better integration).  Grab some if you can, releases are limited.

Angus Thomson (left) from Urlar takes us over his Pinot Noir harvest.

There was a brief detour to Mebus Estate for some corks (ask Westie Wino about his cork project if you get a chance) and then back to our lodgings for a bit of a break before the much-anticipated winemaker’s dinner, prepared and hosted by the wonderful folks at Parehua Lodge.  Winemaker Larry McKenna (Escarpment Vineyard) was on hand to discuss the wines.  Chef Kent Baddeley prepared an adventurous multi-course meal which was paired with Palliser sparkling, Te Hera Riesling, Johner Chardonnay, Cabbage Tree Pinot Noir, and Johner Noble Syrah.  I like to try each wine with as many of the meal items as possible, and was really impressed with the versatility of the Riesling.  It was paired with and complimented the initial course (escargot) wonderfully, but also worked really well with the prawn/fish dish, and even the hare with plum sauce!  A special treat was the Botrytis Syrah, a unique and unusual dessert wine.  I’ve stocked some of these in my personal cellar.

Sunday morning was the hugely anticipated Winesale tasting – 17 of the current wines available on the web site were poured for us.  We were encouraged to offer feedback on

No better way to start a Sunday morning!

these wines and make our own tasting notes.  It was great to sample some of the wines and/or labels that I had not managed to get around to trying yet.  The Lammastide Pinot Noir is just starting to develop into something truly interesting with chocolate and pepper tones.  The Westbrook 2008 Waimauku Estate Chardonnay really stood out for me – this is a big buttery Chard with good spiciness and great balance.  I also really enjoyed the Beach House Gimblet Gravels 2009 Reserve Merlot, which surprised me – this is a BIG wine for a merlot with good tannic structure and a great long finish.  I’ll be getting some of these wines again soon.

It was really fun getting to know the other Winesale reviewers – it’s a diverse group of really interesting folks – as well as some of the Winesale staff.  Overall, it was a spectacular trip.  The folks at Winesale are just getting started, so if you’d like to be in on the next great wine adventure, start writing those reviews.  Just don’t bump me out of the running – I certainly don’t want to miss the next great adventure!

Click here to read Linda’s fabulous wine reviews. If you want to come on our next Wine Reviewer weekend get reviewing and cement your place in the Top Ten! Click here for more details.

Congratulations to Gary Clarkson who won the draw for a bottle of 2002 Penfolds Grange! Well done Gary this beautiful $620 bottle of wine is on its way out to you – enjoy and drink it slowly!

With so many reviews coming in over the weekend we now have our leaderboard firmly established.

Remember if you are one of the Top 10  on our leaderboard on the 28th of February you and your partner will be invited to our all expenses paid Fabulous Martinborough Wine Weekend – a sumptuous luxury weekend of wine you will not forget!

Tips for Getting to the Top of the Leaderboard

The number one tip is simple: contribute well written and thoughtful wine reviews! You get ranking points both for contributing reviews and for how helpful  other users find your reviews. So while the easy points will come quickly with each review you post, the much harder points will come over time as your fellow users do or do not rate your reviews as “helpful”. So your best chances of being somewhere near the top come February is to:

a) post well written and thoughtful reviews, and
b) post them early to give them the best chance of accumulating helpful votes.

Good luck and thanks for your participation. Every customer review posted is making Winesale.co.nz an even better place for our customers to make smart wine buying decisions!

Win a  Fabulous Wine Weekend at Parehua Martinborough Country Estate Plus Weekly Prizes!

At Winesale we want you to tell the world what you think of our wines! And we’re offering BIG prizes for your reviews. Over the next three months we are going to be giving away loads of weekly prizes plus a giant grand prize for our top ten reviewers. There are three ways to win so pay close attention!

The  WAWA! (Weekly Arbitrary Wine writing Award!)
Every Tuesday we will pull out of a hat the name of any customer who has written a wine review in the last seven days.  Each winner of the WAWA will receive a credit equal to the value or their last purchase at Winesale.co.nz.  WAWA winners will be announced every Wednesday  in our newsletter, on our website and on our Facebook page.

The WAWOW! (Weekly AWard for Outstanding Wine writing!)
Every Friday our crack team of wine writers will review  our customer reviews and choose one that stands out as a beacon of excellence in wine writing. Our reviewers will be looking for reviews which are well written and informative but especially entertaining! WAWOW winners will receive a credit to the value of their last purchase at Winesale.co.nz. WAWOW winners will be announced every Saturday in our newsletter, on our website and on our Facebook page.

The Grand Prize of a Fabulous Martinborough Wine Weekend at Parehua Country Estate for our Top 10 Reviewers.
If you are one of our Top 10 Customer Reviewers as at 9am on February 28, 2011 then you and your partner will be invited to attend our Fabulous Martinborough Wine Weekend.  At our Fabulous Wine Weekend you and your partner will be whisked away to Martinborough where you will be wined, dined and entertained by some of the region’s most fabulous winemakers.  You will be staying at the fabulous Parehua Country Estate. Your Saturday will be spent touring the local vineyards. Saturday night will see you attending a winemaker’s dinner with a top Martinborough winemaker.  Sunday morning you will be working for your weekend as you participate in a special wine tasting with our buyers to help us select the new season wines for Winesale.co.nz. See full  terms and conditions below.

FAQ’s for our Wine Review Awards

Who can review our wines?
You can only review wines if you have actually purchased them from Winesale.co.nz. Currently only wine purchased via our website can be reviewed.

Where do I go to review wines?
When you are logged in to Winesale.co.nz you will see a “Review this Wine” link under the product description of all the wines you have purchased. Only wines which are currently on the site are available for review and only wines which you have purchased in the last 12 months. To quickly see what wines are available for you to review check out the Previously Ordered Wines section in your My Account area.

How do I become a Top Reviewer?
All our customer reviewers are ranked. You can achieve a higher ranking not only by writing reviews but importantly by writing high quality reviews that help other community members.  All community members are able to rate customer reviews as helpful or not helpful. The more reviews you write and the more helpful votes you get the higher your chances of becoming a top ranked reviewer.

How do I know where I rank?
You can view our customer reviewer rankings at http://www.winesale.co.nz/account/top-users.php. Rankings are updated once each day in the early hours of the morning.

Do I have to use my real name to review wines?
We encourage you to use your real name but if you’d rather not that’s no problem either. You can select a pen name for your reviews to appear under in your My Account section.

Are the reviews censured in anyway and will I only become a Top Ten Reviewer by writing positive reviews?
Absolutely not! We are committed to giving our customers all the information they need to make smart wine buying decisions. As long as comments meet our review guidelines they will be published.

Terms and Conditions

• The Fabulous Martinborough Wine Weekend will take place from April 1 to April 3, 2011.
• The prize is non-transferable and is not exchangeable for cash or any other prize. If the registered account holder is unable to take up the prize then the prize will be offered to the next eligible top reviewer.
• The prize includes accommodation at the Parehua Country Estate in Martinborough as well as transport to and from Martinborough. Winesale.co.nz in its discretion will decide the best form of transport for you to reach Martinborough. You may be required to make a portion of your travel arrangements yourself, for example travel to the airport from your home.
• Winesale.co.nz use a specific methodology to rank wine reviewers. Winesale.co.nz reserve the right to alter this methodology at anytime without notice.
• Reviews must comply with our review guidelines. Winesale.co.nz reserve the right to alter our review guidelines at any time without notice.
• Winesale.co.nz in its absolute discretion reserve the right to remove from the competition reviewers who are found to be  manipulating or “gaming” the review process or who otherwise are not acting within the intended spirit of the review process. Removal may occur without explanation and no correspondence will be entered into.
• WAWA and WAWOW winners will receive a credit equal to the value of their last purchase at Winesale.co.nz. The last purchase refers to the last purchase made by the account under which the review was written prior to the winning announcement being made. Credits must be used within 3 months of the announcement. The credit given must also cover GST and delivery fees if applicable.
• This competition is not open to staff members (or family of staff members) of Winesale.co.nz and associated companies.
• Winesale.co.nz may alter these terms and conditions at anytime without notice.

We’re at:

The Great Taste Food Show in Whangarei to be held on Saturday between 9 and 5.30 at the Forum North Exhibition Centre

The Waikato Home and Garden Show on all weekend at the Claudelands Event Centre

The Wellington Wedding Show between 10 and 3 at the Overseas Terminal Function Centre

Here we are at the awesome Speakeasy Wine and Food Festival held last weekend in Petone:

Winesale.co.nz at the Speakeasy Wine and Food Festival in Petone

Living it up with Carmenere

We are huge fans of this magical, mystical wine here too!

Try two of our best Carmenere wines:

Korta Barrel Selection Carmenere 2005 (mentioned by Warren in the article) Just $14.99 per bottle.
12 months in American and French Oak – this is elegant, fresh and peppery with wonderful complexity added by the Oak. A real bargain!

Curico River Carmenere 2007 Just $9.99
Smooth, peppery and light in the mouth, with good balance and persistence. Brilliant with baked ham, Osso buco, grilled, sautéed, or roasted pork, pork tenderloin, pork ribs, veal chops grilled or sautéed, duck and turkey. A great way to spend ten bucks!

We also have a stunning Five Oaks 2009 Pinot Gris to go with it.

Both these wines are single vineyard wines grown on the Five Oaks Estate vineyard in Upper Moutere and lovingly crafted by Neil Todd – one of Nelson’s best winemakers.

You simply cannot buy single vineyard, estate grown wine of this quality at this price anywhere in New Zealand. Enjoy!

 Five Oaks Nelson 2009 Sauvignon Blanc – $11.99

Five Oaks Nelson 2009 Pinot Gris – $11.99 

 Also try:

Five Oaks Nelson 2007 Chardonnay – $11.99

Five Oaks Nelson 2008 Guwurztraminer 2008 – $11.99

West Brook Barrique Fermented Chardonnay 2007 at the New Zealand International Wine Show 2009:

Trophy Champion Wine of the Show
Trophy Best Commercial White Wine
Trophy Best Chardonnay
Gold Medal Chardonnay

We’ve been banging on about this sensational Chardonnay made by one of our key suppliers, West Brook Wines, for months now. So it’s no surprise to us that this brilliant Chardonnay, made by Anthony Ivicevich and awesomely talented winemaker James Rowan, swept all the top awards at the NZ International Wine Show held last week.

But wine consumers being as wine consumers are (you know who you are!) this wine is now going to sell out very fast. We have some of the last stocks in the country so get in quick. Pay just $17.99 for the best wine in New Zealand!

Get your NZIWS Trophy Winner here: http://www.winesale.co.nz/wine-categories/wine-detail.php?wine=2874

Congratulations to Anthony and the team at West Brook wines for this fantastic achievement!

See our complete list of West Brook wines here.

Nulma Winyard from Lower Hutt
Scott Elder from Wellington
Olivia Duncan from Auckland
Rachel Dowse from Palmerston North

There’s still four more cameras to win – so get entering at http://www.winesale.co.nz/tell-a-friend.php
Remember every friend you recommend Winesale.co.nz to is one more entry in the draw.

All the best

The team at Winesale.co.nz

There are still 6 more cameras to be won. So make sure you enter here. Remember every friend you recommend gives you one entry in the draw.

Good luck!