The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Please arrive a few minutes early to check in and get seated.  Dinner should finish around 9 or 9:30.  Guests will have the opportunity to purchase Satek wines at the end of the class for a 10% discount. Class size is limited to 45 students. The menu for the evening is scheduled as follows:

Appetizers

Miniature Brie en Courte with Preserved Fig

&

House made French Country Pate with Tarragon Mustard Mousse and Cornichon

Soup

Classic Vichyssoise

Salad

Fresh Summer Herbs and Petit Field Greens with Warm Butter Crumb Crusted Montrachet and Classic Vinaigrette

Fish Course

Salmon in Puff Pastry with 
Leek & Fresh Tomato Beurre Blanc 

Intermezzo

Fresh Raspberry Sorbet

Entrées

Roasted French Bone in Chicken with Sauce Nicoise
Petit Beef Fillet with Bacon & Blue Cheese Sauce

Potatoes Lyonnais & Haricot Vert 

Petit Dessert Trio

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse, Gran Mainer Fresh Berry Parfait, Madelines

In April and May of this year, I was lucky enough to be part of a foursome of Hoosiers who visited New Zealand and Australia.  The other three were Pam and Larry Satek and Ron Torborg.  At Jason's request I would like to share some of my observations of wineries we visited in New Zealand, where Ron and I spent most of our time on this trip. 

The wineries, in general, shared one thing in common:  they are located in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.  New Zealand is an island country to the east and southeast of Australia.  It is home to 4 million inhabitants and 40 million sheep.  The land is either beautiful rolling hills and mountains or some lovely valleys located among the hills and mountains.  And the terroir is very beneficial to growing wine grapes.  We visited four distinct wine regions as we traveled from Aukland in the North Island and headed south through the country to the southern most areas of the South Island (not all that far away from Antarctica). 

From Aukland, we took a 45 minute ferry ride to the island of Weiheke where we visited  three wineries.  One of the most impressive to me was the Te Whau Winery.  Te Whau is the name of the peninsular point on which the winery is located..  The "Wh' in Maori language sounds like our "F", so the name is prounounced "tay fau".  The winery was started with plantings in 1996, a winery built in 1998 and a restaurant opened on the premises in early 2001.  From their first vintage in 1998, their wines have won rave revues.  Just how good is their wine?  Well, the head winemaker from Chateau LaFite Rothchild in France made a personal visit to the winery because he had heard so much about their Bordeaux style wine and proclaimed it one of the best he has tasted.  We got to taste that wine and were equally impressed.  The winery is a small one, less than five acres, and virtually all vineyard maintenance and picking is done by hand.

The second wine region we visited was Hawks Bay on the east coast of the North Island.  The winery that stands out in my mind there is the Ngatarawa Winery.  In Maori, the "g" is silent and the name is pronounced Naa-TAA-Ra-Wa.  The family that owns that winery boasts a fourth generation wine maker, who studied viticulture at University of California Davis.  The area is best known for its Chardonnay grapes, because it is too warm there to grow the Sauvignon Blanc grapes.  The Ngatarawa Chardonnay is outstanding.

After doing some non-wine-related sightseeing in the Maori region of Rotarua and the Art Deco city of Napier, we headed south to the capital of New Zealand, Wellington, and then took a 3 hour ferry ride to the South Island to visit the Marlborough wine region at the north end of the South Island.  The Marlborough region is known for its sauvignon blanc grapes.  The sauvignon blanc grape requires the cooler climate which you experience in New Zealand as you travel further south towards the Antarctic region.  Our "hotel" there was really a house located right in the middle of vineyards.  We could cross the street and go to the Nautilus Winery and then on to our next door neighbor, the Wairau River Winery.  We experienced outstanding Sauvignon Blancs at their Cellar Doors (translated to US, their tasting rooms).  And we had an outstanding lunch at the Wairau River Winery seated under a grapevine covered pergola.  That evening we prepared our own meal for a change and sat out on our patio enjoying the fall colors in the vineyard and, of course, some more Sauvignon Blanc wine.

The fourth major wine region we visited was the Central Otago area in Queenstown, way south in the South Island.  The Central Otago region is known for its Pinot Noir wines.  We got a two-fer experience at the Amisfield Winery and Restaurant.  Not only was the wine truly tasty but the restaurant was generally known as the best restaurant in the Queenstown region.  We had a five-course Chef's Choice dinner where you leave it up to the chef as to what he feels like you should have at that moment...........course by course.  We had a seafood course as well as some of the world-renowned lamb, locally grown.  And while the chef expertly paired the wines to the meal, the knock-out wine to me was the Pinot Noir.  It was hard work sampling all that good food and wine, but somebody had to do it!

                    Grower Spotlight

This month's Grower Spotlight focuses on a gentleman named Adam Steele. Located on the northeast side of Clear Lake, and barely a half mile from the Michigan border, this is the second established vineyard in the Clear Lake area. While we expected these "teenage" vines to run deep roots, so, in fact, are the roots for Adam Steele; he's been here for 60 years.

As a retired Operating Engineer in both Ft. Wayne and the Detroit area, Adam helped construct roads, airports, and other building sites. His father was also an Operating Engineer in Ft. Wayne. Early success helped Adam purchase a 60 acre farm at the age of 21, where he farmed mostly corn. Did I mention he's 82 years old?

His A-frame home (which he built) overlooks his vineyard which is pierced by a long winding driveway that snakes all the way to a huge pole barn. Hardwood trees and dense woods encompass the property, creating a scenic embrace for 700 Traminette and 100 or so Steuben vines. While we may not see a first crop for another two years, everything is in place, including proper trellising that support upright active vines. This will be a vineyard that grows flavor, plain and simple.

As we work more and more with Traminette, Indiana's signature grape, we have developed different winemaking techniques that coerce the fruit into expressing a sense of place. This, to me, is an ultimate goal for a winemaker. Futhermore, when we get to isolate sub-blocks and vineyard specific bottling, the customer can peer further into what connects all these pieces together: place, plant, and people.