Newsletter no. 7
October 2006
Content:
1. An invitation from the olive grove
2. Olive Harvest 2006
3.
The Melbourne Wine Expo
4.
On the vineyard & in the cellar
5. Media: our website
6. Contacts & orders
7. Back to main vineyard page
1. An invitation from the Olive Grove.
On Sunday 29 October at 2.30 pm we’ll release our Cracroft Chase Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Please come along and try it with some Italian style bruschetta.2. The Olive Harvest 2006.
We’ve always pretended not to notice that our Leccino and Frantoio olive trees were growing: we’ve been too busy with the vineyard!However when last autumn came, we saw that the olive trees were so laden with fruit, that we had to admit it was time to acknowledge their presence. So we covered the trees with huge bird nets, that just happened to be of a fashionable black colour, and waited for the second half of June to harvest. Because things are never easy, we harvested during the two weeks of snow. This didn’t affect the olives, only the harvesters…
We used a battery-powered harvester to gently shake the branches, and traditional nets to collect the olives from the ground. The olives were mechanically cold pressed by Canterbury Olive Processors in Ohoka, using brand new Italian machinery. The oil was brought back here, and left to decant in tanks for the traditional Italian 40 days, and then bottled in 500-mil dark square bottles with pourer. The oil has a light and fruity start, with a strong peppery finish, and a mildly bitter aftertaste. The nutrition information gives satisfying values, compared with average values as in Andre Taber’s A Buyer’s guide to New Zealand Olive Oil; in particular:
- the ‘good’ mono unsaturated fat 81.8 (g/100g) is in the high range of between 55 and 85;
- the ‘bad’ saturated fat 11.1 (g/100g) is in the low range of between 10 and20;
- the peroxide level of 3.5 is far low than the still accepted reading of 18 meq;
- the free fatty acid 0.09 (g/100g) is far lower than the basic 0.8.
We suggest to use it sparingly on salads and boiled meat and fish; to add for extra flavour to sauces, soups and to BBQ marinates.
We’ve set the price for a bottle at $15 (sorry cash and cheque only).
3. The Melbourne Wine Expo.
Yes, we’ve crossed The Ditch. From September 11 to 15, we’ve taken our wine to the Melbourne International Wine Fair. (You can see some pictures on our website.) The wine was very well received, and we had the first orders. Now we are following up with all the contacts we got there. We had interviews with SBS radio, Rete Italia and the daily newspaper Il Globo. Our stand was simple and elegant, and the beautiful posters that we had prepared were very useful to explain the characteristics of our vineyard. I confess that, fronting the thousands of visitors, lights and noise, we drew a palpable strength from the smiling faces of our Gentleman’s Club from the posters! Visit our photo gallery here.4. On the vineyard & in the cellar.
In June a dedicated crew carried out the pruning of the vines, while occasionally helping with the olive harvest. During the Great Rains we were duly flooded in the lower part of the vineyard: never seen the water so high! Now everything is back to normal, with fluffy leaves springing from the vines. Springs works are under way.In the cellar, vintage 2005 is bottled, while vintage 2006 is still in the tanks, maturing over the lees. The continuity in terms of both quantity and quality is most encouraging.
5. Media: our website.
It’s up and running, with continuous updates by Jenny Setchell. You can find there our latest news, and also put orders online. We are still selling vintage 2004, at unchanged price. Please contact us also by phone as below.
HAPPY SPRING!!
Kind regards,
Alex & Wilma LarynContact details:
110 Shalamar Drive,
Cashmere,
Christchurch 8002
tel: (03) 337 9339;
fax: (03) 337 9577
Alex: 027 2288 682;
Wilma: 027 2738 666
Order your wine now by clicking on the empty carton above, or here