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Mt. Beautiful Wines, New Zealand - June 2018

Food & Wine Classic - Aspen, Colorado

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Mt. Beautiful's U.S. team enjoyed a fabulous time at Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado once again this year. Here are some photos and highlights.

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Our team out for dinner. L to R: Tiffany, Suzanna, Robert, Maura and Caitlin.

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This year our wines were selected to be featured in two seminars.

One of the seminars was Laura Werlin's "To Brie or not to Brie: Indulgent Cheeses and Wines" We are so honored that Laura chose our Pinot Noir to feature in her Aspen seminar. There was no shortage of interest in her seminars as evidenced by the lines out the door ... and all the way down the steps! (Scroll to the bottom of this post to learn about Laura)

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The weekend's forecast called for rain and thunderstorms which made apparel choices limiting and navigation on foot challenging at times. Fortunately, the breadth of delectable (no - amazing!) food and drink that was abound helped offset any of these inconveniences.

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Our 2017 Rosé was featured in a seminar called "Match Made in Heaven: Chocolate and Wine" by the one and only Leslie Sbrocco. In the seminar, Leslie and Nicole Patel; Chef and Founder of Delysia Chocolatier (based in Asutin, Texas), paired six wines with eight chocolates that Nicole created just for this seminar.

Leslie and Nicole selected our Rosé to pair with a candied butterscotch chocolate truffle: white chocolate blended with butterscotch, then studded with bits of candied ginger, hazelnuts, and orange in a dark chocolate shell. !!!

Needless to say it was crazy good. What a fun (and also very popular) seminar! (Scroll dto the bottom of this post to learn more about Leslie Sbrocco)

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L to R: Chef & Founder of Delysia Chocolatier Nicole Patel (at left), Lucio Matricardi of Mezzacorona and Anjoleena Griffin-Holst from Kimpton’s Grand Cayman Resort.

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About Laura:
Laura Werlin is a popular presenter at food and wine festivals around the nation but most prominently at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. She is also a regular instructor at The Cheese School of San Francisco and an award winning author of several books about cheese including The New American Cheese, Great Grilled Cheese, The All American Cheese and Wine Book, Mac & Cheese Please, Cheese Essentials and Grilled Cheese Please!

About Leslie Sbrocco:
Leslie Sbrocco is an award winning author, speaker, wine consultant and television host. Two of the titles she has authored include Wine for Women: A Guide to Buying, Pairing, and Sharing Wine and The Simple & Savvy Wine Guide: Buying, Pairing, and Sharing for All.

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2018 Backcountry Discovery Routes

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2018 marks the second year Mt. Beautiful has sponsored Backcountry Discovery Routes ("BDR"). (See the 2017 sponsorship post here)

BDR is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization whose mission is to establish and preserve off-highway routes for dual-sport and adventure motorcycle travel. They work with land managers, state tourism departments and rural communities to keep backcountry roads accessible to motorcyclists.

Being an adventure rider himself and someone who values access to off highway routes, it was a no brainer for Mt. Beautiful's CEO Robert Watkins to once again support the Backcountry Discovery Routes mission via a wine sponsorship.

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Robert Watkins, CEO of Mt. Beautiful

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In addition to extending a year round discount to BDR members for wine purchases made from the online shopping cart, Mt. Beautiful sponsors the "happy hours" and Winemaker Dinner at BDR's annual fundraiser. Each year the fundraiser is hosted at a different location within the United States. This year it was located just outside Zion National Park in Utah.

In attendance were roughly 80 male and female adventure-hungry motorcyclists ready to explore the scenic byways and off highway roads in the area. Needless to say, there were plenty of routes to explore!

BDR Map Routes 2018

The routes varied in length from 100 miles to close to 250 miles, traversing incredibly scenic areas such as the rim of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon National Park to name a couple.

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Prior to heading out on a ride, each rider would consult with BDR's Director of Route Development, Rob Watt, to discuss the routes and load up tracks in their GPS units. Riding in a group was highly encouraged, and many were able to find their riding partners over dinner or breakfast.

Mt. Beautiful's CEO Robert Watkins and Marketing Manager Suzanna Mannion participated in this year's fundraiser, trailering their dual sport bikes from Northern California to Utah. There were others in attendance who drove even farther; some hailing all the way from Maine and even the southern tip of Florida!

Robert and Suzanna were there to represent the wines of course, but also to have some fun riding their dual sport bikes, as it's a shared passion of theirs.

Keep scrolling to view additional photos from this event.

To learn more about BDR or find out ways you can support them, visit BDR's website at ridebdr.com.

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Suzanna Mannion, Mt. Beautiful's Marketing Manager (who may or may not have received a lot of flack for wearing her sun hat during the lunch break on the trail).

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Paul Guillien, CEO of Touratech-USA + BDR Board President (bio)

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Rob Watt - BDR's Director of Route Development (bio)

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Tim James, Owner of James Howard + BDR's Creative Director (bio) with Inna Thorn, BDR's Director of Operations (bio)

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L to R: Ron West, BDR Supporter, Tracy Jeffries, BDR Ambassador (SheADV profile) and Sterling Noren - BDR's Cinematographer (website)

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Group shot of those who have attended all five BDR spring fundraisers.

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Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc had never been to Zion National Park before, so Suzanna took a bottle for a ride on her 2001 Honda XRL.

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Fundraiser participants seated around the campfire swapping stories about rides they want on that day, rides they plan on doing the following day and brainstorming ways to further the BDR mission.

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L to R: Court Butler (BDR Board Member (bio) + Owner of Butler Maps), Rob Watt and Shawn Lupcho (Creator of MotoSkiveez)

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L to R: Eric Hougen (Owner of Wolfman Luggage) and Jeff Anderson (Co-Owner of Southwest Motorcycle Tours)

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Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir was a hit at each evening's happy hour and at the Winemaker Dinner, served alongside two other Mt. Beautiful wines.

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Here is Bill Whitacre raffling off a Klim helmet. He is a BDR supporter who masterfully administers their silent auction during the fundraiser weekend. In half an hour's time, they raised over $80,000!

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L to R: Tracy Jeffries, Suzanna Mannion and Inna Thorn holding up the "Ride Right" campaign sign.

BDR 2018 TJ

TR, a BDR supporter / rider and paramedic, offered an hour discussion about what he packs in his emergency medical kit as well as how to use each item.

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Kapalua Wine and Food

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Mt. Beautiful Winery made it to the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival this year. Our Western Regional Sales Manager Tiffany Tonnerre had a fantastic time sharing tastes of Mt. Beautiful with trade, media and consumers alike.

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Why New Zealand Wines are Worth Searching Out

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The Globe and Mail, Beppi Crosariol - May 16, 2018

"Why New Zealand Wines Are Worth Searching Out

Spellbinding sauvignon blanc secured New Zealand’s place on the world wine map back in the 1980s. But how’s this for irony: The island nation has since gone missing. Nobody can seem to find it, cartographically speaking. Cast your eyes to the south and east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and all you see is crystal-blue Pacific Ocean.

I’m only half-joking. New Zealand’s omission from no shortage of less-than-authoritative world maps has become a source of amusement and frustration to many in the country – the equivalent of a map of Canada without Newfoundland or Prince Edward Island. It’s also the theme of a hilarious short video featuring New Zealand’s awesome Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. (Yes, I’ll be serving up a wine angle shortly, so bear with me through the political content.)

Produced for Tourism New Zealand, the video went viral earlier this month and stars Kiwi comedian-writer Rhys Darby, best known for playing the band manager in the Flight of the Conchords TV series. In the role of a dim-witted investigator, Darby phones an amused Ardern, who plays herself, promising her he’ll get to the bottom of the mapmaking conspiracy.

“We’re quite a fiddly-looking-shaped country,” he tells her on the phone, “a bit like a half-eaten lamb chop. Perhaps people are just leaving us off thinking we’re a mistake.” Well, that’s his runner-up theory, offered at the end. His main suspicion actually comes with some digging.

Darby pores over the evidence, including maps from Starbucks, IKEA, a Spanish in-flight magazine and an English Rugby World Cup promo, among others. Embarrassingly for Canada, Vancouver makes a cameo as Darby tacks up a real photo on his bulletin board of the giant (and clearly New Zealand-free) metal globe outside the city’s International Village mall.

Finally, Darby turns his suspicions to his country’s constant rival, Australia. A quick internet search reveals that Australian tourist numbers have been on the rise, presumably thanks to New Zealand’s airbrushed disappearance. And, yes, another important sector is under threat. “Our wine!” Darby says to himself while gazing at an abbreviated world wine map. “Sacre Bleu! Sneaky Frenchies.”

He phones in his brainstorm to Ardern, whom he amusingly refers to as “Your Highness.” Australia wants New Zealand’s tourists, he declares. England clearly wants to get rid of the mighty All Blacks rugby team once and for all. “And the wine industry – they can’t beat our pinot or sav!”

The tourism campaign has its own Twitter hashtag: #getnzonthemap, which captures the self-effacing humour so pervasive in that gorgeous, tiny country of 4.7 million. I’m not sure about every point in Darby’s conspiracy theory, but I am certain the French, and most other wine-producing nations, ought to be nervous about the consistent quality of New Zealand wine. It may not yet compete with France or Italy in the high-stakes game of trophy wines or quirky, old-vine curiosities (its industry is mere decades old), but I’d say unequivocally that no country yields more consistent quality from producer to producer and vintage to vintage. Any world wine map that would leave out New Zealand gets a big fail in my geography course.

Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir 2015, New Zealand
SCORE: 93 PRICE: $37.95

The winery sits in the shadow of its namesake, a peak north of Christchurch in North Canterbury on New Zealand’s South Island. It’s also distinguished for the high intellectual standing of its founder, David Teece, a Kiwi who lives in California, where he is a professor in global business at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s also the author of more than 30 books and was named by international professional-services company Accenture as one of the world’s top-50 business intellectuals. More importantly, he makes superb wine, such as this concentrated, creamy and flawless pinot. Voluptuous for pinot noir, yet remarkably unsweet, it delivers ripe berry fruit infused with hints of coffee, baking spice and cedar. In Burgundy, you’d have to pay $150 for this sort of pleasure. Alas, quantities are extremely limited. Available in select Ontario Vintages stores."

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The Hillsides and Plains of North Canterbury

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The Real Reviews, Bob Campbell MW - May 22, 2018

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North Canterbury Photo Credit NZWG

"The Hillsides and Plains of North Canterbury

I define the North Canterbury wine region as the northern part of Canterbury from Amberley north. That embraces the North Canterbury capital, Waipara, as well as Waikari (home to Bell Hill and Pyramid Valley), Cheviot (Mt Beautiful) and Kaikoura (Esses).

Waipara’s wine producers worked hard to gain recognition for Waipara as a subregion of Canterbury a decade or two ago. It’s ironic that a growing number now prefer to be recognised as North Canterbury producers rather than Waipara. Pronunciation difficulties in export markets and confusion with Wairarapa have been cited as reasons for the change.

Every wine region needs a hero producer or two. Waipara has Pegasus Bay and Greystone, both moderately large winemakers with a strong quality focus. However, the wider North Canterbury region embraces the even more heroic producers Bell Hill and Pyramid Valley, both only a 15-minute drive in a westerly direction from Waipara.

NZ Winegrowers show the producing vineyard area of Waipara in 2018 as 1,257 hectares (ha), or about 3.5% of the national vineyard area. Sauvignon blanc is the leading variety with 355 ha, slightly ahead of pinot noir (341 ha) and Riesling (254 ha). Pinot gris is the fourth most planted variety (183 ha).

Waipara is nine kilometres from the coast but is protected from cooling sea breezes by the Teviotdale Hills. The region experiences dry, hot summers and drought conditions that made it unsuitable for viticulture and marginal for grazing unto the Glenmark irrigation scheme was established in the early 1980s. Hot, dry northwest winds reduce vine vigour and contribute to grape ripeness and concentration.

Some years ago I was invited to a wine tasting by Waipara’s wine producers. The organisers had divided the wines into two types: hillside and plains. Wines made from grapes grown on the free-draining gravel were ripe, vibrant and slightly lighter than the more robust wines from richer clay-laced hillside soils some of which contain limestone deposits.

When asked some years ago where I would choose to establish a vineyard in New Zealand if I was brave enough to do so, I chose Waipara because I thought that cost of viable vineyard land was undervalued and that the region offered great potential. The price of land and the reputation of Waipara wines has risen significantly since then but the region is still my first choice. I’d head for the hills or follow the lead of Bell Hill and Pyramid Valley and grow chardonnay and pinot noir in the limestone-rich soils around Waikari."

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Musings by the Glass: Kapalua Wine and Food Festival

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Musings by the Glass Logo

Musings By the Glass, Seth Buckley - May 23, 2018

"The Pineapple-Kiwi Combination: Maui Food and Wine Festival Plays Host to Mt. Beautiful Winery

A pineapple-kiwi convergence may sound like the commencement of a smoothie expedition. In this post, however, it is a far more delightful (and a touch inebriating) sojourn to the shores of Maui with one of New Zealand’s great wineries. A tropical vinous adventure packed with sunshine, wine and, most assuredly, a modicum of frivolity.

Okay, I admit, this post isn’t entirely new. I would characterize it more as an amended and restated post -- new and improved! -- from an earlier bargain Pinot Noir featuring Mt. Beautiful Winery. That post is no longer active so I was patiently perusing other opportunities to revisit this tremendous winery and recommend a few tasty food pairings for its wines that are available locally in Honolulu. I discovered the perfect occasion in the Winery’s event travel itinerary...

The Kiwis are coming, the Kiwis are coming! The Island of Maui plays host to Mt. Beautiful Winery, among other notable vineyards, at the Kapalua Food and Wine Festival on June 7-10. A chance to highlight one of my favorite New Zealand wineries and a Maui food and wine festival all in one post? I will cheerfully take that deal.

Kapalua Food and Wine Festival
The Kapalua Food and Wine Festival, entering its 37th year (!), is a paradisaical epicurean destination event definitely worth [inebriated] exploration. Master chefs and prestigious vineyards collide in an accord of flavor and vibrancy that is certain to impress any palate. Hosted by the Kapalua Resort, luxury and style meet for the ultimate food and wine experience.

From grand tastings to more intimate cooking demonstrations, a diverse and talented array of chefs are on hand to ensure that the senses are mystified and satiated. But dazzlement with the event's culinary curiosities is only half the fun. The winemakers journeying to Maui are eager to share their wine and stories, and spread a little wisdom concerning viticultural lessons they have learned along the way.

Regional and varietal-specific seminars are specially designed to satisfy the very wonkish of tendencies. Wine geeks rejoice! All of the seminars provide extraordinarily useful information that is made pertinent through the tasting experience. Inebriated sensory analysis: the best method of education. This year the seminars are exciting and diverse, ranging from the sand and fog of Santa Maria Valley in a regional spotlight, to an examination of Cabernet Franc, undoubtedly one of my favorite red grape varietals. In Hawaii, these experiences are rarely available, so be sure to mark your calendars and take advantage of the oenophile convergence in Kapalua.

For locals, there are few events in Hawaii that showcase world-class wines and epicurean talent on this scale, and we should ardently take advantage when they are presented. For tourists, this is most certainly a destination event around which you should plan your next vacation. Incredible food and tasty vinous beverages in a tropical setting? Sounds like a festival made in paradise that is not to be missed. Will I be seeing you in June?

Mt. Beautiful Winery
One of the preeminent factors favoring a Maui pilgrimage to the food and wine festival is intimate access to world-class wineries. This year, amongst the numerous prodigious vineyards, Mt. Beautiful Winery takes a well-deserved rotation in the spotlight.

Mt. Beautiful Winery is wonkish heaven. It’s founder, David Teece, is [obviously] an oenophile, but he doubles as a professor of Global Business and Economics at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and has authored over 30 books. For me, trained in global business law and economics, I have discovered a new vinous exemplar. Hail to the geeks.

Mt. Beautiful also makes it easy to feel good about yourself while sipping your refreshing inebriating beverage. Committed to sustainable farming methods, holistic vineyard management and alternative bottle closure methods (which bottle closure lore I explored in this post), Mt. Beautiful ensures that its practices assist in safeguarding the picturesque landscape famous to New Zealand. The world needs more wineries like Mt. Beautiful (and regions like New Zealand) that wholeheartedly embrace and emphasize the importance of sustainable viticultural practices. Well, since we are on the topic of New Zealand ...

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Great Value Weekend Wines under £20

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Decanter, Tastings Team - June 1, 2018

"Great Value Wines For the Weekend Under £20

Calling all Chardonnay lovers – this weekend we bring you a collection of single varietal and blended examples from around the world. Including expertly rated wines from France, Australia, Chile and United Kingdom."

Our 2016 Mt. Beautiful Chardonnay was selected as one of the ten featured!

"Lovely fruit concentration on the nose leads to a lingering palate full of stone fruit and moreish complexity. Good crispness and it will evolve with time, despite the touch of heat on the finish." 91 Points

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