Catering Melbourne Blog

Normally, trips to wine suppliers are very hard work (no, honestly) and the preserve of our buying team, trying to find the best cuvées at the best prices. However, occasionally we are given the opportunity to take our other staff on fact-finding visits, which are great fun, if a little hectic.
In February, we took a group to visit the world-renowned Champagne house of Bollinger. Such a treasured visit demanded the most treasured staff, so we identified our ‘unsung heroes’ at the company’s front line, who regularly go out of their way to give extra special service to our customers. Hence, at a really unsociable early hour on a cold February morning, some of our sales, accounts, warehouse and shop staff flew out to Paris to meet the people who make Bollinger.

A two-hour drive from Charles de Gaul Airport brought us to the home of Bollinger in the stylish little town of Ay, which was covered with a light dusting of snow. Ay is the most famous Grand Cru village in Champagne, located some 30km from Reims. We had an exquisite lunch at the house of Madame Lilly Bollinger, where the history and ethos of the company was explained.

Madame Lilly Bollinger is one of the most famous figures in Champagne’s history. In 1918 Elizabeth Law de Lauriston Bourbers (known as Lilly) married Jacques Bollinger, head of a small but growing Champagne house. When Jacques died in 1941, Lilly took the reigns and famously traveled the world, spreading the word about Bollinger. In many respects she was a true pioneer in creating an internationally recognised brand. Lilly was also a great spokeswoman for the Champagne region as a whole, leaving several infamous quotes.

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it — unless I’m thirsty.” Madame Lilly Bollinger, Daily Mail 17th October 1961

Today the success of Lilly’s promotional endeavours is clear from the prestige and familiarity of Bollinger Champagne. However, it was a surprise to most to learn just how small their volumes are in the great scheme of things, producing just 2.1m of Champagne’s total annual output of 300m bottles. They remain, in essence a small, artisan producer. We visited the coopers’ workshop, the last one in Champagne where wooden barrels are still made, repaired and restored. Seeing a workshop with such ancient tools, and complete lack of machinery indicated the depth of craftsmanship and skill that was being preserved, not for the tourists, but out of necessity. A tour of the vast chalk cellars beneath the village showed how manual the whole process is, with teams of cellar men manually racking the reserve bottles. Seeing such quantities of precious Champagne, gently maturing in the perfect conditions, was humbling. We emerged from these labyrinthine cellars into the winery, several streets away, and into a very different world of immaculate white tiles and stainless steel - the absolute epitome of hygienic, up-to-date wine-making. This was where the ancient crafts met the modern world.

It’s only now that we realised that we had spent many hours, discovering the different delights, rapt with attention at the details of production and historic facts being offered. We had been transported to a different world for a day, completely removed from ours, yet the fruits of which we would enjoy by opening a bottle at home. An evening in Reims was followed by a morning flight back to reality and work. But the general impression from all was one of awe, at the passion and detail that goes into making a bottle of Champagne that we may have taken for granted before. Suddenly, the price of a bottle of Bollinger seems remarkably good value for money. So if you ever call the Averys office to ask about Champagne to be met with an effusive story about how it is made, you’re probably talking to one of the lucky staff who came on this trip.

You can buy Bollinger online Averys Dot Com where we are currently listing the UK’s best price for Bollinger Special Cuvee NV- just £25 per bottle.

The South Australian wine industry has begun a major recovery with export sales booming, following several years of overproduction. Wine exports from Adelaide have rocketed to $573 million in the first quarter of this year, more than 40 per cent up on the same period last year. The industry described the rapid increase as a clear indication bottled shipments are growing strongly, prices are starting to rise and less discounted wine is being sold. The strong turnaround has raised the prospect of further price rises on the domestic and export markets next year. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Information and Analysis manager Lawrie Stanford said that showed the potential of the industry when not burdened by oversupply. “It shows the potential to develop bottled wine sales and that the market is prepared to pay fair prices,” he said. “It’s not just a change in the mix but prices are improving and we are growing our premium, super premium and specialty sectors.The very high specialty sector has been growing for quite a while but it is the premium sector that is very important.” Mr Stanford said overseas consumers were trading up on Australian wine and it was a good picture for the industry. “The only concern on the horizon is supply uncertainties given the exceptional drought years we’ve had,” he said. “But the industry is getting back into balance and we are seeing the industry grow based on premium quality wine.” SA was driving the national industry with 62 per cent of exports. He expected bulk shipments to drop. Gemtree Vineyards chief executive Andrew Buttery, from McLaren Vale, said its export sales were growing by 30-40 per cent a year. Overseas sales now accounted for about 60 per cent of sales. “We’ve just employed a brand manager to service the U.S. and Canadian markets for us,” Mr Buttery said. Gemtree would lift prices next year because of strong grape price rises and the high Australian dollar

New Zealand has regained its ‘05 supremacy over Australia by winning Wine of the Show, Best Red Wine and Best White Wine of the Show for ’07 at this years Tri Nations Wine Challenge.

Master of Wine, Bob Campbell announced the winners at the presentation dinner at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Westhaven, Auckland on Monday night (12th November).

After totaling all scores, Australia took Country of the Show followed by New Zealand and South Africa. Executive Chair Judith Kennedy commented that the standard of entries this Year has been higher than previous years and the competition between the three countries was fierce.

The Tri Nations Wine Challenge is unique in that wines are entered by judges’ invitation only and there are 321 wines in the competition.

The judges are: Robert Joseph (Chair), James Halliday (representing Australia), Bob Campbell MW (New Zealand) and Michael Fridjhon for (South Africa).

New Zealand’s Craggy Range Le Sol ’05 Syrah took top honors for Wine of the show and Red Wine of the Show.

Mt Difficulty Target Gully ‘06 Riesling won White Wine of the Show.

The two previous Wine of the Show winners were:
2006 - Australia’s Trevor Jones’ Wild Witch ’02 Shiraz
2005 - New Zealand’s Olssens’ Slapjack Creek ’03 Pinot Noir

While most of the country was battered by drought, frost, hail and other extremes of weather that reduced yields by about 30 per cent, WA had one of its best red wine vintages—and a pretty handy white wine vintage. Red grapes were particularly hammered in the east — with 2007 yields down almost 40 per cent and quality no better than average, leaving local winemakers in a strong position to take advantage of a shortfall. The situation will be even worse for eastern states vignerons next year. With vines struggling to recover, drought is expected to keep yields low in 2008, especially in the worst affected regions, along the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. Five-star performers in STM’s top 100 wines for 2007 include local wineries Ferngrove, Sandalford and Stella Bella, each with four wines, and Leeuwin Estate and Tasmania’s Bay of Fires (with Kalgoorlie-born Fran Austin as winemaker) with three wines. With good winter rains in WA, all the signs are that the state’s next vintage should be a good one. Sunday Times (Perth), November 11.

Scientists have come up with the perfect excuse for heading to the pub after a game of football. Research has shown that a glass of beer is slightly better than water at rehydrating the body after exercise. Researchers suspect the sugars, salts and bubbles in beer may help people absorb fluids more quickly. The Granada University study will be welcomed by the legions of weekend sports enthusiasts who enjoy apost-match schooner. Sunday Telegraph, November 11.

The drought is expected to dramatically cut this year’s wine grape crop, with 250,000 tonnes forecast for the Murray Valley, down from 440,000 tonnes in 2005. Murray Valley Winegrowers’ chief executive Mike Stone said growers on the Victorian side of the river had just 20 per cent of their irrigation allocation, while NSW growers had a zero allocation. ”Unless you buy water, it is highly unlikely that you will produce a viable crop,” he said. ”Water is about $1100 a meg (megalitre or million litres) at the moment. We would estimate that at least 40 per cent of our growers would be struggling to have the finances to buy water.” At those prices, Mr Stone estimates it costs $200 a tonne to water grapes. Last year, grape prices in the region averaged $400 a tonne, a price that Mr Stone said was too low to be sustainable. This year, the base price being offered is $600 a tonne. ”Deduct $200 for buying water and you are about the same as (last year). You are not making money on that.” Traditionally wineries announce prices in mid-January, but this year that will be too late. Mr Stone has been calling on them to announce their prices early ”to enable growers to make a sensible decision about whether or not to buy water.” The Australian, November 9.

Western Australia’s Margaret River region has a reputation for producing superb dry white blends, best exemplified by the Clairault Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2007. Winner of the Lallemand Trophy for best dry white blend at the 2007 Royal Adelaide Wine Show, it also won the top gold medal in its class with 18.8 points. It was one of only nine wines out of thousands at the show to score 18.8 points - with only one wine scoring higher, a 19-pointer. Clairault winemaker Will Shields said the winery was delighted with its performance to win a gold medal and a trophy in Adelaide. ”The semillon-sauvignon blanc blend is a tried and tested wine style in Margaret River,” Mr Shields said. The Advertiser, November 10.

Pure Blonde, launched in 2004, and now Australia’s fastest growing beer (by incremental volume), has launched its first television commercial.
The new TV commercial features a beautifully shot utopian world where Pure Blonde is gathered by a beautiful blonde race. This ‘perfect’ world is rudely interrupted by an 18-wheeler truck and its driver to collect the beer and deliver it to the ‘real’ world.
Pure Blonde has been a huge hit with drinkers and is now the country’s sixth biggest regular beer brand, with a sales trajectory of 122.3% year on year volume growth (pack and draught combined).* The newly formed segment of low carbohydrate beers is growing at 144.9% (volume) and holds a 4.4% volume share of total regular beer.* Pure Blonde, as low carb leader, is the key driver of the segment growth and holds a 76.5% volume share for the quarter to 31/8/07.*
The campaign includes free-to-air and pay TV, airport sampling and advertising, in flight TV, cinema advertising and outdoor.

Most people have tried various red wines and white wines and they still have no idea what differentiates both. If you have no clue, then this article will give you the factors to look for; apart from the color which is obvious. Red and white wines can either be dry or sweet or anywhere in between.

The red wine is more robust, more complex than white wines. White wines are generally lighter without the complexity of reds. Though the grapes used do matter, but the main difference is in the fermentation process. Red wines are mostly made from red and black grapes, and white wines from green grapes. Sometimes red, black and black grapes are combined.

During the fermentation process for white wine, the stems, seeds and grape skin are gently removed from the grape juice after it has been squeezed from the pressing machine. On the other hand, during fermentation process for red wines the grape stems,seeds and grape skins are left in the squeezed juice. By leaving the stems,seeds and grape skins in the juice it produces tannins and pigments and are the ingredients that is also responsible for the complexity of red wines.

Tannins are compounds that are present in grapes and other plants. When you partake in drinking a very strong cup of tea, the bitter, sharp taste is caused by these tannins. These tannins act to prevent oxidation of the wine during the aging process. This prevention is very important in red wines, since they’re usually aged and matured for much longer period of time than white. Because it is aged longer the tannins provide another layer of flavor, therefore increasing the complexity of the wine and also making it more robust. The bite of the tannins will diminish and be mellow as the wine ages.

Both red and white wine can make an excellent addition to your delicious meal, depending on what brand and flavor you chose. The rules for picking the type of wine to match your meal is not edged in stone, but the differences in wine do provide some guidelines. I will pick red wines to go with my strong flavored meals, because it is more complex and robust in taste.

White wines on the other hand I will pick for my less flavored meals. Some people prefer red for meat dishes and white for fish and chicken dishes. The most important factor in choosing a wine for a meal is your own taste. Do you like it dry, light, sweet or slightly in between? Regardless of what wine you chose for your meal, just sit down and relax and pour yourself a glass as you slowly enjoy your meal.

As you enjoy your meal take a sip of your favorite nice wine without any food in your mouth. Some people make the mistake of sipping wine while still chewing. The proper etiquette is to sip your favorite delicious wine after chewing your food. This is the only way to truly enjoy your meal and get the true of your wine.

Red wine is general good for you, but it is important to know the specifics of these benefits because you can then employ them to serve your body better. Over 600 million gallons of red wine is consumed in US and the numbers keep growing. The presence of flavanoids called Resveratrol in red wine is responsible for the health benefits.

Red Wine Benefits

There are many benefits of red wine. It has been shown to help prevent heart disease, when drunk in moderation. In fact, studies have actually shown that one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men reduces the risk of heart attack for people in middle age by 30-50 percent, which is a quite impressive. There are also many other red wine benefits, such as the fact that it has been proven to help lower bad cholesterol in the body. Lower cholesterol level reduces the risk of blood clots forming and blood vessel damage being caused as a result of fat deposits.

Red wine also contains anti-aging property which helps to keep your arteries healthy and aids in boosting the immune system. Some people even claim that red wine can play a role in preventing cancer.

The Bordeaux region of France produces Cabernets and also some fine Merlots. California is known for quality Cabernets, Merlots, and Zinfandels which are grown in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Oregon and Washington are also making their mark with wonderful Pinots and Merlots.

Only drink red wine in moderation, because drinking too much just because you have heard that it is good for you can be bad for your body. By drinking too much wine you are going to be putting yourself at more danger than before for conditions like obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia.

Plenty of research and studies have shown us that the red wine benefits are plentiful, but it is also important to realize that you have to maintain an otherwise healthy lifestyle at the same time. To get the benefits of something such as wine, then you should also be consuming a healthy, well-balanced diet, drinking plenty of water and getting lots of regular exercise.

When your body is in generally healthy shape overall, then and only then will it really be able to prosper from the red wine benefits that are so touted today. So it is very important to stay in shape.

Now that you know the benefits of drinking red wines, quickly run to the nearby wine shop or better yet shop the fine wine shops online. To serve red wine, let it get to about 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Open it at least 30 minutes before serving to let it “breathe”. This will help to release pent up gasses and add flavor to the wine. While waiting for the wine to breathe get that favorite dish you like prepared, take off your shoes, sit down and relax and enjoy your meal. While you sip your favorite red wine imagine all the benefits and then thank your lucky stars.