Initially interested in a career in the culinary area, Liz attended a Cordon Bleu course in London and found herself drawn to wine, which quickly became her passion and her career. Having been at Glengarry for over 20 years, Liz travels abroad regularly, meeting with our fine wine suppliers in Europe, maintaining strong relationships first hand and ensuring a continued supply of the rarest and the best fine wine.
Like Craggy Range, Glengarry continues to be 100% family owned and proudly so. Big fans of Craggy Range wines, we were thrilled to have their 2014 Prestige Collection wines in store this month. That’s while they last of course, the 2014 vintage being particularly small and the demand very high.
The Prestige Collection sits at the top of the Craggy Range quality ladder, encapsulating their very essence; single vineyard expressions that highlight the marriage between the ideal grape variety (or varieties) and the diversity of growing regions across New Zealand.
This year’s release is three wines all from the 2015 vintage, the third vintage with Matt Stafford at the helm. The magic of Craggy Range comes from the vineyards; that statement in itself is not new, there are lots of wineries that will tell you the very same thing. Only a few though will have the thorough understanding of soil and site that Craggy Range do. Craggy Range was established in the late 90’s when American born Terry and Mary Peabody set out to create a family legacy; a winery that would survive for generations and continue to be 100% family owned and managed. Once they had decided upon New Zealand they were introduced to Steve Smith who was the first specialist viticulturist in the world to pass the Master of Wine Examination. Steve and Terry set about searching for vineyard land and in the process established the concept that continues at Craggy Range today – producing only single vineyard wines across various regions. Matt Stafford’s background is in the science of soil and today he is the head winemaker at Craggy Range. The Prestige wines are from parts of the single vineyards that produce the best fruit. The selection is done in the vineyard, not later on in the winery with a selection of barrels.
Three wines coming up for release June 1st: Aroha Pinot Noir from Te Muna in Martinborough, Le Sol from Gimblett Gravels in Hawke’s Bay and Sophia from Gimblett Gravels in Hawke’s Bay.
We will have these wines at Glengarry Devonport and Takapuna on the 1st June along with their little brothers. In the same way that many Bordeaux Châteaux have a second wine, what we like to term a little brother (it’s just so much more friendly), so does Craggy Range. The little brothers will also feature in store and on tasting at Glengarry Devonport and Takapuna through the month.
Craggy Range’s Prestige wines sit at the top table with NZ’s top wines, these are wines that you want in your cellar for sure.
To celebrate the release, we have an exceptional tasting coming up with Matt Stafford at Glengarry Victoria Park. Rather than presenting the three new releases by themselves, or with a back vintage, chief winemaker Matt Stafford has asked us to select some top wines from France to try alongside. This is a rare opportunity to look at the stylistic differences between our two countries at a very high level, with Matt guiding us through. This will be a fun and probably a very vocal tasting, book early to avoid disappointment. www.glengarry.co.nz/tastings
