Wine Sentience: About Wine Sentience

12 years ago, Sylvaine and Stephen started working together at what was then the most comprehensive wine cellar in Wellington, Arbitrageur Wine Bar. From there the pair continued their work at Ancestral, then Whitebait and Charley Noble before Sylvaine took on the daunting task of helping Wellington restaurants make sense of Maison Vauron’s immense French portfolio. It was therefore bittersweet, at the start of December, that we bid her farewell, at least for now, from the Wine Sentience co-op. She is taking her talents to Government House. Her distinctly Gallic flair, humour and standard of care (from years of training as a sommeliere at some of the UK’s top fine dining icons) will be greatly missed. Until we meet again, Sylvaine, in this mad mad world of wine - a bientôt! #andthenthereweretwo

We have been very fortunate to partner with Kierdorfwein on a series of masterclasses drawn from their cellars in Germany. A fitting end to a year with many collaborations and attempts to create community in our small corner of the globe, amidst what seems to be an increasingly fractured world. There are still things which bring people together, ways to partake in a shared experience with others. One last one this coming Monday, marks the end of our public classes for the year. With big and scary changes coming our way for 2024, we are thankful for everything we have had this year and these small moments of authenticity, togetherness and community. 🙏🥰

A fantastic set of releases from @lutawines @unkelwines - a Chardonnay and Pinot each from the Weka(?) Vineyard near Motueka and from the home vineyard at Unkel near Mapua. Very different expressions but each carefully madr to express vibrancy and purity. Such fantastic acids in the Chardonnays; Zephyr being tighter and sleeker whilst Echoes has power and weight sitting above the burst of tang. The Rising Pinot has only 6 days maceration, all about perfume with herbal notes and a light, almost crisp palate. The Shadow is a sleek, velvety wine with a soft dark spicy fruit and a seriousness of character that is at once mysterious and enticing. ‘Grown-up’ renditions of minimal intervention wine and a very welcome addition to the New Wave fine wine space! #nzwine #nelsonwine #organicwine #naturalwine

Grenache! Garnacha! Garnatxa! (Or, of course, if asking a Sardinian, Cannonau). It has been quite some time since we last ran a class focused on a single grape variety, and this will be the first occasion of centring a variety that covers such vast swaths of land (though hardly the amount it once did - at the end of the 20th century, Grenache was the second most widely planted variety in the world). Because it’s affinity for long ripening in warm climes, the wines most often associated with Grenache are BIG; spicy mouth-filling reds of the Southern Rhône, intense powerful wines of Catalonia, sweet-fruited Australian reds, or soft full-bodied wines of California. Those wines still very much exist, but so too do a new cache of Grenache based wines that are leaning into facets of the variety that are less obviously bold. From Australia, where once it was the most widely planted grape, there are now a myriad of new-wave wines that eschew heft and sweetness in favor of freshness and delicacy. In Spain, Priorat is no longer the only region seekers of quality Garnacha are looking. Instead, they are finding full yet bright and charismatic wines in the Sierra de Gredos or the windswept, savory iterations from Terra Alta. The 3 wines pictured are emblematic of the line up of our Grenache class on Monday, October 16; new approaches to pick-times, winemaking influences, and natural winemaking. In addition, we also have wines from South Africa, California, and realllly old vines in Australia. More on those later 🍇✌️ . . . #wineeducation #grenache #garnacha #spanishwine #australianwine #wellingtonnz

Thank you to #wellingtonnz #hospitality for the heartwarming support and interest in our Austrian Wine masterclass course. With all spots filled in the three week format, we have responded to the overwhelming request for a one-day intensive version to make it easier for out of town folk to attend. Instead of adding a second tranche to the existing course, we are pleased to offer a full-day intensive version on Saturday 16th September - 10.30am until 5pm (we might finish earlier but no later) all 30 wines direct from Austrian wineries for the first time in NZ covering everything modern about Austrian wine and from top producers. Pre-sales have accounted for about 2/3rd of spots but there are a few left up for grabs. Come and join Stephen Wong MW @mastersofwine for a day of discovery and learning! Website link in bio. #wineeducation @austrianwine #finewine #naturalwine #vinnaturel #austrianwine #österreichwein #alwayslearning

Amber wines are to orange wines what Finnegan’s Wake is to Twilight; what a Croque-en-Bouche is to a Twinky. In spite the two terms being used almost interchangeably to denote wines made of white grapes that have been fermented on the skins, the amber hued amongst them elude to more than a mere plunge for phenolics before heading to bottle. Amber wines earn their coloration from time - from oxidation; a nod to the roots of winemaking before the bevy of technological advances that are mainstays today. Amber also brings us to the moodiest set of wines for our ‘color series’. Unlike ‘vins de soif’ or ‘rosés’ these wines, so comfortable already with oxygen, take time to begin to unfurl - whether fermented on skins or extended élevage. Because of that we have opted to include wines with age where possible including: Andreas Tscheppe Hirschkäfer Erdfass 2012 (Austria), Cascina Grillo Baccabianca 2007 (Italy), Panevino Alvas 2009 (Sardinia), and Tchotiashvili Rkatsiteli 2016 (Georgia) 🍇🏺🌕 #amberwine #livingwine #wineeducation #radikon #naturalwine

Aligoté returns! 4ligoté brings us back to Burgundy for another puntastic look at this largely unknown grape which has found its way into the finest addresses - both of Burgundy’s most revered and irreverent. This Monday 14th, we bring you up to speed on this must-try variety. Fewer than 5 seats left - link in bio. #wineeducation #wellington #burgundy #aligote #aligoteur

Caitlin Perlman in her element this past Monday - teaching and talking about the fascinating nuances of Jura’s mouth-watering, fresh ouillé Chardonnays. Soils, sites and stories, all woven into a melodic love letter to this region near and dear to her heart. It was also so encouraging to see a room with majority hospitality professionals,l and wine trade, not to mention gender balance! #jura #chardonnay #sommelier #wineeducation #womeninwine #finewine #vinnaturel

The Jura, as a wine region, is persistently introduced to drinkers by way of winemaking. Traditional techniques, specifically that of employing extended élevage without topping up barrels for white wines, have shrouded the region in a certain mystique, endearing many a wine geek and natural wine lover to the region. Beyond the white wines that undergo biological aging (or ‘sous voile’ as it is known in the Jura), is a growing cadre of producers making wines that are somewhat off message; making wines more like their Burgundian neighbors to the West. Which, for a region lauded for its outsider status, is for some tantamount to conventional. The practice of topping up barrels throughout élevage, known as ouillé in the Jura, is particularly prominant for Chardonnay - the most widely planted variety in the region. Narrowing the scope to ouillé Chardonnay, a grape whose most iconic examples grow just across the Bresse plain to the West, provides the kindling to a more targeted conversation about the Jura - terroir over technique. For our upcoming Jura deep-dive, it is exactly this, ouillé Chardonnay, through which we will be viewing the region. There are 9 wines from across the Revermont - from Arbois all the way down to the Sud Revermont. There is a collection of winemaking philosophies included - even within the natural winemaking camps. But all 9 wines are Chardonnay, all are expressions of site, all are ouillé, and all are very much a part of current Jura. The wines are: Domaine du Pélican Grand Curoulet 2020, Domaine Tissot En Barberon 2019, Les Bottes Rouges Castor 2018, Domaine des Marnes Blanches Les Normans 2020, Domaine des Marnes Blanches En Quatre Vis 2020, Domaine Ganevat Les Varrons VV 2018, Domaine Labet Lias 2019, Domaine Label Bajocien 2019, Domaine Overnoy Vigne Derriere 2018. #vinsdujura #chardonnay #ouille #wineeducation