What's On

The wine tasting programme at Wine Sentience is all about engaging the wine curious, the wine lover & the wine professional in conversation. We run tastings big & small, from our natural wine pop-up bar SOIF to ongoing blind tastings.

8-8 save the date 🤫😉🍇
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#Nouvelle #raw #fresh #wine #Wellington #NZwine #popupbar #soif photo credits @alpinewineco @cambridgeroad @nzriederer

Footstomp before and after

This is the Kindeli Home Block Pinot Noir 2019, 25 yr old 10/5 fermenting in an amphora. I’ve had the pleasure of hand-plunging this for the past four days and it is now nearly dry. #vintage #moutere #v19 #pinotnoir #amphora #tinaja #nzwine #organicwine #naturalwine

Because the only thing that ignites almost as much joy as pouring and drinking these wines, is rifling through the cellar to decide what to include in this Saturday’s #soifpopupbar . Included is:
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Kindeli 2018 Primavera. A wine whose anticipated release led to many a heckling email to @kindeliwines ... But it is here and it will be our first taste of the new release!
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A flight of high acid whites: 2015 les Chassagnes Savagnin from one of the Jura’s favourite sons, Philippe Bornard. And a piercing, expressive dry Riesling from The grey slate of the Clemens Busch vineyards.
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Proto-whites, as they have come to be known around these parts (er, this office). One of Fiano from high elevation vineyards on Campania made by Pierluigi Zampaglione. The other, a more intense rendition made by Trappist nuns in Umbria.
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Old vines in the new world reds: Grenache from Besson vineyard near Gilroy California. An ungrafted, non-irrigated vineyard planted in 1910 now in the hands of the @birichino_official . And, from the Maule Valley in Chile, the 120 year old País vines that are growing like trees and tended to by the Bouchon family.
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#soif #soifpopupbar #naturalwine #vinnaturel #tastethesuitcase

This Saturday, the Wine Sentience Hub will become #soif pop-up bar! As this iteration will be coinciding with the Autumn Equinox, we thought we’d start sneak peaks into the line-up with a few of the French reds being poured
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2015 Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme KO ‘in côt we trust’. Whole bunch fermented Malbec (known in the Loire as côt) from organic vineyards in the Touraine, Loire Valley. The Bonhomme label started as a negociant business with Thierry Puzelat but is now fully helmed by Pierre-Olivier
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2016 Yann Bertrand Coup de Foudre Morgon. The Bertrand family has deep roots to the cru Villages Fleurie and Morgon in Beaujolais. Yann, under his own label, pushed for organic certification and more exploratory cuvèes: Enter ‘love at first sight’
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2015 Maison Blanche Montaigne Saint-Émilion. Demeter certified, no sulfur add Bordeaux? It’s real
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#tastethesuitcase #naturalwine #vinnaturel #soif #soifpopupbar

Sauvignon Blanc has changed a lot in NZ over the past decade, and that story was reflected beautifully in our masterclass this afternoon. There was something for everyone, and our revellers left with a renewed interest in this signature variety for #nzwine #marlborough #centralotago #hawkesbay #martinborough #mfwf #masterclass

Briefing time done. 5 minutes to starting our final day of masterclasses here for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival @frenchsaloon with @nzwineaus #nzwine #foodandwine #melbourne #festival #masterclass #wineeducation #sommelier

It’s safe to say that #Nzwine Natalie Grace is leaving nothing to chance this #melbourne #mfwf. This is my runsheet and briefing book for the five events being run over the long weekend at French Saloon. #runsheet #hospo #sommelier #organised #womeninwine #superorganised #letsdothis

There are a lot of ways to tell stories of a wine region- history, soils, grape varieties, etc... But some regions are also suited for a more poetic narrative: The Loire Valley, for example, is a region with a story easily told through the people. Some schools of thought in the region have carried their way to the modern era resilient of trends in consumption. Others, have banded together to fight the increase of commercialisation, while others stir up bureaucratic woes amongst one another. To look at the Loire through the various philosophical camps, we’ve coupled up wines from makers schooled in the cellars of the Foucault family; wines from Montlouis and Vouvray- appellations on either side of the river pulling below the belt punches; the wines of the Puzelat brothers and their next generation, and, take a look at stellar producers in the overlooked areas (cru Muscadet, anyone?). .
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#loirevalleywines #wineeducation #naturalwine #guiberteau #pierreolivierbonhomme #chidaine #puzelat #thierrygermain #sommelier

There is a lot to love about the Loire; and on this particular day, one of those things are the myriad of photographs of Jean-Marie and Thierry Puzelat during the 1982 vintage at Clos de Tue-Bœuf! The Puzelat name is one that garners much affection from natural wine lovers the world over, especially in their own region of Touraine and Cheverny. The estate was early to champion organic viticulture, indigenous varietals, regional blends and minimal interventionist winemaking. Though the Puzelat name is often brought up in the natural wine debate, Thierry’s own words hold an idea that may be more timely than he could have imagined, “...We can validate working ‘naturally’ with a minimum of ‘politics’ and a whole lot of good wine”. .
Though an entire tasting could be dedicated to Clos de Tue-Bœuf alone, March 4th, we will be looking at their wines alongside other like minded, change-driving, Loire Valley producers; Wines from the likes of François Chidaine, Domaine Guiberteau, Domaine de la Pépière, Thierry German and Vincent Carême.
(Link in bio)
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#loirevalleywines #wineeducation #naturalwine #sommelier #cheninagins