IT'S BUSINESS, BUT NOT AS USUAL!

Whatever your views are about New Zealand's outlawing of smacking children we are sure that you are definitely against their exploitation in labour. Ashamedly, we confess we have been guilty of this. Yes, back in 1985, when we were establishing Pegasus Bay Vineyard, we coerced and bribed our 4 young sons to work. On cold winter days we would all go out into a small plot of grapevines and make cuttings that would be planted in the spring and eventually become the grapevines in our vineyard. Not only did they get a pittance in pocket money but on frosty mornings we had to bribe them with promises of an ice-cream or a scoop of French fries if they would each do another 100! There was the inevitable moaning and groaning, but they always completed the task. In following years they helped drive posts, put up wires for the trellising, train vines and numerous other minimally paid tasks.

Paul Donaldson, wife Rachel and son George

Well, it turned out to be a life changing experience for them and the memories couldn't have all been bad. Three of them have opted to work in the business. There's Matthew, along with his wife Lynnette, as winemakers, Edward in marketing and now the baby, Paul, overseeing the business side. Paul originally did a degree in Zoology, but subsequently worked both in New Zealand and oversees in banking and management. He joined us three years ago and went back to University to do a Master of Business Administration, which he has just successfully completed, gaining an A grade pass. As part of his degree requirements he had to complete a major project, which he did on Pegasus Bay. As a result he has already implemented a number of important changes that will make us function better. So goodbye to higgledy piggledy and hallo to effective efficiency from vineyard to you. Watch out parents or the overworked son might turn the tables on you! Paul and Rachel are expecting the imminent arrival of their second baby.

ALL ICED UP-AND BEATING THE FROST

All grape growers fear a spring visit from Jack Frost. His icy fingers kill the tender shoots and although others may grow in their place the small amount of fruit they produce is of inferior quality. In an hour or so the entire year's crop may be lost with resulting glum faces and visits to bank managers. Virtually any grape growing region in New Zealand, including and south of Auckland can be frosted, but, generally speaking, the risk increases the further south you go.

The morning after the night before - ice on leaves with water frost protection.

A frost occurs because there is a layer of very cold air extending from the ground upwards for a number of metres, a so called inversion layer, as it is the inverse of the normal situation, in which the temperature drops as you ascend upwards. There is a layer of normal warmer air above this and if it can be brought down to ground level it will stop a frost from developing. Hence, vineyards often employ helicopters on frosty nights to hover over them and beat this warm air down. Wind machines do exactly the same thing. A large propeller on a pole sucks air from about 30 metres above ground level and spreads it amongst the vines. At Pegasus Bay we used to use helicopters but many years ago decided we would go for the more expensive, but more satisfactory option of wind machines.

Even with such measures there tend to be corners of vineyards that the warmer air does not reach and these may be damaged. For us, even this small loss is important as it means a few bottles less for you! This year we decided to frost protect such patches with water. Yes, sprinkling water on the vines stops the new growth from being damaged, even although the water freezes. This is because in the process of freezing, water releases a small amount of protective heat so that shoots remain at 0°C, although they become covered in a thick layer of ice. It is quite spectacular the next morning when the vines are dripping with icicles, but trapped inside the little ice cocoons, the buds and greenery are unharmed.

THE CUPIDITY OF PEGASUS

What, according to legend, flits about on wings and makes people fall in love? You could be forgiven for saying cupid, but in a recent case it turned out to be Pegasus. A few years back we had a dashing young French winemaker, François, who comes from a family owned Champagne winery, working at Pegasus Bay for our vintage. There he met another French winemaker, the beautiful and charming Marie-Eve, who was also working in Waipara. On the very first evening they met we could see the winged creature's powers at work and over the ensuing days and weeks so many arrows seemed to be piercing their hearts that you could imagine it might have been Sagittarius rather than Pegasus at work.

Marie-Eve and François avec les proches (with the "relies!")

Pegasus is not a fly by night creature and is made of much more serious stuff. In July 2007 the love struck couple were married in France and Pegasus was in attendance with 4 of the Donaldson family at the wedding. Not surprisingly Champagne flowed freely and embossed on the glasses was Deux choses ne peuvent se cacher: L'Ivresse et L'Amour (Two things it is not possible to hide: drunkenness and love!) We didn't see any sign of the former, but the latter was obvious.

SUMMER DINING AT THE BAY

We have recently filched top chef Oliver Jackson from the prestigious Icebergs Restaurant in Bondi, Sydney, with the aim of making Pegasus Bay Restaurant fly higher. He joins our sous chef team of Shawn McGowan and Hannah Lancaster. Our restaurant will be open for lunches 7 days a week, excluding 25th,26th December and January 1st and 2nd.

Above: Head Chef Oliver Jackson. Top Right: Pegasus Bay Platter for Two. Bottom Left: Wild berry and mascarpone tart, chocolate truffles. Bottom Right: Home oak barrel cold smoked salmon, buffalo mozzarella, fennel and watercress salad.

As usual our menu will emphasise fresh seasonal cuisine with many vegetables, fruits and herbs coming from our potage gardens. It can get quite busy at times so it is best to book to be certain of a place by telephoning 03 3146869, ext 1, but you can always drop into the tasting room - 10-5pm.

WHEN TO OPEN THAT BOTTLE?

Should you ask us when to open a Pegasus Bay wine, our answer would be simple, “Anytime!” This is true. We do not release our wines until we feel they are ready to drink, so you should be able to crack a bottle with confidence from the time you buy it. But your question probably meant “when would a wine be drinking at its best?” and that is an entirely different matter. Pegasus Bay wines are made to age so that in virtually every case, they will improve with careful cellaring. Generally speaking aromas and flavours not only become more intense but they subtly change, developing a host of different nuances and complexities. In addition, the wines will integrate so that their various characters form a harmonious whole, rather than standing out individually, and the mouth feel becomes more mellow. This last mentioned factor is particularly important with red wines. If you leave a wine too long, however, it can “go over the hill”, losing its fruitiness and mid-palate weight. We know that many of you have precious bottles of ours that you have been cellaring. Here are our recommendations to help guide your drinking decisions. All wines will give pleasure if consumed on release, however many will develop extra complexities with cellaring. Cellar Potential refers to the maximum time our winemakers feel the bottle could be aged.

FROM THE PRESCRIPTION PAD

Perhaps you heard on the news last month that the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research warned that being overweight, lack of exercise, eating red meat and drinking alcohol, increased the risk of developing cancer. Two medical professors from the University of Otago were quoted as saying they felt these claims had been overstated and over-simplified. As a medico with a long standing interest in this topic I would go even further and say that the comments with regard to alcohol are downright misleading. The reason? Nobody drinks alcohol itself unless they are on Skid Row, and not all alcoholic beverages are created equal. Many spirits are little more than water and alcohol, with or without a smattering of flavouring agents, while wine is a complex blend of naturally occurring compounds of which the alcohol is a minor part. Beer rests somewhere in between. Sure, any form of alcoholic beverage abuse can be bad for your health, but there is a pile of evidence showing that moderate intake of wine has positive health benefits, including lowering the risk of some forms of cancer as well as its better known effects on reducing cardio-vascular disease.

A recent study of over 120,000 people in Holland did not show any statistically significant increase in bowel cancer between drinkers and tee-totallers, although it did raise this possibility for the heaviest drinkers. On the other hand, American research published this year showed that people in whom bowel cancer tends to run in the family, are actually protected by wine drinking. Swedish scientists have just shown that beer drinkers are at increased risk of getting stomach cancer, possibly due to chemical constituents other than alcohol, whereas wine does not have this effect. This same group also found that red wine, white wine and beer decreased the risk of kidney cancer. A group of researchers from Boston reviewed the results of over 1400 cases of kidney cancer, concluding moderate consumption of alcohol beverages was protective. One type of lung cancer has also been found to be less frequent in wine drinkers.

But, just like alcoholic beverages, not all people are the same, although I, for one, think they were created equal. I refer to the difference between men and women. If you are a bloke, one of the most common cancers you can get is that of the prostate. Recent studies from the USA have shown that red wine appears to be protective for prostate cancer, especially in the young and middle aged. If you are of that other persuasion and happen to be a gal, your personal risk of prostate cancer won't be a biggie, but you have your own special bits and bobs which need consideration. Overall the picture is not quite so clear for you. Early in 2007 a group of researchers from California reported that drinking wine was associated with a risk of developing cancer of the ovary, whereas a subsequent larger investigation did not confirm this but reported an increase risk with beer drinking. However, both studies found that the total amount of alcohol consumed was not related to this form of tumour. So if there is an effect it must be due to some other constituent of the drink. Alcohol intake in general maybe associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, although the evidence is also conflicting, with some studies being positive and others negative.

There are a number of natural organic substances in wine, particularly red, which have been shown to have a beneficial effect on cancer cells in the laboratory. These include the pigments which give grapes and wine their red colour, anthocyanins, and a related compound called resveratrol. These have been shown not to harm normal cells but to kill those from cancers of the bowel, prostate, breast and uterus, to mention just a few. Resveratrol has also been shown to increase the lifespan of laboratory animals well beyond normal. But nothing is straight forward. Critics have pointed out that the doses used are greater than could be obtained by drinking red wine and that resveratrol is metabolised rapidly after entering the blood stream. Others have shown, however, that significant amounts of this and similar molecules can be measured in the blood soon after drinking wine and that related compounds formed from these last in the body for quite a long time.

Well, all this is a long winded way of saying that the recent report by the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research should not be mis-interpreted by making a complex subject seem simple. What ever the effect on individual cancers, a recent large French study has shown an overall reduction of cancers of 20% in wine drinkers.

Now, my mouth is getting dry with so much talking that I am going to toddle off to have a glass of wine - not to relax but for its medical purposes. Yes, there is recent clear evidence that oral hygiene is better in moderate drinkers than tee-totallers and their mouths contain fewer of the nasty germs that cause tooth rot, pharyngitis and the like. Kiss a wine drinker and notice the difference!

Cheers, Ivan Donaldson