Through a glass...

Just one more thing.

Pagasus Bay restaurant and tasting room both used Spiegelau glasses rather than Riedel. Close but, as Bill Clinton said, 'No cigar.'

Pegasus Bay uncensored

The aircard connection doesn't restrict access to vineyards so I am allowed to consider aspects of the universe which include alcohol; funny that!

Pegasus Bay is not a vineyard I've examined at all since I arrived in Godzone. I've always looked at the labels and thought it was a kind of rip-off of Cloudy Bay. The Cloudy Bay label has a 'sexy' reputation worldwide and I have ignored Pegasus Bay because of it. How stupid is that? I have done Pegasus Bay a great disservice; the wines are outstanding and the customer service, both in the wine-tasting and the restaurant, is absolutely top-class, bordering on exemplary but not quite reaching historic proportions.

We arrived unannounced so no tables were available but, guess what? If we wanted to spend 15 minutes 'or so' in the tasting room then they would find a table. Well, no-brainer, really.

We tried some lovely drops including a delightful Riesling '07, a Sauvignon Semillon '07, a surprisingly weak Pinot Noir, a lovely Merlot Cabernet '04, a 'Maestro' '05 which is supposed to be a superior Reserve version of the Merlot Cab with a higher proportion of Malbec grape, but which seemed to have gone into it's 'tunnel' and was totally unimpressive, and a stunning 'Encore' '07 which is a Noble Riesling allowed to develop botrytis and very grateful it is for the opportunity. I bought a bottle of the delightful, a magnum of the lovely and a half-bottle of the stunning.

I was the designated driver so spitting was in order. The spittoon is the big barrel-like thing in the middle of the photo and, as the tasting room was empty when we arrived, that's what I used. However, other customers started to arrive and you can imagine my dilemma when presented with a choice of spitting into a barrel over someone's shoulder! Just visible on the right-hand counter is a small spittoon so I commandeered that and continued to spit with gusto until the table was prepared at somewhat over the '15 minute' prediction.










I chose the 'home oak barrel cold smoked salmon, Italian buffalo mozzarella, grilled zucchini, roast pepper bruschetta' accompanied by 'Paris mash' and a glass of the '03 Riesling. On the left is the photo from the web site and on the right is the dish I was presented with so they are honest and accurate with their advertising. It was superb.

Hep, the media guy had beetroot and goat's cheese, pictured here. He seemed to like it.








It had snowed the previous night and continued during the morning. Oceania contains members from places such as Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands, additionally Hawaii is an invited guest so snow was a major new experience for them. The photo on the right is from the web site and the one on the left is mine from the day we were there.

Das Trinken wird verboten!

We've just finished the Oceania Championships in Christchurch. On the last day the media guy and I headed out to the Waipara valley to check out some wine-tasting and to feed ourselves. Waipara is not to be confused with Wairarapa as they are on separate islands but they do both produce some outstanding wines. No set plan but the early invitation came from the Pegasus Bay vineyard on the right about 30 minutes north of Christchurch.

I was going to show you pictures from their website but, as you can see, the content police here at the new offices are so on the ball that no hint of virtual alcohol is allowed to pass anyone's virtual lips.

I'll access it later on the aircard and complete the post as intended :)

Build update

Another long weekend in New Zealand, this time for The Queen's birthday. It's not her birthday, of course, but, whatever.

These are the revised plans taking the garage to a completely diferent place. In retrospect I think it may be a better position for the house as it now frees up all the original site for a formal garden and it doesn't lose any of the view at all. The garage is easily accessed from both the approach drive and the house so it should work quite well.

Yesterday was a beautiful day but, being almost winter and late-ish afternoon the sun had started to go down at the back of the Rimutaka range. You can see the contrast between the shadow and the bright sunlight across the lake. The foundations are now cemented in and the floor joists nearly completed. Those nearest the camera are the longe/living area (left) with the dining and kitchen areas to the right. This room is all open plan. The gallery runs right along the front of the house to give access to, in order, study, main entrance/laundry, bedroom, bathroom, bedroom and then the master bedroom with walk-in and ensuite.

The whole thing is fronted by a large deck and I've added an wood-burning fire outside on the deck. There's space in front of the deck for more formal landscaping.


Even though it was a holiday weekend one of the workers was there with a tipper truck and a digger. Must be fun.

Now, to return to the ongoing issue of a name; as I had to move it because of the earthquake fault line and as part of the land appears tiered how about Faulty Tiers? In the time-honoured tradition of Farty Owls I could periodically change the sign with anagrams. I've found 1,077 so far of which my favourites are A Rusty Filet, A Style Fruit, A Sure Fire Tit, True Falsity (!), Fiesta Truly and Farley Titus.

The Law Is A Ass

The phrase "The law is an ass" originates in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, when the character Mr. Bumble is informed that "the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction". Mr. Bumble replies "If the law supposes that… the law is a ass—a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience."

I'm currently involved in a sports dispute tribunal hearing which is considering a case of non-nomination for selection to the Olympic team.

The process goes as follows: SNZ conducts Trials, SNZ reviews the results; SNZ agrees the qualified swimmers; SNZ nominates them to the NZOC; NZOC selects them.

The opposition lawyer has put forward a case that proposes selection can precede nomination.

In which case, the law is, indeed, an ass.

Case closed?

Lawyering seems not to be doing itself any favours here and promulgating the perception that it earns money irregardless of the case, the evidence, the facts, or the morals.