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Kia Ora wine and spirited friends
The festive season is here! Busy, busy, busy! And, for some reason Tristan, decided to gap it for 5 days and get married! He must have an amazing employer. Be sure to congratulate him when you next see him and comment on his magical ring.
This month we'll talk about an up-and-coming producer from the Marlborough region - A Thousand Gods.
Tenuta San Leonardo, a producer from Northern Italy that Martin imports, has won Italian winery of the year. Whoop Whoop!!
Foundry Chocolate, a New Zealand Chocolatier, keeps winning international awards. If you have not tasted any yet, you absolutely must pop into Cahn's and get some from us - tis the season.
For Cocktail of the Month Tristan is thinking RUM! Maybe we'll do another video (if you are lucky :))
And yes, Lord Frankie Gototweski shall bestow some more whiskdom upon thee. Or maybe he'll get diverted and talk about another spirit...
Small Producer Discoveries of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
A Thousand Gods is a producer that has a permanent slot in my mind. They were the first Owner/Distributor/Producer I met on my first day at Cahn's. In my two years of managing this store, I have seen these folks go from strength to strength with the wines they produce. They are based in Canterbury, but produce wine in Marlborough; they work closely with a biodynamic grower. Before returning to New Zealand to produce wine under their own brand, Simon and Lauren produced wine in the Cahors region of South-West France and in nine other countries. They make honest and unique wines, working to bring out the best of the site and varietal. All fruit is hand-picked and all wines undergo wild fermentation with no additions, filtration or fining. Their wines are approachable, complex and display great cellar-worthiness.
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Frankie's (wise) Words of Whisk(e)y
Port Finish Whiskies
With Christmas upon us, it’s time to turn to some whiskies that accompany the flavours of the season.(Wrongly so, with it being summer, and Christmas being a wintertime holiday; but I digress) When I think of Christmas flavours, I think of warm spices, stewed fruit, roasted nuts, and maybe some roast meats. Perhaps also some smoke filling the house after failing to make sure the chimney was cleaned for the winter. (I grew up in New England in the US after all!) Luckily for us, all, or if not most, of these aromas and flavourscan be found in the, not super common, port-cask finished whiskies. All decadent and warming, surely a good pair for when it gets to the upper twenties and the UV is 11.
Port-cask finishing, like using Sherry barrels, imparts a lot of warm flavours and aromas to the whisky, but unlike the nuttiness and raisin characteristics from the use of sherry, the port lends itself to more deeply stewed fruits, cooked-down red berries, baking/Christmas spices, and dark chocolatenotes, often lending a deeper tawny colour to the whisky as well.
There’s two directions we can go with this as well, peated and unpeated. Peated port finished whiskies truly have that that Northern Hemisphere Christmas feeling to them, with those traditional Christmas spices intermingled with the meat you’ve had slowly roasting away in the oven all day, while the fireplaceyou’ve neglected to have cleaned all year starts pouring smoke into the house. For that I’d recommend Waiheke Whisky’s DYAD Peat + Port Single malt. Initially aged in Bourbon barrels then finished in 'Port' made from Petit Verdot grapes by Mudbrick over on Waiheke. And, for a non-peated option, the Glenmorangie La Quinta is a great choice. Glenmorangie’s spirit already has quite an orange/citrus characteristic to it, and matching that with the chocolate and spiced notes from the port finishing, and you’ve got yourself a melted chocolate covered orange in a glass. And for many people (not me though) chocolate and orange is the go to Christmas combo, is it not?
San Leonardo.
Italian Winery of the Year
 50 kilometres north of Verona in Trentino is a winery estate that a thousand years ago was in fact a monastary. That winery is Tenuta San Leonardo. For over three centuries, San Leonardo has served as the home of the Marchesi Guerrieri and Gonzaga family. The Estate is a picturesque garden of vineyards and roses, protected by the barrier of the alps which dampen the force of the cold northern winds. And the influence of the Garda Lake releases warmth for viable viticuture.
The wines are artisanally-crafted Bordeaux Blends composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère and Merlot. They also produce Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Grappa. What's even better is that Cahn's is the exclusive retailer of the San Leonardo wines.
These are truly great wines (with accolades from Jancis Robinson, the Gambero Rosso and a perennial Tres Bicchieri award-winner) and another great example of regions other than Bordeaux that are producing this incredible red blend. We highly recommend that you try these wines: Terre, San Leonardo and Villa Gresti.
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Foundry Fine Craft Chocolate
If you haven't tried it already, then we got you covered at Cahn's
 One of the main reasons we love our job, is the stories and relationships formed with our suppliers. The success story of Foundry is one for the books. What started as a hobby in David Herrick's London home has now turned into his full-time job. Through passion and drive to MASTER the craft of chocolate making, Foundry have set up their factory and showroom in Silverdale, Auckland. They source cocoa from 9 different region around the world; the only other ingredient is pure cane sugar. The chocolates are all remarkably different, each with their own defining characteristics.
There is chocolate, and then there is Foundry Chocolate. If you haven't tried them, then we suggest buying a few and trying them side by side to truly experience the distinctive taste differences. What better time for this than with family and friends during Christmas celebrations?
Cocktail of the Month: Hot Buttered Rum.
I came across this beverage one day on my social feeds and was like, "I must try this"! It fits the Christmas bill (so it seemed right) but not so much the Summer bill. It's delicious, if you like rich and warming beverages, on a cold winter's day. Hot Buttered Rum is primarily a North American thing - makes sense given the temperatures when they celebrate Christmas. Hot Buttered Rum OrginsHot Buttered Rum dates back to the 1650s when Jamaica began selling molasses to Colonial America. New England started opening distilleries where the colonists added rum to hot beverages such as toddies and nogs.
Tristan's Hot Buttered Rum Recipe.
I have played with this recipe to suit my taste. Hopefully, you will like this.Ingredients:First of all, you need to make the butter batter. This can be stored in the fridge for future drinks. Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly ground is best)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/essence
For the Cocktail:
- 2/3 of cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) batter, plus more to taste
- 60ml of dark rum
- Whipped - sweetened if you prefer - cream. You can buy whipped cream, but I find the taste and texture far more enjoyable when you whip some pouring cream yourself. Obviously more labour, but it just tastes much better.
- Ground nutmeg or a Cinnamon Stick for garnish
The Method: The Batter: In a small saucepan, over medium heat, mix the dry ingredients, butter and honey. Stir frequently until the butter melts and the sugar is dissolved. It should take about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.To make each cocktail, mix the hot water with about a 1/4 of the batter in a mug, or one of those handled jar glasses; give the liquid a generous stir.Pour in the rum and stir. Taste, and feel free to add additional batter if you like it a bit sweeter or spicier.Top with a large dollop of whipped cream (not for the faint-hearted, but it really makes all the difference) and fresh grated nutmeg or a cinnamon stick. Enjoy, let me know your thoughts, and never drink alone.Tristan
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