Tickets Now On Sale For A Feast For The Senses

For Release October 24, 2000

Wellington will stage the most prestigious fine wine and food extravaganza New Zealand has ever seen from January 25 to 28 next year.

Tickets for the Pinot Noir 2001 public programme are now on sale through Ticketek nationwide.

Around 8000 people will visit Pinot Noir 2001. The public programme offers a wine tasting exhibition, cooking demonstrations and a series of speakers from the internationally acclaimed pinot noir fraternity. Alongside the public programme celebrations is a four-day international pinot noir conference for serious wine and food lovers.

“This is a rare occasion for the public and international guests to taste the country’s best pinot noir wines and cuisine in the one location,” chairman of Pinot Noir 2001 Richard Riddiford said.

The public will have the chance to participate on a grand scale. Pinot Noir 2001 will be a real “feast for the senses”.

The Wine Tasting Exhibition runs from January 26 until 28 in the Wellington Town Hall and is time-ticketed to three and half-hour sessions to avoid congestion.

Leading wineries from New Zealand will present tastings of their pinot noir in the ‘Pinot Noir Court’, alongside those of Burgundy, Australia and the United States.

The pinot noir will be served region by region and specialty foods from Gourmet Direct and Kapiti Cheeses will be available to complement the wines.

Tickets priced at $30 will provide entry to the exhibition, a glass and ribbon holder and catalogue.

Wine and food tastings will be purchased using the exhibition money system called ‘pinots’.
A special card, which works like a phone card, will be available for purchase at the door, and all wineries offering tastings will have a terminal to accept the card transactions.

The opportunity to meet and talk with winemakers should not be missed while enjoying the quality and diversity of styles on offer. White wine enthusiasts are also catered for and Champagne Bollinger is available in the Bollinger Bar. Bottles of wine can also be purchased at the wine shop on site.

The list of speakers, winemakers and guests for Pinot Noir 2001, reads like a who’s who from the wine and food world. The keynote speaker at Pinot Noir 2001, a real coup for this country, is internationally respected wine commentator Jancis Robinson. Other speakers include wine luminaries such as Burgundian pinot wine master Robert Drouhin, editor-at-large of the US Wine Spectator magazine Harvey Steiman, along with local Master of Wine Bob Campbell.

The shining stars of the food world include ex-chef of the Sugar Club in London and writer Peter Gordon. Ruth Pretty is the culinary director, so the food will be fabulous.

“There are very few opportunities to hear the world’s leading wine commentators speak across a broad range of topics including international and regional style differences in pinot noir,” winemaker for Kumeu River Wines Michael Brajkovich said.

“These people receive invitations to wine events every day and their presence at Pinot Noir 2001 is a big endorsement of New Zealand as one of the premium pinot noir regions of the world.”

Jancis Robinson MW is to present the keynote address, ‘The World of Pinot Noir’, in association with Cuisine magazine on 26 January in the Michael Fowler Centre auditorium.

This session will include an entertaining visual presentation by Stephen Cary on ‘A Photographic Journey through the World of Pinot Noir’. Oregon winemaker and photographer Stephen Cary’s colourful presentation includes images from the grape’s ancient home in Burgundy and from its newer residences in the western and southern hemispheres. Tickets to the Jancis Robinson Keynote Address are $60 each and include a two-hour visit to the Wine Tasting Exhibition.

Another ticketed event to Pinot Noir 2001 is the International Panel Discussion. An impressive line-up of wine experts will discuss issues raised during the conference on ‘The Difference Facets of Pinot Noir’ in the Michael Fowler Centre auditorium on January 27. The panel comprises Jancis Robinson, Harvey Steiman, Champagne Bollinger president Ghislain de Montgolfier of France, chairman of Wine Australia James Halliday, Robert Drouhin, and Bob Campbell.

The ticket price is $60 which includes a two-hour visit to the Wine Tasting Exhibition.

Top chefs will demonstrate the great diversity of food which can be eaten with pinot noir in ‘Culinary Theatre Demonstrations’ in the Ilott Theatre, Wellington Town Hall. Those tipped to be taking demonstrations include Peter Gordon, chef of Huka Lodge Nicolas Huffman, chef and owner of Essence Restaurant in Auckland Michael James and expatriate New Zealander, Juliet Harbutt, founder of Jereboams, one of London’s finest wine and artisan cheese shops and author of the World Encyclopaedia of Cheese.

Chefs will prepare three recipes with the emphasis on home entertainment. Each of the 12 one-hour demonstrations will have a theme ranging from alfresco through to slow cooking. Tickets to the Culinary Theatre Demonstrations sell for $25 a session.

“This is a fabulous opportunity to listen to the philosophy and life history of many accomplished chefs,” says Ruth Pretty. Recipes will also be available for ticket holders.

There will even be a public art exhibition in the City Art Gallery presenting contemporary works, on a pinot noir theme, of ten well known New Zealand artists including Ralph Hotere, Simon McIntyre, Chris Heaphy, Richard Killeen, Michael Hight, John Reynolds and Grahame Sydney.

…ends/

Pinot Noir 2001 - Public Programme
(Tickets can be purchased through Ticketek nationwide.)
Wine Tasting Exhibition Pinot Noir Court Wellington Town Hall
From January 26 to 28 Ticket Price $30 incl. GST
Jancis Robinson Keynote Address Michael Fowler Centre Auditorium
January 26 at 9am Ticket Price $60 incl. GST
(Ticket price includes a visit to the Wine Tasting Exhibition.)
International Panel Discussion Michael Fowler Centre Auditorium
January 27 at 4pm Ticket Price $60 incl. GST
(Ticket price includes a visit to
the Wine Tasting Exhibition.)
Culinary Theatre Demonstrations January 26 to 28 Ticket Price $25 incl. GST

Pinot Noir 2001 - Conference
(Contact Verve Consulting Limited for a conference registration brochure.)

The Conference Michael Fowler Centre
January 25 to 28 Conference registration fee is $1250

For further information:

Richard Riddiford Michael Brajkovich
Chairman of Pinot Noir 2001 Kumeu River Wines
Tel: 06-306 9019 Tel: 09-412 8415

Caroline Green
Public Relations
Tel: 04-476 4539
Email: winedown@xtra.co.nz

Contact Caroline Green for this press release to be sent electronically. Please state the headline.

The web site for the Pinot Noir picture library is
http://www.pinotnoir2001.co.nz/pinot_pics/index.ht

New Zealand Participating Wineries

Auckland Marlborough / Nelson
Babich Wines Cellier Le Brun
Delegat’s Wine Estate Cloudy Bay
Kumeu River Wines Forrest Estate
Foxes Island Wines
Wellington / Wairarapa Fromm Winery
Alana Estate Greenhough Vineyard
Ashwell Vineyards Grove Mill
Ata Rangi Highfield Estate
Craggy Range Vineyards Huia
Dry River Hunter’s Wines
Linz Estate Isabel Estate Vineyard
Margrain Vineyard Jackson Estate
Martinborough Vineyard Lawson’s Dry Hills
Muirlea Rise Mount Riley Wines
Murdoch James Estate Nautilus Estate
Palliser Estate Nelson Polytech
Solstone Estate Neudorf Vineyard
Te Kairanga Wines Ponder Estate
Voss Estate Seifried Estate
Walnut Ridge Estate Seresin Estate
Stoneleigh Vineyards
Central Otago Wither Hills Vineyard
Chard Farm
Felton Road
Gibbston Valley Wines Bay of Plenty / Hawkes Bay /
Gisborne
Mt Difficulty Wines CJ Pask Winery
Mount Edward Craggy Range Vineyards
Olssen’s of Bannockburn Kim Crawford Wines
Peregrine Wines Mills Reef Winery
Quartz Reef Milton Vineyard
Rippon Vineyard Morton Estate Wines
Two Paddocks Vidal Estate

Canterbury / Waipara Larger Wine Companies
Alan McCorkindale Ltd Montana Wines
Canterbury House Nobilo
Chancellor Villa Maria
Daniel Schuster Wines
Giesen Wine Estate
Mountford Vineyard
Muddy Water Fine Wines
Pegasus Bay
St Helena Wine Estate

© Scoop Media