festival frolics Autumn in Arrowtown is marked by an annual festival celebrating the changing colours. Penny Simpson reports. For the first time in many years the Arrowtown Autumn Festival coincides with school holidays making it a great time for families. Festival organiser Julie Hughes says there is a lot of community spirit in this years event. “We have an exciting variety of kids workshops including cooking,circa art and skateboarding. The kids variety show is always fun and new this year is an amazing magic show with magician Elgrego who performs incredible illusions and tricks.” The traditional festival parade takes place on Saturday April 26 with the day being all about markets, parades and family fun. The Arrowtown Fire Service celebrate its 75th jubilee. Julie says over 1200 people from community groups Plunket, Age Concern and Scouts are represented during the week for annual fundraising. The 10 day calendar runs from Friday April 25 - Sunday May 4 and features several new events such as a light hearted musical ‘The Importance of Being Earnslaw” featuring local talent on stage in the Arrowtown Hall. The ‘QuickTime Cuisine Challenge’ will pit four top chefs against the clock to produce dishes from a mystery food box. Well known Arrowtown entertainer, Kevin Lynch will step out on stage with his unique Kiwi character ‘Len the Loser’ guaranteeing a night of high comedy and laughter. The ‘Arrowtown Proposition’ is a new mayoral debate involving the Mayors of Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown. With close to 70 events on the calendar there is something for everyone including daily entertainment on the Buckingham
Arrowtown Festival kids
Green, the popular Miners Band and Buckingham Belles, the old fashioned tea dance and the Mind Body and Soul Expo. “These are iconic events which reflect our heritage and the old world charm of Arrowtown and it’s wonderful to incorporate entertainment that has been there since the beginning,” says Julie. The Nomad Safaris Exploration day focuses on the greater outdoors and once again this local company will do its bit for a cleaner greener environment with a rubbish pick-up at the Arrow River. The annual Rilean Ball is back again and promises to be a night of glitzy glamour, delicious food, jazz, swing and boogy to wrap up a heady week of festivities. Many of the events are free or have a gold coin donation and tickets for ticketed events are available from the Lakes District Museum. For more information go to www. arrowtownautumnfestival.org.nz
WINE
19
central otago - star performer Alan Brady is a pioneer of Central Otago’s wine industry and a veteran journalist. This column reflects his views of the industry. Central Otago wine is now firmly established on the world stage. In just 20 years since the first commercial release, the tiny new region has gone from presumptuous upstart to star performer in highly competitive export markets all over the world. No serious tasting of pinot noir in London, New York, Tokyo or Singapore would be complete without one or more Central Otago labels. In competitions in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, wines from this region are consistently collecting the top medals and trophies. The world’s top wine writers beat a path to our cellar doors and Australians, not generally lavish in their enthusiasm for things Kiwi, acknowledge that this is one area of winemaking where we have them licked. In a couple of decades the region has built the sort of reputation it has taken some of the other great wine producing regions centuries to achieve. I’m writing this in Singapore where, in the short time I’ve been here, Central Otago pinot, riesling and pinot gris have all featured on several of the wine lists in restaurants I’ve eaten at. In one good wine shop stocking several prominent Central Otago labels I was told the wines were “a must” for anyone serious about pinot noir. It’s the same from Melbourne to Moscow. In that exclusive, high end niche where quality pinot noir sits, the wines from Central Otago are up there with the best. So what’s behind this remarkable success story? And can the momentum be maintained? The answer to the second question is - “absolutely” (with some provisos). The answer to the first is a bit more complex. Audacity and a bit of luck played a part in our early progress. I cringe when I look back at some of those early wines. In our
enthusiastic naivety we thought they were pretty damned good. Today we’d probably pour them down the drain. But Mother Nature was on our side and we had unstoppable self belief. Pinot noir was planted as part of our search for suitable grape varieties and quickly displayed its liking for conditions here. It’s one variety you simply can’t put in the ground anywhere and expect it to succeed. Central Otago is one of the very few places in the world where it shines. By the mid-90s wine writers and consumers were beginning to take notice. Our wines were displaying characteristics which reflected a sense of place, that uniqueness in structure and flavour that comes from “terroir”, the environment in which the grapes are grown. We began to attract some fine young winemakers, lured by early signs that something special was going on in the region. And more importantly we attracted some serious investors, people with a passion that matched that of the winemakers, driven by a dream of great wine rather than the promise of a quick buck. It’s been a powerful mix - environment, passion, capital and skill - and it has laid the foundation for a long and potentially glorious winemaking future. A unity of purpose - often the envy of other regions - has been our other great strength. But the one thing which will set us apart, in an age of uniformity and globalisation, will be our ability to express our individuality - the extent to which we are able to resist commercial or critical pressure to produce wines of a particular style. When consumers around the world can put their noses in a glass and say with confidence: “This is Central Otago pinot noir,” our future is assured - because the wine will be unique. Left & Right: Fulcrum Sculpures
amisfield art Amisfield Winery at Lake Hayes is the backdrop for New Zealand’s most ambitious exhibition of outdoor kinetic sculpture created by sculptor Phil Price. The Nelson born sculptor has spent the past 18 months putting together the Fulcrum exhibition which consists of ten small works, six medium size works and three large pieces which are ideally suited to the Amisfield environment. Phil describes the sculptures as surreal, but with references to nature. “You can labour over them in the workshop and do everything you need, but as soon as you take them outside and actually get some wind, they take on their own life and you have no control over them.” He says the exhibition is like “a forest of sculpture” which people can walk amongst. While some are on a smaller personal scale others tower above them. Fulcrum was commissioned by Connells Bay Centre for Sculpture and trustee John Gow says that at every opportunity Phil Price lifts the bar with his sculpture. “His works are complete in so many senses. They are well engineered, they have the unexpected surprise of movement, his choice of colour is innovative, the quality of construction is outstanding and his works require virtually no maintenance.” Amisfield Wine Company general manager Fleur Caulton says it is a coup for the winery to host such a significant exhibition. “Our setting is the perfect stage for the Fulcrum pieces and we are so pleased to be able to showcase Phil’s talents along with our own exceptional environment. We believe art and wine have a lot of synergy and this exhibition certainly reflects that.”
PH 03 442 0556 OPEN 10AM - 8PM, 7 DAYS, BISTRO CLOSED MONDAY
10
AMISFIELD WINERY & BISTRO. 10 LAKE HAYES ROAD, RD1, QUEENSTOWN
ARROWTOWN
WWW.AMISFIELD.CO.NZ