End of pruning and spring jobs

From early June to end of August the 30th, our team has been pruning our vines on the estate. 3 months and 40 Ha later, our whole vineyard is pruned in guyot double apart from few experimental pruning types.

The team is now starting spring jobs:

Men replace posts - in the case below, on the stony blocks we can see signs of the old river bed as it has created a difference of level of the ground. Posts need to be replaced to avoid having the fruit wire too high in the lowest levels of the ground. If the fruit wire is too high, the canopy isn't tall enough and this unbalances the vine to bring out more of the green flavours we want to avoid. Lowering the fruit wire will avoid this to happen.











Women train the new vines or young vines that needed to be replaced.












Young vines need some help to grow straight up, so we add a stake close to the vine that we tie to the wire, and so do we with the vine itself.

The vines are protected by a carton box at the bottom to avoid rabbits to eat the fragile roots and shoots.

Comparative dining experience at the Crumpet Club in Christchurch NZ

The Crumpet Club is a restaurant in Christchurch that focuses on crumpets in a very cosy ambiance with few fire places and a comfy mezzanine area.

The owner Helen who also created and ran the famous Bon Bolli in Christchurch for several years has welcomed us for a special night over Sauvignon Blanc from France and New-Zealand. So both our wines from Clos Henri in NZ and our wines from Domaine Henri Bourgeois in Sancerre were given for tasting.

Her head chef Cameron has concocted a fantastic menu to pair duos of wines, while the dishes were from both sides of the world as well:

Petit Clos Sauvignon Blanc to open up the palates

Bel Echo Sauvignon 2008 from NZ & La Vigne Blanche 2008 from Sancerre
Paired with a an egg and bacon tart and a quiche Lorraine
The home smoked bacon was nicely uplifting the minerality of both wines, while the creamy eggs was accompanying the roundness of specifically the Bel Echo.
The customers present mostly enjoyed La Vigne Blanche for its subtle chalky minerality and floral notes, and they mentioned loving the roundness of the Bel Echo.

Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from NZ and Les Baronnes 2008 from Sancerre
Paired with some amuse bouche of NZ creamy blue cheese and French chevre buche
Both cheese acidity were balancing the freshness of the wines, while again showing the texture of the Clos Henri sauvignon blanc, and the smokiness of Les Baronnes.
Customers loved both wines and couldn't really chose a favourite.

Clos Henri Pinot Noir 2007 from NZ
Paired with some mutton bird cooked in a pinot jus with mushrooms.
The mutton bird is quite a rare dish to get the chance to eat, and only good chefs get to make of this bird a delicacy, as it is quite fat but also very fine. It is a sea bird, and therefore has the delicate flesh of a bird, while some sort of salty characters. This unusual match was surprising and so successful, in terms of delicacy of the textures and with the mushroom going along with the earthiness of the wine.
Definitely the wine was shown at its best and the customers enjoyed the elegant structure and the femine side of this pinot that shows fine and precise fruit.
It was positive to hear that Marlborough pinot noir is not usually the region that come to their mind for quality pinot noir, but that the Clos Henri changed their point of view.

Thank you to Helen and Cameron for a successful evening and such good wine & food matches.
http://www.crumpetclub.co.nz/

Bastille Day 2010 at Clos Henri - 14th of July

For the 5th year in a row, we have celebrated Bastille Day on the estate - in our church 'Ste Solange'. The celebration is held around a particular French wine region, that we get our Marlborough winery friends, local authorities, suppliers, local clients and team to discover through regional food specialities and a wine from the region in question.

We started few years ago with Champagne (always good to start with a bubble), Rhone Valley (to warm up a bit from our cold winter), Chinon (as it was the year we built our winery and or winemaker is from Chinon) and this year we focused on Provence and Bandol.

Of course our guests get to try all these delicacies with our wines. It is a fantastic moment to gather our friends every year and share a special moment of Wine & Food. Since it is a mission to find the French delicacies, we cook ourselves (helped by our few French people on the estate) which makes it a real gift from the heart to the Marlborough wine community that fully welcomed the Bourgeois family in NZ.

MW Symposium in Bordeaux - Jancis Robinson comments our wines

The theme of this second formal session of MW Symposium was to compare a couple of New World versus Old world wines from wineries present in both hemispheres. Arnaud Bourgeois has been invited to participate to this symposium, as the representant of the Bourgeois family entities: Domaine Henri Bourgeois in Sancerre - France, and Clos Henri Vineyard in Marlborough - NZ. Along with Arnaud Bourgeois were invited to present their wines internationally recognised producers: Egon Muller, Pascal Marchand, Zelma Long, Michel Rolland.

Arnaud Bourgeois has presented the 'Cote des Monts Damnes' 2008 and the 'Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc' 2008 for comparative tasting. Here's what Jancis Robinson says about our wines:

"Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - 16 pts - Drink 2009-11
Greywacke soil which is very stony and Wither soils. Arnaud points out that they used their Sancerre experience of making wine on different soils. A hint of asparagus juice and then very bright, zappy fruit with much more intensity on the palate than most Marlborough sauvignons. 10% barrel fermentation in one-year-old oak. Finishes pretty dry."

"La cote des Monts Damnes 2008 - 16.5 - Drink 2010-13
Kimmeridgian soil. 2008 was good for preserving the acid in Sancerre. Arnaud admits it's less intense on the nose and then much drier and tarter than the Kiwi wine. Still very young and with masses of flavour still to be resolved, I suspect. Still a bit astringent on the finish."

Clos Henri elected Gold Medal Cellar Door 2010

Every year, Wine Marlborough (promotional institute for the Marlborough wine region) organises for Mystery Shoppers to visit wineries 'incognito' and evaluate their tasting rooms as known as cellar doors. The evaluation is held on the quality of the service, quality of the information given, little step further done by the cellar door host, quality of the experience given.

We are proud to receive a Gold Medal for the season 2010. We always ensure our visitors have a wonderful experience and leave our cellar door with relevant information about Clos Henri and wine in general. 'Terroir' being one of the important notion for us to explain, through comparative tastings of our wines and a wine from Sancerre, as well as through a display of soils that show the terroir characteristics of our estate.

We've also opened a little cafe this year at Clos Henri where French cheese and terrines are served. This brings a little plus to the atmosphere, and enables our visitor to enjoy good quality products with a glass of our wines amongst the vineyard.

We invite you to visit us:

From mid may to end october: by appointment only

From beginning of november to mid may: Monday to Friday - 10am to 4pm

On 639 state hwy 63 - RD1 - Wairau Valley - Blenheim

London International Wine Fair - LIWF

Clos Henri will be present at the London International Wine Fair.

We have been present at this fair since day 1 of our existence, always sharing a stand with Domaine Henri Bourgeois. This year, we have decided to have a table with the other NZ wineries, to show our appartenance to our Marlborough land and attract visitors specifically interested in NZ wines.

Our Sales & Marketing Manager will be present on stand F20, and happy to give you a tasting and discuss further.
If you'd like to make an appointment, please contact Nelly France: nelly@closhenri.com

The LIWF is from the 18th to the 20th of May included
Opening hours are: Tuesday 18th and Wednesday 19th : 9.30 to 18.00 / Thursday 20th: 9.30am - 17.00
Location: Excel London (heart of London Royal Docks, Eastside)

Hoping to see you at the Fair.

Praise for Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008 in Decanter - May 2010 issue

Rosemary George MW, Regional Chair for NZ at the Decanter Worl Wine Awards - writes in May 2010 about Clos Henri in an article about Marborough wines:

"At Clos Henri, developed by Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume producer Henri Bourgeois, you can sense the European background. So far Bourgeois is the only grower from the Loire to extend his horizons as far as New Zealand. A young Frenchman, Damien Yvon, makes the wine here. Bourgeois spent 10 years looking for a site in Marlborough, after rejecting possibilities elsewhere in New Zealand. As you'd expect from a French grower, he took the issue of terroir seriously, carrying out soil profiles to find something similar to Sancerre. Eventually he chose a 110Ha plot , with three different soils - two clay and one stony. Yvon took me up to a spot above the vineyards, and pointed out the fault line that runs through the middle of them, dividing the stone and clay soils. Vines are planted n narrow rows, minimal irrigation is used and grass is allowed to grow between the vines, to retain a level of stress. Above all, they are looking for minerality.
'The Bourgeois family is not keen on varietal character', observed Yvon, who is adamant that Sauvignon Blanc must be tamed. 'You must control the vigour, and pick when everything is ripe, to avoid greenness.' [...] Yvon strives for purity and finess, and skin contact can result in coarse tannins."

"Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008: 4 stars (17)
Discreet and mineral, with a firm, stony nose, and a hint of oak that fills out the palate, giving a rounded finish. Lovely minerality: textured and elegant mouthfeel. Now-2011."

You can find our wines in London in top end gastronomy restaurants and in Boutique wine shops such as:
- Wimbledon Wine Cellars Chiswick / Imperial Wharf / Wimbledon
- Handford's
- City Beverage
...

Harvest 2010 in photos

We haven't been updating as we did last year on an everyday basis during harvest. Apologies for those of you who wanted to follow us closely.
However, we have created 2 photos albums reflecting the 2 weeks of intensive work of harvest. We invite you to have a look at thefollowing link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/closhenri

Don't hesitate to leave us your comments, we'll be glad to hear about your reactions!

In few days, we'll talk with our winemaker about his thoughts on the 2010 harvest and general impression of wine's behaviour and eventually prediction on the 2010 quality.

Keep checking our blog, we will be feeding it regularly all year long with news from Clos Henri Vineyard.

Start of Harvest 2010!

26th of March

Quite a bit later than usual, we have started harvest with our first ripe block of pinot noir. The reason being a slow maturing season, which is positive as it enables to build up concentration slowly and obtain a nice natural balance.

The season has seen a very good flowering, with right weather at the time (no rain or cold temperature), then december and january were in between very wet at times and very dry at other times bringing in fact water at the right moments and sun and wind to dry the vines and help them grow. A tough work on canopy management and crop control has been done, with srtict shoot thining. But naturally the yields were not high this year, mother nature has been quite measured.

As a result, the fruit is absolutely beautiful, and the vineyard healthy.

The first block to be harvested is grown on clay soils. One of our main challenge this year has been to work on irrigation, controlling the exact needs in water of the vines and irrigating only when needed. In fact, we haven't had to irrigate the clay soils at all during this season, the plants have never shown any sufficient stress. This is for us a huge step in our learning curve about irrigation, next year we'll continue working on the subject.