Alliance Française French Film Festival 2012

A few snaps from this years French Film Festival,

featuring Clos Henri wines on the opening nights throughout NZ.

Check out http://frenchfilmfestival.co.nz/ for info on movie screenings close to you!

The opening nights so far have been a huge success and very popular in the local communities with big numbers turning up to enjoy a special evening of French culture.

Photography by-Justin Aitken & Clos Henri

Prowein 2012

Arnaud Bourgeois getting his ‘Maori on’ with performers at Prowein, Germany

Bel Echo gets Gold

Exciting news to hear that our Bel Echo Pinot Noir 2010 received a Gold Medal at the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards 2012!

Bel Echo Pinot is sourced from our Greywacke - River Stone terroir here at Clos Henri Vineyard, the 2010 shows notes of strawberries and wild cherry with a soft feel and a nice clean freshness.

Australian sommeliers stop in at Clos Henri Vineyard while exploring New Zealand wine regions

Follow the link to read about their experience:

gourmettraveller.com.au/sommeliers-guide-to-new-zealand.htm

Our Nuits Romantiques evening

On Friday the 10th of Feburary we hosted around 60 people for the celebration of Valentines Day here at Clos Henri.

Due to the weather being a bit drizzly and cold for people to sit outside we relocated inside to our chapel 'Saint Solange' for the evening. With candles lit and rose petals sprinkled, our guests started with a glass of Clos Henri wine and canapes including Fresh Salmon, Oysters, and Crottin de Chavignol melted on toast with Manuka honey.

After an hour or so, we set the church with chairs for the movie viewing and placed a hamper of French and local treats on each chair for our guests to discover when they came inside for the movie 'Changement d'adresse'.

The movie being quite quirky had people chuckling, and we hope everyone who attended had a wonderful time celebrating Valentines Day with a touch of French culture.

Thank you for joining us this year for Nuits Romantiques!

Nuits Romantiques 2012

On the 10th of February we will be having our Nuits Romantiques, the celebration of Valentine’s Day here at Clos Henri. The night starts at 8.30pm at our cellar door chapel for a glass of Clos Henri wine and French inspired canapés, followed by the outdoor movie at 9.30pm 'Changement D'Adresse' which you will enjoy with a picnic basket of movie treats.

See the poster for more information and email us to purchase tickets cellardoor@closhenri.com or order online http://www.ticketdirect.co.nz

Hope to see you here!

Christmas in the Sounds

On Friday 9th of December, we celebrated Christmas with all our staff including Lionel Bourgeois, our French Owner and Viticulturist who came to New Zealand just for 1 week.

We took a cruise around the Sounds, with Pelorus Tours for the afternoon and discovered the magic landscape at the top of the South Island, a mussel farm and the beautiful bays.

It was a great day, beautiful weather and we all enjoyed the trip. Lionel especially loved seeing another rich and tranquil part of the country.

Everyone here at Clos Henri wishes you a Merry Christmas and a bright New Year!

L’Alliance Française de Christchurch

When Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume, Menetou-Salon, Cheverny, Saumur-Champigny and Champagne winemakers heard about the devastating Christchurch earthquake, they immediately offered bottles of wine to be auctioned at Clos Henri in order to bring support in their own way to the victims. Earlier this year, at our 10th Anniversary, we auctioned off the wines, which raised over $6000. Damien took a drive to Christchurch last week to attend L'Alliance Francaise de Christchurch and officially hand over the cheque to the Mayor of Christchurch, Mr Bob Parker.

Philippe Sella Visits the Cellar Door

This was the first week of the new season here at Clos Henri. The cellar door was opened just in time for the influx of French rugby fans to touch down in Marlborough for the Rugby World Cup. Among our many blue cladded visitors was none other than French rugby legend and former French union player Mr Philippe Sella. We are all hoping for a blue/black final... Croisons les doigts!

Celebrating our 10th Anniversary

In July we enjoyed a fabulous weekend celebrating Clos Henri's 10th Anniversary. Jean-Marie and Arnaud Bourgeois came over from France to join the Clos Henri team, together with the French Ambassador his Excellency Mr Francis Etienne and some of our closest friends. The day began in the Winery with a counter vertical tasting through Sancerre and Marlborough wines. We then feasted on a French style grapevine shoots barbeque lunch, followed by a charity wine auction for Christchurch earthquake relief. Thank you to all the French winegrowers who so kindly donated their wines. Also, to the keen bidders who made this day such a wonderful success.