Hi I’m Morven, and today on Not Serious Wine Chats, I have the privilege of spending an hour or so with winemaker, Louisa Rose from Yalumba.

It was a right old flash back for me as not only was I sharing a mighty fine glass of Virgilius Viognier – a wine I used to sell, but I was imbibing it while sat in the Negociants NZ boardroom - a place where I used to work and have had the good fortune to taste wine with Louisa on previous occasions.

Listening to this vigneron wax lyrical on the virtues of viognier, was one thing. What really resonated was the reminder of the research and development and innovation that is surely a mantle of one of Australia’s oldest family owned wineries.

Yalumba has been family owned since 1849, and as Louisa points out, it’s still what she describes as a medium-sized business. That combination feels important. There’s enough history to understand the value of what’s come before, enough personal investment to care deeply about what happens next, and enough scale to actually put meaningful resources behind it.

Listening to Louisa talk, I was reminded that sustainability research takes more than good intentions. It takes people, time, money and a business willing to invest in all three — not just for its own benefit, but for the wider wine industry.

Lou was quick to point out how open Yalumba is to share their research citing that the more we learn about farming better, the more useful that knowledge becomes when it’s passed on. As that Aussie crooner Paul Kelly once sang, “From little things, big things grow.”

Lou has been a part of furniture at Yalumba since the early ‘90’s and although she was Chief Winemaker when I first met her, somewhere around 2008, she now spends her time leading the sustainability programme and sharing winery stories with world markets as a brand ambassador.

It was during her tenure as winemaker, that Lou was instrumental in the evolution of Viognier at Yalumba, and we chat about what led to her work with this particular version of our favourite fermented fruit — the hard to say, easy to drink white wine for all occasions.

So, get comfy, grab something fair dinkum from the esky, and give this chat a fair crack. This is the not serious Louisa Rose chat.

not serious wine chats would like to thank our supporters:
Funded by Tradecraft
Supported with time and a place to record By the Bottle
Palate refreshing mineral water supplied by Antipodes Water Co.
Special thanks to my pal, Benj Brooking of Popular.nz for his help with the editing. An expert filmmaker, editing these chats is being done as one mate helping another. Thanks Benj. You're a legend.

join the chat > notseriouswinechats.nz
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If you're struggling to put that glass down, perhaps our chats aren't the right ear candy for you. While the chats are not serious, living your best life is a very serious matter indeed and a life fuelled by addiction doesn't sound dreamy at all.
If you think you need a hand, visit the Ministry of Health site for platforms that might help you take the first step towards taking control back. Our warmest wishes for success on that journey.

Today on not serious wine chats, Pete and I have the pleasure getting down with two deeply motivated mates who started a wine brand, fittingly called Deep Down.

Clive Dougall and Peter Lorimer united over the shared love of the same style of wines and the desire to make something that spoke a little differently about what Marlborough might have to say.

Both these chaps bring a breadth of experience to the partnership, and one carefully and perfectly complements the other. Clive’s based in Boomtown making the stuff, while Peter travels to market from Tāmaki Makaurau, to share and sell their super tasty organic wines.

The timing of our chat couldn’t have been better placed, as Clive and Peter have been working on something on the down low for the last three years and our chat coincided with its release. Something new, I hear you say? What could it be? Why it’s a low alc number called Down Low of course!

The wine has a hot new look, thanks to Toby Curnow who was part of the team behind the eye-catching design of the hero label, Deep Down. What I loved the most about this wine as soon as I saw it, was how wickedly classy it looks, losing nothing to a world where some of the departure in winemaking tries way too hard to get down with the kids. When that sort of fuckery is featured, the gimmick gets loud and the wine gets lost. Not with Down Low. At 3.8% alc, less than most beers, Clive and Peter have made an absolute cracker. It’s fresh, its yummy and it means you can partake knowing you’re putting less alcohol in the tank.

During our chat, Clive and Peter talk through how it took a lot of time and patience to get this wine utterly right.

So, tell your mates you’ll be at that drinkies sesh, but pop the running shoes by the back door coz you’ll be fresh as a daisy in the morning. Pour yourself something to really get down to. This is the not serious Clive Dougall and Peter Lorimer chat.

not serious wine chats would like to thank our supporters:
Funded by Tradecraft
Supported with time and a place to record By the Bottle
Palate refreshing mineral water supplied by Antipodes Water Co.
Special thanks to my pal, Benj Brooking of Popular.nz for his help with the editing. An expert filmmaker, editing these chats is being done as one mate helping another. Thanks Benj. You're a legend.

join the chat > notseriouswinechats.nz
instagram | facebook

If you're struggling to put that glass down, perhaps our chats aren't the right ear candy for you. While the chats are not serious, living your best life is a very serious matter indeed and a life fuelled by addiction doesn't sound dreamy at all.
If you think you need a hand, visit the Ministry of Health site for platforms that might help you take the first step towards taking control back. Our warmest wishes for success on that journey.

For this Not Serious Wine Chats, I sat down with two generations and three Gilmour Girls — a family synonymous with service and who have helped pour more than their share of fine wine.

Emerald Gilmour, the Madre of this magnificent trio, shares stories from her #hospolife when she straddled her roles as Air New Zealand flight attendant one minute and Clichy and Club Mirage owner the next. Emerald, precious gem by name, should be declared a precious gem and OG of our restaurant scene as she opened Clichy in 1972 — a moment in dining history when not a lot was on offer, but when some of our stalwart chefs and waiters were cutting tracks upon which the rest of us would follow.

It’s fair to say Emerald has a thing for keeping things shipshape — a skill, and quality she’s instilled in her two daughters, Sophie and Mimi Gilmour.

Sophie, who has a consultancy agency called Delicious Business, and is involved with Fatima’s, was part of the team responsible for bringing the “hot chook and a salad” standard to Ponsonby Road, with the eatery business Bird On a Wire.

And, if you’ve ever parked up for a bunnace and a short bottle of Veuve Cliquot at Burger Burger, or tipped back a tequila over a taco at Mexico or more recently indulged in a plate of pasta at Mama’s then you’ve experienced Mimi’s work.

On this chat, there are debates, there are giggles, and there is quite a bit of wine. When I asked the Gilmours to rock up with their favourite vino, they turned with a bottle each, one of which included the fine wine made by their Uncle Pete. You’ve probably heard of it – Te Mata.

This family has long engaged in adding the brightest of threads to the tapestry of Auckland’s hospitality scene and I was grateful we could coordinate diaries for this delectable date where we dined out on wine stories and lives shared in the pursuit of service.

So, grab a sibling who likes a sip, sit down somewhere comfy and cozy and fill the flute with a fizz. This is the not serious Gilmour Girls chat.

not serious wine chats would like to thank our supporters:
Funded by Tradecraft
Supported with time and a place to record By the Bottle
Palate refreshing mineral water supplied by Antipodes Water Co.
Special thanks to my pal, Benj Brooking of Popular.nz for his help with the editing. An expert filmmaker, editing these chats is being done as one mate helping another. Thanks Benj. You're a legend.

join the chat > notseriouswinechats.nz
instagram | facebook

If you're struggling to put that glass down, perhaps our chats aren't the right ear candy for you. While the chats are not serious, living your best life is a very serious matter indeed and a life fuelled by addiction doesn't sound dreamy at all.
If you think you need a hand, visit the Ministry of Health site for platforms that might help you take the first step towards taking control back. Our warmest wishes for success on that journey.