News

January 2012
Flagship Wines visit Zephyr
Zephyr wines were pleased to host Julia Jenkins, owner of UK retailer Flagship Wines on Sunday 15th of January and her colleague, Will Bartholomew. Flagship Wines is the winner of the New Zealand Winegrowers Independent Wine Merchants Promotion in the UK for 2010.
Julia and Will joined us at our bach in the Marlborough Sounds where we tasted Zephyr Wines and enjoyed a long lunch of Marlborough produce. We teamed the Moules mariniere with Zephyr Riesling, the whitebait, gravlax, and blue cod with Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc and finished off with Zephyr Gewurztraminer accompanied by washed rind cheeses, gingerbread, blue cheese and quince paste. Yummy lunch, and very enjoyable company.
Flagship Wines is an innovative and exciting wine company offering distinctive wines from around the world and specialising in the New World. Owner Julia Jenkins, the Director has more than 20 years experience in the wine trade and she has been running her own business for nearly 10 years. Whilst Flagship Wines has a retail store based in St Albans, their on-line presence is extremely strong and they also have a large wholesale focus servicing many of the local restaurants, bars and pubs. According to Oz Clarke they are "a well-run independent whose prices can match those of supermarkets-and you get the friendly well–informed advice of boss Julia Jenkins thrown in for free". In winning the UK Independent Retail Merchants Promotion, Flagship beat 92 other retailers, raising their NZ wine sales by 65% and impressing the judges with their innovative marketing.

left to right: Julia, Owen, Wendy and Will

December 2011
Oz Clarke selects 2010 Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc as one of "Five Christmas classics to see in the festive season"
Selected from his book Oz Clarke 250 Best Wines 2012, here's what he had to say:
This is just what I want Kiwi Sauvignon to be - bursting with the freshness of crisp, juicy cooking apples, zinging with the tart resinous delight of lemon zest, scented with blackcurrant leaf greenness and fresh-ground coffee beans, and dabbed with soft summer earth to temper the banner-waving, palate-cleansing acidity.
The "Five Christmas classics" are here.

December 2011
Four star review in Cuisine
**** ZEPHYR SAVIGNON BLANC 2010
The panel was blown away by this not-so-gentle zephyr. Full and rich, it delivers bright leafy, citrus and tropical-fruit notes and a strong textural presence. A rich seafood risotto would be a good match.
Cuisine also included a small bio about us.
FITS LIKE A GLOVER : The name Zephyr breezed in during a Glover family brainstorming session. Owen and Wendy Glover had been talked into launching their own label by sons Jack and Ben (both of whom work in the industry, Ben as wine maker at Wither Hills). "We said we're far too old to do such a thing, but they were adamant," says Wendy. "Then the name just popped up, we all liked it, and as Owen has fond memories of Sunday drives in his grandfather's Zephyr, it meant something to him." The Zephyr's first vintage was 2007. The Glovers have grown grapes at Dillon Point in Marlborough since 1985 and only a small portion of their fruit Is used for the boutique Zephyr label, which also includes a gewurztraminer, a riesling and a pinot noir.

August 2011
Zephyr Wine is Flying High - It's up, up and away for Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc 2010, which has been selected for Air New Zealand's Business Premier and Premium Economy Classes. Selecting wines for drinking in-flight takes special care as there are unique conditions to consider. Twice a year, the judges conduct blind wine tastings to select the perfect wines for each class on Air New Zealand. Glover Family Vineyards, the producers, are delighted to be considered the perfect tipple for New Zealand's premier international airline. On the palate the wine has guava, melon and ripe tangerine which provide textural complexity along with bright herbaceous acidity, leaving a long mouth filling structured wine. Just the thing for the savvy traveller!!

June 2011
We're in the news. Twice.
Fine glass of Gewurztraminer
Winemakers-true-calling

Nov 2010
Zephyr Riesling 2009, produced by Glover Family Vineyards, has been awarded a Top 100/Blue-Gold in the 2011 Sydney International Wine Competition. This is a single vineyard wine grown in the Dillons Point area of Marlborough.
"A lovely youthful Riesling displaying lemon pith, floral and green apple characters on the nose. The palate is delicate and pure, showing a finely textured mouthfeel and bright acidity providing both structure and length of flavour. A beautifully poised wine destined to develop greater intensity and complexity, although it's pretty good drinking already. Now till 2015."
Sam Kim.
TOP 1OO/BLUE-GOLD AWARD.

This award entitles the Zephyr Riesling 2009 to wear the Competition's trademark double-disc, gold-foil "BLUE-GOLD/TOP1OO - Judged with Food" bottle medallion. TOP 1OO Wines carry the distinction of being placed amongst the, approximately, highest pointed 5% of wines from the thirteen Style Categories of the 2010 Competition.

Sept 2010
Alliance Wine, our UK Distributor, is voted Top Agent for 2010 in the International Wine Challenge.
(view the pdf)

May 2010
The Zephyr Riesling 2009 and Zephyr Gewurztraminer 2008 won silver medals in the Liquorland International Wine Competition 2010.

And in other awards news - the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc won Silver at Decanter World Wine Awards 2010 and Bronze at the International Wine Challenge 2010. Whilst the Gewurztraminer 2008 won Bronze at Decanter World Wine awards 2010.

April 2010
"Seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness!" (Keats)

Stunning conditions are present for our harvest as we indulge in a gentle and kind Autumn. Everyone is very excited about the weather and the flavours . The weather has been very mild, hardly any rain although there were a couple of small frosts. The Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc was harvested on Easter Sunday and the Zephyr Gewurztraminer was handpicked a week later. The Zephyr Riesling should be picked this week.

March 2010
Zephyr wines were proud to be poured at the launch of our daughter Kate's second book, "Papa's Jandals" in Queenstown on 25/3/10.

Kate's first book was "Papa's donuts", Papa being Kate's Cook Island father-in law, Boy, now deceased. The books are great and are a first in NZ/Pacific Island children's literature. Kate and Teaukura (Media Sports Photographer) have three beautiful daughters and Anika features in the first book. Check out Kate's website www.katemoetaua.com

Feb 2010
The Zephyr Riesling 2009 won gold at the International Aromatic Wine Competition, Royal NZ Show, 2009

Jan 2010
John Dixon, executive for food at Marks&Spencers in the UK, included Zephyr in his "10 must haves in your shopping list". (view the pdf)

Jan 2010
The Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc 2009 was chosen in Matthew Jukes 60 Best New Zealand Wines 2010.