Award Winning New Zealand Winemaker Visits Cebu

Paul Bourgeois, the Chief Winemaker of Spy Valley Wines, recently visited Cebu at the invitation of Corinne & Dondi Joseph, owners of one of Cebu’s best wine cellar’s “D+B Revolutionary Wines” (used to be known as “Darras+Bowler”). D+B sell what is considered to be the best selection of New Zealand wines in Cebu, in addition to a number of high quality labels from different countries. 

Paul is a young, multi-awarded winemaker (and multi-awarded multi-disciplined athlete!) who has been making superb wines since 1993. He has a passion for aromatic grape varieties, Riesling in particular, and a superb pedigree of excellence in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. His style is traditional, elegant, hand made wines with hard work going into ensuring the grapes are of the requisite quality for wine making.  

Paul’s wines have achieved very high ratings: 

• 2006 Sauvignon Blanc - 91 points by Wine Spectator

• 2007 Sauvignon Blanc recently won a Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc under £10 at the most prestigious international wine awards show, the Decanter World Wine Awards 2008. The ’07 also received a 90-point rating by Wine Spectator. 

• 2007 Pinot Noir was awarded five-stars in the Decanter New Zealand Wine Tasting this year, naming it the Best Value Pinot Noir, and won a Gold Medal at the prestigious Japan International Wine Challenge 2008. 

Confirming Spy Valley’s position as a top quality Gewurztraminer producer, the 2007 vintage won the trophy for Champion Gewurztraminer at New Zealand’s oldest wine competition, the 55th Royal Ester Show Wine Awards.  His “Old/New World” style Gewurztraminer was a high performer at the awards, winning a disproportionate number of gold medals. 

The evening began at D+B’s private wine bar in their striking new wine cellar in Crossroads Mall, with guests enjoying the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2006 Dry Riesling. The Sauvignon Blanc drinks dry, with typically intense fruit and herb flavors that balance beautifully with the vibrant acidity. The Riesling was dry, crisp, and focused citrus notes. The wines were delicious, refreshing and a perfect start to an evening. Paul literally started his first-ever Cebu visit rather auspiciously with a big bang! You will have to ask him about that one. Our lips are sealed. And Paul is a cool cat.

In the 1980s, the New Zealand wine industry made a conscious decision to move into producing only wines of high quality, and to stop producing industrial, low cost table wines. The result has been the emergence of a diverse range of well-made wines and a unique New Zealand style and more importantly, terroir – which is the expression of the unique qualities that land and weather conditions bring to a wine.

 “Corinne and I have developed a passion for New Zealand wines about four years ago. The whites are extremely bright and refreshing, with the Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays of course leading the way with over 20 different styles produced. The red Pinot Noirs are second to none in both value and taste, while the red ‘Bordeaux-style’ or ‘Rhone-style’ blends of Cabernet and Merlot and Shiraz Viognier respectively are among the best red blends we enjoy on a regular basis. The wines have distinct fruit, without being heavy – with elegant overlay that are brilliant to discover. Yes, we do love our Kiwi wines and at the price Spy Valley sells for, their wines are affordable and almost always on our table!” said Dondi Joseph.

After aperitif, the D+B aficionados-friends and their Kiwi guests walked over to OLIO for dinner. Corinne, a food and wine pairing enthusiast and budding expert, organized a wine and food degustation menu with Chef Luis that was the anticipated highlight of the evening. Winemaker Paul introduced every wine served with each course. The evening’s pairings were:

Prawns in Harrissa Sauce with the 2006 Gewurstraminer. The award-winning “Gewurz” has honey, rose petal, lychees, spicy white pepper and cardamom flavors, a natural sweetness, and elegant finish. It was delicious with the prawns and was able to stand up to the slightly spicy North African harrissasauce.

Escargots in Filo Shell with the the 2006Chardonnay. Aged in oak, the Chardonnay had a lovely full-bodied texture, almonds, peach and citrus flavours, and superb balance. The structure of this well-made wine will allow it to age - and be paired with a wide variety of dishes. The wine’s chewy-ness matched the texture of the escargots and complimented the rich herb and butter oils used in preparing the dish.

Angel Hair Pasta with Roasted Tomato Sauce with the 2006 Pinot Gris. This gold medal, 4-star award winning wine is intensely floral, with ripe pears, cooked apple and custard flavours that are deliciously long – and it leaves you with a wonderful feeling of “big-ness” in your mouth. The gentle crisp-ness of the Pinot Gris softens the typical acidity of the tomato sauce, leaving the more pure tomato and herb flavours.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Garden Vegetables with the 2006 Pinot Noir. Well, this has been rated one of the top Kiwi Pinots and while it could stand on its own (like most of Paul’s wines) it was a fine match with the lamb. This wine tasted of fruit, plums and chocolates with firm but pleasant tannins and a silky finish. This goes well with any meat: red or white!

And for dessert, a Fresh Fruit with Sabayon with the 2006 Riesling. What a soothing way to finish a meal - a full-bodied, fruit-driven sweet-ish wine, with intense fresh lime, honey and apricot flavours! It is perfect to sip, with and even way after dessert.

Paul’s first visit to Cebu was far too short and it was with a little disappointment that we called it a night – after a great evening of good food, good wine, and great conversation.

D+B (also known as Darras+Bowler) Revolutionary Wine Cellar recently expanded and moved to a prominent new location in Crossroads Mall in Banilad. It is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and it’s private wine tasting room is open by reservation only. For more information call (032) 233-0832 or 33, or 346-1945.