Journey with wine

Opening a box delivered from the Wine Society, I was intrigued by a label ``Catherine's Block'' and accompanying story about a father and daughter stumbling on an abandoned  vineyard near Waipara in North Canterbury.
The grape variety of this bottle was pinot gris (2012). Pouring a generous glass I discovered my best New Zealand pinot gris to date. It had taken a long time for Kiwi winemakers to get their heads around the variety. (In Europe I typically enjoy the similar pinot grigio.) 
Curiosity led me to discover this winning father and daughter team. Tony Rutherfurd and Catherine Keith undoubtedly had a winning formula put together by winemaker Frank Manifold.
They explained pinot gris suffers with too much wet weather. Leaving the grapes to ripen longer before harvesting is a key. Other tricks lie in techniques of winemaking.
Catherine's Block is their premier wine label. Most have a label, Mount Brown Estates. An entry level label is Wild River.
  Frank Manifold made his first Mount Brown wines in 2013. One was a pinot noir grand reserve.
They entered it in a Sydney boutique wine show. Nine hundred of the 1000 entries were from Australian vineyards. Mount Brown took the top three places including wine of the show.
  I got to know Tony, Catherine and Frank well. I wrote a story for Latitude magazine. Later I took photographs of hand-picking pinot noir grapes on the original Mount Brown vineyard. It was all hands on deck, even the two Keith children.
  Mount Brown is a hill just north of Mount Grey.
They built their vinery in nearby Purchas Road utilizing engineering skills mostly amongst the vineyard staff.
  A visit to Spain introduced them to tempranillo. On his return to New Zealand Tony was offered some tempranillo vines. The warm Waipara Valleys summers meant the variety thrived. Another innovation was a barrique-fermented sauvignon blanc.
   This year Mount Brown  added a pinot noir rose and a chardonnay. No wonder, then, I look for Mount Brown labels in my local New World supermarket. Wild River pinot noir is priced about two dollars below the Mount Brown pinot noir. To me it represents good value. Mount Brown pinot noir rivals those from

famed Central Otago and Martinborough regions.
  I enjoy visiting vineyards while on my travels. It is particularly good to get to know the people behind my choice wine labels.