Tasmanian, Hong Kong and New Zealand Trips

One of the really fun aspects of wine, for both consumers and producers alike, is the fact it provides all sorts of interesting opportunities for travel. Clare and Keith have been lucky enough to enjoy the hospitality of the kindest people, all round the world. This year saw them venture to locations that they had not often visited. This doesn’t reflect badly on the places themselves but rather on the Mugfords for not making the effort to visit more often.

In September, they hosted two events in Tasmania, one in Hobart at Smolt Restaurant, and one in Launceston at Mud Restaurant. Don’t be put off if the names seem slightly unusual because Kif Weber – Front of House and Scott (the dishwasher) McMurray – Chef and their staff do a fantastic job and both locations are definitely worth trying. Also worth trying in Hobart is Me Wah at Sandy Bay, serving some of the best Cantonese-style food in Australia, with a wine list to please the sternest critic. Of course, every state has its rivalries and we think it adds to the experience but we still enjoy teasing the Taswegians about the competition between Launceston and Hobart. There’s plenty of spirit in that relationship.

Equally impressive, albeit in a different way, were Hong Kong and Macau. Hong Kong is one of our favourite cities – incredibly beautiful and busy and always fun to visit. Moss Wood has been represented there for about 25 years and Clare and Keith were in town to work with their agents, Summergate Fine Wines. They participated in a number of successful events and Clare and Keith pass on their thanks to the Summergate team for all their help. The highlight, quite literally, was to be lucky enough to host a wine dinner at the new Ritz Carlton in Kowloon. Wine dinners are something the Mugfords have done a few of over the years but this was the highest, at least in a man-made building. For those not familiar with this new hotel, reception is on the 101st floor and the restaurant is on the 108th. The Mugfords have never before done a tasting in a building high enough to have the view blocked by passing clouds. The food, by the way, was fabulous.

The end of September saw the Clare and Keith make their first visit to New Zealand. Moss Wood has employed more than its fair share of Kiwis over the years and so Clare and Keith have a great affection for the “cousies” across the Tasman. Not that Clare was too worried but Keith’s concern was they may have been tempted to remind us of the less than impressive performance of the Wallabies at the recent Rugby World Cup. He needn’t have worried because the New Zealanders were suitably humble and seemed more relieved than anything but also immensely proud.

The short trip meant the focus was on Auckland only, a city with a very impressive wine and food culture, something in the vein of Melbourne, albeit somewhat smaller. Successful tastings and dinners were held at, a spectacular private home of car and wine fanatics, lovely people. A great dinner was eaten at Café Hanoi; special thanks go to Monsoon Poon (South East Asian Trading House Restaurant) for hosting a Moss Wood tasting and lunch for journalists, Bob Campbell, Jo Burzynska, John Saker and John Hawkesby, and to Ash for doing a great job on this day, as we are sure he does every day. An excellent Moss Wood consumer tasting was conducted at Village Winery, with owner Bill Vincent, his Wife and shop manager Jill. Special thanks to also go to Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier and Senior Lecturer, in charge of the Wine and Beverage Programme at AUT University, for showing us his outstanding facility and tasting through the Moss Wood range.

During our trip we also visited and were very impressed with The Fine Wine Delivery Company, Sky City, The Grill, The Grove and Clooney. At the Northern Club, a classic and old establishment with incredible history, where we were pleased to meet Nigel DeVere Ellery and Glengarry, where we were privileged to meet Jak. We are hopeful we haven’t missed anybody and must congratulate our agent Michael Jemison for an excellent and packed marketing trip.