Editorial - Nectar of the gods

By Jack Martin


“That’s not work, you jammy bastard… Can I have your job?” was the usual comment upon hearing about WildTomato’s Very Expensive Wine Tasting. Not having a leg to stand on, I mutter something about long hours and intransigent deadlines (to universal scoffing and knowing winks all round).

My interest in wine got going at age 16 when my grandfather, noticing the various multi-fangled scrapes and mishaps into which I insisted on inserting myself, decided to play me at my own game and take my education in hand. On successive summers, we toured the great wine regions of France: Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhone Valley, Champagne and Alsace.

So WildTomato’s tasting took me on a trip down memory lane. And what an epic tasting it was. Angels fluttered their wings as the heavens beckoned and karmic bliss suffused us lucky few (though that might have had something to do with the progressively reduced amount of spittoon use as a night of spit, sniff and swirl evolved).

One feels rather ungrateful even mentioning the elephant in the room. But I suppose it’s my duty to ask whether the king’s ransom you must pay for these wines is worth it. Can a $90 bottle possibly be worth nine times more than the $10 bottle that we working stiffs grab from the bargain bin at the end of the supermarket aisle? To my mind, the answer is simple – yes if you can afford them, no if you can’t.

Continuing our vinous theme, born and bred Marlburian winemaker Jules Taylor is our Interview this month. She strikes a pleasingly uncomplicated and down-to-earth note on wine, saying “There’s a lot of rubbish talked about wine. The process is basic chemistry… you start with the fruit, get the juice, add yeast, and you get alcohol and carbon dioxide.” And of course she’s right; there’s more rot, waffle and piffle talked and written about wine than almost any other subject. It is fun though.

It’s opportune, while The Great Amalgamation Debate rumbles on and on… and on, to mention Saxton Field as an unusual success story of cross-council collaboration. Just look what can be achieved when we put aside petty squabbling and work for the common good. The alternative is for Nelson and Tasman to be perennial bridesmaids as events, conferences and businesses choose to locate themselves in more dynamic regions.

This field of dreams is an excellent community resource, as well as a potentially substantial revenue generator for the region. The football fields, athletics track and stadium (comprising netball, volleyball and basketball courts, and a self-contained table tennis stadium) have the capability to host national events. The hockey field, cricket oval and planned cycling track are (or will be) constructed to international fixture standards. In addition, recreational cycling and running tracks, playgrounds and gardens make the field much more than just a sports ground.

And the Nelson Arts Festival is with us once more. See you there.

Jack Martin