More on Wine, Foodography and Winter Classes
For the last few weeks I have been travelling around NZ running a series of Wine Tasting Competitions for the NZ Sommeliers and Wine Professionals for which I am chair. It's been fun putting together a selection of 40 classic wines and preparing sets of questions to test our teams of winelovers.
We have used Kahoot! which has been enormously successful as a electronic quiz platform in these Covid times. It adds the results instantly and takes away the risk of calculation errors plus the backend provides detailed analytics on who got the answers to how many seconds it took to answer correctly. We know that of the 24 teams the highest scores were 75% correct with over 8 teams achieved above 68% correct. I can see we will use this platform for sometime!
It seems that interest in wines and spirits programmes is also bounding upwards and we have had record enrolments for all our wine classes including WSET Wine and Spirit Education Trust from UK.
This week I had the results of the latest WSET Level 2 Certificate in Wine and with a class of 20 students, 60% gained distinction, a pass of over 85%. Exciting.
Our NZQA Certificate in NZ Wine Micro-Credential is also going for strength to strength and we are about to start offering Corporate & Team Building wine options so that you can get together a group of 8 people and we will run a private programme.
New Zealand wines are much more diverse that most people imagine and it's a great thrill to be able to share lesser-known wineries and underrated regions with our participants as they taste through the wine selection. For more information, email admin@foodandwine.co.nz.
Coming up we have the Winter Forage with Riki Bennett which provides an opportunity to explore our native flora along with innovation around urban hāngi kai-cookery techniques. The FOODOGRAPHY Dinner is back and this year our theme is a Midwinter Christmas Dinner. Both events are part of Auckland's Elemental Festival.
On Sunday 1st August, we host the NZ Sommelier of the Year Awards along with wine tasting events and a Gastronomic Dinner prepared by Chef Finn and our students.
Ngā mihi,
Celia Hay
Poll: How should Guy Fawkes be celebrated?
While it is a fun occasion, fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night has caused much conflict over the years, upsetting our pets and disrupting the sleep of neighbours.
How should we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.
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28.6% With a city-wide public fireworks display
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19.7% Small fireworks displays in each community
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8.1% Keep it as is
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32.9% We shouldn't celebrate it!
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10.4% Anything but fireworks
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0.4% Other - I'll share below
Whangaparaoa Future of the ferry Please have your say Option 3
Update from John Watson - Auckland Councillor
This month AT are surveying every single household on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula as part of their Whangaparaoa Public Transport Study.
This time around AT have put up 3 scenarios for the Coast’s public transport future they want people to choose from (along with a host of other questions). Scenario 1 has the existing buses and ferry but running more often, Scenario 2 has the NX2 bus via Penlink to city and a new 99 bus service (but importantly no ferry service) while Scenario 3 has the Gulf Harbour ferry service and the new 99 bus service.
On the face of it option 3 looks like the scenario that would benefit most parts of the Coast – the ferry service is retained, a new frequent bus service (99) runs along the peninsula while the NX2 is retained at the HBC Station (ensuring other Coast commuters don’t have to transfer further down the busway just to catch it).
Some of the assertions relating to travel times and the so-called 'viability' of a future Whangaparaoa bus terminal need to be challenged through this process as they don't bear scrutiny. For most people a combination of bus, ferry and utilisation of the $835m Penlink connection will resonate with all modes working together as part of an integrated network.
People using the ferry from the eastern half of Whangaparaoa reduce pressure on both the internal roading system and the connection point where Penlink will merge with the northern motorway. People off the road in one part of the network inevitably aids the overall network...especially when there are no plans to widen the northern motorway or add designated bus lanes over the next 30 years (meaning travel times as a consequence of ongoing development north of Silverdale will inevitably increase).
For those wanting to support the ferry service there are 4 specific questions you can respond to including the introduction of weekend sailings (but be aware that scenario 2 has no ferry service). Finally it should be noted there's an opportunity here for AT to create a more resilient network (with modest investment) but that will only occur if all the travel options Whangaparaoa Peninsula is fortunate enough to possess, are utilised
haveyoursay.at.govt.nz...
Brain Burn Alert! Today’s Riddle Will Make You Think Twice!
What is seen in the middle of March and April that can't be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
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