Joy of Totara Fu Gai

Press, 3 September 1981, Page 12

Joy of Totara Fu Gai

Maurice Hunter’s

GRAPEVINE |

in a household in which the partners share, the responsibilities of earning a living it can mean that the one who is not on duty is rostered for cooking detail in the kitchen. In my case this also means that the evening meal is usually a very dull affair. After searching through our collection of Cordon Bleu receipe books, which would do credit to the reference section of the public library, I almost invariably resort to something like bangers and mash, occasionally rising to the heights of skinning and crumbing the bangers. In Thirza’s case it is no problem. She reads recipe books as though they are novels. Her culinary imagination has no horizon and she is constantly on the search for new dishes, or for ways in which old ones may be given a new lease of life. So it was with pleasure, but not surprising, that I answered the phone to learn that (with, I may say, a commendable loyalty to the Christchurch “Press" Home and People Section) Alison Hoist’s recipe for soy glazed chicken had been discovered, and that I was to choose a wine to drink with it. Quite apart from the fact that the insipid flesh of massed produced chicken needs a boost, soy is my favourite Chinese ingredient and it didn't take long to decide that it was time to

renew our acquaintance with Totara Fu Gai. The tangy sweetness of the soy glaze combined excellently with the wine, a blend of riesjing sylvaner and chasselas, back blended with muscat, giving a medium, full fruit style with the sweetness of the muscat showing up mainly in the aftertaste. While chewing and sipping I meditated upon the other wines produced by the Chan family of Totara Vineyards and reflected that, in catering for a wide range of palates with a minimum necessary number of wines,

they do a good job, particularly when taking price into consideration. Dry white drinkers will appreciate the crisp fruitiness and balance of the gold award riesling — or the light delicacy of the slightly spicey chenin blanc — while those with a taste for a medium style will find the big flowery bouquet and flavour of Muller Thurgau more to their liking. The world trend is towards white wines. As far as reds are concerned, I understand that Totara will concentrate on developing their style of good value as a dry red at

present and will develop as time goes by. Contemplation of the whites, however, led to the line of thinking that, where once riesling sylvaner was the be-all and end-all, it has now developed into the basic white upon which to develop.