It would be fair to say that cricket is a passion for Clive Paton. Summer visitors often get to enjoy a quick hit on the winey lawn with Clive and the team, and he has been known to travel the globe for a good game. So when Matt Hood from RaboBank heard Clive had a cricket team, he suggested the clash of the aged and infirm. The first fixture was held in Martinborough in January 2011 on a very hot and windy day, and on a very hard pitch. (A bit tough for those Nelson folk!)
This battle round was fought against the TITOKI RESERVE team on January the 22nd 2012. The team are based in Nelson, and captained by John Palmer (Air NZ Chairman). Captain Clive and his team, THE WOMBLES (Winemakers of Martinborough, Bowlers, Long-offs, Extroverts and Slips ), fielded a team with a slightly lower ‘average age’! The youngest member of the team was none other than Miller Paton-Masters (Clive’s Nephew), who apparently blew the opposition away, and was eventually awarded “Man of the Match” by the opposing team.
Winning Team “by about 25 runs” WOMBLES!!! says Clive. We hope you enjoy the resulting photos of this epic encounter, and keep an eye out for Clive & Miller, you just never know where they might turn up, cricket bat in hand!
A huge southerly storm dumped 15 cm of snow on our vineyard in September. We routinely see snow on the western mountains of our valley and occasionally on local hills, but even the oldies in our village had never seen snow settled in the village itself. As a one-off it was very exciting and spectacularly beautiful.
New vintages have just been released: Celebre 2009, Pinots and Chardonnays from 2010 and this year's bright aromatics. Please contact us if you'd like a copy of the Spring Release Brochure, or join the mailing list and we'll post one to you. The silver fern cover celebrates the All Blacks triumph, and is one of the iconic symbols of our country - this one photographed by Phyll at the Ata Rangi