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French wine producer Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Wines has bought Central Otago vineyard Akarua Estate, which it hopes will eventually produce 60,000 bottles a year of premium organic pinot noir.
Bordeaux-based Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Wines received Overseas Investment Office approval to buy the 52-hectare estate, with 34.5ha of vines, in Central Otago’s Bannockburn, along with the Akarua Estate vineyard from New Zealand company the Skeggs Group.
Ariane de Rothschild, president of the Edmond de Rothschild Group, which also owns Marlborough vineyard Rimapere, said the region’s soil was world-famous for its exceptional growing conditions for pinot noir.
She said that the terroir, or environment, at Bannockburn was on par with the Burgundy region in Eastern France.
“The addition of our second New Zealand winery is part of our wider strategy to develop a portfolio of premium international wines from exceptional terroirs.
“Central Otago’s international reputation for pinot noir provides a unique opportunity for us to complete our range and move into the production of organic wines – one of the fastest growing categories,” she said.
Winemaker Ann Escalle, who was technical director at Rimapere before moving to Akarua Estate, said the soil had all the elements they were looking for, and the slope was gentle enough for the vines to be able to develop well.
Akarua Estate vineyard in Central Otago has been sold to Bordeaux-based Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Wines.
The region’s climate was known for its hot and cold extremes, but the site was not too harsh. At the same time, it was dry and windy enough to keep diseases away.
“We think that what we have here at Akarua is really top potential, and we can bring it to the world. We would like to produce some of the best pinot noirs in the world because it’s possible,” she said.
The vineyard, which produced about 80% pinot noir along with small amounts of chardonnay and riesling, was not organic yet, but work was starting on converting it immediately.
When fully converted and organically certified, the vineyard would produce more than 60,000 bottles of organic wines annually for the international and domestic markets.
The soil had all the elements required, and the slope was gentle enough for the vines to be able to develop well, said Ann Escalle.
The wines would continue to be produced under the Akarua brand. The Akarua Estate vineyard was founded in 1996 by former Dunedin mayor Sir Clifford Skeggs.
Skeggs Group managing director David Skeggs said the new owners had significant global influence and networks and would bring new opportunities for the Central Otago wine industry.
The Skeggs Group would continue to produce its Rua brand from its 90 hectares of established vineyards in the Bannockburn and Pisa sub-regions.
The nine vineyards owned by Edmond de Rothschild Heritage in France, Spain, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand produced 3.5 million bottles of wine a year.
The Jura is a wine-growing region in Eastern France, bordering Switzerland. It sits just to the east of Burgundy but feels a world apart in many ways.
Burgundy is arguably the epicentre of the “fine wine” world (although Bordeaux may have something to say about this), with a long history of monastic and aristocratic estates, tiny plots of globally treasured terroir, and today, massively inflated prices.
The Jura is historically associated with its agricultural traditions of the collective production of Comte cheese, its obscure oxidised wines matured under a veil of yeast and left in barrels for literally years (much like a very cold climate dry sherry), and perhaps for its particular mountain-country style moonshine.
Or, just as likely, it was the admittedly very picturesque backcountry region you passed through on your way to skiing in the Alps. Until 20 years ago, it would be fair to say that most people in France, let alone the rest of the world, barely thought of this quiet, seemingly isolated region as much more than an oddity of the wine world.
But after a week spent tasting the region’s wines and visiting its winemakers, the transformation is startling. Both in terms of the wines being made here and, even more so, the wine world’s perception of the region.
I spent the first two days of my stay at Le Nez dans le Vert (the name translates literally as Nose in the Green, but is a play on Nose in the Glass, with a wink to organics), a wine fair featuring a line-up of many of the best organic wine producers of the region.
Since all of the stars of the region farm organically, that means, in practical terms, that is really a collection of simply the region’s best wines.
This is part of the region’s transformation and the attention it is now receiving. Small, determined, and very hands-on family-run estates committed to laborious viticulture, have shone a spotlight on the incredible potential of the region’s unique soils and its cold climate to produce astounding and nuanced wines.
NACHO DOMÃNGUEZ ARGENTA/UNSPLASH “After a week there, I’m convinced the wines of this region are among the best being made anywhere.”
While this is also true of changes in many grape-growing regions over the last couple of decades, the underlying factor in the Jura is they are exceptionally blessed in terms of “terroir”, and much of its potential is yet to be discovered.
When I first attended Le Nez dans le Vert around a decade ago, the wines were already great, but as a buyer, you always felt you could largely give or take what you wanted. This time, as I visited winemakers, I met buyers, journalists and wine fans from Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, London, New York, Tokyo and Seoul.
The global thirst for Jura wines is seemingly unquenchable. Somewhat victims of their own success, many of the winemakers at the tasting spent much of their time apologetically explaining why they couldn’t sell wine to new clients. Demand now greatly outruns supply.
I’m pretty sceptical about hype in the wine world; for whatever reason, it’s a business that seems to invite hyperbole, but after a week there, I’m convinced the wines of this region are among the best being made anywhere.
And there’s plenty to say they are going to get even better. I’ve met many exciting, driven young winemakers making their first wines for every “star” of the region whose wines and vineyards I was looking forward to visiting before I got here.
Some locals and others from all corners of the globe came to the region to work for and learn from the trailblazing generation before them, who are now putting down roots in the Juracian soil and pushing even further forward.
Much like its wines, the region is charged with energy and life today. As much as there are many reasons for optimism for the region’s future, especially if, like me, you find yourself seduced by its wines, there are twin menaces on the horizon.
The first is the effect of climate change. In one sense, the general warming of the planet is something that has driven interest in traditionally cooler regions like the mountainous Jura. But with it, global warming has also brought unpredictable and dramatic weather events. The 2021 vintage in Jura was hit with a double blow of heavy frosts in early spring, killing off much of the early season growth, and then weeks of rain throughout the summer, creating significant problems with mildew and odium.
BIG DODZY/UNSPLASH “After a week there, I’m convinced the wines of this region are among the best being made anywhere.” In New Zealand, we’re lucky to have a few key importers bringing in some of the best producers from the Jura.
Winemakers have recounted losses of production of up to 85%. The financial pressure that creates is very difficult to bear for a region based on small family-run farms. Similar climatic events have menaced several of the last decade’s harvests.
The cruel irony is that just as the hard-earned attention of the wine world has turned to Jura, the hard-working winemakers have nowhere near enough wine to satisfy that demand and finally see financial returns on years of commitment and investment.
Although it was alarming to see up close, I was aware of the problems with yield from conversations with friends and winemakers before my trip. What I hadn’t expected was the effect of the global wine market on the region, or more specifically, on the access of the region’s wines to wine lovers.
I encountered many stories of Jura wine bottles 10-15 years ago that was easily accessible to anyone but are now being traded on grey markets at prices in excess of 1000 euros a bottle. Speculation is a menace for genuinely interested consumers and winemakers who are still selling their wine for more or less the same low prices as they have for years in the hope their wines end up in the glasses of enthusiastic wine lovers.
As small artisan producers are struggling to keep going in the face of diminished yields, speculators are making fortunes and inflating the market beyond the reach of most. It seems anathema to the spirit of this wild, strange and beautiful region. And again, I’m reminded that Burgundy is so close by.
In New Zealand, we’re lucky to have a few key importers bringing in some of the best producers from the Jura. As befits this off-centre region, it’s tricky to recommend specific wines, as availability is complicated. Best try tracking these wines down either directly through their importers or at one of the following switched-on wine bars or restaurants.
In Auckland, try out Star Superette or their affiliated restaurant Bar Celeste, both on Karangahape Rd, or take a trip to Cave a Vin on the North Shore. In Wellington, the restaurant Highwater or wine bar Puffin are good ports of call if you want an introduction to Jura wine. Gatherings in Christchurch are a good starting point for those curious about Jura wines in the South Island.
Maison Vauron is the New Zealand importer of cult southern Jura winemaker J-F Ganevat and also of the trailblazing Domaine Tissot, who makes stellar oxidative wines. Domaine du Pelican is the Jura project of the esteemed Burgundy producer Guillaume d’Angerville, based on their purchase of the estate of the “Pope of the Jura” Jacques Puffeney. In New Zealand, their wines are imported by Peter Maude Fine Wines.
Domaine Bottes Rouges are one of the many new ambitious producers of the region. Their wines are imported to New Zealand by Wine Diamonds.
Contact any of the above to find out what Jura gems are available and where to find them.
