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The evening with Everything Pinot was a tippling success, with 37 people turning up for the Club’s own members to present to, plus a special guest for the evening’s last pinot – John Dawson with a whisky distilled in pinot barrels from Central Otago’s Lammermoor, ‘a farm to bottle distillery’: Lammermoor Distillery.
We tasted our way through the Club’s cellar after our opening pinot Waipara Hills Pinot Noir Rose’. Followed up with three 2017 Pinot Gris, from Peregrine Saddleback, Giesen Marlborough and Church Road McDonald series. The comparisons were quite distinct, and the discussion was good.
This was then followed by three 2016 Pinot Noirs, from Peregrine Saddleback Central Otago, Yealands Reserve Marlborough, and Russian Jack Martinborough.
Drink up NZ’s rich history with a trip to one of our venerable vineyards, writes Jo Burzynska.
Sauvignon Blanc has the wow factor in Marlborough. Photo / MarlboroughNZ
On September 25, 1819, the Anglican missionary Reverend Samuel Marsden recorded planting the first grapevines in New Zealand in the grounds of the Stone Store, Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands. Sadly these never produced wine, allegedly being gobbled by local goats. Nevertheless, the promise that Marsden perceived for wine in Aotearoa has now been amply proven, and can be experienced alongside its history at vinous milestones that span the length of the country.
Bay of Islands – Vine Zero
Marsden Estate in Wiroa Road, Kerikeri. Photo / Supplied
Greater wine-growing success was achieved with the arrival of British wine enthusiast, James Busby to the Bay of Islands. He made New Zealand’s earliest recorded wine from vines planted in his grounds at Waitangi in 1833, described by French explorer Dumont d’Urville as “delicious”. While the wine industry followed more suitable climes and moved south, good wines still hail from this historic region. Head to Marsden Estate in Kerikeri, established 176 years after its namesake planted his vines. Select six wines to try at its cellar door, or grab a glass to savour in its subtropical – and goat-free – vineyard gardens or at its restaurant.
Gisborne – Organic Trailblazer
Millton, New Zealand’s first biodynamic vineyard. Photo / Supplied
Long before the New Zealand wine industry promoted its wines as the riches of a clean green land, James and Annie Millton were walking the talk. The couple established the country’s first organic and biodynamic wine estate in 1984 with the planting of their first vineyard near Manutuke where earlier settlers had planted grapevines in 1871. They now combine classic wines like their chardonnay with edgier examples in the skin-fermented whites of the Libiamo range influenced by the younger generation of Milltons. Sample these at their cellar door, set in beautifully landscaped grounds complete with olive grove.
Hawke’s Bay – Oldest Winery
Mission Estate Winery in Hawke’s Bay. Photo / Mission Estate
Christian orders helped spread the vine as well as their religion around the world, and it was Marist missionaries that transplanted vines from Bay of Islands to Hawke’s Bay, and in 1851 built the country’s oldest winery, Mission Estate. Its cellar door, housed in an imposing former seminary building, offers seated tastings that include insights into its history. Visitors can then wander through its underground cellar and extensive gardens that look out to sea, with an option to dine in its recently refurbished restaurant.
Wairarapa – Pinot’s First Place
Guests enjoying the sun at Ata Rangi vinyards, Martinborough. Photo / Pete Monk
New Zealand’s potential for Pinot Noir can be traced back to Wairarapa, where in the early 1880s Frenchwoman Marie Zelie Beetham and her husband William, planted the country’s first pinot vineyard near Masterton. Temperance put paid to that endeavour, but pinot noir grows once again at one of their vineyard sites, now Lansdowne Estate. Martinborough pioneers, such as Ata Rangi’s Clive Paton, then founded the modern pinot industry in 1980s. Ata Rangi continues to produce some of the country’s finest examples, which can be explored, along with its history, through intimate tastings held in their charming old winery cellar door.
Nelson – South Island Pioneers
The Neudorf Winery, Nelson. Photo / Supplied
In the early days of New Zealand wine, most vineyards were planted in the North Island as it was considered grapes couldn’t ripen further south. However, in the 1970s some brave souls started to plant vines on the mainland, including Tim and Judy Finn who founded Neudorf in Nelson when nobody knew what varieties might thrive there. Now they make some of the country’s top chardonnay and pinot noir.
These can be enjoyed at their cute cellar door overlooking their first Home Block vineyard, where picnic fare can also be selected from the “baby deli”.
Marlborough – Sauvignon Country Roots
Sauvignon Blanc has the wow factor in Marlborough. Photo / MarlboroughNZ
Our flagship Marlborough sauvignon blanc is a fairly new phenomenon. Planted there in 1973, on what is now Brancott Estate Vineyard, it went on to wow the world when Hunter’s Sauvignon Blanc won the UK’s prestigious Sunday Times Vintage Festival in 1986. Hunter’s still excels at sauvignon, as well as sparkling wines, which are shared in its farmhouse tasting room set in tranquil native gardens. The next generation continues to innovate, with the experimental Offshoot range that includes a naturally sparkling sauvignon “pet-nat”. Marlborough’s earliest history can be encountered at Auntsfield Estate, the site of the region’s first commercial vineyard and winery founded by David Herd in the 1870s. Take in the historic sites, such as the restored 1873 rammed earth cellar, on a vineyard tour and taste the impressive wines made by the Cowley family who re-established vines on the property.
Canterbury – Humble Beginnings
Take a trip around New Zealand’s oldest vineyards and wineries. Photo / Graeme Murray
An important chapter of Canterbury’s contemporary wine history started three decades ago in a Christchurch garage. This belonged to neurologist Ivan Donaldson, whose winemaking hobby resulted in Pegasus Bay, which went on to become a flagship winery of the region. Knowledgeable staff at its Waipara cellar door can talk you through its exciting range of wines. These can also be partaken of in the winery’s fabulous gardens or inside by the fire as part of a picnic of local fare from the mini deli it launches in December.
Central Otago – Natural Succession
Looking down over its sloping vineyards to Lake Wanaka, the views from Rippon vineyard are iconic. Photo / David Wall
It’s rare for a family to spend over a century cultivating their land, never mind close to 40 years in the wine-growing industry in New Zealand – and even rarer in Central Otago, where the wine industry only took off in recent decades. However, Rippon has long and strong ties to their special land, now managed biodynamically by second-generation winegrower Nick Mills. The views from Rippon Hall, where its cellar door is situated, are iconic, looking down over its sloping vineyards to Lake Wānaka and the mountains. Rippon’s site-expressive wines are equally spectacular.
Chef Al Brown and his winemaking friends launch Tipping Point, a wine brand that supports charities close to Brown’s heart and celebrates the regions.
If you want to follow something developing in New Zealand’s wine industry at the moment, go to the stuff.co.nz website and featured videos – Al Brown’s Tipping Point Project.
Al Brown – a well-known chef and entrepreneur has a new venture being developed with Rowan Dean of Constellation Wines, Gary Stewart, his graphic designer and Melanie Mark-Shadbolt who is the CE of Te Tira Whakamātaki Foundation [one of the charities that some profits will go towards]. They are developing a wine brand, without featuring Al’s face or name, that will bring wine to the people.
Al’s visions for this venture are to bring wine down to earth, making the experience unstuffy and a more relaxed experience to encourage people to have a tipple and gain knowledge at their level. To take some of the exclusivity out of the experience, even drinking wine from a tumbler (as some restaurants already do) so more people are relaxed with choosing something they actually like to drink.
In the first video Al was touring through three of our wine regions: Hawkes Bay, Central Otago and Marlborough. Exciting stuff!
Brian was a consummate presenter of his wines and his varied vineyards in the Marlborough region. His whiteboard diagrams and explanations of how, why and what consummated good wines, grounds, countries differences and weather were educational for us all, helped along by his sense of humour.
He reinforced to us that this year’s vintage was very good, very early and very small. And that this may be good for smaller vineyards as the quality is very good. He also thought we could all benefit from some fine wines being drunk.
It was the 21st vintage for Mahi, and because of COVID all of their vintage staff were from NZ!
Brian also had his son Max back from a winery in New York to do his first full crush here at his winery, which was very special for them both.
Because of COVID and the increase of wine consumption at home worldwide (in the developed world), Marlborough went into vintage with hardly any available wine and after a vintage that was down by possibly 30% there will be a supply problem, perhaps for a couple of years, depending on the weather this year.
Our tasting on the evening involved vertical tastings, which was something different for us and most interesting. Wines tasted during the evening were:
2020 Mahi Marlborough Rose’ – welcome tipple
2019 Mahi Marlborough Sauv Blanc
2019 Mahi Boundary Farm Sauv Blanc
2019 Mahi Marlborough Chardonnay
2017 Mahi ‘Twin Valleys’ Chardonnay
2016 Mahi ‘The Trine’ Chardonnay
2019 Mahi Marlborough Pinot Noir
2019 Mahi ‘win Valleys’ Pinot Noir – pre-release, not for sale at the moment.
A dearth of grapes this vintage has forced a family-owned winery in Marlborough to turn down a new customer in Europe. But it’s not just the smaller operations struggling. One of the biggest players in the global drinks industry, Pernod Ricard, is also reporting it is unable to meet the global demand for Marlborough wine this year, in particular sauvignon blanc, due to the region’s low yield.
One estimate puts the take of sauvignon blanc grapes down 30 per cent against long-term averages, due to early frosts and cool weather during the flowering season.
A Pernod Ricard Winemakers spokesperson said the company was in talks with its partners to determine how it should prioritise supply for customers “in the context of the strong ongoing global demand for the sauvignon blanc category”.
The volume shortage meant the family-owned Marisco Vineyards had to walk away from a deal in Germany to make sure it could supply its long-time customer base.
Marisco Vineyards general manager sales and marketing Siobhan Wilson said the winery, which employs about 80 people, didn’t want to sacrifice one market for another.
“The key focus for us this year is to look after the partnerships we’ve developed over the years … We have a long-term contract with annual supply conversations starting around January-February, which is tricky as vintage happens [March-April].
“So I have to take what our customers would like versus what we have got coming in.”
Marisco started blending this week, so it would have a full picture of what was available, and when, in the next couple of weeks, Wilson said.
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said Aotearoa hit a record-breaking $2 billion in New Zealand wine exports at the end of last year. “Exports to our key international markets have increased beyond expectations over the past 18 months, and we saw an increase of 19 per cent for the first four months of the new export year (July to October 2020), at the same time in 2019.
“We are already seeing supply and demand tension as a result, and we expect that many wineries will face tough decisions on who they can supply in their key markets over the next year,” Gregan said.
And while increased demand and reduced supply might push up prices, Wilson said they had to be careful.
“We are not just going to put the price up because it is in short supply, because next year what happens if we have a bumper vintage, and we’ve got plenty of wine, do you then discount it?
“What is important when you are selling wine, and when you are building a brand, is a consistency of quality and price.
“So, we all have a responsibility to ensure that we sell at a good price and the right price,” Wilson said.
Ongoing labour shortages, due to the closure of New Zealand’s borders and the restricted number of RSE workers, had also piled pressure onto wine companies.
Wilson said they had challenges coming at them every day and a short vintage was just one of them.
“We have got massive challenges in Marlborough getting wine shipped offshore because of the shortages of boats coming in, the restriction of space … and it is all the result of the pandemic.
“At Marisco Vineyards we are really resilient, my team have been working for me for a long time, and they have experienced many challenges over the year, so we just deal with it.
“The key thing is the communication with our customers and being really honest with them about the situation,” she said.
Nautilus harvest 2021. Photo Credit: Richard Briggs
Grape yields across the country have taken a hit from poor flowering, but growers and winemakers are welcoming beautiful fruit and a kind ripening season.
Nautilus Estate Winemaker and General Manager Clive Jones said on 18 March that vintage ’21 in Marlborough was progressing well. “The fruit is pristine in quality but down across the board in quantity – particularly for Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris,” he said.
“At the halfway stage through the Sauvignon harvest, crops are moderate but flavours are fantastic.
Clive said the weather had been close to perfect, “with barely a glance required at the weather forecast”, and Nautilus was on track to have completed picking before the end of March, “our earliest finish ever”.
Jules Taylor, Gourmet Traveller Wine’s 2021 New Zealand Winemaker of the Year says all varieties are lower than the long-term average and agrees Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris are particularly light, “which is a shame”, but is also the reality of horticulture.
The silver lining is that the fruit is beautiful and clean, thanks to a great summer.
“The weather is playing the game and the mood is so different to last year, with Covid,” she says. “It’s back to the old days, with all the banter in the field.”
Jules says the 2020 harvest was a case of keeping the panic at bay and getting the fruit off as fast as possible, “in case Covid decided to rear its ugly head”.
The contrast with 2021 is extreme. “This year we can pick exactly when we want to, in terms of capturing the essence of Marlborough at its best – it’s a delight.”
In Central Otago, Viticulturist James Dicey says yields are variable, with some subregions doing “really well”, while others are “exceptionally” low, with expectations of as little as two tonnes to the hectare predicted for some blocks.
That’s due to a cold initiation period that resulted in smaller bunches, and unsettled weather during flowering, causing some hen and chicken and poorly set bunches.
He says the weather averages for the season look typical but have resulted from big blocks of extreme conditions. “We have been seeing quite big swings in weather variability, which has stressed the grapevines and stressed out the viticulturists.
However, he has been pleased by a “really nice” and consistent ripening period and “coolish” nights and says the positive of the small yields is the “really high-quality fruit” and lack of disease pressure.
That gives growers “the luxury of time with picking decisions”, and the option of leaving fruit out for longer, if required. And that could be key to getting fruit in this harvest, with labour at “dire” levels due to border closures, he says.
James has spent more time and money than ever before advertising harvest roles, including to viticulture and oenology students, in backpacker lodges and on all bulletin boards, and directed to the remaining hospitality staff in the area.
The main pressure is on staff for hand picking, with little of the area suitable for machine harvesting.
James says some blocks that have never been machine picked before now have that option as a backup plan, but in many cases, a handpick is the only option, because of a steep aspect or small size. Two of the blocks he works with, for example, are 0.3 hectares, “so it’s not economical to have a machine turn up”.
James says staff are “trickling” in, “but if we don’t get what we want or quite what we need, then the harvest will be delayed or protracted… we are encouraging wineries to pick early and pick hard”.
In Hawke’s Bay, Esk Valley Winemaker Gordon Russell says they have experienced lower yields, with a general drop of around 20 per cent, due largely to poor flowering.
He says Sauvignon Blanc yields have done better than Chardonnay and the reds, which have small berries and loose bunches. The low yields and lack of rain means there has been no disease pressure, and cooling conditions are creating an enviable ripening period, allowing acids to drop without sugars climbing too high. “There seems no hurry at the moment.”
Esk Valley picked white varieties up to 19 March, and Gordon says the harvest to date has delivered grapes of excellent quality.
He expects wine to be “bright, fresh and pure”.
The labour situation has been manageable in Hawke’s Bay, with viticulture sharing picking gangs with other horticulture industries, he says. “We seem to have been able to get in what we wanted when we wanted it, so it hasn’t been an issue.”
However, that’s also down to a strategic approach, which has seen handpicking tonnages drop slightly, allowing selective machine harvesting to ease some labour pressure.”
At Matawhero, Owner Kristen Searle says tonnages are about average for a Gisborne season “and with great ripening weather it will be a great vintage for Gisborne wines”.
Kirsten says apart from some frost damage at budburst in some vineyards, the season generally has been good and has produced “some exceptional fruit”.
Matawhero began picking on 22 February, which is their earliest start ever.
“The season saw higher growing degree days and heat summation during the season which would have ensured the early pick. We also experienced low disease pressure and good brix, acid and Ph balance at harvest.”
New Zealand’s wine industry built its name on sav, but we’ve been putting all our eggs in one basket for too long, writes Jules van Costello.
Savvy represents 63% of New Zealand’s area under vine, 74% of our wine production and a whopping 88% of our exports by volume, meaning for every dozen bottles of wine we export, over 10 of those are sauvignon blanc. Photo: Getty Images
I like to think of sauvignon blanc as the IPA of wine. It’s brash, bombastic and a little bit basic (in a good way). Like IPA, its tropical aromas of guava, passionfruit, lemongrass and a little bit of sweat jump forth from the glass. In the words of wine educator Oz Clark: “There had never before been a wine that crackled and spat its flavours at you from the glass”. It should not be surprising that some of the flavours in savvies and IPAs are the same – New Zealand’s most acclaimed hop variety, Nelson Sauvin, is named for its olfactory similarity to Marlborough sauvignon blanc.
Savvy is easy to understand and even easier to like. In the world of wine, which has a tendency to disempower consumers by letting so-called “experts” hoard knowledge, this is unequivocally a good thing.
Sauvignon blanc put New Zealand on the map. It is the foundation on which the entire export side of our wine industry has been built. But sadly, there can be too much of a good thing. While writing my new book, Beyond the Vines: The Changing Landscape of New Zealand Wine, I’ve had to wrestle with the fact that while sauvignon blanc is amazing, the New Zealand wine industry has too many eggs in one basket. It represents 63% of New Zealand’s area under vine, 74% of our wine production and a whopping 88% of our exports by volume, meaning for every dozen bottles of wine we export, over 10 of those are sauvignon blanc.
In August 2020, New Zealand Winegrowers released their annual report which stated that, despite six months of Covid-19 affecting sales, we’d actually exported more wine than ever before. Big grocery brands have done incredibly well but many smaller producers are feeling the pinch. The smaller the producer, the more likely they are to be selling wine in restaurants, which is hard when restaurants are shut or diners are too scared to go out. Secondary lockdowns in Melbourne, London and even in Auckland, as well as the huge mishandling of Covid in our biggest markets – the USA and UK – have had profoundly negative effects for many Kiwi producers.
New Zealand, the forward-thinking upstart that it is, committed to free trade in the mid-1980s. We are an export economy and from my position, this has generally helped us do business. However, one of the consequences of this is that no industry is too big to fail. Our producers, unlike those in Europe, for instance, cannot rely on government intervention to keep them afloat if the arse drops out of the market.
Ripening white grapes at a vineyard in Marlborough Region, country’s largest winegrowing region with distinctive soils and climatic conditions, South Island of New Zealand. Photo: Getty Images
Sauvignon blanc is popular now across the globe, but what happens when the bubble bursts? We could face a quick trend shift à la Sideways that saw merlot’s demise, or even a sudden global event change how the wine world works overnight. Most of the players who are making big bucks on industrial sauvignon blanc will not care. They will move onto something else. The growers and the wineries will be hurting. The wine world is a slow-moving beast, but it is also a fickle one. At this stage, New Zealand does not have an exit strategy.
Savvy is important – we can make relatively high-quality juice relatively cheaply. This is what got us into this problem in the first place. But we can also make world-class wine all over New Zealand. We need to champion more serious styles of sauvignon blanc, which we excel at.
We also need to diversify, and quickly. Despite having over 55 commercial varieties being grown, land devoted to most varieties has been dwindling (all but sauvignon blanc, of course, pinot noir, pinot gris and syrah).
I myself am heavily invested in the natural and lo-fi wine game with my businesses Cult Wine and Te Aro Wine but, strangely enough, I do not think this is the saviour of the industry, nor is making more and more serious wine. We need to find something we can make relatively cheaply, well, and for which there is an international demand.
I believe light red wines are part of the answer to the problem of the sav bubble – Montepulciano from Italy, St Lauren from Austria and Gamay are all contenders. In Australia, these light reds have taken off domestically and are making waves internationally. Like sav, we can make affordable pinot relatively well so there is no reason why we cannot apply these skills to grape varieties that are a little easier to grow. I happen to like drinking light reds but this is one solution that should also suit consumers in Australia, USA and the growing Chinese market.
We also need to experiment, throw grapes at the wall to see what sticks. The bubble will pop. We need to be ready.
Saint Clair Family Estate from Marlborough with Alison Downs presenting.
Last month we had Saint Clair Family Estate from Marlborough with Alison Downs presenting.
This was an extremely well-presented evening and was enjoyed by all club members present – 40 of us!
It was interesting hearing Alison’s wine journey from the UK and Europe to the New World and her enduring wine passion and growing knowledge and experience.
The committee was unanimous in their agreement that Alison is probably the best presenter we have had in recent memory.
Our orders from the evening were substantial with people enjoying all the wines presented, especially interesting to get to sample the Pinot Blanc, a new white grape for most.
The next chapter for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is anything but traditional.
Few wines have a stronger signature style than New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Since the grape was first planted in 1975, it has become a sensation among U.S. wine drinkers — not only for its crisp character and zingy acidity but for its sheer reliability. Even without cracking the screw cap, it’s a safe bet that any given bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand will be youthful and refreshing, with fresh citrus and grassy, herbaceous notes.
“Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is truly unique and always identifiable in a lineup of Sauvignon Blancs from around the world,” says Jules Taylor, owner and winemaker of her eponymous Marlborough winery. But, she says, “it is not all the same.” Today’s producers are increasingly intent on showcasing that there’s more to Sauvignon Blanc — and to New Zealand in general — than its stylistic stereotype. Untraditional vinification techniques like barrel ageing and wild fermentation, offbeat sweet and sparkling wines, and regional distinctions outside of Marlborough are all proving that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has the potential to be an even more diverse category in the future.
Pioneers of Experimentation
ADVENTURE. HARD WORK. and insanely flavorful NEW ZEALAND WINE
Over the 40 years since Sauvignon Blanc really took off in New Zealand’s vineyards, winemakers have worked to understand the adopted variety. “Our treatment of Sauvignon Blanc has changed and evolved enormously, both in the vineyards and in the wineries,” says Craig Anderson, the winemaker at Hillersden Wines in Marlborough, who has worked in the country’s wine industry for 23 years. Today, most New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is produced to highlight aromatics and acidity, using techniques like mechanical harvesting, fermentation at very low temperatures using commercial yeasts, and clarification and bottling as early as possible.
But this signature style also stems from the natural attributes of the grape’s main production hub: Marlborough, home to nearly 89 per cent of the country’s Sauvignon Blanc. Plentiful sunshine, cool temperatures, and moderating maritime influence shape the intensely aromatic, yet piercingly acid-driven style of the wines.
“For a long time, only the ‘classic’ style was being produced,” says Taylor. “That fresh, vibrant, juicy-acidity style. [It’s] the wine that put Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc on the world wine map.” These wines garnered international attention for their unique and distinctive character — a zingy, fresh style unmatched elsewhere — and wineries worked to meet that demand.
Similarly, the rise in new styles of Sauvignon Blanc is partially in response to current market demands. “There’s a thirst for more diversity and complexity from consumers, and also recognition from Marlborough winemakers that the style needs to continue to evolve,” says Duncan Shouler, the chief winemaker for Giesen Group in Marlborough.
However, winemakers are curious by nature. With more than four decades working with the grape under their belts, New Zealand’s vintners are increasingly willing to push the boundaries of what Sauvignon Blanc can be. “Now those producers are confident of their understanding of Sauvignon Blanc, they naturally want to explore alternative expressions of the variety,” says James Healy, the co-owner of Dog Point Vineyard in Marlborough. “Almost all serious producers of Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand have at least two styles on sale.”
Interestingly, experimentation with Sauvignon Blanc styles is not entirely new in New Zealand. Many point to Cloudy Bay, one of Marlborough’s first wineries, as the pioneer of experimental Sauvignon Blanc winemaking, using techniques like wild fermentation, malolactic fermentation, and barrel ageing in the early 1990s. These early experiments resulted in some of the country’s best-known — and more widely available — untraditional Sauvignon Blancs, notably Cloudy Bay’s iconic Te Koko bottling, first created in the 1996 vintage.
Today, Te Koko showcases a different side of Sauvignon Blanc — a serious and complex version that contrasts the bright and clean Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc. The majority of the juice undergoes indigenous yeast fermentation followed by malolactic fermentation, and the wine is aged on its lees in a mix of old and new French barrels for 18 months. “This approach builds far more richness, texture, and complexity in the wines,” says Jim White, Cloudy Bay’s technical director, “while the fruit-driven aromas become more complex and some savoury, spicy notes start to show.” It is released as a three-year-old wine.
But the team behind Te Koko has also brought this experience to other wild, barrel-fermented and aged Sauvignon Blancs in New Zealand. Healy, who was one of the winemakers at Cloudy Bay from 1991 until the early 2000s, recognized the potential to craft a Sauvignon Blanc in this style from a specific parcel within the Dog Point Vineyard. “That particular vineyard … produced a wine with a distinct and concentrated citrus influence,” he says, “which, combined with these vinification techniques, made it an obvious choice to make in this way.”
Healy decided to stay away from new barriques, looking instead to other international, cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc regions. “The idea of fermentation in older seasoned barrels, as is done in parts of the Loire, appealed,” he says.
As much as Cloudy Bay’s early experiments informed the creation of Te Koko, they were also tied to the origin of the Wild Sauvignon bottling from Greywacke; co-owner Kevin Judd was Cloudy Bay’s founding winemaker, and the fruit for Te Koko’s 1992 predecessor came from Greywacke Vineyard.
“When we had our first harvest in 2009, it was natural that we would continue the less-trodden path of Sauvignon and develop our own individual style of indigenous fermented Sauvignon Blanc,” says Kimberley Judd, Kevin’s wife and a co-owner of Greywacke. “[Kevin] preferred the richer, in-depth individuality that wild yeast brings to the finished wine.”
While the Wild Sauvignon is made from the same vineyard as Greywacke’s classic Sauvignon Blanc, the two are distinct. “The result is a more savoury, herbal flavour profile in the wine, and a textural quality that builds on the structure and intensity of mouthfeel,” says Judd. “The hands-off process gives the wine some real personality and individuality.”
Exploring New Styles and Regions
Some winemakers are using the country’s signature variety to make wines that are neither still nor dry. “For me, the drive behind making alternative styles of the variety is to show wine buyers and consumers that Sauvignon Blanc as a variety is more diverse than it is given credit for,” says Taylor.
In addition to her classic Sauvignon Blanc and wild, barrel-fermented OTQ, Taylor makes a late-harvest, sweet Sauvignon Blanc in vintages that encourage the development of botrytis, a beneficial mould that grows on grapes, dehydrates them, and concentrates flavours and sugars. The style has been produced in New Zealand in tiny quantities over past decades.
“In the right vintages with good botrytis, a great wine can be made,” says Shouler, who also makes late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc.
Others are experimenting with sparkling styles of Sauvignon Blanc. While many use the tank method to highlight the grape’s intense aromatics, Hunter’s Wines in Marlborough uses the ancestral method to create its Offshoot Pet-Nat. “This Pet-Nat provides a little glimpse at the type of wine our winemakers are used to tasting in the winery before wines are prepared for bottling,” the winery writes on its website.
Because Marlborough is the centre of Sauvignon Blanc production in New Zealand, stereotypical “New Zealand” Sauvignon Blanc is really stereotypical “Marlborough” Sauvignon Blanc. But other regions work with the grape as well, though in markedly smaller quantities.
While nearby spots like Nelson on the upper South Island and Wairarapa on the lower North Island make similarly bright, mouthwatering Sauvignon Blancs, further areas are now defining their own regional styles. The warmer Hawke’s Bay, for instance, has the second-highest numbers of Sauvignon Blanc vines in New Zealand after Marlborough and makes riper, rounder varietal wines. “In the warmer regions to the north, the wines tend to be more tropical and lower in acid, and further south, they are more delicate while retaining good acidity,” says Taylor.
Even Central Otago, New Zealand’s most southerly wine region, counts a handful of Sauvignon Blanc vines among its plantings. “I’ve always portrayed the region as ‘officially too far south and too cold for Sauvignon Blanc,’” says Andy Wilkinson, the director of operations and sales for Misha’s Vineyard in Central Otago. “However, with that said, if you have the right site — one that is exposed to lots of light, both direct and reflected — you can produce the most stunning style of Sauvignon Blanc.”
The rocky soils, longer days of intense sunshine, and cool nights of Central Otago’s continental climate combine to create a gentler Sauvignon Blanc with softer fruit and lifting but less sharp acidity. “The tough conditions that we expose the vines to encourage them to put more energy into the fruit, [producing] few bunches but much more intensity,” adds Wilkinson.
Though these offbeat styles of Sauvignon Blanc are broadening the grape’s spectrum in this island nation, don’t expect that signature New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc style to disappear. “It is a style that is well suited to the geographic and climatic conditions of New Zealand’s major grape-growing regions,” says Judd. “But as the New Zealand industry matures, there will be an increased presence of what we call ‘left-field’ Sauvignon Blancs in the market.”
While this might worry those who have come to rely on the predictable nature of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc as a category, stylistic diversity doesn’t undercut the intrinsic tie of these wines to their place of origin. “I think that ultimately, this will eventuate into two, perhaps three styles that will be instantly recognizable as [being] from New Zealand,” says Healy. “The one thing that they will all share is an interpretation of the intensity of the fruit quality that we have seen consistently over the past three and a half decades out of this country. It really is unique.”
Future event for the club in late 2020 and into 2021 is packed with a range of presenters and no less than three food and wine events .
November 18th – – Our 40th Anniversary dinner at Bellamy’s (run by Logan Brown) at the Beehive
The first Club meeting was held in the month of November. To recognise that historic milestone, a celebratory dinner has been arranged, to be held at Bellamy’s by Logan Brown at their restaurant in the Beehive. This is set down for Wednesday 18 November, so check your diaries for availability.
Details will be sent out shortly, asking for your registration and to make your selection from the accompanying menu. As for any such venue, there will be a limit on numbers which means you should register quickly to secure your place.
The food promises to be of very high quality. So, book your place and go dig around in your wine stocks to find the special bottle (or two) that you think will go best with your selection to bring with you.
Your Committee is excited about this event and is sure you will be too.
December 9th –A Fun evening with CoLab, Simon Bell
January: BBQ at Derek’s
February: Coney’s for the 13th February 2021 – our postponed 40thanniversary outing to the Wairarapa [to include visits to Palliser and Grave/Alana]
