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If you drilled down from New Zealand through the earth’s centre, where would you come out, Iberia? If it were not in Spain, it would level with the wine heart of Portugal.
Therefore, there must be something special that links the viticulture and the wines of our two countries.
Victor from Confidant Wines will present a mix of special boutique wines from New Zealand, some wonderful new wines from Portugal, and several repeated favourites.
This is your chance to try some new varieties and vineyards and support one Hawkes Bay vineyard (with a great sparkling Rosé) that was impacted after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle. The evening will take a small journey from Hawkes Bay to Nelson to Waipara in North Canterbury; and then to Portugal with an array of blended wines and, to finish, a Tawny Port. Be prepared to be impressed.
We will see the influence of terroir in Waipara wines, the influence of climate on Nelson wine, what makes Hawkes Bay special, and some delicious red styles from award-winning Casa Santos Lima vineyard in Portugal. The Portuguese selection will focus on new vintages and some previous wines that were very popular and still available. Do you remember Waipara Pinot Blanc? Something new, something known, gold medals, new vintages, comparisons and varieties to experience. This array of wines has been specially selected we believe to suit the members’ preferences for this tasting.
In summary, we will kick off with a Linden (NZ) Sparkling Rosé, followed by a Portuguese Rosé and two classic NZ white wines, Riesling and a Viognier or Chardonnay. We will then compare the new award winning Portuguese Confident red and a blended Mosaico red with a NZ Pinot Noir. We will conclude with a delicious Tawny Port from the home of all great ports.
We look forward to enjoying these wines with you. Please remember your tasting glasses.
Blenheim-based Yealands wants to eventually absorb more greenhouse gas than it emits, making it climate positive. That’ll require the winemaker to cut its footprint by 5% every year, sustainability head Michael Wentworth tells Olivia Wannan.
When did Yealands’ sustainability journey begin?
In 2008, when we launched, it was Peter Yealands’ vision to lead the world in sustainable wine production. We have a philosophy: think boldly, tread lightly.
We were the first winery in the world to be certified as carbon-zero, from day one.
In sustainability, there’s never a finishing post. There are always improvements.
What are the major contributors to a winegrower’s footprint?
Michael Wentworth, Yealands sustainability general manager, is excited by the vineyard’s green plans.
Our operations here – the vineyard and winery – make up about 35% of our footprint. Of that, diesel and electricity are key.
That leaves 65% – the primary emissions are packaging and freight. This is challenging, because you have to work with multiple parties and countries. The big gains are beyond our vineyard boundary.
How do you get that to net-zero?
Diesel powered our irrigation pumps, though we’ve electrified those. We’re using smaller tractors, better suited to lighter work. Before, we had large agricultural tractors.
We reduced diesel emissions by planting wildflowers and legumes down the vineyard rows, so you don’t have to mow as regularly. The beauty of that is it naturally increases biodiversity within the vineyard and carbon and water in the soil.
We’ve got a significant composting operation.
Winemaking can be electricity-intensive. Right throughout the process, you’re regularly either warming wines or cooling it, depending on where your wine is at. That requires energy.
At the moment, we produce 20% of our energy requirements on site. We’ve got a solar system on our winery roof – and it was the largest array at the time, when it was installed. Within the next two years, we’ll be installing something that’s 10 times larger, on land opposite the winery. We’ll get to about 60% self-sufficient.
But what’s unique to us is that we bale a portion of vine prunings, dry them and use those as a heating source in the winery – rather than using LPG.
Increasingly, we are bottling in the market. When you’re shipping long distances, you want to be as efficient as possible. Sending packaged wine overseas means your container is full of air, or the air gaps between bottles – plus you’re shipping a heck of a lot of packaging.
By shipping more wine in less packaging, we reduce our freight footprint by 30%. In the foreign markets, you get more choice. For example, in Sweden a lot of their premium wine comes as cask wine – which is one of the lowest-emissions forms of packaging.
We calculate all our emissions and for all unavoidable ones, we purchase registered carbon credits. We’ve done that from day one. But we want to be carbon-positive by 2050 – we’ll achieve that without offsetting.
By 2050, we’ll have to sequester carbon: whether that’s planting native trees or using biochar, which locks carbon away in the soil.
2050 sounds like a long way away. To get there we need to reduce our carbon footprint by at least 5% every year. And by 2030, we want to reduce our emissions by at least 50%.
From 2013 to now, we’ve reduced our footprint by about 25%. There’s still a lot of work to be done.
What happened with Yealands’ eco bottle?
Yealands already has solar panels on its facility roof – but will expand its generation at a nearby site.
It was a PET plastic product, which had emissions advantages. A lighter bottle uses less resources, and when you’re moving that bottle, you produce fewer emissions transporting it.
It was always a starting point, in our quest to find a biodegradable product that stopped the wine being oxidised.
The public wasn’t really ready. We found people were buying it more for convenience, than the environmental aspect. It was easier to use outdoors, and doesn’t break.
Shoppers’ acceptance is key. There was a push against plastic. Ultimately, we didn’t progress.
How will a warming climate affect wine production?
Over the last six months in Marlborough, we’ve had three significant weather events that have impacted our ability to get to the winery and our ability to export our wine via Nelson.
Our industry is very reliant on the weather. A small change in temperature or the environment has a noticeable impact on the flavour profile of your wine. Marlborough sauvignon blanc is so distinctive on the international stage, so a small change in climate has the potential to affect the wines we produce. It is scary.
People are looking at ways to adapt – but the argument should be: what can we do to prevent it?
We believe that a more biodiverse vineyard is a more resilient one. The more we plant native trees and wildflowers, the less inputs we need to make and the better our vines will be.
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.
Nelson’s Tohu Wines are the toast of the New Zealand wine industry after taking out a coveted ‘Best in Show’ prize at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Over the course of two weeks of rigorous wine-testing in London in June, Tohu’s Whenua Matua Chardonnay stood out from amongst the 18,000 wines judged, to win one of the 50 Best in Show accolades.
As the only New Zealand winery to receive a Best in Show award, it was a major achievement for Tohu – the world’s first Māori-owned winery.
French wines dominated the Best in Show category with 15 awards, along with nine from Spain and seven from Italy.
Decanter organisers said while New Zealand was more well-known for its Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand Chardonnay had been quietly building its success in recent years. At the 2021 awards, Chardonnays from less-expected places like Canada and Germany also received Best in Show awards.
Tohu Wines’ 2018 Whenua Matua Chardonnay received one of the 50 Best in Show accolades at the 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards.
The Whenua Matua Chardonnay 2018 is a single-vineyard wine grown in the rich clay soils of the Upper Moutere region. The only other time a Nelson winery has won best in show for chardonnay was in 1992 when Neudorf Winery won for its 1991 Chardonnay, also grown in similar Moutere-clay soil.
Tohu winemaker Bruce Taylor said the Chardonnay was all about showcasing a single vineyard.
“Whenua Matua translates as ‘significant lands’ and the changing angles and orientations of the vineyard blocks lend themselves to the complexities of winemaking.
“The wine is selected from the very best barrels of our hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed 15-year-old Chardonnay vines.
“These single-vineyard wines hold great structure, exceptional varietal characteristics, texture and complexity.”
Owned by the Kono food and beverage company, Tohu Wines was established in 1998 and around 200,000 cases of wine are produced at its winery in the Awatere Valley.
Kono chief executive Rachel Taulelei says the company is immensely proud of winning the Decanter Best in Show award.
Tohu Wines also received a Gold Medal for its 2020 Sauvignon Blanc at the Decanter Awards.
“The chardonnay is a special release for us and follows on from our 23-year celebration last year. Each wine in the Whenua series is an expression of the uniqueness of our tūranagawaewae, our standing place, and our connection to the land.
“To be acknowledged and singled out from thousands of wines in such a prestigious wine competition is confirmation that care for the land and its bounty is tōtika, a beautiful balance.”
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.”
Well, December already team. It has been a strange year with a few downs to go along with the ups for some of us on a personal level.
That is not to say that it has been a bad year for our Cellar Club, quite the contrary in fact. Let’s review our year. By a long-established tradition, we began with our summer BBQ at the end of January. The usual excellent occasion and we continue to appreciate that Derek makes his premises available. February saw us heading to Askerne Estate in Hawkes Bay. The Hawkes Bay wineries never let you down. March was with the very well established Villa Maria presenting. While the winery originated in Auckland, the company has expanded over the years and produces wines from most of the major regions in New Zealand.
April saw something of a coup for the club with Joelle Thomson presenting. Joelle is a well-recognised personality in the New Zealand wine world as an author, wine writer and tutor. Another great tasting. May is the inevitable AGM then in June Simon Bell from Colab Wine Merchants took us on a tour of Europe. Simon brought along some large wine glasses and some time was spent on discussing the virtues and differences that wine glasses can make to your wine experience. On to July for the mid-year dinner at the Trade Kitchen.
Off to Nelson for the August tasting with Waimea Estate. Over the years Waimea has gathered 150+ Gold Medals and 26 Trophies across nine different wine styles. Nelson producers are right up there as a wine region. Cenna Lloyd for Negociants presented in September. She presented wines from two wineries, Misha’s Vineyard and Two Paddocks, both from Central Otago. Much enjoyed by those who attended and really great orders from a smaller group attending.
In October we celebrated the Rugby World Cup with a selection of wines from countries competing in the Cup. Keith Tibble was the presenter. November saw the very early return of Cenna Lloyd for the South American wine and food match evening outlined below. Cenna had been to South American after presenting in September and was keen to share her experience.
It only remains to anticipate yet another December Dinner. We have been to Cashmere Lounge before and we are sure you will not be disappointed.
Waimea Estates is one of Nelson’s larger producers with over 140 hectares of their own vineyards. The cool climate and alluvial soils of Nelson’s Waimea plains combined with the highest sunshine hours in New Zealand allow vibrant, fruit-focused wines to be made.
Waimea’s export varieties are based on highly awarded Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir, and over the years Waimea has gathered 150+ Gold Medals and 26 Trophies across nine different wine styles – proving the versatility Waimea and the Nelson region provides. More next month.
Head to cellar doors to taste some of these great New Zealand chardonnays. Photograph: Alamy
Fictional chardonnay swillers, Bridget Jones, and Kath and Kim have a lot to answer for when it comes to one of the world’s noblest grapes, and why, for the past 10 years or so, many of us have stopped drinking it. Not only has it become uncool to drink chardonnay but the product itself has suffered due to the deluge of cheaply produced, homogenised and heavily oak-chipped versions of this most versatile Vinifera. The 1980s and 90s were awash with over-the-top, tropically scented, fat, blousy and nearly chewable renderings of the grape that Australian winemakers went on to conquer the world with.
Back in its hometown of Chablis, France, chardonnay has been revered for more than 500 years. Depending on where and how it’s grown, the grape’s versatility is unquestionable. Great examples can swing from lean, steeled, cold stream refreshment, to sweet late harvest wines of heady line and length, stopping at all stations, good, bad, and ugly, as it goes. Nowadays, a zippy glass of sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, is more popular with your average drinker than a glass of heavy, creamy, chardonnay. In fact, sav blanc accounts for 72% of the total wine produced by New Zealanders, with Aussies being the largest export market.
You could argue that if scenes from Kath and Kim were being written today, these reflective characters would, more than likely, be pouring themselves a glass of Sauvy Bee, instead of “Kar-don-ay”. But chardonnay is timeless, and its ability to match effortlessly with food means phrases like, “ABC; Anything But Chardonnay”, is something you will rarely ever hear spoken, by those in the know.
I love New Zealand chardonnay. In the warmer, sunnier climes of the north, in places such as Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and Nelson (top of the South Island), chardonnay is scented with fresh tropical fruits and rounded textures, similar to the rolling hills that bound along the horizon. The further south you go, the cooler it gets, and chardonnay grown in the Marlborough, Waipara, and Central Otago regions, here, express their revitalising, snow peaked landscapes, as New Zealand’s alpine country pushes further up, into the sky.
Chardonnay – worth giving up your sauv blanc for. Photograph: Corbis
After a recent visit, here are my top picks of New Zealand chardonnay.
James and Annie Millton have been biodynamic before it was cool. Second tier, but by no means second rate, the Shotberry chardonnay is like a safe option gateway drug into the wonderful world of northern New Zealand chardy. A blend from two distinct estate owned sites, Riverpoint and Opou, this wine is like drinking Gisborne in a glass. Ripe yellow fruits and florals, cooled by ocean spray, ripple above a barely noticeable raft of oak, which seems only there for textual protection, rather than full-blown armament.
2013, Bilancia Chardonnay, Bilancia, Hawke’s Bay, 13%, $29
Winegrowers, Lorraine Leheny and Warren Gibson are all about balance. There are six letters in both of their last names, they are both Libran, and their wines taste as if Lady Justice had made them herself, hence the name; ‘”bi’lancia” (be-larn-cha), meaning balance, harmony and equilibrium in Italian. If their La Collina syrah is the rapture, then this chardonnay is like some kind of intense party beforehand. The smell of gunsmoke and soft white flowers mingle with the air inside the glass, carrying with it pear skin, white stone fruit and salted honey aromas, while flavours of crisp green apple, buttery shortbread, like baked apple pie with slices of white peach glazed on top, provide the formula for flavour in this divine example of chardonnay from Hawke’s Bay.
Andrew Greenhough is a man with a masters in art history, who gave up his ambitions of being an art gallery curator – a career which would have seen him showcasing other people’s artistic creations – and instead moved to Nelson with his wife Jenny, where they purchased a vineyard, in a place called Hope. There they set out to grow and create their very own works of art. This wine showcases the real strength of this region’s potential for making great chardy, à la the revered clays hills of the Moutere. Breathe deep, the golden sunlit liquid that possesses fleshy aromas of yellow nectarine, salted buttered popcorn, and green pineapple core. Luscious, not lean, curvaceous, never flabby. This wine is not distributed in Australia, and I have no idea why, but if you are travelling in the region it’s worth stocking up on.
2014, Chardonnay, Te Whare Ra (TWR), Marlborough, Certified Organic, 13.2%, $38
Anna and Jason Flowerday take winegrowing very seriously. After all, their livelihood depends on it. That’s why all their wines have a certain laser-guided precision about them, which is not to say that they lack soul, but rather, drinking a TWR white wine is like listening to a high-fidelity live performance of Daft Punk, circa 2007.
Last year was an outstanding year for the Flowerday’s, and it shows in this vitally brilliant single estate wine. Imagine, butter melting on hot river stones while cool glacial waters that smell like white linen flowers, citrus, crunchy nectarine and other stone fruits rush over them at pace, cleansing and cooling the stones, and leaving behind fine mineral traces of residual adrenaline and joy … well, that would be an understatement.
2014, Home Chardonnay, Black Estate, Waipara , 12.5%, $45
Located in North Canterbury, on New Zealand’s South Island, Waipara valley is home to a number of premium winegrowing estates, including Black Estate, where they grow chardonnay from 21-year-old vines that were last irrigated in 1998. Winegrower, Nick Brown’s meticulous attention to detail has resulted in a wine that is all torque, which is backed up with precise lines and sleek curves. In another life, Nick may have been an Italian carmaker.
Full secondary ferment provides a textual grip that seems to have done nothing to squash the racy acids this wine drives along on. Gunsmoked cheddar, lemon spritz and coconut shavings provide the perfect hook to open wide and drink deep all the angular richness of mango skins, lace, and green pineapple core that’s held inside the glass.
The Central Otago landscape was carved from hyperbole. The mountains, the ranges, the rivers and lakes, the snow, the dirt, and the green, then gold, then red leafed vines. From sunrise to sunset, Central Otago is proof that God is a wine drinker.
Felton Road might just be the most unimaginative name for a wine label, and yet they make some of the most captivating wines in the country. The Block 3 chardonnay is deeply golden in colour and smells like frozen tropical fruits; crisp melon, fleshy pineapple, mango skins – then, soft lime, nuts and spiced honey. Upon each element sits tiny frozen flakes of ice, providing razored tension. Like sails unfurling in the wind, this wine is supple, nimble, and graceful as it goes in a round, around your mouth, down past your heart to, at last, rest in your belly and shine sunlight on your soul.
Things are now starting to settle and it looks like the rest of the year’s programme might actually proceed without the hitches that have upset the programme for the first half of the year. Having said that, and as my old Gran was fond of saying “it’s an ill wind that turns none to good”, the resulting changes have been very successful as is evidenced by this month’s tasting.
Vines of Nelson
Of course, some members may not fully understand the drive that leads your committee in the quest for new and interesting tastings. Below is a picture of your President and Secretary undertaking the arduous task of investigating the effects of terroir and climate on the vines of Nelson. Such deep and meaningful research is not foreign to us.
