NZ’s temperate climate favours white grape varieties
(near 90% of plantings). The remaining grapes are mainly early ripening cool
climate Reds like Pinot Noir and Merlot.
WHITE WINES
SAUVIGNON
BLANC
Our most planted grape variety, which is our largest export wine and, allegedly
‘put us on the map’ internationally. (Personally I tend to attribute that to
seismic activity, and the hand of the Almighty). Nevertheless, the majority of our Savvy vines
are in Marlborough, but some grown in Nelson, Central Otago, Waipara,
Martinborough and Hawkes Bay. The
character which typifies the Marlborough and some Nelson Sauvignon Blancs, is
the acidic, intensely grassy, green bell pepper and gooseberry quality of the
aroma and flavour. Hawkes Bay
Sauvignons, on the other hand, because of the warmer climate have a less crisp
profile and can have some tropical flavours like melon and pineapple. Some winemakers take the option of allowing
the wine to ferment and/or age for a short period in oak barrels. This has the effect of softening and rounding
out the wine, normally without any detectable oak flavour. As they age, after
about three years, Sauvignon Blanc takes on vegetable characters – like tinned
peas, and asparagus.
CHARDONNAY
New Zealand’s Chardonnays, our third most planted variety, are famous for intensity
of fruit and concentrated aromas.
Winemakers have a multitude of options available to them to vary the
flavour of the wine, including - varying periods of grape skin contact,
different yeasts, types of oak, length of oak maturation, barrel toasting, and
Malolactic fermentation (a secondary bacterial ferment that removes acidic
flavours and gives smooth buttery characters).
Oak ageing for 12 months or more, imparts complexity, tannins and some
oxidation, which softens the more assertive acids. Flame-seasoned barrel treatment can add
toasty characters. Many regions grow
Chardonnay successfully, however Gisborne has earned the title ‘Chardonnay
Capital’ of NZ - and rightly so, for its full-bodied lush and fruity wines
which typically show tropical and stone fruit characters.
Hawkes Bay Chardonnays tend to taste more of citrus with some tropical
flavours. Chardonnay from Marlborough
tends more to a mineral and citrus flavour profile. Almost every region has a crack at this
variety – with Auckland’s Kumeu River being acknowledged as one of the world’s
best.
RIESLING
Riesling
is the classic white wine of Germany.
The grapes are low cropping, ripen late in the season, and flourish in
colder climates – where intensity of fruit flavour develops. Our Rieslings are mainly dry or ‘off-dry’- a
little sweet. More than 80% of plantings
are in the South Island – Marlborough, Canterbury, Waipara, Nelson and central
Otago. These cool climate areas help to
create wines with crisp acidity, which enables some of the best to age for up
to 15 years. Typical aromas and flavours can include citrus, floral
(honeysuckle, orange blossom); and dried fruit- raisins, muscatel). As Rieslings age, they can take on honey,
apricots, and dare I say it kerosene/petrol characters.
PINOT GRIS
This is
the same grape as Italian Pinot Grigio, (a distant cousin of Pinot
Noir). An increasingly trendy wine, it
can be a tad hard to nail flavour-wise, but is commonly described as tasting
like pear juice, with musky and spicy flavours – somewhere between a Riesling
and a Gewürztraminer. Plantings are
widespread in NZ, from Central Otago to North Auckland. The cooler regions in the south tend to
produce crisper, light-bodied wines - whereas the riper grapes from the north
can lead to some high alcohol, lush and full-bodied wines.
GEWÜRZTRAMINER
Okay
– most people don’t buy it because they can’t pronounce it. Get over it. ‘Gah-Vertz-Tra-Meaner.’
This is a variety best known in Alsace, the French wine region on the Rhine
bordering Germany. In NZ it has been
under-appreciated wine, which can have gorgeous spicy ginger, cinnamon and
Turkish Delight/rosewater and lychee flavours.
Gisborne, Marlborough and Hawkes Bay are the main regions, with the
majority coming from Gisborne. Cooler regions produce more mineral flavoured
wines. A fantastic match with spicy (not chilli-hot) foods e.g. Thai, Japanese.
VIOGNIER
French Rhöne grape variety with delicate light apricot flavours. Pronounced –
‘Vee-yon-yay.’ Constitutes about .05% of NZ’s grape harvest. It ripens
early; often with high sugar levels and can result in quite high in alcohol
wines. The über-groovy white wine, now that Pinot Gris has had its 15 minutes
of fame. Classic flavours are apricot and peach.
ARNEIS
Pronounced ‘Are-Nace’. North Italian grape. A tad hard
to nail flavour-wise but can be very high in alcohol, with restrained spice and
stone fruit flavours. Only two wineries here producing it – Clevedon Hills and
Coopers Creek.
RED WINES
PINOT
NOIR
Is
our second most widely planted grape variety.
The famous velvety wine of Burgundy is being produced in Marlborough,
Canterbury, Waipara, Central Otago and the Wairarapa – with the latter two
being our premium Pinot regions. Pinot
Noir thrives in cool climates, giving the wine a complexity of scents and
flavours. Not that it’s an easy grape to
grow. Pinot Noir is notoriously
difficult. Tight bunches of small, thin-skinned grapes are prone to rot late in
the season. Even when the grapes are
crushed, it takes a skilled winemaker to turn it into a successful wine.
Domestically,
a large proportion of ours goes into Champagne style sparkling wines like
Lindauer, usually combined with Chardonnay. Clear Pinot juice is fermented
without any contact with the skins – hence a white wine results.
Young Pinot medium bodied Pinot Noir tastes of strawberries and raspberries. In
the prime Pinot regions of Central Otago and the Wairarapa, the wines can be
rich, silky and full-bodied with black cherry and black fruit flavours. Some
wine critics describe a classic Pinot Noir aroma as ‘Barnyardy’ – slightly
poohey!
MERLOT
Second
most popular red grape is Merlot – Bordeaux.
Until recently its role was in blending with Cabernet Sauvignon, but now
100% Merlot is gaining popularity.
Merlot can be deceptively soft, smoky, fruity and silky and low in
tannins – like a more powerful version of Pinot Noir. Aromas and Flavours are
similar to Cab-Sav but more rounded and reminiscent of tobacco, chocolate and
leather. Around ¾ of NZ’s Merlot is grown in Hawkes Bay, with the remainder
from Gisborne and Marlborough. The North
Island Merlots are generally riper and softer and higher in alcohol than the
South Island variety.
CABERNET
SAUVIGNON
The red wine of Bordeaux, a red grape, more suited to hotter climates and “A
tough nut to crack in New Zealand,” says Michael Cooper, wine expert. S till, a
good vintage from Hawkes Bay or Waiheke Island can stack up against some of the
world’s best reds.
And
often blended with the other Bordeaux varieties Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet
Franc. Newly fermented or under-ripe
Cabernet can have a stemmy, herbal minty character. High tannins mean that this
wine will cellar well, giving it time to mellow. Typical flavours from oak give
cigar box characters. Fruit characters are typically blackcurrant, cherry,
berry fruits, plums, and leather.
SYRAH
Exactly
the same grape as Shiraz. Unlike the big
tannic knock-down-drag-out Aussie’s, our Syrahs are soft, ripe, and medium to full-bodied,
with earthy flavours of liquorice, spice, black pepper and cherries. Increasing
popularity, makes Syrah our fourth most planted red with acreage increasing
fourfold in the last 8 years. Hawkes Bay
has become Syrah Central, with Trinity Hill’s Syrah winning the 2006
Tri-Nations Wine Challenge, beating Australia and South Africa.
OTHER
REDS
MALBEC
Fruity,
earthy/spicy blackcurrant flavours, with high tannins.
PINOTAGE
A hybrid of Pinot Noir and ‘Hermitage’ (Cinsault), developed in South
Africa. Typically has smoky aromas and
red, plummy fruit flavours
SANGIOVESE- Italian red Chianti
grape. Grown in very small amounts in NZ.
Earthy warm, spicy and savoury.
SPARKLING WINES
The vast majority of our sparkling Méthode Traditionelle is made
from Marlborough Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
It used to be also called Méthode Champenoise before the French got all
protective about the name. The
traditional method uses a secondary fermentation in the bottle, by adding more
yeast and sugar after the first ferment is finished, to produce characteristic
C02 bubbles.
NZ sparkling wine has been a huge success for us in UK, where over 250,000
cases found their way in 2007, with Pernod Ricard’s Lindauer leading the
pack. Small wineries find traditional
sparklers very labour intensive and too expensive to produce; yet there are
some boutique style examples like Quartz Reef, Nautilus, No.1 Family Estate,
Morton and Amisfield. Simple cheap, and
often sweet sparklers are made by injecting C02 into still wine before
bottling.
SWEET WINES
Dessert wines AKA Stickies are unfortunately rejected by a lot of wine
drinkers, just because they are sweet. That’s a pity, as suitably aged dessert
wines can be the perfect partner to a citrus pudding, liver pâté, or strong cheeses
like Cheddars and Blues.
The most famous dessert wines come from Sauternes in France.
In NZ most Stickies usually are made from Riesling, Semillon or
Sauvignon Blanc. They fall into three categories: Botrytised or Noble
wines – where a beneficial mould called Botrytis (Noble Rot) has affected
the grapes, and natural sugars are intensified by the action of tiny mould
organism filaments which suck out water content.
Late Harvest wines – here the grapes are left for an extended period on the
vine where they ripen even further and start to shrivel like sultanas.
Ice wines – most notably from Germany, Oregon and Canada, the
grapes are harvested in the early hours of the morning while they are still
frozen. Crushing them straight away
leaves the ice content behind and produces a sugar rich juice. In NZ we give Mother Nature a hand - and tank
freeze the fresh juice, filtering off the sweet content and leaving the ice
crystals behind.
Because of the preservative quality of high sugar levels in the wine,
and despite low alcohol, these wines (other than our Ice wines) reward
cellaring for ten years or longer.
