Summer is drawing to a close in Auckland. The chilly mornings are making it increasingly difficult to haul myself out of bed to do an hour’s MW study before starting work. But at least we’ve had a decent summer – which is more than you can say in England most years.
Waiheke Island is just 35 minutes by ferry from Auckland CBD and temperatures are two degrees C warmer on average than the nearby city. The occasional downpours we’ve had in Auckland have failed to reach Waiheke’s shores. It is experiencing the worst drought on record, which go back 50 years.
The vines seemed to be holding up remarkably well considering no-one on the island irrigates their vines (or so they claim – if anyone does irrigate, they were hiding it well). Most of the vineyards sit on clay-based soils which are renowned for water retention (Bordeaux’s right bank based on clay usually does well in dry years while the left bank based on gravels does well in wet years). In the words of David Evans, owner of Passage Rock “Clay soils hold on to the water quite tightly then release it slowly.”
Hawke’s Bay producers would probably like to donate some of their water with rainy day after rainy day. While there are often parallels drawn between the two regions which make Bordeaux blends and Syrah, Nick Jones of Mudbrick says, “Waiheke is a different world to Hawkes Bay. We seem to do well in even years and they get good results in odd years.” It’s not particularly scientific but it does have some legs.
Producers are optimistic about this year’s harvest. Of course, they’re going to tell a journalist that but looking at the vines and tasting some of the grapes, there’s no reason to believe otherwise. There were a few stressed parcels but if they’re picked relatively soon, they should be ok. The Cabernet Sauvignon was still green as hell and eye-wateringly sour but that’s to be expected of a late ripener and they won’t be harvested for at least another three weeks while the Viognier was sweet and tasty and was fermenting late last week. Neill Culley, founder and winemaker at Cable Bay was pressing his Viognier when I showed up and he is looking to make a wild yeast, barrel-fermented Reserve Viognier for the first time this year (you heard it here first) but it all depends on what goes on in the cask in the coming months.
New Zealand has put itself on the red wine map making some pretty impressive Pinot Noir but the variety faces some stiff competition from Bordeaux blends and Syrah.
At Waiheke Island’s Passage Rock winery, co-founder and winemaker, David Evans says, “Sometimes I wonder why we are shouting so much about Pinot Noir when we make so much great Syrah.”
David and his Swiss wife returned to New Zealand in the early ‘90s and initially thought they were going to focus on Merlot - perhaps that was something to do with drinking trends at the time or the fact they’d just visited Pétrus a few months earlier…
The producer is more focused on Syrah today but does make a dense Merlot as well as several Bordeaux blends. “Bordeaux varieties are great in a great year but the Syrah performs much better. It’s more consistent and more exciting.” During the rainy and cold 2001 and 2003 vintages, Cabernet Sauvignon was “horrible” yet Evans claims he has not had a bad year with Syrah.
After tasting the wines, the Syrahs are the star of the Passage Rock show with attractive violets, blackberries and cherries on the ’08, a fleshy palate and chunky ripe tannins. At $30 a bottle, it represents pretty good value for money compared to some of the other producers on the island.
In the next few blogs, I’ll be looking at whether Waiheke Island does Syrah or Bordeaux blends better, a problem called Brett, the worst drought since records began and, Blackpool…
I attended my first wine trade tasting in Auckland at the end of last week. They’re few and far between compared to the tasting fests in London, where you could attend a tasting every day of the week, if you didn’t actually have a job to do.
I had to invite myself, as I must not be on the radar here in NZ yet.
Te Mata’s tasting compared its 98s with the recently released 08s. They showed us their three top wines: the Bullnose Syrah, Awatea Bordeaux blend and their flagship wine Coleraine - another Bordeaux blend.
As a massive fan of Syrah, the 08 Bullnose really impressed me. It had that beautiful pepper note we have come to love from Hawke’s Bay plus aromas of violets and balsamic. It wasn’t overly weighty and had a really focused mid-palate, moderately fresh acidity and silky ripe tannins. It needs time still but a gold medal winner for me. While I love a sprinkle of black pepper in my Syrah, winemaker Peter Cowley is clearly not so keen. “We used to call it fly spray in the winery but with vine age it’s less overtly peppery. We are probably at the lower end of where you can ripen Syrah. We don’t like too much pepper although the public seem to. They might need a bit of training up in the respect.” Er, excuse me Peter, I love the pepper. Do I need some more training up too?
The ’98 Bullnose was another impressive wine but has developed as far as you would want it to go and needs drinking. It’s no longer on the market so it’s not like you can rush out and buy it anyway. It still had that balsamic note combined with dried fruit, black tea leaf and liquorice. The classy focus was still there but it was gearing up for retirement.
It seems Cabernet/Merlot blends are more appreciated at Te Mata and the 98s are not yet ready to draw their pension, no doubt the Cabernet tannins and acid provide that extra longevity. Both of the 08 wines had pure cassis fruit and showed green bell pepper aromas typical of Cabernet but it wasn’t an unattractive green note that you find in many Chilean Cabernets. Cowley added, “People talk about the green character and that’s part of the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal character. If we wanted to blow all that off, we would go and make wine in the Barossa Valley.”
Both of these wines are incredibly youthful and have structured powdery tannins. They’re both fleshy in the middle with balanced alcohol and fresh acidity. The Coleraine ain’t cheap at NZ$60-65 with the Awatea a more reasonable $30. It’s great to taste the top-end of the wines and as a journalist I’m very lucky to do that but I look forward to trying their entry level wine, the Woodthorpe range, as a winery should be judged on its cheapest as well as it’s most expensive wines.
The people at The Wine Investment Fund have stuck their necks out and claimed that the fine wine market is going to surge by as much as 18% this year. Of course they would say that wouldn’t they? But they don’t want egg on their face, so perhaps there’s something in it.
After the market plummeted in late ‘08, the fine wine market has indeed started to pick up again. Lafite ‘05 is now back up to £7,995 at Berry Bros and Rudd and sales director Simon Staples believes it’s going to continue rallying this year and should be up to £10,000 a case by the summer. It’s a pretty tempting prospect.
In its monthly newsletter, the gents who run TWIF, say, “in the second half of 2009 the main indices were up 11-14%. We expect this to be the start of a prolonged and rapid upturn which makes today an ideal time to be investing.”
But what to invest in? The much hyped 2009s will be on the market in May/June and it seems the world and his wife wants a case of Lafite and Mouton. London merchants Bordeaux Index reports the waiting list for the 09s is the longest on record (although I’m not sure that records began so long ago but it sounds impressive, doesn’t it?)
Perhaps it is time to get in and buy up lesser vintages. When the last ‘great’ vintage was on the verge of release (the 2005s, in case you’re not a fine wine geek), Liv-ex analysed the market and looked at unfashionable vintages. It reported first growth wines from lesser vintages had been overlooked and were a good investment prospect, particularly the 2001s and 2002s.
Interestingly they did the same thing in December 2009, asking whether we should “pass or play” on the 09s. From the data, it appears the 05s weren’t such great value for money after all…
“It is the comparatively lesser years of 2001 and 2002 that have shown the greatest returns, with both showing a price rise of 89% over the period. Indeed, the average price increase of all other vintages in the chart equals 63%; 18% higher than that shown by 2005,” said the Liv-ex report.
“In essence, the high price of the 2005 vintage sparked price rises among its lower priced peers. If the trend of four years ago is repeated, then 2006 and 2008 are likely to represent the best opportunities for investment.”
Maybe I should go out and get my hands on some first growths from lesser vintages rather than jumping into the 09 frenzy – it would certainly be a lot more civilised than entering the Bordeaux bun fight.
Hawke’s Bay producers based close to the Gimblett Gravels in ‘The Triangle’ are planning to group together to gain international recognition for their terroir.
While still embryonic, producers including Bridge Pa and Alpha Domus aim to form a ‘Triangle’ association to compete with their well-known neighbours Gimblett Gravels.
Paul Ham, Managing Director at Alpha Domus, said, “We are constantly bombarded with Gimblett Gravels. I’m not complaining about it but it’s up to us to be proactive. Across the road from the Gravels we have this triangle sub-region which offers something else.”
“People have heard all about Gimblett Gravels and they are looking for what’s next from Hawke’s Bay, so we have a great opportunity to get some traction,” he added.
The Triangle – also known as the Ngatarawa or Bridge Pa triangle – first needs to settle on one name for the area and define its boundaries. It lies around one kilometre from the Gimblett Gravels, on the same former river bed but with a clay and sandy top soil. The wines are similar in style to the Gravels but Stephen Daysh, director of Bridge Pa, claims, “The Triangle fruit isn’t as dense or heavy as Gimblett Gravels but is a little more lifted and perfumed.”
This is not the first time people have talked about defining the area but it has not yet come to fruition. It is likely to come against some opposition from other Hawke’s Bay producers and the regional association, which aims to promote the region as a whole. Let’s face it, most consumers don’t even where New Zealand is, let alone Hawke’s Bay! However, in the fine wine market the Gravels have already started to gain recognition and the producers shouldn’t just sit and watch while they run away with all the headlines.
Other vineyard owners in the Triangle include Ta Mata, Sileni, Matua and Church Road.