The 2011 harvest in New Zealand is underway and it look like it’ll be a record beating 310,000 tonnes.
The industry’s marketing body, New Zealand Winegrowers, is putting a positive spin on this, pointing out bottled wine exports are growing beyond initial forecasts but this sort of bumper crop is exactly what it has been trying to avoid.
Stock levels seem to be coming back into balance, according to one Auckland broker. “Producers don’t have any spare Sauvignon Blanc. A year ago there was about 30 million litres of it floating around and now there’s none.”
Around 18 months ago, you could pick up a litre of NZ Sauvignon Blanc for as little as $1.85 (it probably didn’t taste great, admittedly) whereas it’s now up to $3-3.25, according to members of the industry, which indicates that excess supplies have been largely drained.
Finally, the industry is starting to see light at the end of the tunnel but this vintage could see that light extinguished. The next two months will be crucial.
Homeless wine?
You have to wonder if there are enough machine harvesters, presses and tanks to cope with a crop of 310,000 tonnes.
Back in 2008, when the harvest was a record 285,000, the infrastructure failed to cope. Is there anywhere to put an extra 25,000 tonnes of fruit? And what happens if the weather turns ugly towards the end of the season, and everyone wants to get their grapes in before rot kicks in? Good luck finding a machine to harvest it and a tank to put it in.
Matt Thomson, globe trotting winemaker, joins me to discuss New Zealand wine, his love of kayaking and who he would go gay for. Plus a funny out-take at the end…
I heard the name Matt Thomson everywhere but he’s a difficult man to pin down, taking 170 flights a year.
Being a consultant winemaker in Marlborough, I was keen to pick his brain on its Pinot Noir, as I’ve been largely unimpressed with the region’s offerings thus far.
He is quick to defend Pinot Noir in Marlborough. “I find it really frustrating. If you look historically at what the region has won in terms of trophies for our Pinot Noirs, we have done better than other regions.”
But what about structure? Isn’t the region lacking a bit in its Pinots? “I think New Zealand Pinot Noir lacks structure,” he admits.
Perhaps it’s a soil thing, or maybe it’s vine age or climate…
Stem trials
Here’s where I get technical…Some winemakers are getting more structure by adding stems to the ferment. I like this. It adds a bit of chew and a linear finish, plus gives the wine more longevity. “As a component, get the level right and the wine sings,” says Thomson.
Not that everyone can do this successfully, however. Add too many stems, or if they aren’t ripe, you’ll get a green, sappy character in the wine. If you’ve ever chewed on a grape stem, you’ll know what I mean. It’s pretty unpleasant.
The problem is stems in Pinot Noir struggle to get ripe – what’s called lignification. By the time your stems lignify in Pinot, your fruit is overripe and knackered. Throughout New Zealand, there appears to be a struggle to get stems ripe. Some say it is a climate thing, others think it is clonal thing, while there’s the argument it could be a vine age thing. Which, leaves me very confused. But then again, there’s very rarely a definitive answer in the wine industry.
If anyone would like to offer their views, I’d be interested…
Calling all New Zealand and Australian winemakers that need a hand getting into the UK market.
Naked Wines wants to hear from any winemakers who have a great product but don’t have the funds to market it or winemakers who currently consult or make wine for wineries and want to start their own project.
This year, there’s a £10 million investment pot to support winemakers but they need to find you…
They’ve already helped Bill and Claudia Small, an Aussie couple making wines in NZ get their project off the ground. Naked have sold 47,000 bottles of their wine in the UK and the latest shipment sold out in just 48 hours.
Since launch in December 2008, Naked has recruited over 100,000 customers, who between them invest over £1m each month towards funding winemakers.
New Zealand’s winemakers descend on Lord’s cricket ground to show their wares today. While their countrymen are getting trounced on the field by Pakistan, the wine industry is in slightly better health with 33% growth in sales in the past year (Nielsen, MAT to October 2010). The average bottle price has dipped below £6 but it still boasts the highest price per bottle out of any country in the world.
If you are heading off to the tasting today, have a plan of action or you’ll be wasting valuable time. You might already have cherry-picked the tables you’ll be visiting but if not, here’s a few producers you ought to visit.
Table 9: Elephant Hill, Hawke’s Bay
Under German ownership and with a restrained Old World character to the wines, be sure to have a taste of the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Syrah.
Table 10: Schubert, Martinborough
Er, another German owner. There seems to be a theme emerging here. Kai Schubert’s Sauvignon Blanc and Decanter trophy-winning Pinot Noirs will be available to taste. Worth the shuffle to the table, I promise.
Table 14: Felton Road, Central Otago
A British owner this time – Nigel Greening. In all honesty, Felton Road doesn’t need any introduction. Its wines are the bees knees and everybody knows it, particularly its Pinot Noirs – Cornish Point, Calvert Road, Block 5 and Block 3. Its Riesling with 45g/l residual sugar is also attractive. Get your elbows out and get your glass to the front of the queue.
Table 25: Framingham, Marlborough
Geordie winemaker Andrew Hedley will be in town to talk you through his delicious wines. It’s difficult to fault them. They’re all classy and restrained (strange, considering they’re made by someone from grotty Gateshead), particularly the Riesling and an interesting new addition to the range - a Montepulciano Rosato. If you’re bored of discussing residual sugar and tannin, talk cricket with Hedley – he was at the Gabba for the Ashes. Lucky sod.
Table 31: Man O’War, Waiheke
With Germans and Brits in the room, we shouldn’t really mention the war. Nevertheless, the Man O’War wines show Waiheke at its best. Just 40 minutes by ferry from Auckland central, my favourite wine of the moment from this vineyard is the 2010 Gravestone Sauvignon/Semillon blend although the Dreadnought Syrah receives the most rave reviews.
Table 32: Pegasus Bay, Waipara
Finally a Kiwi family running a Kiwi winery. Fellow MW student Lynnette Hudson and her party animal husband Matt Donaldson make the wine. If Matt is in town watch out for him and Matthew Jukes – they’ll likely be painting the town red and all hell will have broken loose! The Rieslings are the stars but its Sauvignon/Semillon blends also attract interest for their sulphidey style.
Ok, there are heaps of others I could recommend but I’d be here all day. Let me know how the wines perform – better than their cricket team, I hope…
John Buchanan, who founded Mt Riley in 1992, has some great stories of his life in the wine industry, many of which I have promised not to put into print. In his early days, he worked at London wine merchant Rutherford, Osborne, Perkins before it was sold to Martini Rossi in the 1960’s. At that time Serena Sutcliffe MW, the head of Sotheby’s wine department was the company’s typist. How she has climbed up the ranks…
At that time Louis Roederer was the company’s house wine and cost £3 a bottle on account. “It was an everyday plonk,” he says.
Since his days of drinking cheap Roederer, he has held a number of roles in the industry including CFO at Corbans.
Now 18 years-old, Mt Riley has 103 hectares under vine and exports 70% of its production. Buchanan’s mother was a Marlborough girl so he does have family connections to the region unlike many newcomers. However, this has its drawbacks. She was one of nine and ‘all of the relatives came out of the woodwork’ when they heard there was wine up for grabs.
His daughter, Amy, heads up marketing and her now-husband, Matt Murphy, is the winemaker. And he’s foolishly agreed to do a Christmas Unfiltered. Thanks for being a good sport, Matt…