Tattoos for the Riesling cause
Sunday 22 January
Never did I think I'd get my legs out in this blog!
Riesling is tattooed down my right calf. Well, to be more accurate, it says iesling. The R has rubbed off in the past 24 hours, so clearly it isn’t permanent. Which will please my mother.
I hadn’t even had a drink when I agreed to get Riesling stamped on my leg on Saturday night by a virtual stranger. His name is Paul Greico. And he’s the bearded force behind the ‘Summer of Riesling’ concept that is now going global.
It all started in his New York wine bar, Terroir, in 2008. “I thought if I’m ever going to get my customers to drink Riesling, I can’t give them a choice so my wine list started out with 30 Rieslings and nothing else. So, you were either going to drink Riesling or walk out the door and we did have people walking out the door.”
As both a Riesling and a Tottenham Hotspurs fan, Greico appears to like the unlikely. “It’s my challenge to fight the good fight for the underdog,” he says.
Greico is clearly passionate about this grape variety, and apologises that his language might get a little colourful as he drinks more Riesling and becomes more animated: “After 7 o’clock I swear a lot,” he warns.
In the US, the Summer of Riesling concept has spread widely with 220 restaurants around the US participating in summer 2011. They each poured three Rieslings during the 94 days of summer.
Now it has moved to New Zealand and Australia but there is no specific aim and is anti-marketing. “This is a sommelier driven gig. It is not professional. This is a groundswell of activity and wherever it goes it fucking goes.”[Time check – 9.30pm]
“We are trying to take it to Canada and the EU.”
The International Riesling Scale has been introduced for producers to indicate how dry or sweet their product is, but sweetness remains one of the stumbling blocks for consumers.
“We have to talk about the S word when we talk about Riesling, and it scares the crap out of people.”
Instead, in the words of Beavis and Butthead, says Greico, we should be talking about whether Riesling is cool or it sucks.
It better be cool or I’ve gone and got a really lame tattoo on my calf. Now that would suck.
New Zealand wine lightens up
Sunday 4 December
Back in May, I complained that while the New Zealand wine industry prided itself on its green credentials, it had thus far failed miserably on environmentally friendly packaging (making me somewhat unpopular with various members of the NZ trade!)
While the rest of the wine world has turned to lightweight bottles, plastic (a.k.a PET) bottles, and tetrapaks, Kiwis had been stuck in the twentieth with heavy bottles. The lightest bottle available in New Zealand was 450g yet the Aussies were already down at 330g, reducing energy use by 20% and water by 12%.
At the time, Mike Needham, national sales manager for glass bottle manufacturer O-I, admitted it was expensive technology to install, and New Zealand was a relatively small producer of wine. “I don’t think people will go down to 350g or 300g. We have found very few people that are interested. The industry has not been as demanding here as in Australia,” he said.
Yet there was interest from producers. And this week, Nelson organic producer Richmond Plains has bottled its first wine in a 325 gram bottle.
Lars Jensen, owner of Richmond Plains, says, “It has been a big challenge to find suitable lightweight bottles in New Zealand. The lightest bottles we have been able to use previously were 40% heavier. So these really do make a big difference to the environment and across our business.”
The bottles are 20 mm shorter which means it is possible to stack more cases onto a pallet and fit more into a container. Taking fewer resources to produce and transport, reducing fossil fuels consumption significantly. They are also much lighter for trade and customers to handle with a case weighing 1.5 kg less at just 13kg.
Jensen adds, “Maximising the use of our resources and minimising our impact on the environment is a global issue so we’re very excited to be leading the way by using such lightweight bottles.”
I hope that others will follow their lead.
Unfortunately, consumers often feel they are getting better value for money and a better wine if it is packaged in a heavy bottle.
However, a WRAP study found bottle weight differences of up to 40% (for an empty container) and 20% (for a full container) were not noticed among a significant number of those surveyed, so perhaps if the proportions of the bottle mimic those of a heavier equivalent there will be little impact in perceived values.
Eden Valley’s message on a bottle
Monday 28 November
Eden Valley Riesling producers have launched a proprietary bottle, embossed in the same vein as Chateauneuf du Pape. And the first vintage using this bottle - 2011 – is hitting shelves now.
The green flute has a symbol on the front representing the rolling hills of the Eden Valley and the region’s name is also embossed. It gives the region’s wines much better on-shelf presence and gives confused consumers a better idea what to expect if they’ve tried an Eden Valley Riesling before.
While it’s early days for the bottle, the region’s two biggest producers, Yalumba and Peter Lehmann, have not come on board for the first release. The price per bottle - some quote 90 cents, others more, others less - is perhaps a little high, particularly in the current economic climate when producers are looking to cut costs. However, a special mould had to be created to produce the bottles hence the high cost. What’s more, the Eden Valley is not a mass producer so the economy of scale is certainly not there to bring costs down.
Yalumba’s Louisa Rose, explains their decision. “The issue for us is that it’s quite expensive and our brands are much bigger than most. It’s a commercial decision at the moment but I think it’s a great idea.”
And Ian Hongell, winemaker at Peter Lehmann, adds “We are not using the Eden Valley bottle because we have our own proprietary bottle.”
Yet, if the biggest producers came on board, they would have the economy of scale, and the project would have more clout.
One of the area’s most renowned producers, Henschke, has bottled its 2011 Julius Riesling in the proprietary bottle but Stephen Henschke admits, “Not enough are using it but I think more people will be influenced to start.”
I certainly hope more producers do come on board. It is a small region that is technically part of the Barossa zone and there is very little awareness of the area.
Thus far the Clare Valley has achieved a higher profile status for its Rieslings but with greater unity and widespread adoption of this bottle, there is an opportunity for the area to become known as the premium Australian Riesling region. It should take a leaf out of Central Otago’s book, which has become known as the leading new world Pinot Noir producer through its collaborative marketing efforts.
There is a real opportunity for the region: Eden Valley Rieslings offers fresh wines that are clean and modern, and would suit the current consumers’ appetite for vibrant, unoaked styles. With moderate alcohol levels (12-12.5%), lemon, lime and lavender aromatics, they would appeal to a wide audience.
Yet it is relatively unknown: as part of the Barossa, it often gets overshadowed by its bigger brother. The proprietary bottle is a good start to increase its recognition, but it shouldn’t stop there.
*Packaging manufacturer Amcor produces the proprietary bottles. I have contacted them, asking for details on production costs, price per bottle and units sold thus far but they have not responded to my calls.
Not so wild about Everwild
Wednesday 26 October
New product launches aren’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, and, sometimes you wonder what the company bosses were thinking…
Treasury Wine Estates, Foster’s wine arm, has launched a new product specifically for women. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s already hard enough selling wine at the moment without cutting out half of the market before you start.
The press release to accompany the launch does it no favours. Most press releases are fluffy but this really is candy floss, so I’ve given you an excerpt…
“Distinctively feminine with a crisp, fresh and fruity flavour, Everwild is a new premium sparkling wine created especially for women to share when they feel like embracing a sense of freedom from the pressures of everyday life. (A $20 wine really does all that?!)
“...Inspired by the natural beauty of New Zealand’s rugged wild shores and untamed coastlines, Senior winemaker, Sasha Grayson, says her quest was to create a wine that captured a true New Zealand ‘sense of freedom’ but with a strong sense of femininity, at the same time.” (Pass me the sick bucket)
“Everwild is aimed at women to remind them that it is okay to take time out of our daily hectic schedule, relax and enjoy life’s pleasures, like our amazing beaches and coastline, which are never really that far away.”
“It is different to other traditional sparkling wines in taste and feel and we believe women will recognise this instantly. It really is the perfect wine to share with friends as there’s a variant to suit all taste buds”.
And so to the wines.
For $19.99 they look pretty classy but it’s what inside the bottle that counts, and will no doubt appeal to the customer.
The sparkling Sauvingon Blanc tastes, well, like a frothy Savvy. It shows the classic passionfruit, gooseberry and green capsicum but is simple and short. Don’t rush to the shops. In fact, don’t rush to the shops for any sparkling Savvy.
The Brut NV, is once again simple and short with ripe peach fruits, and a very gently fizz. There are no technical notes in the press pack so I can’t tell you the RS but it’s certainly off-dry.
And then there’s the Cuvee Riche NV. This has a little more concentration of fruit with a slightly creamy texture. It tastes like peaches and lemon sherbet and has short length.
Apparently these wines will “appeal directly to women”, but not this one. Everwild perhaps hopes there are plenty of women in NZ who will guzzle it, “embracing a sense of freedom” in the midst of a drunken haze.
What Not to Drink
Thursday 20 October
Journalists, me included, are told by our editors to provide readers with wine recommendations. What about telling our readers what not to drink, a la Trinny and Susannah’s What Not to Wear.
Over the past two weeks, I have been judging Metro magazine’s top 100 wines for summer with various industry members. While we hear a lot about award-winning New Zealand wines, there is certainly a lot of crap that has to be weeded out.
Our panel tasted more than 120 wines on day one and found just five worthy of anything as high as a silver medal. There were a lot of poorly made wines, and some of our panels’ notes read, ‘smells like a raw potato’, ‘really? Why did they bother?’, ‘alcoholic lolly water’ and ‘a bit ratty’, as in it smelled like a dead rat.
Surely readers should be warned of such dross to avoid having to drink raw potatoes and dead rat wines? I reckon more people would read the column too, instead of getting bored with the same old ‘these wines are great’ every week.
