Highs and lows in Nelson
Monday 21 December
Nelson has had plenty praise from the wine literati. The region’s press pack proudly contained quotes like:
“Nelson is home to New Zealand’s finest aromatics”
-Steven Spurrier, Decanter UK
“Nelson produces outstanding Pinot Noir which can equal the best from anywhere”
-Nick Bulleid MW, Australian Gourmet Wine Traveller
As you’d expect from such comments, I went there with high expectations. Apart from a few shining stars, I came away slightly disappointed by the general standard. Perhaps I was having an off day or it was the 2008 that let the region down…
What did excite me was Neudorf’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – but then that’s nothing unexpected. It has had write up after write up for its Puligny-like Chardonnay. I’ve turned up late to join the party of admirers. The 2008 (18.5-19/20) has a beautiful streak of acidity coupled with elegant nectarine fruit, minerality and well integrated hazelnutty new French oak (£14.50, Richards Walford). I also started waxing lyrical on my tasting notes for its ’08 Tom’s Block Pinot Noir and ’07 Moutere Pinot. In brief, both were tight and focused with good mid-palate weight with fresh acid and firm chalky notes and savoury complexity. I won’t bore you with the other tasty adjectives.
Another shining light is Richmond Plains/Te Mania. Same winemaker, two labels. Richmond is biodynamic; Te Mania isn’t but sticks to organic principles. There’s clearly been a lot of work put in here since converting to Rudolf Steiner’s tenets from making compost tea to regular oil sprays against powdery mildew. I’ve seen many vineyards recently and even if they grow cover crops down the middle of the rows, under the row you’ll still see a strip of bare earth where weeds have been hoed or killed with herbicides. Not here. The vineyard is almost meadow-like. The vines look incredibly balanced here with shoot growth appearing to be much less vigorous than in other vineyards I’ve visited.
Balance in the vineyard is reflected in the wines. The majority of my notes included the phrase ‘great balance’, which many wines fail to achieve. Alcohol levels are in check - as low as 12% in the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc – with structure and some old world-esque restraint.
Neudorf, Richmond Plains plus Seifried’s Decanter trophy-winning ’08 Sweet Agnes Riesling showed what Nelson can do when it’s on form but many lacked the wow-factor that I had come searching for.
Across the board the Rieslings and Sauvignon Blancs didn’t do it for me when compared to Central Otago, Waipara and Marlborough. The Sauvignons were certainly more food friendly than those of Marlborough, which tend to jump out of the glass and bop you on the nose. But from the cross section I tasted in the region, many wineries need to up their game to warrant the praise Nelson has received, rather than basing their reputation on a small clutch of award-winning wines.
Harsh? Maybe, and I’d like to be proven wrong.
Nelson’s “tiddlywinks” need to shout louder
Sunday 20 December
So, I’m in Nelson – a 90-minute drive from Marlborough. It’s very different to Marlborough with most wineries less than 6km from the sea, 50% more rainfall and less diurnal temperature difference. Everyone you meet here will tell you that it is the wine region with the most sunshine hours too – apparently Marlborough tries to make that claim in the same way as Australia and New Zealand fight over who invented the pavlova, but Mike Brown, GM of Waimea Estates and chairman of Nelson Wineart (the regional winegrowers’ association) set the record straight: “In the last seven out of eight years we had had the most sunshine.” I’ll let you fight it out amongst yourselves.
The region is pretty small, making up just 4% of the country’s total production and boasting only 24 wineries. Most producers are small too. Seifried who produces 130,000 cases each year and Waimea Estate are the major players and even that pales in comparison to other major wineries, says Chris Seifried: “We are tiddlywinks compared to Kim Crawford, Wither Hills, Cloudy Bay and the likes.”
With all these small players, making a greater push internationally has been a hard task. Seifried added, “We have not been as loud as other regions. Many wineries sell all their production locally so they don’t need to go to the international wine shows. Nelson needs more people telling our story.”
Its story is currently focused on aromatic white varieties. But, you could argue so is Waipara’s and Marlborough’s, so I’m not sure how that’s a point of difference. Nevertheless, it isn’t Marlborough and, according to Brown that’s a big positive. “Where there’s a swathe of Marlborough wine on offer, people want something different. Many distributors are taking us on because we can offer that.”
Even though they aren’t Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc leads the charge for the region, followed by Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. However sales of SB haven’t been without difficulty this year, says Lars Jensen, director of sales and marketing at Te Mania Wines. “There’s huge demand for Sauvignon but small companies can’t compete with the big boys. Our distributors are looking for something else to sell. We sold everything but Sauvignon to our US distributor and we had to really work on him to take a pallet of it on consignment.” There’s always two sides to the story.
Tomorrow: did I set my expectations too high in Nelson?
Kekerengu: Marlborough’s new grape source
Thursday 17 December
While many parts of Marlborough are planted out to the max, drive 50 minutes down the coast from Blenheim towards the whale-watching hub of Kaikoura. You’ll hit a small place called Kekerengu. It’s still technically Marlborough but this place is quite different to the two main Marlborough valleys: the Awatere and Wairau.
The vineyards sit right on the coast and some isolated grape growers are producing fruit for wineries including Montana and Astrolabe. There’s likely to be more vintage variation here compared to the Awatere and Wairau and arriving at the vineyard just two hours after 120km/hr winds swept through it, there’s certainly tough conditions to fight. A few of the vines looked a bit sorry for themselves after the gusts.
There are pockets of limestone soils on the terraces where Pinot Noir is planted while the Sauvignon Blanc is planted on gravels down on the flats by the river. Sitting right by the ocean, there are also plans to plant Albarino (the real stuff, not the Savignan imposter) and Astrolabe is high up on the waiting list for vine material. The climate’s not too far away from the home of Albarino (Rias Baixas and Vinho Verde on Spain and Portugal’s Atlantic coast). In theory, it’s a great idea to try it out.
Fruit from its Kekerengu vineyard has been bottled as a single vineyard wine by Astrolabe under its Discovery Range. The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc is lean with lots of elderflower and citrus rather than peapod or passion fruit although the acid’s a little eye-watering. The Pinot Gris is also minerally and lean with balanced alcohol (13.5%) but I think the vines need a bit more time for both whites to achieve more structure and length. I’ll be interested to try the Pinot Noir when it’s ready.
Don’t forget Otago’s whites
Monday 14 December
It’s well known that Central Otago does bloody good Pinot Noir so I’m not going to bore you with telling you about its lovely black cherry hue, dark fruits, herbal and savoury notes, and impressive backbone of acidity….Instead, I’m going to talk about its whites.
Sparklers, dry and off-dry Rieslings, and Pinot Gris give this region more strings to its bow. It does some decent Gewurz and a bit of Chardonnay but the Pinots and Rieslings stand out. Inevitably the whites are overshadowed by the Pinot Noirs, which dominate planting and give the region its prestige. But, as more markets and consumers get to know the Pinots of Central, they’ll start to ask ‘What else do you do?’ And the good news is, it ain’t Sauvignon Blanc.
Duncan Forsyth, winemaker at Mount Edward who has a disco ball in his barrel cellar and is making his own chorizo-type sausage, said “We have a name that can carry our region with our reds. Sauvignon Blanc is the leader for New Zealand. We will always be Sauvignon-centric simply because of the volumes of wine but for me the future is all about Riesling.”
David Hogg, director of Amisfield added, “If we just have Pinot Noir at our table that would be too straight. I think we have pretty special Pinot Gris and Riesling.”
Wines that stood out for me (although I can’t mention them all here or I’ll put you to sleep).
Sparkling:
Amisfield Arcadia Brut NV
50/50 Pinot Noir/Chardonnay. A great palate cleanser after a long day’s tasting. Apple skin, savoury note, lean and crisp with elegant mousse and fresh acidity. 17.5/20
2007 Mount Edward Riesling, (£12, Laytons)
A crisp little number. Zesty on entry with green apple, citrus, white flowers and minerally . Lovely texture and concentration. Tight finish thanks to a very low pH of 2.95. Alcohol at 12.5 makes for a wine you can drink plenty of… 18/20
2008 Quartz Reef Pinot Gris
The biodynamic Austrian winemaker makes this in a tight Germanic style with no malo and no oak. It sits somewhere between a Gris and a Grigio style. Full of citrus, apple and pear with a little creaminess. Medium-full body with an alcohol of 14.5% but it’s well balanced so you don’t end up breathing fire after drinking. 17.5/20
Ok so I said I wouldn’t talk about reds but I can’t help but mention Felton Road because all of its Pinots would get you excited (its whites are great too)
2008 Calvert Pinot Noir, Felton Road
Ok, so the jury’s still out on whether I preferred the more expensive Block 3 Pinot or this but, as I’m a tight northerner, I’ve gone for the Calvert. Lovely bright colour. It’s minerally, almost chalky, with sweet fruit on entry with a generous and supple mid-palate. It ends with a lean and smoky, French-oak finish. 18/20