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William Hoare, GM of Fromm in Marlborough, takes a break from the 2011 vintage and has his turn on Unfiltered. Why are they making Syrah in Marlborough and what is his fascination with Martinborough winemaker Larry McKenna?!
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…
Phil Laffer is retiring after 50 years in the wine biz and handing over the Jacob’s Creek reins to Bernard Hickin (this episode’s cameraman - cheers, Bernie!). At the changing of the guard, Phil gets his 60 seconds (well, a bit more actually) to talk about where who’s going to win the Ashes and where he’s off next…
Rocco, resident dog at Murdoch James
New Zealand is still a bit shaky with another aftershock in Christchurch yesterday. So, you can understand why I felt a little uneasy walking through the vineyards of Murdoch James Estate after being told the estate sits on a fault line.
Unlike many of Martinborough’s vineyards, Murdoch James at 17ha is not an allotment-sized plot in the centre of Martinborough. It sits 7km outside the rural town and some of the vines are even planted… on a hill! They really are living outside the box as well as on two tectonic plates.
Nicola Belsham, sales and marketing manager, says: ‘I guess Martinborough is very small. The vineyards all concentrated on the square and it’s only in the last 10 years people have moved out of Martinborough because of land prices.’ Indeed, owner Roger Fraser bought his first six acres of land in central Martinborough for $36,000 in 1986 and sold it for $1.3 million. Not a bad return on investment.
Roger comes from Paeroa (as in the drink Lemon & Paeroa…mmm, I lurve the dry L&P) but his beverage of choice is certainly not a carbonated drink. He was the first to plant Syrah in Martinborough and people thought he was mad but the proof is in the pudding. The 2008 Saleyards Syrah is lean and delicate with just 13% alchol and a peppery spice to the fruit.
While the wines all show a delicacy and balance, the star of the tasting is the 2001 Cabernet Franc. Their take on the Loire’s red variety is exceptional with jalapeno pepper, herbal notes and HB pencil lead aromas. It is still incredibly youthful and dances lightly across the palate with ripe structured tannins. It’s a great example proving New World wines aren’t just for drinking young.
Cast your minds back to the start of the year. Yes, I know it’s difficult and some of us can’t remember what happened yesterday but you may recall a premium winemaking group lauching: The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand.
Sauvignon Blanc accounts for 80% of the wine that leaves Kiwi ports yet the Specialists didn’t have a Savvy in their portfolio, claiming there were few producers who specialised solely in the variety.
It’s also a price-sensitive variety, as Chris Canning of The Hay Paddock, told me in an article for decanter.com ‘Sauvignon Blanc is such a cut-throat market.’
‘There was a little prejudice toward the variety. We want to decouple ourselves from the New Zealand wine brand image that is slanted toward Sauvignon Blanc,’ he said back in January.
However, the group’s tune has changed - they have just announced Marlborough’s Fairbourne Estate will be the sixth member of the Specialists, dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc.
According to the press release, Fairbourne has been on the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc scene since the early 1990’s. Embarrassingly, I have never visited them, tried their wines and heard very little about them, so I can’t tell you whether they are any good! I will endeavour to change that.
Fairbourne joins Waiheke-based The Hay Paddock and Destiny Bay; fizz producers No.1 Family Estate; Gewurztraminer specialists Vinoptima and, Wooing Tree from Central Otago.