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…
How wineries can rub a journalist up the wrong way in three easy steps:
1. On arrival, don’t tell them you are too busy to host them for the dinner as arranged, leaving them with no time to arrange anything else. “There’s a restaurant at the hotel,” I am informed. They have clearly never eaten there.
2. Do have the technical sheets ready in case your visitor wants to know the finer details. Don’t suggest they can go on the winery website after the visit.
3. Do take the ten minutes to drive your visitor back to their accommodation as pre-arranged. Don’t suggest they could walk (“although it might be a bit far” particularly with an overnight bag) then call them a taxi, leaving them to cover the fare.
That is not what I call good press relations. Yes, it is currently harvest time at Stonyridge, but just because you make a ultra-premium $220 wine and there are some Malbec grapes cold-soaking does not mean you should treat any visitor this way.
I am certainly not a prima donna but I have never felt so unwelcome on a winery visit. It really makes me wonder how the public get treated when they visit the cellar door.
Thank goodness the other producers on Waiheke island were more hospitable.
Winemakers generally dislike Pinot Gris: it’s not that aromatic, normally has low acidity and let’s face it, it doesn’t set anyone’s world on fire in the same way as Riesling or Pinot Noir.
But it sells. And that means it’s a money spinner which keeps the wine business in business. Last week I ended up in a bit of a debate with a Master of Wine and a few other journalists about Pinot Gris. It ain’t my grape of choice but if people like drinking it, who am I to argue?
My friends love it: they’re successful, smart women in their late ‘20s and early ‘30s and Pinot Gris or Grigio is an easy-drinking wine that doesn’t cause any major issues to their palates. It’s great with food, makes some fabulous late harvest wines and I’m happy to drink it. I admit I’m not the biggest fan and this trend may be a passing phase before we move on to the next grape du jour but getting snobby about it makes the wine industry seem very far-removed from reality.
What’s more, in Alsace Pinot Gris is considered one of the four noble varieties. When I was speaking to Paul Pujol, winemaker at Prophet’s Rock (see blog 15 March 2010), and former winemaker at Alsace producer Kuentz Bas, he said: “The big discovery in going to Alsace was tasting older Pinot Gris. I was surprised by how it tastes if it’s grown in the right sites.”
We may try to sell Riesling and Pinot Noir to wine drinkers but we’re fighting an uphill battle. Let’s educate the consumer, says the wine industry, but most people have more pressing things to do with their time than learn about grape varieties. If people are drinking Pinot Gris then at least they are drinking wine and not beer or bourbon. They can then move on to the delights of other varieties in time.
I haven’t met many Kiwis who can hold a decent conversation in French but Paul Pujol is one of them.
The winemaker at Prophet’s Rock has a French father and became the first non-family winemaker at Kuentz Bas in Alsace since it was established in the late eighteenth century. He’s now brought a little piece of Alsace to Central Otago, producing pure Riesling and Pinot Gris, as well as the signature grape of Central - Pinot Noir - from low cropped vines and wild ferments.
Allowing the ferments to occur naturally does not sit easy with many New (and Old) World winemakers. It takes about 10 days for the fermentation to start and is likely to take three months to complete. If I were a winemaker, I’d be too scared of it all going pear-shaped.
The winery’s distributor in New Zealand, Ryan Quinn of Merchant Wines, also thinks it’s brave winemaking. “Having a bunch of wild ferments on the go requires big balls,” he said.
He claims that New Zealand has been lacking enough winemakers with the balls to really do some crazy stuff. I’ve met a few along the way already: Andrew Hedley at Framingham and Mike Weersing at Pyramid Valley are just two of many. Perhaps there needs to be a few more of them but wineries need to make money and taking risks isn’t always a great commercial strategy.
Quinn added: “It has been imperative that the New Zealand wine industry throws out some wineries that push boundaries a bit further.
“Missing from the equation is a new generation of fanatics. What I recognise in Prophet’s Rock is some of that fanaticism.” Of course he would say that - he’s trying to promote these wines but I take his point.
The recent releases: the ‘09 Dry Riesling has a lovely purity and perfume with lime, lavender and minerality. It is light and nimble on the palate with lively acidity and a refreshingly low 11.2% alcohol. Clean as a whistle. 18.5/20
The ‘09 Pinot Gris was only bottled three weeks ago but no signs of bottle shock. Attractive pear and apple puree notes on the nose with some white rose in the mouth. This is really lean for a Pinot Gris – it’s not broad or fat at all – likely due to a lower pH than you’d normally see from a Gris (pH 3.25 for you MW geeks). While there’s 14g/l of residual sugar it only seems just off-dry thanks to that refreshing acidity. 18.5/20.
Last week UK wine trader, Bordeaux Index reported record sales in the Far East, with fine wine sales in excess of £8.1 million, representing a massive increased of 72% on the previous year. Not bad for a month’s work.
With the 2009 vintage tipped to be the greatest of the century, founder of Bordeaux Index, Gary Boom, said: “We fully expect the Asian market to invest heavily in this vintage, which will help continue to drive significant growth in the wine market in 2010.”
But hang on a minute, the Chinese haven’t really bought into en primeur before: buying wine that you can’t receive for another one to two years just doesn’t equate for many Asian buyers (they have a point, it is a bit strange when you think about it).
So I asked Geraint Carter, who also works at Bordeaux Index, why this year was any different to the rest.
“Well it’s certainly fair to say that precedent indicates a preference for physical assets in the Chinese/HK market,” he admitted. “That said we’re optimistic that this year will see a significant jump in participation for the following reasons:
1. They tell us they will – there has been plenty of firm interest expressed from both private and trade clients.
2. Level of familiarity/sophistication with the practices of the wine trade has increased rapidly. Good merchants with proper customer relationship and substantive infrastructure, as well as the efforts of the major Chateaux to raise their profiles.
3. Some of the recent surging demand from China/HK has been driven by investors, and there’s no doubt that the 2009 en primeur campaign will be a big attraction to those looking to speculate.
4. China is enjoying a period of very loose monetary policy. Assets have and will continue to attract capital looking for yields in this type of environment.”
They all sound like sound reasons but I’m just going to hang fire to see whether there’ll really be a massive shift in mentality from Asian buyers this year.