New Zealand Wine
Overview
Presentation to
Carljohansvern Vinselskab, Horten
25 October, 2012
Klaus Møller
Presentation Summary
• Impact of Sauvignon Blanc
• Acclaim for other varieties
• Review of some of New
Zealand’s greatest varietal
wines :
– Aromatics (Riesling)
– Sauvignon Blanc
– Pinot Noir
– Syrah
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Wows
the World!
“No previous wine had shocked thrilled, offended and
entranced the world before”
- Oz Clarke (UK)
"Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has become arguably the
world's only great new wine style this century”
- Huon Hooke, The Age (Australia)
“ New Zealand has shown that it just might make the world’s
best Sauvignon Blanc”
- Charles Laverick, Restaurant Hospitality (USA)
Much More Than Just Sauvignon Blanc
More than 25 different varieties planted
Other
8%
Chardonnay
16%
Sauvignon
Blanc
42%
Merlot
6%
Cab.Sav
2%
Riesling
4%
Pinot Gris
4%
Pinot Noir
18%
International Acclaim for Other
Varieties
“New Zealand excels beyond Sauvignon
Blanc. The country can produce distinctive
wines from diverse selection of grapes”
Paul Lukacs, Washington Times
How can we produce
such a wide range of
distinctive wines?
Great Terroir = Key
1. Climate
2. Soils
3. People
1. Climate - Temperate, Maritime
•
•
1,600km from nearest landmass .
Coastal vineyards in rain shadow- long
sunshine hours (average 2200 annually),
sea breezes and cool nights.
• Long ripening period – develops great
acid/fruit balance.
• Wine regions span latitudes of 34 and
47 degrees.
• Great diversity - aids a wide range of
wine styles.
2. Soils – Young
&Volcanic
• NZ = last landmass to be discovered
and therefore the youngest country
on earth.
• Youth of the land means NZ has
enormous variety of soils – still in the
throes of being weathered by climate
and vegetation.
• Wine regions mainly established on
young soils (most are less than 10,000
years old) of silt, sand, gravel and
stonier alluvial soils, deposited by
flowing water across the coastal flood
plains.
3. People – not bound
by tradition
• Young & Dynamic
•
•
From mid-1970s.
Exports up from NZ$166 million in 2000 to a
billion NZ dollars in 2009.
• Innovative
•
•
•
Trellising and canopy-management.
Use of stainless steel.
Screwcap movement (now 95% of all NZ
wine in screwcap).
• Quality-focused
•
Continually achieve highest average
price in UK market.
• Environmentally-focused
•
•
World-leading sustainable programme.
Goal of being 100% sustainable by 2012.
NZ Aromatics Review
Key Regions for Aromatics
• Gewürztraminer : 311 hectares
– Gisborne 35%
– Hawke’s Bay 18%
– Marlborough 27%
• Pinot Gris 1,501
hectares
• Riesling 979 hectares
– Nelson 6%
– Marlborough 46%
– Waipara/
Canterbury 29%
– Hawke’s Bay 24%
– Marlborough 36%
– Central Otago 10%
Plantings 2009
Riesling
Climate
Soils
People
•
90% from South Island regions with cool,
long, dry, sunny autumns and large diurnal
variance.
•
Stony, gravelly sites favoured to enhance
minerality.
•
In the vineyard - careful canopy management
to ensure low yields and avoid rot. (Moderate
Yields 8 –10 tonnes/hec).
In the winery - harvest for ripe flavours at low
Brix.
Stainless steel fermentation and manage skin
contact for desired style.
•
•
Forrest ”The Doctor’s” Marlborough
Riesling 2011
-This deliberately low-alcohol style is like biting into a
fresh, crunchy granny Smith apple. The 2010 vintage is
deliciously light (8.5% alcohol) and lively, with plentiful
sweetness (42 grams per litre of residual sugar), and
fresh, strong, lemon and lime flavours, showing lovely
delicacy and poise.
- Four and a Half Stars (2010 Vintage)
- NOK 160
Marlborough
NZ Sauvignon Blanc Review
Sauvignon Blanc
13,988 hectares planted.
Marlborough dominates
plantings
Hawke’s Bay –
6%
Marlborough – 84%
Plantings 2009
Sauvignon Blanc
Climate
•
Over 80% from Marlborough - maritime,
vineyards in east-facing river valleys in rain
shadow. Large diurnal variance. Awatere subregion cooler and more windy than Wairau
Valley & Southern Valleys.
•
Mainly grown on infertile, alluvial soils. Vary
from big river stones to fine silt in Wairau
Valley, semi-infertile alluvial of Southern
Valleys and more free-draining alluvial silt in
Awatere.
•
In vineyard – trellising & canopy management
to control vigour and promote ripeness.
In winery most cold-fermented in stainless
steel to retain vibrancy and flavour. Small
amount have oak fermentation, time on yeast
lees etc to add complexity.
Soils
People
•
Cloudy Bay Marlborough Sauvignon
Blanc
- New Zealand’s most internationally acclaimed wine is
sought after from Sydney to New York and London. Its
irresistably aromatic and zesty style and intense
flavours stem from the fruit characters that are in the
grapes when they arrive at the winery. The juice is
mostly cool-fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged
for up to two months on its yeast lees before bottling.
-The 2011 vintage was harvested over a month, at an
average of 22.5 brix, and a small proportion of the
blend was fermented in old French oak barriques. A
weighty, dry wine, finely textured, it has fresh, ripe
passionfruit, melon, capsicum and lime flavours that
build across the palate to a resounding finish. A
sophisticated – rather than ”full-on”, pungently
herbaceous – style of Sauvignon Blanc, it has great
finesse and drinkability.
- Five Stars
- Super Classic Status
- NOK 225
NZ Pinot Noir Review
Pinot Noir
4, 240 hectares of table Pinot Noir
Five key regions for Pinot Noir
Wairarapa/
Nelson – 5 %
Martinborough–
11%
Marlborough – 42%
Central Otago 29%
Canterbury/ Waipara - 10%
Plantings 2009
Pinot Noir
Climate
Soils
People
•
Favours cooler regions with sunny, dry
autumns with low humidity.
•
Prefers older, more complex free draining
soils with clay deposits.
•
•
•
•
Clone selection & rootstock selection.
Planting density & canopy management.
Harvest date & hand harvesting.
Fermentation & maturation techniques.
Yealands Way Pinot Noir 2010
- The 2010 vintage is a generous , savoury silky red with
full, bright colour and substantial body. Already enjoyable
but well worth cellaring, it has strong, plummy, slightly
spicy flavours, gentle tannins and good complexity.
- Four Stars (2010) – Otherwise Three and a Half Stars
- NOK 155
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir
2009
- Typically a delightful wine, this is often Nw Zealands’s
best-value Pinot Noir. It is hand-picked, fermented
partly with indigenous yeasts, and matured in French
oak barriques. Densely coloured, the 2009 vintage is
weighty, vibrant and sweet-fruited, with concentrated,
ripe cherry and plum flavours and a subtle seasoning
of oak. A tight, youthful wine, it is firm and spicy, with
fresh acidity, good intensity and length.
- Five Stars
- Potential Classic Status
- NOK 200
NZ Syrah Review
Syrah
Northland/
Auckland 15%
290 hectares
Mainly found in warmer
regions of Hawkes Bay and
Auckland
Hawke’s Bay –
68%
Plantings 2009
Syrah
Climate
Soils
•
Favours sunny, warm, maritime climates.
Moderate rainfall- dry in autumn.
•
Syrah grown on low vigour site to achieve
canopy/fruit balance.
•
In vineyard, original French clone used , plus
now Chave, 174 and 470.
•
In winery , strong leaning towards
winemaking methods similar to those used for
Pinot Noir.. Blending – use of viognier.
People
Mills Reef Elspeth Syrah 2009
- In top vintages, this has been one of Hawke’s Bay’s
greatest Syrahs. The 2009 vintage, estate-grown and
hand-picked in the Mere Road Vineyard, in the Gimblett
Gravels, was matured for 16 months in large French oak
casks, which give a more refined style of Syrah. Highly
perfumed and supple, it has fresh, deep plum and black-
pepper flavours, with a subtle seasoning of oak, and
good tannin support.
- Four and a Half Stars (2009) – otherwise Five Stars
- Classic Status
- NOK 280
The Future
70% of vines in NZ are 10 years old or less.
With maturing vines, optimum site selection for
new plantings and continued fine-tuning of
vineyard/winemaking techniques, you can be
sure…the best is yet to be discovered!