Our March tastings at Teddington and Richmond Wine Societies took us to New Zealand, where Fliss had been visiting wineries in January, looking at possibilities for a return tour in a couple of years (Tim last took groups there in 2014).
I shared a few statistics, probably the most interesting/scary of which is that 70% of all wine made in New Zealand is Sauvignon Blanc, and 70% of all wine in New Zealand is grown in Marlborough! Some Venn Diagram allusions were required to ensure no-one thought that 70% of all New Zealand wine is Marlborough Savvy! However, my case that the Kiwis risk a massive overdependence on one grape variety with risks on both the supply side (what if a virus that attacked the main clone of SB were to rip through Marlborough?) and demand side (what if New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc became the next Merlot or Chardonnay and people decided they didn’t like it?), seemed pretty watertight, and we were therefore nicely set up to explore a range of wines that (nearly) excluded the iconic grape.
We kicked off at an Albariño from Gisborne, I was really keen to showcase some wines from this rather unknown area, thought they are quite hard to find in the UK. For more about Gisborne, see the blog I wrote back in January. A bright, fruity, clean wine with nice varietal characters at an attractive price – a good start for a substitute to New Zealand. Teddington attendees may remember something of a mix up between this wine and the Riesling, no more to be said about that please!
Our next wine was from Nelson, and was a variety that no-one had tasted before, anywhere! Wurzer is a cross between Gewürztraminer and Müller Thurgau, most of its 100ha worldwide are in Germany, but Herman Seifried who came to New Zealand from Austria and with his family has created one of the biggest family owned wineries in New Zealand, was keen to plant it and we agreed it had been a good idea! Lovely acidity, nice residual sugar, unusual attractive flavours – a super aperitif wine. Read more about Seifried and Nelson from my blog.
We did have one wine from Marlborough, a Riesling produced by the Framingham Estate, a super cool wine maker who it will be great visit. Their F-Series are small batch wines where their super cool winemakers experiment with different techniques, and this very attractive wine had had the benefit of skin contact, time in acacia puncheons, indigenous yeasts and time on its lees.
I had to come clean with our fourth wine, as it did include 70% Sauvignon Blanc. A classic Bordeaux blend (with Semillon), produced by Pegasus Bay, one of the best known producers from Waipara, in North Canterbury. For anyone who likes their Bordeaux Blanc oaked with a bit of maturity this is a fabulously priced alternative. Read more about North Canterbury from my blog.
We turned to the reds, and Herman Seifried came up trumps again, this time with a Zweigelt, a native of Austria. I particularly loved this wine, though it elicited a range of responses, some finding it a bit tannic, others loving its aromatics, structure and again the benefit of some bottle age. A red Bordeaux blend from Hawkes Bay, made by Warren Gibson, was a great alternative to the ubiquitous Syrah, and again, I think, offered some nice maturity (2020 vintage) and lovely varietal character. Tim’s 2014 tours included visits to Trinity Hill, Warren’s winery – read more about that here.
I presented the final two reds together, and encouraged people to contemplate them as great examples of their varieties, made to very high standards with some super maturity at very attractive prices. The Hunting Hill Pinot Noir from Kumeu River was glorious – so bright and elegant , with flavours of red fruits and forest leaves and all sorts of things. Kumeu River were one of the first wineries in New Zealand and are pretty much the last standing in Auckland, thanks to urban sprawl. Their Chardonnays are very highly regarded (and quite pricey) but this Pinot, made from the best grapes in the vineyard, and given some classic Burgundian treatment in the winery, showed what the grape can do beyond Central Otago! The Terrace Edge Syrah, also from Waipara, was also a wonderful example of a classic French style, this time Northern Rhone. Grown on ‘roasted slopes’ (ie like Côte-Rotie), fermented with some Viognier, it was elegant and savoury, a real find.
Thanks to our fantastic food team at St Mary’s Parish Hall for Teddington and to The Britannia for two great meals – and my apologies to anyone who experienced delays with their dinners, my meal management strategy clearly needs some work!
For details of the wines, please visit the Wines we have tasted page.
