An abbreviation of “God’s Own Country”, Godzone is a phrase popularised by Richard John Seddon, who was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 until his death in 1906.

Could Godzone be the new Rhône? Certainly the Rhône varieties love this place, Syrah and Viognier in particular, especially in Hawke’s Bay.

Syrah, Rhône’s most famous grape variety, has been in New Zealand a long, long time, with the mythical Viognier being introduced in 1992. It was a French clone imported from California, and after coming out of quarantine, it was planted in 1994. These plantings produced New Zealand’s first commercial wine of this variety in the 1997 vintage.

If you read our last blog post, you’ll know that Viognier reached near extinction in the 1960s. Today, there is about 750 hectares of Viognier in the Rhône alone, and it covers around 130 hectares in New Zealand. Over half the plantings are in Hawke’s Bay.

Syrah was also planted in new vineyard sites in 1999 and 2000, with the intention from the outset of combining it with a little Viognier, in the style of a Côte-Rôtie. The two grape varieties must be co-fermented, which means they must be picked at the same time and fermented on skins in the same tank. Trials took place in 2001 with encouraging results and the wine sold at the Hawke’s Bay Winemakers Charity Wine Auction. In 2002, New Zealand’s first Syrah/Viognier wine was made from co-fermented grapes.

With different tanks containing from none to 10% Viognier, the very small number of vineyards producing Viognier (which you could count on one hand) say they have gained a good feeling for the effect of Viognier in Syrah. As well as the colour being deeper, the aroma emphasises the red berry character of the Syrah while adding a perfumed nuance like orange blossom or orange zest. Viognier also alters the palate by making the wine quite juicy or silky. Some say it adds the feminine touch to the masculine muscle of Syrah.

Bilancia of Hawkes Bay is leading the way with Syrah in New Zealand. Michael Cooper of The Listener, handed our Bilancia Syrah/Viognier 2007 an outstanding 4.5 out of 5 – “A classy, serious yet highly approachable Hawkes Bay red with lovely fragrance and depth of ripe, berryish and spicy flavour.”

Bob Campbell (MW) raves about Bilancia’s La Collina: “Produced from grapes grown on a steep, terraced hillside in the Gimblett Gravels district of Hawke’s Bay. The wine is dense with ripe, spice and berryfruit flavours. Like the wines of the northern Rhone it is more about texture and complexity than intense fruit flavours. Good food wine with great potential. A very sophisticated Syrah.”