Last week Marisco Vineyards (The Ned and the King’s Series) was crowned NZ Winery of the Year. The award, presented by the International Wine & Spirits Challenge, is considered one of the most prestigious international accolades and follows a dream run of eight international gold medal wins for Marisco Vineyards over the past two months.
“The competition for this level of award is enormous,” said Marisco Vineyards Proprietor and Chief Winemaker Brent Marris after receiving the award. “We were judged against some of the best New Zealand wineries and it’s both thrilling and humbling to take the top spot.”
The International Wine & Spirits Challenge (UK) is considered one of the top three global wine competitions, alongside the Decanter wine awards (UK) and the Sydney International Wine Competition. More than 7,000 wines were entered this year, including 340 from 74 New Zealand wineries.
“I think what sets us apart is that we’re eternal optimists. We’re 110% focused on what’s possible, even when other people tell us it’s impossible. That’s seen us turn an old cattle farm into a high quality vineyard, develop entirely new technologies to incorporate into our high-tech winery, and tackle big international markets and find success there.
“I guess it’s a winning mix of no.8 wire mentality, and bold entrepreneurism, that exists in every person in our company,” he says. “Winning this title, with the highest international credentials, will really support our growth plans for 2012,” Marris says. “We’re on a very exciting journey and are immensely proud to be flying the New Zealand flag on the world stage.” Keep up the good work, guys!
Click here to view the range from Brent, including the new vintage Fairhall Cliffs, all currently buy 5 get one free.
Marisco Vineyard’s The King’s Favour Sauvignon Blanc 2010 has scooped a trio of gold medals at three leading international wine shows this month, on the back of picking up gold at the Sydney Top 100 in November 2010. The multi award-winning wine won gold medals at the prestigious Mundus Vini competition in Germany, International Wine & Spirits Challenge in the UK, and Austrian Wine Challenge.
Marisco Vineyards Owner and Chief Winemaker Brent Marris says the entire team are overwhelmed by the extraordinary reception the wine has enjoyed, and The King’s Favour now being Marisco Vineyards’ most awarded wine.
“We always knew The King’s Favour had enormous potential. At harvest we saw the most extraordinary fruit expression in the berries—they were electric, vibrant and powerful—and this has translated beautifully into the bottle,” says Marris.
The King’s Favour Sauvignon Blanc 2010 was the first vintage to be made in Marisco Vineyard’s brand new, state-of-the-art winery. It has an exceptional backbone and structure, off which fleshy ripe tropical fruit flavours deliver a sensory explosion. The wine demonstrates deep flavour intensity and variety, which can be attributed to individual blocks by the winemaking team.
“In 2010 we harvested our Sauvignon Blanc block-by-block at maximum flavour intensity over three and a half weeks, which in turn gave us enormous range in the juice once we were in the winery.
“The diversity in the terroir is what makes our Waihopai Valley property a winemaker’s dream, and we’re thrilled to be using it to deliver beautiful wines for the people all over the world to enjoy,” he says.
So chuffed were we for the people of New Zealand, we’re celebrating the All Blacks’ magnificent Rugby World Cup 2011 triumph yesterday in Auckland with a FREE bottle of The Ned Sauvignon Blanc with every 12 bottle purchase between now and 31st October!
That’s the brand new 2011 vintage and our top selling wine this year, totally free with every mixed case, and on top of the 20% already off all New Zealand wines* until the end of the month!
And the more you buy, the more free bottles you avail of: Buy 24 we’ll add 2 bottles, buy 36 we’ll add 3, and so on.
Offer applies to purchases online and from our Cork store. Just shop, add any 12 bottles to your basket, check-out and we’ll add the bottle ourselves, gratis.
Free bottle offer ends midnight 31st October 2011.
* 20% off New Zealand promotion excludes wines over €25.
New Zealand’s North Island has a lot more to offer than you might think. I was told before I went there to not even bother with the north, and yes, while the South Island has more to offer in terms of jaw-dropping scenery, the North has its fair share of unique attractions, wine included.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is one of the world’s most famous day walks, which takes you up alongside Mount Ngauruhoe (pictured) and Mount Ruapehu, two active volcanoes which represented Mount Doom in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.
You can head north into the Bay of Islands, where you’ll find some of the world’s most accessible wildlife, or east along the Bay of Plenty to the steaming geothermal town of Rotorua. The capital, Wellington, is a young, vibrant, cosmopolitan city – only a stones throw from some of the New World’s greatest wine.
The further you go north, the closer you get to the equator and the warmer it is. The Auckland wine region is warm, and despite being prone to harvest rains, the good years produce well-built, beefy reds. Sub-regions include Matakana and Waiheke. Robust Bordeaux blends dominated by Merlot are being produced with notoriety, as well as Burgundy style Chardonnay.
Gisborne stands on Poverty Bay on the east coast, once known for its bulk wine made from Muller-Thurgau. It has found its strength in creating arguably the nation’s best Chardonnay. Gewurztraminer and some well priced Champagne-method sparkling wines are being ‘hand-crafted’ here. Montana (or is it Brancott now?) have their North Island base here, and Nobilo, who originated in Auckland, are getting down with some very impressive oaky Chardonnay.
Further down the coast, Hawkes Bay is doing well with its Bordeaux blends in sunnier sites, but like Gisborne, is well known for its buttery Chardonnay. The likes of Villa Maria have been making subtler, gentler and very approachable Sauvignon Blanc. Te Mata has one of the most interesting ranges including a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and a muscular Cabernet-Merlot, and Bilancia are offering up amazing Syrah.
Near Wellington, at the southern tip of the island, the Wairarapa region incorporates Martinborough, from whose vineyards many believe are responsible for the New World’s finest Pinot Noir, or at least New Zealand’s finest. Clean, raspberry fruited, deeply complex with Burgundian-like acidity. Syrah and plump Cabernet-Merlot are a tasty alternative to the premium pinots, and on the white front I’ve tried some excellent Riesling, both dry and off-dry.
Grüner Veltliner is the most commonly planted vine variety in Austria. It seems to be popping up in a lot of places these days, from small independents and online retailers, to restaurants and even the main supermarkets. It can produce a range of styles, but typically it is dry and quite full-bodied with flavours of citrus and peach with hints of peppery spice.
Go further east in Europe, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Grüner is one of the most popular grape varieties there as well. Now, winemakers in certain regions of Australia, New Zealand and the USA are reporting great success with the variety.
John Forrest of Forrest Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand, told Decanter.com: ‘I would go so far as to say that we may do to Grüner what we did to Sauvignon Blanc 30 years ago. I’m excited by what I’ve tasted to date.’
Demand for Grüner has gathered pace in the UK in particular, and as Ireland is always a few years behind, don’t be surprised if it does the same here over the next few years. The fact that many restaurants are starting to list it shows potential. So obviously now is the time for these New World producers to start treating the variety as a serious player as opposed to a mere experiment.
Elsewhere in Marlborough, Ant Moore has been experimenting with Grüner in one of his vineyard plots. It would be interesting to know how he’s progressing with it and if he sees any serious potential. Seifried in Nelson is another producer expanding area under vine as they seek to feed demand from the UK. Apparently the aromatics of New Zealand’s efforts are more pronounced in comparison to those from Austria.
Central Otago has also seen trials of Grüner Veltliner. In Australia, Adelaide Hills is being cited as very promising, and in the United States, Oregan, upstate New York and the cooler parts of Napa Valley have been performing well. Be on the lookout and let me know what you think if you manage to try any from outside of Austria.
‘Thin-skinned, temperamental, needs constant care and attention, difficult to understand’.
No, it’s not Mike after a few beers, it’s Pinot Noir, according to Miles in the film Sideways when he explains what makes this grape so special (see the clip in this morning’s post).
John Saker’s authoritative and essential handbook Pinot Noir – A Celebration of New Zealand’s Premium Wine is ‘a wine book that needed to be written’ according to it’s author. 300 pages, resplendent in detail and graphic full-page photography on the history, the regions and the people behind a modern national heritage, it’s a book that would have Miles, and hopefully you, salivating and reaching for the corkscrew.
We’ve one copy of this beautiful book to give away in this month’s contest, along with two bottles of our most popular New Zealand Pinots and, of course, a copy of the achingly charming film Sideways on DVD.
To win, you must be subscribed to the Curious Wines newsletter. We’ll be including a slightly-trickier-than-usual question and instructions on how to enter in our October newsletter going out soon.
Just missed it? Sign-up here and you’ll automatically get it sent to you.
Pinot Noir is New Zealand’s most widely planted red grape variety, but why do we always have to pay a high price for the decent stuff?
There is cheap pinot available from NZ and elsewhere, but it’s usually instantly forgettable. While it lags behind only Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand plantings, which accounts for over 50% of national vineyard coverage, pinot only has a share of around 15%.
Not only that, producers of fine Pinot Noir will only harvest 4-5 tonnes of fruit per hectare. Okay, that might mean nothing to you and me, until you hear that double that will be harvested from the higher yielding Sauvignon Blanc vines. So now you start to get a picture of why there is a premium to pay.
In this post, I run through the stages of Pinot Noir production, from vine to bottling. This provides a better insight again of why pinot attracts the premium it does. From intensive vineyard management to expensive oak barrels, the most noble of all red grape varieties gets the most tender love and care because it simply doesn’t work without it. As Miles also points out in the attached video from the 2004 movie Sideways.
Find the right site
Of the most traditional varieties, pinot is the fussiest of them all. It won’t grow just anywhere. Free draining soils with low fertility are the hallmarks of the best sites. Low rainfall is another key characteristic, and the right amount of heat and sunlight are required to ripen the fruit to perfection. In California and Australia, it’s all about finding cool climate sites. In New Zealand and Burgundy, it’s about finding micro-climate hot spots. And just to be extra fussy, pinot needs adequate protection from frost and wind.
Choose the clone & root stock
Without getting too technical, winemakers have quite a broad choice of Pinot Noir clones to use in their vineyard. This is important because they will each have different characteristics, so you can tailor your choice for the particular plot you wish to use. Many of these clones are just numbers, for example 10/5 clone is a late ripener so it will do well in the warm years, or in the vineyards in warmer climates.
To complicate things further, some vines may not perform as well as they could in some soils because their rootstock in unsuited. Grafting vines to American rootstock has become the standard method to make them more resistant to phylloxera. Again there’s plenty of choice.
Canopy management
Leaf plucking gives sunlight more direct access to the fruit, aiding ripening, but the most critical thing is yield management. If the yield is not controlled, you’ll lose concentration, tannin ripeness, colour and aromatics, so clusters of grapes are removed early to allow the vine to concentrate on what it has left.
When to pick
New Zealand has the advantage of relatively settled autumns, therefore harvest gets underway when the ripeness is just right, as opposed to when the weather feels like behaving. The fruit is tasted and the skins and seeds tested for flavour. As the skins are thin, the seeds provide most of the tannins. High brix (sugar) levels can lead to high alcohol, so some like to trim the leaves on the vines, which in turn restricts sugar development within the fruit.
Sorting the harvested fruit
The harvested fruit is brought to the winery where the unwanted grapes and branches are thrown away from the sorting table. Some wineries go with ‘whole bunch fermentation’, with ripe stems providing structural elegance and long, fine tannins. Many, however, prefer to destem, especially in cooler years when the stems are under-ripe and bring too much of a greenness to the wine.
Cold soak & fermentation
The fruit goes into vats cold enough to hold off fermentation (8-10 degrees C). This lasts up to 10 days, with sporadic plunging to bring out the fruity flavours and dense colour. The cold soak also helps smooth out any harsh tannins. Fermentation can be started by raising the temperature and allowing indigenous yeasts to transform the grape sugar into alcohol. Otherwise, cultivated yeasts can be used to inoculate the must. Ferment usually lasts between 5 and 12 days, the hotter it is the bigger and richer the resulting wine will be.
Oak treatment
After around a month in stainless steel tanks (in contact with skins), by which stage it can be called wine, most winemakers will transfer the pressed liquid into expensive oak barrels. Like the terroir, or the use of indigenous yeast, the type of oak used can bring a real individual character to the wine. French and American oak, and depending from whereabouts within those regions, will bring different flavours. To add more variation, coopers within each region can influence how ‘toasty’ their barrels will make a wine, as the inside of the barrel is charred to varying degrees. New Zealand winemakers tend not to put 100% of the wine into new oak, as they might in Burgundy. It is feared that the light, delicate style might be out-muscled by too much oak.
Clarification & bottling
Once malolactic fermentation has occured (either naturally or manually), which helps softens the wine by transforming tart malic acid into the softer lactic acid, the wine is removed from barrel and fined, using egg whites or milk, to remove any remaining free radicles and help further soften any harsh tannins. Filtering brightens the fruit characters of the wine, but can lower life expectancy. The best pinot is unfiltered, resulting in a more grubby, characterful, textured wine. Most NZ producers today prefer to bottle with screwcap, the best and most reliable closure available today.
To see our range from New Zealand, with 20% off until the end of October, click here.
It was Cloudy Bay who famously brought New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to the world stage in the 1980s, but it was Nick Nobilo, the son of Nikola and Zuva Nobilo, immigrants from the winegrowing town of Lumbarda on the Croatian island of Korcula, who was the first to successfully and commercially produce wine from the country’s flagship red variety.
The birthplace of New Zealand Pinot Noir as we know it is at Huapai in West Auckland. Nick’s father began planting vines in the early 1940s, and by the 1960s he was producing fortified wines and sherries. Nobilo’s dry red had gathered a bit of a following with the locals, and Nick had sensed an increasing interest in more serious wine styles.
The small, government funded Te Kauwhata Viticultural Station was attempting to bring in more international varieties to the scene, and had some success in the 1950s with Chardonnay. By the time Nick arrived on their doorstep they had a range of classic French varieties, including three Swiss clones of Pinot Noir. Along with Frank Berrysmith, a government viticulturist at the station, he experimented with the three clones on a plot at Huapai.
Nick had been impressed and encouraged by his rough trial wines. They showed enough promising fruit flavours for he and his father to plant a 5 hectare vineyard, which led to the first commercial Pinot Noir of the modern era, the Nobilo Pinot Noir 1973. This particular vintage didn’t quite stand up to the benchmark of its Burgundian cousins, lacking good colour was just one of the concerns. The real breakthrough came with the 1976 vintage.
Nick had hand-picked the grapes for the ’76 vintage and left them in tall draining tanks for 10 days to draw off some of the free-run juice. He then closed up the tank with what was left and fermented it all together, creating a carbonic maceration effect. Afterwards, he separated out what remained of the whole and split berries and pressed them for that extra intense, concentrated juice. Bingo! He had created a New Zealand Pinot Noir that would now compete on the world stage thanks to its tight structure, elegance and bouquet.
Great vintages followed, including the ’77, but the wine’s last vintage was 1983 due to a combination of factors, including a grape glut, the state of the economy and a massive hailstorm, which wiped out the vineyard’s fruit in 1984. The Nobilo’s accepted a government financial incentive and pulled out their Haupao vines in 1986 before moving their operation to Marlborough, where the company continues to produce wine to this day.
With just two days to kick-off in the sporting event of the year, we’re offering up a World Cup Showdown Pack to pitch up two of the rugby world’s fiercest sporting rivalries and give you some world class supping in time for the closing stages.
We’ve one of our established favourites, from New Zealand’s own Brent Marris, lining up toe-to-toe with one of our new boys, an Australian winemaker plying his trade in New Zealand hand-crafted wines, Ant Moore. Take a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Gris and a Pinot Noir from each of these top class winemakers and you’ve the Kiwis vs the Wallabies in a New Zealand showdown.
Worth just under €100 at normal retail, we’re offering up this World Cup Six Pack as September’s prize, to be delivered in time for the quarter-finals which commence on October 8th.
To win, you must be subscribed to the Curious Wines newsletter. We’ll be including a not-too-difficult question and instructions on how to enter in our September newsletter going out soon.
Just missed it? Sign-up here and you’ll automatically get it sent to you.
It’s not only Vitis vinifera grapes that can make a good wine. Okay, so fruit wine is a very different type of wine, but super drinkable nonetheless. I vividly remember driving through parts of New Zealand and not being able to escape their love affair with the kiwi fruit. But that’s not the only type.
Fruit exportation is big business in New Zealand, and they ain’t short when it comes to variety and volume. As it is for Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, the twin-islands are a paradise for fruit growing, and like any other well oiled industry with any sort of initiative, they have found ways to add value and create markets for a natural resource they have in abundance.
So will it be kiwi, blackcurrant, boysenberry or feijoa? Of fruit wine producers, Redwood seems to be one of the key players. From still wines and sparkling wines to liqueurs and ciders, they’ve managed to come up with a great portfolio to whet the appetite of wine drinkers and non-wine drinkers alike.
Here’s a taste:
Feijoa Wine 100% sun-ripened and hand-picked locally-grown feijoa. Fermented in modern stainless steel, these feijoas have been meticulously crafted into a wine of distinct bouquet—as only the “Pineapple Guava” fruit can taste! A singular change from the similarity of many grape wines, served chilled, this wine fully reveals its complex character and makes an ideal accompaniment to seafood and poultry dishes. Ready for consuming or for limited cellaring 12-24 months. (2008 New World Wine Award – Bronze Medal Winner,
2008 Bronze Medal Winner in the International Fruit Wine & Cider Makers of New Zealand Competition)
Sparkling Boysenberry Wine Sports the plump, succulent flavours of carefully harvested, sun-drenched Nelson boysenberries. Exotic boysenberries — originally a cross among blackberry, red raspberry and loganberry — are crafted into a rich, reddish-purple sparkling wine that hints of subtle oak essence and boasts a fresh, effervescent nature making it an ideal accompaniment for cheese, fruit, paté, and red meats. (2008 Bronze Medal Winner in the Fruit Wine & Cider Makers of New Zealand International Fruit Wine Competition)
Blackberry Nip Perfectly blended with succulent blackberry character, this sweet fruit wine is traditionally consumed as is or over ice. Add it to lemonade or soda water for a long summer drink. Readily adaptable to kitchen creations, too. Bon apetit!
I’m unaware of availability in Ireland. If anyone has come across it, or something similar, feel free to leave a comment below. Product content and picture sourced from http://www.redwoodcellars.co.nz/ – thanks to Curious Davide for the link.
Last week Marisco Vineyards (The Ned and the King’s Series) was crowned NZ Winery of the Year. The award, presented by the International Wine & Spirits Challenge, is considered one of the most prestigious international accolades and follows a dream run of eight international gold medal wins for Marisco Vineyards over the past two months.
