New Zealand Oenology

New Zealand’s wine industry is but a fledgling Albatross about to take flight. In their Neolithic period oenologists up an down the isolated country populated with the descendants of warring Maori factions and Dutch and British colonialist are looking toward their distance European relations and seeing a resemblance thus partitioning them further from the rest of the New World. Avant-garde gambles are paying off and a style is emerging of that of a Brave New World.

A Master Sommelier once told me that wherever a varietal grows well it grows best in the coldest climate possible; enter New Zealand. There is less sun, more rain and days on end of cloud cover. Up in the hills cooling sea breezes collide with volcanic soils and down in the valleys stone and gravel abound in what would make some Bordeaux and Loire growers jealous. On the east coast of the North Island merlot and cabernet thrive in Gimblett Gravels, an area named in the same fashion as its French counterpart. In the rocky vineyards of Brightwater riesling and sauvignon blanc produce wines of body and minerality that are true expressions of terroir, Alsatians couldn’t be more proud.

Theirs is a blending of the lines between two well-established styles of wine making. By going the way of Spain and smudging the distinctive style constraints of geography much of the wine coming out of New Zealand is singing with acid and merely powdering its nose with oak. Which is a long way from the wines of Australia and California. In an era of drink me now mentality Kiwis are taking the long road preferring a more hands off approach and a chance to let world palettes adjust to their mindset, not the other way around.