New Zealand Wine
South Island’s rising stars

by Gillian M. Arthur, Piccolo Tours

Felton Road Vineyard

When most people think of New Zealand, wine isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. This is hardly surprising as New Zealand's entry onto the world wine stage has been a fairly recent – if  meteoric – event. The country’s first commercial vineyards were only planted in 1973, and up until the 1950's virtually nobody in New Zealand drank wine except European immigrants. The national drink was considered to be tea or beer.

However, times have changed and what New Zealand's wine industry lacks in history it more than makes up for in quality. Two regions, and two particular wines, epitomize this meteoric rise to fame: Marlborough and sauvignon blanc; Central Otago and pinot noir. It was the former two that really put New Zealand on the world wine map, most particularly the wines of one vineyard; Cloudy Bay.

Marlborough lies at the northeastern tip of the South Island and enjoys a maritime climate like that of London or Seattle. It is the biggest of NZ's wine producing regions and is expanding at an exponential rate to keep up with the ever-growing international demand. Vines were originally planted here in 1973 by Montana, one of NZ's biggest wine companies which established the first commercial vineyard. Since then there has been a steady expansion with the total area under vine set to double over the next 10 years.

Marlborough rocketed to fame in 1985 when Cloudy Bay's sauvignon blanc attracted international attention. Sauvignon blanc is the region’s best known and most widely planted varietal. It produces highly distinctive wines that are quite different from sauvignon blanc produced in other parts of the world. Fragrant and fruity, with a distinctive gooseberry, tropical fruit nose, the wine is generally vinified entirely in stainless steel without any addition of oak, enhancing its fresh, fruity characteristics. These are wines made to be drunk young; within two years of vintage.

Sauvignon blanc seems to have a natural affinity with the Marlborough region, with oenophiles worldwide acknowledging that the wines produced here are unique. Marlborough also produces good chardonnay, usually barrel-fermented, to give the distinctive buttery characteristics of oak-aging. A small percentage of these grapes are also being used for an emerging sparkling wine industry. Riesling also does well here particularly in its botrytis form (noble rot), producing sweet wines of great character known locally as "stickies." The latest arrival on the New Zealand wine scene is pinot gris, which seems set to be the new fashionable grape in Marlborough. Quality at this stage is variable, but time will tell.

Wineries in the Marlborough area worth visiting are Huia, which is named for the now extinct huia bird and produces hand-crafted wines of great character – its chardonnay, riesling and pinot noir are outstanding. Seresin is a small organic winery making top quality chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and riesling. Highfield Estate is a little piece of Tuscany in the Blenheim hills, producing good wines and graced with an excellent restaurant. Lawsons Dry Hills produces a wide range of reasonably priced wines and Fromm is a Swiss-owned winery that specializes in red wine, notably pinot noir.

The other region making the headlines is Central Otago, located in the south of South Island and the only wine region in New Zealand that enjoys a continental climate. This means greater diurnal temperature variation and high seasonal temperature fluctuation. Both of these factors contribute to the intensity of the fruit flavors found in the wines produced here. The region is home the most southerly vineyards in the world, some of them located below the 45th parallel. For now, Central Otago accounts for only 5% of the country's vineyards, managed by a handful of producers. But this is changing rapidly. Vineyards are being planted at an astounding rate with producers like Felton Road aiming to triple their production in the next five years. 

Most of the producers here have very small areas under production and produce tiny quantities for the boutique end of the wine market. In general yields are very low – less than six tons per hectare (2.47 acres) – resulting in intense, full-flavored  wines that command prices accordingly – there are no cheap wines here. In particular, pinot noir has done for this area what sauvignon blanc has done for Marlborough. This fickle, disease-prone vine, which is difficult to grow and whose wine so often disappoints, seems to thrive in the dry moonscape of Central Otago’s Cromwell Basin, producing stunning wines of great concentration.

For many wine growers pinot noir has come to represent the ultimate challenge in winemaking, the winemaker's Holy Grail. What is even more remarkable is that, although pinot noir  has only been produced here for around 10 years, Central Otago has already become one of the most successful areas for pinot noir in the world. These wines can comfortably hold their own against the better known pinots from Oregon and even against those of Burgundy. It is extraordinary to think what the future of Pinot Noir in this area may be.

There are several wineries worth visiting in the Central Otago region. Top on my list would have to be Felton Road, one of the rising stars in the world of pinot noir. Felton Road produces truly great pinot noir in tiny quantities. Its Block 5 and Block 3 bottlings are usually sold out before general release and are available on a wait list only. However, for those of us not fortunate enough or well connected enough to get our hands on a bottle of this winery’s top drop, some of its other wines offer more than adequate compensation. Its standard pinot is excellent, as is its chardonnay in both oaked and unoaked forms. Felton Road’s riesling is also very fine, and with its bracing acidity shows great potential for aging.

Chard Farm, which has a marvelous mountainside location and a quirky tasting room, is also making great pinot noir, especially its Finla Mor bottling. Its chardonnay is good, too. Also notable are Mount Maude, Peregrine Wines, Quartz Reef and Mt, Difficulty all producing pinot noir with pure varietal character and distinctive flavor.

On a final note one thing that may surprise you is that many premium New Zealand wines are now bottled using Stelvin screwcap closures instead of cork. New Zealand has been a testing ground for this new technology and winemakers are so pleased with the results that they believe cork will soon be a thing of the past. Traditionalists are yet to be won over and probably more time is needed to evaluate the screwcaps’ potential for extended bottle aging. As with many things in the wine world, only time will tell.