Winegrower Dec-Jan 2012-13

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2013

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NEW ZEALAND WINEGROWER

77

ISSUE

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1 2 /J A N 20

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF NEW ZEALAND WINEGROWERS

DE C 2012 / JA N 2013

A IR NZ W IN E AWA R DS ✽

SPR AY EFFICAC Y ✽

YOU NG W IN N ER S ✽ I SSU E 7 7

GISBOR N E R ESU RGENCE

A new twist on QR Codes Quick Response or ‘QR’ codes are a popular way to increase consumer interaction with a product or brand, and provide additional information via smart phone technology. Recognising this opportunity, Lark Hill Wines has partnered with Amcor to develop Australia’s first QR code on a wine screw-cap.

N e w Z e a l a n d g l a s s f o r w o r l d cl a s s

New Zealand Wines The skill of New Zealand’s winemakers has ensured that the results of each new vintage are eagerly awaited around the world. The quality of these wines demands the quality packaging that O-I can provide as our wine industry grows from strength to strength.

“With the industry looking for innovative ways to reach new and existing customers, we were only too happy to support this initiative and continue to develop print solutions that add value to the package without adding significant cost,” said Brian Lowe, Group General Manager of Amcor Beverages. “We see many future opportunities for this technology, which will support the wine consumption experience.

It’s a great way to communicate with the consumer, particularly generation X and Y.” Featuring QR codes on wine screw-cap closures enables consumers to easily access relevant information about that specific wine, such as wine tasting notes, complementary food styles and information on other vintages within the winery portfolio.

Lark Hill’s Winemaker and Director, Chris Carpenter says, “Every bottle is our business card – adding our QR code to the cap is our innovative way to create a highly visible, dynamic interaction with our customers far beyond the scope of conventional packaging. Whether it is scanned today or in 10 years’ time, this screw-cap provides an enduring link to Lark Hill.”

To find out more about Amcor’s approach to innovation and how we can take your wine packaging to new heights, contact us.

O-I New Zealand. 752 Great South Road, Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand Phone: +64 9 976 7100 Fax: +64 9 976 7191 Email: sales.nz@ap.o-i.com www.o-i.com

CONTENTS

ISSUE 77

46 R E GUL A R S

4

Editorial

8

The Threat From Chile

Tessa Nicholson

Jo Burzynska takes a closer look at why Chile is making such a name for itself in wine markets around the world. As producers of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Syrah, are they a threat to the position New Zealand has in the market place?

19

Spray Efficacy

If used correctly adjuvants can reduce chemical use within the vineyard, reduce target deposits and reduce costs for growers. Robyn Gaskin from Plant Protection Chemistry NZ explains why.

5

Regional Viewpoint

Ricahrd Flatman – Nelson

6

In Brief

News From Around The Country

36

Bob’s Blog

Bob Campbell MW

42

Sommelier’s Corner

Cameron Douglas MS

66 Calendar

Wine events happening in New Zealand

68

Research Supplement

The latest science and research projects funded by NZ Winegrowers

FRONT COVER PIC: Ata Rangi, Martinborough, supplied by NZ Winegrowers

FEATURES

14

48 Sub Regional Breakdown

This month we look at one of the oldest wine growing regions in New Zealand – Gisborne. Hit hard by the over supply crisis, Gisborne is now going through a resurgence and Christine Boyce explains how the many sub regions of the area are providing much of that impetus.

56

Pure Discovery

What is the validity of the NZW marketing by-line, New Zealand Wine – Pure Discovery? That question has been investigated in recent months and we follow up with the results.

32

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 3

E D I TO R Tessa Nicholson tessa.nicholson@me.com

FROM THE EDITOR TESSA NICHOLSON

CO R R E SP O N D E NTS Auckland: Joelle Thomson jthomson@xtra.co.nz Wairarapa: Barbara Gillham barbarag@value.net.nz Gisborne: Christine Boyce christineboyce@gmail.com Hawkes Bay: Mary Shanahan maryshanahan173@gmail.com Nelson: Neil Hodson neil@hodgson.net.nz Canterbury: Jo Burzynska joburzynska@talk21.com Central Otago: Max Marriott max@maxmarriott.com

A DV E R T I SI N G Kaye Sutherland kayes@ruralnews.co.nz Ph: 03 376 5552 Mobile: 021 221 1994 Stephen Pollard stephenp@ruralnews.co.nz Ph: 09 913 9637 Mobile: 021 963 166 www.nzwinegrower.co.nz

C I R C U L AT I O N & SUBSCRIPTIONS Lorraine Rudelj lorraine@nzwine.com Ph: 09 303 3527 Fax: 09 302 2969 New Zealand Winegrowers PO Box 90 276, Auckland Mail Centre, New Zealand

PUBLISHING & P R E - P R E SS Rural News Group PO Box 3855, Auckland 1140 Ph: 09 307 0399 Location: Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Publisher: Brian Hight Managing Editor: Adam Fricker Production: Dave Ferguson, Rebecca Williams

In June this year NZWingrowers launched a new Strategic Plan with a number of new and revised initiatives, including some of the following: Promoting Sustainability

I

t’s all very well being sustainable as an industry, but not much good if no one knows what it means. In the past month, NZW has begun what will be an on-going practice of ensuring that message is communicated in a clear and concise way.

The opening page of the NZW website, now focuses on how sustainability fits within the New Zealand wine industry psyche. The seven pillars considered essential by NZW are outlined, along with the history of SWNZ and the importance of sustainability not only to the wine industry, but New Zealand as a whole.

The new web page also allows growers and wineries to add their own sustainability stories, which NZW encourages you to take advantage of. The more stories presented, the stronger the message of the wine industry’s commitment.

Social Responsibility Published by Rural News Group Ltd under authority of New Zealand Winegrowers (jointly representing Wine Institute of New Zealand Inc and New Zealand Grape Growers Council Inc). Unless directly attributed, opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Rural News Group and/ or its directors or management, New Zealand Winegrowers or its constituent organisations.

Published every second month.

One free copy is mailed to every member of the Institute, the Council, the New Zealand Society of Viticulture & Oenology and the New Zealand Vine Improvement Group, and to such other persons or organisations as directed by the owners, with provision for additional copies and other recipients to be on a subscription basis.

ISSN 1174-5223

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

With talk of health warnings on wine bottles, concerns about plain packaging and the need to be socially responsible, NZW has linked forces with beer and spirit associations to launch The Tomorrow Project (the Project). Collectively the three organisations represent more than 1300 businesses involved in the production, marketing and distribution of alcohol in New Zealand.

The Project will undertake research and develop education initiatives to support New Zealanders make good choices about drinking alcohol, under a new consumer brand – Cheers! A website has been established (www.cheers.org.nz) which presents factual information, responsible drinking tips and self assessment tools for drinkers, along with guidance for hosts and parents. Given the way things are moving towards curbing alcohol abuse, this is an important move by NZW,

on behalf of all its members. The industry has to be seen to be acting responsibly and the Project is an indication that its not just lip service being paid to the concerns of alcohol abuse being raised by the community.

New Zealand Wine Insights This is a first from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and follows on from the Strategic Review. They state that since the review the industry has changed “dramatically”, mainly due to the smaller than expected 2012 vintage. The impact of that is being felt in all areas, from the smallest grower, through to the largest wine producer. Export receipts have increased dramatically, our position in key markets has been retained, our standing in terms of price being paid has also been retained, bulk sales to Australia and the UK are expected to fall, growers are expecting an increase in grape prices, vineyard sales and the sale of bare land is on the rise, and consolidation is becoming a byword within the industry.

All of these factors are covered in Wine Insights. But there is also a warning that cannot be ignored – and that is the fear of an increase in production, despite expectations that the cool flowering in 2011 will lead to lower yields yet again in 2013.

“Should favourable climatic conditions prevail, a large harvest, at least as large as 2011 and potentially significantly more, could be possible. A large swing past 2011 may not be beneficial to the industry and it’s in the industry’s interests to be vigilant to this outcome and take a measured approach to a large vintage in 2013.”

Sage advice.

On that note, good luck for flowering wherever you are in the country. And given the time of the year, best wishes for the coming festive season. ■

REGIONAL VIEWPOINT

RICHARD FLATMAN Chair of Nelson Winegrowers

N

elson is an amazing region. The climate and lifestyle have drawn people from all walks of life – add to this the growth in the vineyards, our seafood industry, galleries, boutique shops, cafes and world class restaurants; it makes Nelson a bloody great place to live and bring up a family.

We are very lucky that in Nelson we have a tight knit wine community, all family owned which makes the decision making process very easy. The Nelson Winegrowers committee is made up of 10 people coming from eight different vineyards.

This doesn’t include the sub committees that are formed for special events, tastings and degustation dinners etc. And we all actually enjoy each other’s company! So we are very lucky.

Nelson having less than 3% of New Zealand’s planted vineyard area does have its challenges however. How does a region that can grow world class Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Rieslings, Gewurztraminer and the rest of the aromatic stable, market this? This is not just a regional issue though. If you look at New Zealand wines, we punch well above our weight throughout the world not only in all the varieties listed above, but also with Syrah from the Hawke’s Bay and Sauvignon Blanc from Marlbor-

ough. The top wines from each region I believe are some of the best examples from around the world.

I would like to congratulate the Nelson Winegrowing community. In the recent Bragato Wine awards Nelson received over 20% of the gold medals given out. These 10 gold’s were won by five different wineries in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Viognier.

I recently read an article where Stuart Smith (former NZW Chair) mentioned how the supermarket monopoly was detrimental to the profitability

the worse if we can’t stop the very cheap wines that you see on the supermarket floor. How can anybody except the supermarkets to make money from wines that sell under $10. I do see that we will need to tread carefully as

If you look at New Zealand wines, we punch well above our weight throughout the world not only in all the varieties’, but also with Syrah from the Hawke’s Bay and Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. of New Zealand wineries. I found these comments to be spot on the money. When you talk to the local growers there is an air of optimism about the future.

Grapes prices are moving in the right direction even though they may never reach the heights of the mid 2000’s, they are still moving the cash through the system. This could change for

this cheap consumer wine area could be filled by cheap overseas wines from the likes of Australia or Chile. It is pointless watching wineries go broke slowly, but we also need to attract new consumers by producing reasonable standard and affordable wines.

An area which I believe that New Zealand Winegrowers will need to look into.

Finally I would like to mention the Nelson International Aromatics Symposium. This is held every 3 years directly after the Pinot Celebration and this year it is being held on the 1st and 2nd of February 2013. It is a well organized, enjoyable event showcasing some of the best aromatic examples from throughout New Zealand. Next year’s symposium will feature internationally renowned Markus Huber, the master of Gruner Veltliner. We are also going to look at the differences between top Austrian, Nelson and New Zealand Rieslings. The full program and tickets are available on the website www. wineart.co.nz Lastly I would like to send my best wishes to those that have been affected by the recent frosts. I know how it feels. Good luck to everybody for the rest of the season. ■

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 5

IN BRIEF

National Sauvignon Blanc Book

Marlborough Oysters and Sauvignon Blanc

New Zealand Winegrowers has collaborated with wine writer Jamie Goode to tell the story of the science of Sauvignon Blanc. The book uses the ground-breaking research work carried out in New Zealand to explore what the key aroma and flavour molecules are in Sauvignon Blanc wine, how they relate to viticulture and winemaking, and makes SauvignonBlanc from the Marlborough region so distinctive. This book is part of New Zealand Winegrowers’ levyfunded research programme and has been sent to all members. For more information contact: simon@nzwine.com

For the seventh time in eight years, a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has taken top honours at Washington’s Old Ebbitt Grill International Wines for Oysters Competition. More than 250 wines from around the world were entered into the competition, and whittled down to 20 finalists. The Grand Champion was Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2012, with First Runner Up – Mount Nelson Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and Second Runner Up – Seleni Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012. Marlborough wines have almost had a stranglehold on this competition. There has only been one year since 2005 that they haven’t won – that year it was a Sauvignon Banc from Chile that took out the top honours.

Sauvignon Blanc Yacht Race

Avoiding Wine Tasting Double Ups How many times have you tried to host a tasting, only to find that there are three more already on that day and not a single person is available to come to yours? Heather Battersby has set up a free service for event dates at winejobsonline.com The trade diary is run entirely at her own cost and enables wineries to list their event dates for all to see so that the clashes in timing can be avoided. There’s no cost to list, and nobody makes money from the service; it is an added extra as part of Battersby’s website, which she hopes more people will use. Find out more online at: www.winejobsonline.com

After the success of this year’s event and following on from a survey of those attending, it has been decided that next year’s event will once again be held in Blenheim. The dates for Romeo Bragato will be from Wednesday August 28, when the trade show will open to the public, through until Friday afternoon, August 30.

The annual Wineworks Sauvignon Blanc Yacht Race took place in October. Seventeen yachts and hundreds of hardy sailors battled Cook Strait to deliver the latest releases of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to Wellington. Each of the yachts carried a sealed box, containing one of the recent release wines. The battle was on to see which yacht and which wine would cross the line first. Nefertiti, carrying Tohu Sauvignon Blanc 2012 took out the Line Honours and Handicap of this year’s race. 2nd on Handicap was Slingshot, carrying Lake Chalice. Real Deal was 3rd carrying Nautilus Estate.

Update on Fog Force Bird Repellent

Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

Extensive field trials were conducted in a Marlborough vineyard

by Field-Tek Ltd during the 2012 season. Samples were collected and analysed for residues. The lab test results showed that the residues were hardly detectable and similar to the levels found in grapes naturally. NZ Wine has recently clarified their view and has stated:Given the classification of this product, we do not deem it to be a pesticide, and therefore inclusion in the industry spray schedule is not required. Our understanding of the means of application suggests that the likelihood of detectable residues above 0.01 mg/kg is small.

The three New Zealand Master Chefs will converge on the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival next year, as the event gears itself to wine and food matching. Brett McGregor, Nadia Lim and Chelsea Winter will provide individual demonstrations within the new look Culinary Pavillion, supported by New Zealand King Salmon. The Festival is on February 9, and will take place at the historic Brancott Vineyard.

Romeo Bragato 2013

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

Treasury Estate Buy Out Winery Partner Australian-based Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has bought out 50% partner Babich Wines’ share of Rapaura Vintners in Marlborough and has plans to expand. The winery which has packaging and warehouse facilities is situated in the heart of Rapaura and will now be known as Matua Marlborough. Expansion plans include increasing crushing capacity from 15,000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes next year. Taking ownership of the state of the art winery strengthens TWE’s foothold in Marlborough.

Nelson Nelson Tasman Small Business of the Year Award Brightwater Vineyards have been named the 2012 Nelson Tasman Small Business of

the Year as well as 2012 Supreme Business of the Year.

The double award is the latest for Gary and Valley Neale who have had an outstand-

ing 12 months.

At this years’ Royal Easter Wine Show, they won the Champion Wine and New Zealand Winemaker of the Year.

Best of Wine Tourism Awards New Zealand winners in this Great Wine Capitals competition are; Innovative Wine Tourism experiences – Northburn Station, Central Otago Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices – Yealands Estate – Marlborough Wine tourism Services – Appellation Central Wine Tours, Central Otago Wine Tourism Restaurants – Melton Estate, Canterbury Architecture and Landscapes – Spy Valley Wines, Marlborough

The Central Appellation Team.

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 7

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

THE THREAT FROM CHILE JO BURZYNSKA

“Wine, smooth as a golden sword, soft as lascivious velvet/wine, spiral-seashelled and full of wonder, amorous, marine,” wrote the great Chilean poet and statesman, Pablo Neruda in his love poem, Ode to Wine.

The Sauvignon Blanc of Neruda’s nation has certainly become more full of wonder since it – along with other cooler climate varieties – has been planted in more suitable places and could start to seduce

the world’s wine drinkers away from our versions.

Chile made its name for its ripe and good value wines made from grapes grown on its warm valley floors. Its Sauvignon Blancs may have been snapped up at low price points, but initially weren’t anything to get that excited about.

However, times have changed.

Chile had something of a false start with Sauvignon Blanc, as many of its early plantings of the

Los Lingues Colchagua Casa Silva.

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

variety were discovered to be the lesser variety, Sauvigonasse.

Since the mix up was exposed, true Sauvignon Blanc has been planted, largely with UCD1 clones as in New Zealand, along with others such as 107, 242, 376 and 530.

This helped the first step up in quality, but the leaps that have been made in more recent years have largely been spurred by plantings in the country’s cooler regions, many of which are only

starting to be discovered.

“The Humboldt current’s influence, which keeps ocean temperatures and the coastal areas along the Pacific Ocean quite cool, as well as the fact that it doesn’t rain during Chile’s spring and summer, make Chile a very attractive country for producing this variety,” notes Chief Winemaker at Cono Sur, Adolfo Hurtado, whose 20 Barrels Sauvignon Blanc has beaten New Zealand examples in

some high profile competitions.

“This combination of cold weather, no rain and good light is ideal for Sauvignon Blanc production, along with the presence of red clay soil, sea breezes and morning fogs that bring in dissolved sea salt.”

Hurtado sources grapes for his flagship Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca on the coast. This was Chile’s first major cool climate region to be established back in the 80s, which offered a taste of the exciting things to come in the country’s Sauvignon Blancs and really started to shine in the last decade.

“Since I arrived in Chile 12 years ago there have been a bunch of completely new coastal valleys, such as San Antonio and Casablanca, which have been ‘discovered’ for wine production,” says Grant Phelps, a Kiwi who’s now making wine in Chile at Casas del Bosque. “It’s from these newer regions that the really interesting Sauvignon Blanc is being produced.”

Chile’s 12,000 plus hectares of Sauvignon Blanc is now planted from the Atacama desert in Chile’s far north – down to Patagonia in its deep south, with coastal and San Antonio Valley.

San Antonio Valley.

higher altitude areas the focus of new regional development.

Elqui, 6,500 feet above sea level is its most northerly established wine region, which is starting to produce some impressive Sauvignon Blanc. Beneath it, Limari is doing well with the variety due to a combination of cooling sea breezes and its 3,000 feet altitude.

However, the region that’s been making some of the most stellar Sauvignons is San Antonio. Close to Casablanca on the coast, it’s one of the country’s coolest regions, with the sub region of Leyda start-

ing to produce some seriously good Sauvignons.

“The latest plantings of Sauvignon Blanc are in areas where the climate suits the variety very well: where you find the coolness of the ocean breeze, which results in a fresher, crisper style of Sauvignon,” observes Felipe Marin, winemaker at San Antonio’s Casa Marin, who spent some time making wine here in New Zealand. “New Zealand should keep its eye on wines from new cool valleys such as Limari, Aconcagua Costa and San Antonio, as they achieve pretty close or the

same price as the top New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs.”

Stylistically, Chilean Sauvignon Blancs are treading a different path from those of New Zealand.

There’s less of the powerful passion fruit thiol character, with some of the most attractive possessing a more restrained herb and mineral character.

“I believe that Chile can make Sauvignons that are similar in quality to Marlborough in its own style,” states Brian Bicknell, now of Mahi wines but who spent time making wine at Chile’s Viña Errazuriz, so has seen Sauvignon from both sides. “Chile has the climate to do it and is still discovering the sites and regions to make better wines.”

“Chile has also done well to not paint itself into a corner with just one easily recognised style of Sauvignon Blanc,” observes Phelps.

“While this has made it harder to earn a reputation internationally, the result has been a more diverse and gastronomically compatible style of wine: in the long-term Chile is going to do well with its style of Sauvignon Blanc.”

Sauvignon Blanc is one of Chile’s growing strengths and Syrah is another, with the best to be found in the new cooler regions in which Sauvignon is doing so well. Akin to the styles we’re

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 9

producing here in New Zealand, this new breed of Chilean cool climate Syrah posses a more Rhônelike freshness and aromatic peppery profile.

While the flagship wines of most Chilean wineries were once almost always Cabernet and Merlot-based blends, there are now a growing number of producers that are hanging their hat on ultra premium Syrah and placing it in pole position in their portfolios.

At present, there’s not a huge amount to be worried about with regards to Chilean Pinot Noir.

While there are some increasingly sound examples, they’ve yet to scale any real heights. As well as being planted in the wrong areas, quality has historically been hindered by the dominant clone, which - like Bachtobel in New Zealand - was initially cultivated for sparkling wine production.

However, Dijon and Davis clones have recently started to enter the country, so it’s worth monitoring Chilean Pinot’s progress.

In the important market for both Chilean and New Zealand wines of the UK, Chile has lost ground in the bargain basement area where it built its market in its early days. However, it’s seen significant growth in price segments above £5 and it would appear that its generic body welcomes the fact that it’s shedding its “good value” image and making serious inroads into the more premium category where most of New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blancs are currently to be found.

New Zealand may have wooed the world’s wine drinkers with its Sauvignon Blancs, but Chile could well come in as the fashionably late suitor, luring Sauvignon lovers away with its increasingly attractive offerings. ■

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BOARD NEWS

NEW CHAIRMAN MAX MARRIOTT

S

tuart Smith’s swansong speech at Bragato and transcribed article in the previous issue of New Zealand Winegrower spoke about a new phase for New Zealand wine. In a real showing of the times, the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of NZ Winegrowers is Steve Green of Carrick. Without being dismissive of his vast experience on countless boards, trusts, associations and district councils – along with everything that he has achieved and given back to the wine industry – here is a humble man from Central Otago (a region that accounts for less than 10% of the nationwide volume), focused on premium, organic, top quality wines with a bias towards Pinot Noir.

The times they are a changin’.

Having served as Deputy Chairman for the past three years, Green was flattered by the appointment to Chairman.

“I was honoured to be approached by Board members from different sectors of the industry.

It is an important time for NZ Winegrowers as we implement the Strategic Plan and it is exciting to lead these changes.”

Growing value rather than volume to return profitability was the key message from former Chairman Smith’s future outlook. Green echoes this sentiment.

“We have done well to maintain our inter-

national profile during the past four years and as the world economic situation improves we have a real opportunity to grow export sales focusing on growth in value. This would give both growers and wineries a better return for

their investments.”

But it won’t all be smooth sailing. As emerging wine regions from around the world look to boost their own profile and capitalize on a multi-billion dollar market sector, now is not the time for complacency or gratification. Now is the time for renewed vigour, persistence and exploration.

“We are still in a period of production fluctuations; oversupply and undersupply both offer real challenges. Oversupply will obviously put downward pressure on prices for wine and grapes, but if we can’t meet market demand we run the risk of having developed markets that we can’t fill, leaving us exposed to our competition.”

Like great wine, the balance is poised on a knife-edge. Green is relishing the challenge and looking forward to representing New Zealand’s wine industry body. He insists it will be business as usual, both at Carrick and NZ Winegrowers.

“I’m lucky to have a supportive team here at Carrick that will pick up any of the loose ends.

We also have a very competent management team at NZ Winegrowers that I can draw on, so I guess it will be a case of making sure I use my time effectively and efficiently to keep both jobs running smoothly.” ■ max@maxmarriott.com

Secure Your Pinot Gris supply – the rising star of white wine!

Central Otago Vineyard (Tarras) for Lease Single variety Pinot Gris vineyard available for lease 2.5 hectares of nine year old vines Three cultivars on a common root stock Frost fighting is via sprinklers Side nets protect from bird peck Central Otago provides ideal conditions for Pinot grapes Our vineyard produces wonderful wine For further information contact: Tony Poole 027 368 9065 or Debi Lawry 027 240 2889 or email info@clutharidge.co.nz

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

INDUSTRY NEWS

TOP HONOURS Two New Zealanders have recently been acknowledged on the international stage, for their services to the wine industry.

S

am Harrop MW received the Julian Brind Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Wine Industry, at the 2012 International Wine & Spirits Competition awards dinner. Originally from Auckland, Harrop is a leading consultant winemaker for clients in Portugal, France and England and is co chair of the International Wine Challenge, the world’s largest wine competition.

Next year he will take on the deputy chair of judges at the Easter Show Wine Awards, which will be celebrating its 60th year.

T

he other New Zealander to be honoured, was inaugural CEO of the Wine Institute of New Zealand and founding editor of NZ Winegrower Magazine – Terry Dunleavy. He was one of four elected to honorary life membership of the Circle of Wine Writers at its annual meeting in London.

The other three also honoured were Britain’s Michael Broadbent MW, Australian James Haliday AO, and South African Michael Fridjohn. ■

Due to the success of our Wine Roadshow in early 2012, Hill Laboratories is pleased to be hosting another series of seminars throughout the country in February 2013 with a panel of internationally recognised guest speakers.

WE WILL BE VISITING YOUR REGION ON THE FOLLOWING DATES:

Dr Glen Creasy specialising in grapevine physiology (Lincoln University);

BLENHEIM

Dr Steve Price specialising in grape and wine phenolics (ETS Labs, USA);

Tuesday February 5th

SEAL5132NZWa

Dr Rich DeScenzo specialising in grape and wine microbiology (ETS Labs, USA).

Each workshop will run from 10am to 2pm with lunch provided. The guest speakers will present current information on their specialist topics as well as case studies from recent harvests.

Please direct any bookings or questions to: Kirsten.Creasy@Hill-Labs.co.nz or phone 03 377 7176.

CENTRAL OTAGO

Thursday February 7th

HAWKES BAY Friday February 8th

www.hill-laboratories.com

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 13

GUEST JUDGE

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS JOELLE THOMSON

W

hen Master of Wine Julia Harding says there’s more to wine than just one style or type, it carries more weight than when most people make such a statement - a whole 3.1 kg more, to be precise.

Harding herself cuts a slender figure, but the new book, “Wine Grapes”, which she has just finished co-authoring with fellow Master of Wine Jancis Robinson and the Swiss grape geneticist, Jose Voullimez, more than makes up for that - weighing in at an impressively hefty seven pounds or 3.1 kg.

It is a calling card to diversity in the wine world.

The massive tome has been four years in the making and features 1368 wine grapes. It was released in October this year in the UK and USA, followed by a New Zealand launch in November when Harding was a guest judge at the 2012 Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

While the book has yet to be launched online, readers can

Julia Harding

take a sneak peak at its website (http://winegrapes.org/) to read sample pages. These feature excerpts from the book; grapes featured alongside their history, growing conditions, colour, shape and taste. Her biggest surprise in researching the book, was just how many people are resurrect-

ing almost extinct grape varieties, which went out of fashion or were low croppers or lying derelict on abandoned vineyards because people had moved away.

“The one I brought with me – Jampal from Portugal – is a fantastic example. It’s a terrific wine which is very well made; it

lends itself to oak as well, it’s quite creamy and has a lovely freshness and aromatic quality. It also seems to age well – an older vintage seemed to have a slight Chenin character as it aged.”

Another she was particularly impressed with was Timorasso from Colli Tortonese DOC in Piemonte, Italy. She first tasted it nearly three years ago when a British-based Master of Wine, Michael Palij, introduced her to it.

“It’s a great example of a forgotten grape that had nearly died out.”

When there is only a narrow range of grapes and wines, it’s easy to become bored.

“One of the things I love about my job is that there’s always something new to taste and I would struggle if there wasn’t that variety.”

Harding believes diversity is something that is lacking here in New Zealand, which was apparent when she judged at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

“It’s encouraging to see New Zealand branching out in some

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areas; such as seeing Simon Nunns from Coopers Creek trying Montepulciano and Arneis - and others doing similarly. I’m glad to see people diversifying because I think it’s necessary,” she said.

“You’ve had all this Sauvignon Blanc and some people are tired of Sauvignon so all of a sudden they have jumped on the Pinot Gris bandwagon but wine doesn’t have to be one or the other; it can be many things. I would love to see New Zealand have a wider range of grape varieties that could grow well in this country and offer wine drinkers more variety. I hardly ever drink the same thing from one day to the next, so I think there needs to be more than one or two strings to a country’s range of wines.”

While she is clearly passionate about diversity, Harding is under no illusion that it’s easy to achieve.

“It’s all very well for me to say you need greater diversity but I know producers have to sell the wine and I realise it’s hard to make a living from, but I think if producers were willing to diversify then it would be extremely good.

“Trends should be temporary so that the wine industry can cope with the coming and going of different fads and draw from a diverse palate.”

As to what this palate should be, Harding suggests New Zealand Chardonnay is “wonderful, but it seems a bit underrated, at times”.

“I think each grower has to look at their site, their climate and their soil and find somewhere similar in the wine growing world, which can be a helpful starting point. Chenin Blanc is another wonderful variety, for instance, but how can you say to someone ‘well, you need to plant Chenin but it’ll be another 20 years before it’s any good.’ It’ll take a while for people to find out what works best – and where.

“You rescue your vine, you take cuttings, you make a micro-vinifica-

tion and then you have to think ‘what do we do with it?’ It’s such a long process. I’m terribly sympathetic to the plight of New Zealand. It’s easy to breeze in and give advice; far harder to be at the coalface.”

Riesling is another grape in which Harding sees unexploited potential; particularly

with drier styles.

“Chardonnay and Riesling are obvious and extremely promising white stars for New Zealand, if winemakers focus on them,” she says.

While this trip marked

Harding’s first stint judging wine in New Zealand, she has judged extensively Down Under before; most notably in Australia, Chile and in South Africa.

Based on her tastings, Harding found the number of relatively sweet tasting Sauvignon Blancs to be surprising, sometimes disappointing so.

“I really like that there is more diversity than there used to be with Sauvignon Blanc. I really like the grapefruity style. I don’t particularly like the sweaty style but I think it’s great we now have the option for choosing one that’s really in that green fig character rather than box tree or capsicum style. But I think there are too many with too much residual sugar.” ■ jthomson@xtra.co.nz

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 15

CHIEF JUDGE’S REPORT

AIR NEW ZEALAND WINE AWARDS S U M M A RY F R O M C H A I R O F J U D G E S , M I C H A E L B R A J KOV I C H M W

T

he winning of a Gold Medal is a very difficult achievement to come by, and the five panels of judges were very exacting in their awarding of such medals. Elite Gold medals were awarded by the Chair of Judges, together with the Panel Chairs involved, to the Gold Medal wines that were considered worthy of going forward to the Trophy judging. These Elite Golds have something extra that sets them apart from the other Gold Medals.

This year we saw a total of 1353 entries, which is 9 per cent down on the 2011 competition due to the different vintages. 47 per cent of all entries received awards of which 7 per cent were awarded Gold Medals.

2012 was a challenging vintage across the country, but it was very gratifying to see such a strong lineup of very well made Sauvignon Blanc wines. Within the Gold Medal wines there is diversity of style, with some very ripe, volatile, thiol-dominated wines, and others showing more green hints from methoxypyrazines. However, all have the weight, texture, length and balance befitting the Gold Medal award.

The showing of Chardonnay in this competition is very strong indeed, and indicates what can be achieved from a range of regions when the grapes are ripe, and the use of oak is carefully balanced with the fruit elements of the wine. This year all of the Gold Medal wines have had the influence of wood, and it is disappointing that the un-oaked subclass is not of a similar standard. Perhaps in the future more winemakers will divert more high-quality fruit for production without the influence of barrels.

Riesling yielded some truly delightful wines of breed and refinement, and surely commercial success for this under-rated wine star must

16 //

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

follow as consumers realise just what an outstanding value it represents. Pinot Gris is an important grape variety in the New Zealand wine sector, and it is great to see so many wines with concentration, strength of character and balance coming forward to receive Gold.

The Gewurztraminer class was a little shy this year, but the best wines still have great weight, texture and varietal definition. The Trophy winner is outstanding by any standard. In Viognier there were some very impressive aromatic profiles across the range, and the sensitive handling of oak and phenolics in this strongly flavoured variety.

With 21 Gold Medals, 45 Silver and 91

Bronze, Pinot Noir is the most successful variety in the competition. The top wines are simply stunning, and a further endorsement of Pinot Noir’s suitability to making outstanding wines from many regions around the country. Pinot Noir is not just about fruit, but the nuanced complexity that comes with fermentation and maturation processes that expose the multi-faceted aromas and flavours of this particularly exciting and sought-after wine style. The wines from the outstanding 2010 vintage are of special note, and are showing even more layers after an extra year of age.

Syrah continues to improve and diversify. The best wines range from some very attractive cool climate types with vibrant white-pepper and herby notes through to the more weighty ripe fruit and oak examples from warmer vintages such as 2010.

Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon can be difficult varieties in our typically cool ripening conditions. The top Merlot wine was in a class of its own, with creamy rich ripeness and none of the green-edged herbaceous characters that mar many entries. These varieties obviously require warm conditions and superior sites to achieve the ripeness and savoury characters to succeed, and that was not always evident here.

With our cool growing conditions giving mineral nervosity to many wine styles, Sparkling Wine should be one of New Zealand’s very strong suits, and the Gold Medal wines are very good examples of what can be produced here. However, I have the feeling that this is an area where we can really make great strides and produce even more wines of International appeal. ■ Trophy Winners Page 18.

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AIR NEW ZEALAND WINE AWARDS 2012 TROPHY WINNERS Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Grasshopper Rock Central Otago Earnscleugh Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010

O-I New Zealand Reserve Wine of the Show Matua Valley Single Vineyard Marlborough Chardonnay 2011

Label and Litho Limited Champion Sauvignon Blanc Wither Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012

Rabobank New Zealand Limited Champion Chardonnay Matua Valley Single Vineyard Marlborough Chardonnay 2011

Guala Closures NZ Champion Pinot Gris Eradus Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Gris 2012

Plant & Food Research Champion Riesling Aspiring Flats Bendigo Central Otago Riesling 2012

Coast FM Champion Gewürztraminer Lawson’s Dry Hills

Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2010

BDO Champion Other White and Rosé Wine Coopers Creek SV Gisborne Albariño ‘Bell-Ringer’ 2012

Wineworks Champion Sparkling Wine Lindauer Classic Rosé NV

Kapiti Champion Dessert Wine Greystone Waipara Valley Basket Star Riesling 2011

JF Hillebrand New Zealand Ltd Champion Pinot Noir Grasshopper Rock Central Otago Earnscleugh Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010

Fruitfed Supplies Limited Champion Syrah Passage Rock Reserve Waiheke Island Syrah 2010

New Zealand Winegrowers Champion Merlot Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2010

Gold Medal Vintage Insurance Champion

Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot/Cabernet Blend Esk Valley Winemakers Reserve Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

New Zealand Winegrowers Champion Other Red Wine Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Tempranillo 2010

New World Champion Open White Wine Wither Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012

Fairfax Media Champion Open Red Wine Rockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2011

Waitoa Free Range Chicken Champion Exhibition White or Sparkling Wine Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Auckland Chardonnay 2011

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RESEARCH NEWS

SPRAY EFFICACY TESSA NICHOLSON

I

f used correctly adjuvants can reduce chemical use within the vineyard, reduce off target deposits improving environmental sustainability, and most importantly reduce costs for the grower.

That’s a pretty strong argument for their usage, but as Robyn Gaskin from Plant Protection Chemistry NZ pointed out at recent SWNZ workshops, most people are unsure just how valuable they are, or how they should be used.

“The biggest question I get asked is, what is a spray adjuvant? Basically it is anything you put in your tank with your chemical sprays, which doesn’t have any pesticide activity.”

Despite good delivery of spray to the leaf , the coalesced droplets show the limited retention of the spray on the waxy, water repellent surface.

Retention Gaskin, who has been researching the effectiveness of adjuvants and super spreaders within viticulture, says grape leaves and berries are notoriously difficult to wet. That’s due to their surface waxes.

Using a fluorescent dye within a spray, she was able to visualise the retention of sprays with and without adjuvants on a difficult-towet plant surface, akin to grape berries.

In the first case, a typical high volume spray without an adjuvant looked like the photo above.

In the second instance when a typical nonionic adjuvant was added to the spray, the end result can be seen in photo left.

Spray droplet retention was much better, but there were still a large number of gaps on the leaf surface. What’s more when you turn the leaf over there is no coverage on the under surface.

Efficacy “We typically find that if we include a suitable adjuvant in our spray, we are talking about spray retention being increased on difficult-to-wet plant surfaces by up to at least eight times compared to no adjuvant,” Gaskin

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 19

said. “Adjuvants are most beneficial on difficult-to-wet species, and grape berries and the underside of grape leaves fall into this category.”

When adjuvants were added to botrytis sprays they provided significant long-term control within four different grape blocks.

As the graph shows, where you have significant botrytis and you improve retention of (captan) sprays on the plant with an adjuvant added to the tank, then this translates to better efficacy. It was a similar result when dealing with powdery mildew sprays.

Spray Coverage While researching this aspect Gaskin said she examined dilute high volume spray applied to run off, with Latron B adjuvant in it, on a difficult-to-wet leaf. The end result was Photo 2. However when she applied a concentrate spray containing Du-Wett super spreader on the same leaf type, the spray coverage was as shown on page 21.

“On the leaf surface there are no longer discrete droplets with unprotected spaces between them,” Gaskin said.

“You have an even film of whatever chemical you have applied, covering the entire surface. It is critical not to use a superspreader adjuvant such as Du-Wett in high volume sprays, or your pesticide spray will simply run off the leaf and efficacy will

be reduced! Used in concentrate sprays at the recommended rates, small amounts of run-off accumulating at leaf margins will run around and up the other side of the leaf, providing protection on unsprayed surfaces.

This also happens in the grape bunches. Spray wraps around the back of your berries and spreads to areas that weren’t contacted with the initial spray.”

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Water Sensitive Papers A word of warning about using water sensitive papers when an adjuvant, and particularly a superspreader, has been added to the tank. Gaskin said the papers are incredibly important to tell you if the spray is being delivered to the desired targets. BUT they don’t show you how well your sprays adhere to or cover any specific plant surface.

“They tell you what got to the surface. In other words if your sprayer was well set up and the spray actually got there. But they don’t tell you what the spray is going to do when it hits the surface and how well it is going to cover the plant.”

In fact she said, it could be easy to think that the sprayer was not doing a great job, if you went on papers alone when using an adjuvant or superspreader. Her recommendation is to always use the papers to monitor spray delivery to a target, but don’t rely on them to give an accurate indication of coverage.

Robyn Gaskin’s SWNZ Workshop presentation is available to view on the nzwine. com website. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

SUMMARY Well-researched adjuvant technology, combined with tailored application technology, offers multiple benefits.

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growers Given the number of adjuvants available, Gaskin said it is important to ensure you base your choice on independent scientific data, before committing to any product. Also, talk with other growers and users prior to purchase and confirm what you want to achieve is possible with the adjuvant of your choice.

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REGIONS CENTRAL OTAGO

FROST HITS CENTRAL Growers throughout the country were on frost alert during November.

But it was parts of Central Otago that had the toughest time.

MAX MARRIOTT

“The day is for honest men, the night for thieves” – Euripides And so it was in Central on the morning of November 4, nature’s hand snatching at the season’s crop with a cold, chilling gaze. In an event reminiscent of the late spring frost of the 2003/2004 season, damage was inevitable despite grower readi-

ness and vigilant frost fighting.

A southerly blast brought with it snow and cold the day before, as a rapid afternoon/evening clearance resulted in temperatures diving under 5o well before midnight.

The rhythmic thumping of chopper blades reverberated throughout the night, foot-long icicles hung from fruiting wires

and growers in beanies clasped thermos’s, staring anxiously into the dark. Inversion layers grew thinner and thinner, colder and colder, as the dawn approached.

After a brief respite the following night, the same scenario – to varying levels of severity – echoed throughout the region for three consecutive nights/mornings on

the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Any shoots on the brink of damage, teetering between recuperating and submission, showing some form of resilience, were granted no reprieve under relentless cold.

People fought. Many won, some lost. Those with water were most fortunate; there was very lit-

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tle damage to vineyards with overhead sprinklers. Wind machines and helicopters were a mixed bag.

The Lowburn and Pisa regions adjacent to the Wanaka Road were the hardest hit, though no region escaped unscathed. Lower altitude sites were prone, differing from the advective frost a year earlier (to the day) that targeted higher altitude vineyards.

The Central Otago Winegrowers Association (COWA) organized a frost management meeting the week after. Different strategies were discussed, with an emphasis on management practices that would best nullify the mediumlong term effects on consequent seasons. When addressing shoots that were partially damaged – especially shoot tips and fruiting structures – there was talk about various approaches.

Some liked the idea of retaining a dominant lateral leader, while others spoke of snapping the shoot back to a spur-sized stub, or even removing the shoot completely to better encourage secondary buds to push. All agreed that it was best to be patient and wait for a week or two to better gauge the dam-

age, make an assessment and then implement a plan of attack. However, the level and type of damage is different in each vineyard, each row, each neighbouring vine, making it a case-by-case situation.

As the post-mortem continues, glum, tired and depressed growers are shifting attitudes, looking to be pro-active and attentive to the intensive job that lies ahead.

There is hope. Vineyards that looked bad have bounced back, those that looked awful have, well... There will be a crop for most, albeit reduced to varying degrees, and canopy architecture can be salvaged.

Tucking and training will prove an arduous task and there will be considerable variability not only among shoot sizes and growth stages, but ripeness of the fruit as well. Effective green thinning pre veraison (or even post set) will help alleviate some of that variability, resulting in a greatly reduced but potentially good quality crop for vintage 2013, if the work is done. We pray for some warmer weather, no more frosts and a long Indian Summer. ■ max@maxmarriott.com

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 23

INDUSTRY NEWS

YOUNG WINNERS TESSA NICHOLSON

T

wo of the young breed of the New Zealand wine industry have come out tops in recent competi-

tions.

Nick Picone, Villa Maria’s Senior Auckland Winemaker took out the title of Australasia’s Young Winemaker of the Year in Sydney, while Braden Crosby from Borthwick Estate in Carterton became the Young New Zealand Horticulutrist of the Year.

For Picone, it was a double whammy, given no New Zealander has ever won the competition in its 12 year history.

One hundred and fifty winemakers from Australia and New Zealand entered the competition, with 10 finalists chosen. Each had to supply three wines they have been primarily responsible for, with the top two going through to the final round. Those wines were then tasted blind, with the best of the best resulting in the top place.

Picone who oversees Villa Maria’s North Island production, including Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, entered the Villa Maria

Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2010 and the Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Merlot, also 2010.

Aged 34, Picone has already completed 16 vintages, beginning at the age of 18 at Esk Valley Estate in Hawke’s Bay. He completed a BA in Wine Science and became Villa Maria’s youngest assistant winemaker at 24, when he moved to Villa’s Marlborough Winery. In 2004 he was awarded the Yalumba scholarship to attend the Len Evan’s tutorial in the Hunter Valley, and moved to Villa’s Auckland winery in 2008. His rise through the ranks to the top of his game, is one he is obviously proud of.

“I started out right at the bot-

tom and it’s so exciting to now be at the helm of New Zealand’s most awarded wine company and to be the first Kiwi to win this overall prize.”

This was the year for New Zealand winemakers, with three Kiwis among the 10 finalists; Picone, Malcolm Rees-Francis from Rockburn and Nikolai St George from Matua Valley. Rees-Francis was also celebrating, having been awarded the Trophy for Finalists Choice.

His two wines, the 2010 Rockburn “The Art” Pinot Noir and 2011 Tigermouth Riesling received the highest points in a blind tasting by the finalists themselves.

After the award he said; “This Trophy is a complete surprise.

To be counted amongst a crowd of such talented winemakers was privilege enough, but for them to then elect my wines is a real honour.”

Top Viticulturist Braden Crosby who was the winner of this year’s Young Viticulturist, has once again proved how talented the sector is, in terms

of horticulture in New Zealand. He won the 2012 Young Horticulturist of the Year award, competing against five other finalists. Not only did he come out tops overall, he also took second place in the Agmardt Innovation Award, with a frost windmill blade system that can also be used for electricity generation.

“That project took me out of my comfort zone with technical areas and I’ve had to approach people for help during my research and development.” Crosby won $11,500 worth of prizes, including a $7,500 travel package.

Viticulturists have traditionally been very strong in the national horticulture awards, with four previous wine industry representatives taking out the national title. ■

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MARKETING NEWS

A COMMON WHINE LEE SUCKLING

S

everal key mistakes are made by winemakers in marketing their own wine, says wine marketer Kathie Bartley. When in the planning phase of starting a new label, a lack of budgeting hinders growers to take marketing seriously.

“Most wineries have a plan for the bank,” Bartley says, implying their irreverence. “But these plans are not plans that can be translated and implemented on a day-to-day basis, with priorities for brand distribution and how this is supported.”

Naming a brand is difficult. “[Wineries] don’t spend the time or money to come up with a good brand name, [and] it’s easy

to spot the brands with difficult brand names to pronounce, say, and remember,” Bartley says.

“Maori names like Ngatarawa, Nga Waka, Te Kairanga all fall into this category. As a result Ngatarawa use Glazebrook internationally, Nga Waka developed the Three Paddles brand, and Te Kairanga is promoted as TK. “There are also many generic names that are now not distinctive - Stones, Ridges, Peaks, Valleys, Rivers, and so on.”

The story behind the grape is as important as naming, Bartley tells.

A brand story, or ‘brand positioning’, is what is special and unique to a label, but few wineries identify what this is beyond “award-win-

ning, boutique and family-owned”.

“The first question a retail customer or a restaurant will ask is, ‘Why should I buy your brand, what is special about it? A unique story behind the brand provides the basis for the creative development for the label and other brand imagery.”

US-based wine educator Chuck Hayward, of JJ Buckley Fine Wines, offers his advice on brand positioning. “The first job of a winery is to set the table,” he says. “Talk about New Zealand wines over all, then discuss the region where the winery is based, and then educate about the winery specifically itself.

“Context, historical backPackaging and branding that catches the eye.

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

ground, reference points are all a foundation that needs to be built before one starts marketing and promoting their own brand.”

Such a story should be translating into graphic labelling. “Many [winemakers] don’t invest in a good graphic designer to help with pack design and a strong corporate identity and promotional material and website,” says Bartley.

“Often they get their cousin/ sister/friend/brother’s mate to design the label to save money, or go to a designer with no wine experience.”

Cambridge Road’s Lance Redgwell, of Martinborough, agrees.

“Small growers often don’t employ professional designers for labelling, [the result of ] which can be sub par.”

Gabrielle Simmers, wine distributor for Salmanazar, believes New Zealand wine packaging to be more conservative than the “hip, green image we try to portray”. “Even the best bottle of wine will not sell if it’s in boring packaging,” she says.

“If you offer something to the consumer via your packaging, you’ll sell the wine better than if you don’t. It’s pretty simple but that means investing in great designers, and I think a lot of New Zealand wineries try to cut corners on branding budget, which is the biggest mistake you can make.”

The winemakers that do seek professional wine branding are sometimes guilty of a detrimental offense – not listening to the advice they pay for.

“I’ve found that the own-

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ers often think they know best,” says Bartley. “They are too close to their brand, they think it’s the best wine in New Zealand. Constructive feedback seems to be hard to take.”

However, an unfortunate obstacle that many small to mediumsized winegrowers encounter is the cost-versus-reward of wine marketing, Redgwell explains.

“There is a proliferation of bodies supposedly promoting wine, and all of them cost. It’s too easy to get lost amongst the fray and spend too much money for little reward.”

Embarking on a trip of international markets is important in the learning process. Redgwell, a young vigneron, completed his first this year.

“I recently took my first significant overseas sales journey, visiting distributors in Singapore and the UK, and working in trade with them,” he says. “In addition I did a quick flit through the markets of Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden, to meet with potential buyers there, and get a feel for those markets. I coupled this with Wines from Martinborough events with other village growers.”

The goal of such trips, Redgwell comments, is to “understand market requirements, to be visible, to spread the word, to push our own brand, and to educate and motivate the staff that sell it.”

It’s not easy, though, he tells.

“Ultimately it’s about relationships; forging and fostering them as a young company. It’s bloody hard work. Each market deserves a bespoke approach, and that time in market is invaluable.”

Hayward agrees. “Wineries need to be as direct into the market as possible and [should] avoid letting other entities control sales and distribution.

“It is rare that you can depend on the importer/distributor to tell the winery’s story. They want the easy sale and there will always be other wineries that demand more attention.”

Redgwell will keep this in mind for all future marketing trips.

“With my distributors it seems I can’t rely on them to do too much work for me, and by ‘being there’ you have a chance to build some momentum.

“Maintaining it while back home, however, is something that will require constant dialogue.” ■ lee.suckling@gmail.co

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REGIONS NELSON

NELSON AROMATIC SYMPOSIUM NEIL HODGSON

N

elson Winegrowers will host their third Aromatics Symposium next year.

As has become custom this will follow on from the Pinot Noir Conference in Wellington.

Nelson wine producers have had a strong focus on the continual evolution of aromatic wine styles in the region and have believed for some time that the best way to do this is to discuss, taste and learn from other producers from around the world.

The 2013 symposium will put Riesling and Grüner Veltliner under the microscope with the clear intention of looking at how far the production of Riesling has evolved since the first symposium and to look at the early results from the new boy on the block, Groovy Grüner.

This year, rather than packing everything into one day, the symposium will be spread over two days; the afternoon of Friday 1st February will focus on Grüner Veltliner, while the morning Riesling session on Saturday 2nd will be followed by a wine makers only workshop.

A real key to the success of the previous post-symposia workshop has been providing a forum where winemakers can offer frank and,

28 //

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

if warranted, brutal assessment of the quality of wines being produced without the media looking for juicy nuggets to write about. The winemakers only forum allows for this frank exchange of ideas and thoughts with the sole goal being to learn what we need to do to be better.

As Grüner Veltliner is an old Austrian variety, Markus Huber from Weingut Markus Huber is the keynote speaker.

National and international trade press have described him as a winemaker to watch and a ‘Wunderkind’ (British Decanter Magazine).

Together with his close-knit team, the winery has already achieved huge success and numerous awards on the international stage.

Markus was brought up in Reichersdorf, where his parents ran a vineyard and he went on to study at the HBLA in Klosterneuburg, graduating as a viticultural engineer. He then began a number of internships at well known wineries across Austria, including Mittelback, Jurtschitsch and Bründlmayer, subsequently moving on to South Africa where he spent time working at some of the best wineries in the country, including Kaapzicht, Spiceroute &

Markus Huber – guest speaker at next year’s Symposium.

Lammershoek.

Having a keynote speaker with such a strong record in the production of Grüner Veltliner share his wisdom will most certainly help the rapid development of a uniquely ‘New Zealand style’ of this variety.

Other international speakers will include Matthew Jukes and Mike Bennie, with Lisa Perotti-Brown and Jamie Goode (recent winner of the UK’s best wine blog) to be confirmed.

Hosted in the Moutere Community Centre in the heart of the stunning Moutere Hills subregion of Nelson, this is an event not to miss.

Visit www.wineart.co.nz to find out more and register. ■ neil@hodgson.net.nz

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Page 1

REGIONS GISBORNE

GISBORNE RESURGENCE C H R I S T I N E B OYC E

C

hardonnay appears to be in the midst of a renaissance, heralding restored positivity and focus in Gisborne, the region regarded as the Chardonnay capital of the country.

Some of New Zealand’s larger wine producers are putting significant investments in the variety as consumers once again swing towards the old favourite.

It’s not such a surprising development in an industry known for its cyclical nature; much like fashion trends, wine varieties often ebb and flow in their popularity.

Now it seems Chardonnay is on the rise.

It is, however, a welcome development in Gisborne, where growers rely heavily on the production of this variety. It was just over three years ago when many growers were forced to diversify and, in some instances, pull out vines after grape contracts were axed in the region due to a downturn in Chardonnay sales and the international oversupply situation.

The fall-out was challenging for growers but the strong survived, confident in the knowledge things would turn around.

“Chardonnay is the most popular wine style in the world, and it will come back. That was just a blip,” says Steve Voysey, the chief winemaker for Indevin in Gisborne and owner of his own label, Spade Oak Vineyards.

“Any agricultural area goes through its booms and this was

30 //

one of them. It got to a point where we had too much supply for the demand and it has slowly corrected itself. The fortunate thing about being based in Gisborne is it’s very easy to react to changes in the market. The quality is good across the board so you can do it at a competitive price and the cost of producing is also good.”

For Voysey, the attraction to

For those visiting Gisborne as a wine destination, Chardonnay continues to be the main draw card.

Chardonnay is the way it expresses the winemaking, the quality of the fruit and the vineyard location.

“I’ve always been passionate about the wine styles Gisborne makes – they are very fulfilling as a winemaker. There are so many touch points to be satisfied with in the craft and the end product.”

His comments are echoed by Jane Dewitt, North Island operations winemaker for Lion, who says Gisborne’s key asset has long been the drink-young appeal of its Chardonnays.

“Because the region is so warm and sunny, the grapes ripen to sugar levels with low levels of

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

acidity, producing full-bodied, soft wine styles. Gisborne Chardonnay can knock your socks off when it is only six months old, although the best examples will also mature well for several years - hence the title, the Chardonnay capital of New Zealand.”

Gisborne’s growing conditions are another obvious benefit for James Millton of The Millton Vineyard and Winery. He reiterates the value of dry farming, which is something fairly distinctive to the region.

“In Gisborne there are microbes living in the soil which hold the soil together and don’t let the water percolate too fast.

Therefore soil has a high moisture holding capacity, meaning the vines are sustained through spring into a dry summer and autumn.”

While the diversification that has taken place in Gisborne vineyards in the last couple of years is a positive step in terms of winemaking and creativity, he says Gisborne should not lose sight of its obvious strength.

“Other varieties have stimulated people’s appreciation of wine, and then after the infatuation with all things that are obvious, deep down people just want a good friendly glass of wine, and Gisborne can deliver that.”

For those visiting Gisborne as a wine destination, Chardonnay continues to be the main draw card.

Gisborne Wine Centre man-

GROCO EXPORTS Gisborne wine co-operative GroCo has exported 26,000 bottles to China after securing one of the region’s biggest wine export deals.

Called Eastland, the wine is now touring China in a round of tastings and promotions, after making its debut at the Hillton Beijing Food and Wines Exhibition.

The export included three varieties – Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Gewürztraminer – made by Gisborne wine maker Anita Ewart-Croy.

Gisborne Winegrowers p re s i d e n t D o u g B e l l described the breakthrough into the Chinese market as a tremendous boost for the region.

“The sale of wine anywhere in the world is good but this is a new market — this is exciting.”

Accounting for almost 20 percent of the world’s population, China has recently joined the top 10 countries for wine consumption.

Hong Kong businesswoman Shien Joe, who secured the export contract, said she and her team were working “hard and smart” to raise the profile of the label but doing business in China was “like running a marathon”.

“It will not be an overnight success; rather it is an accumulation of repeatedly doing something basic brilliantly.”

ager Marcus Allan says it accounts for between 70 to 80 percent of the local wines they sell.

“It remains highly sought after.

The more complex varieties like Chardonnay are fantastic food wines and we find more and more people are interested in marrying the two,” he says.

“Chardonnay is a variety that has huge respect in this region, from locals and visitors – there are still a lot of fans out there. The fantastic thing about Gisborne is we can produce a high standard of this variety across the board for all price points.” ■ christinejboycegmailcom

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 31

WOWING HONG KONG

HONG KONG WINE FAIR TESSA NICHOLSON

G

iven the Asian market, especially China, is a key target for New Zealand Winegrowers, it was surprising to note how few of our wineries were actually present at the November Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair. One of the largest of its kind in Asia, it attracts 950 exhibitors from 36 countries.

According to Euromonitor International, wine sales in Asia reached US$62.2 billion, or 5.5 billion litres in 2011. That is a 63 per cent increase in value and 56 per cent increase in volume in just five years. And it’s unlikely to have plateaued out just yet, with Euromonitor predicting another 9.5 per cent rise in volume between now and 2016.

When I first attended the fair two years ago, I was astounded to find just one producer on the New Zealand stand. They were over run with enquiries not just from distributors in the Asian market, but also from Europe.

Last year the New Zealand showing was better, with a number of producers representing the country as a whole. (There are also a number of New Zealand producers involved in separate distributor stands.)

This year – our representation was via The Family of 12, and O.Tu. In many ways The Family of 12 were perfect representatives, given the wineries involved cover the breadth of New Zealand, both in geographical terms as well as

32 //

Japanese wine journalists who attended the New Zealand Masterclass.

varietal styles. But should there have been more? Should this wine fair be top of the list for companies looking to gain a presence in Mainland China?

Cost is always a major factor and has to be weighed up with the potential outcomes. But as William Hoare (Fromm Winery) said, the fair is growing in size and the people attending are becoming more educated about wines in general. And it appears they love New Zealand.

“I was really surprised at how busy we were, just because we were New Zealand,” he said. “We thought it would probably be a few relaxing days, with just one or two people being required to pour wines. But we were run off our feet. People were coming to us, because they wanted to see New Zealand. I think given how

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

the Hong Kong Government want to make this the largest fair in Asia, it’s very important for New Zealanders to be there.”

Clive Weston, Chair of The Family of 12 said the interest was not limited to red wines.

“They were as interested in the whites as they were with the reds, which is contrary to what we had been told before we went up.

The level of knowledge was very impressive but what was even more impressive was the level of curiosity. They had a hunger and a desire to taste our wines.”

Being in the same hall as the big players, France, Spain and Italy was a definite advantage, given France in particular was a “go to” for the Chinese attendees.

“We had people at our stand within two minutes of the Fair opening and it was busy through-

out the two trade days and the third day which included public and trade. We were a little apprehensive about how that pubic day would go, but we were very busy and the quality of those attending was high. They were genuinely interested.”

For the first time, New Zealand wines were involved in a Masterclass tasting, advertised within the programme. Entitled ‘The Diversity of New Zealand Wine’ the class ended up being over subscribed.

“That went really well,” Weston said, “ and we had some very positive feedback. While we weren’t there to speak on behalf of the New Zealand wine industry, The Family of 12 does represent all the major wine growing regions. So we were able to provide a snapshot of New Zealand, and

our diverse wine styles.”

Hoare said it is the second time he has attended the event, and the interest generated by New Zealand was beyond his expectations.

“I came back with seven legitimate and interested distributors (for the Chinese market). They weren’t tyre kickers, they were

all genuine and what’s more they had a very good knowledge and palate.”

Weston reiterates that, saying the level of interest and potential distributors made the trip worthwhile.

“For The Family of 12, this is our first outbound trip, the

toe in the water, trip to Asia. We have viewed Hong Kong as a link to Mainland China and it was a good opportunity to explore the opportunities. And to be honest, we were busier than if we had been in London. You couldn’t ask for more than that.”

Weston said he was surprised

at the lack of New Zealand wineries, but said it could be due to companies having already attended VinExpo in Hong Kong earlier this year. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com • Tessa attended the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair courtesy of the HKTDC.

The Family of 12 panel at the Masterclass, from left: Paul Donaldson, William Hoare, Nigel Greening and Charlotte Read.

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 33

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BORDEAUX – SHORT SIGHTED? TESSA NICHOLSON

W

hen discussing wine in Hong Kong, it is inevitable that the subject of Bordeaux wine prices will be raised. Especially given the wine’s dominance within the burgeoning Chinese wine market.

Prices for Grand Cru Bordeaux have risen exponentially in the past few years, to the point that many other wine lovers around the world can no longer afford to

purchase them.

At the recent Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair, Neal Martin who writes for The Wine Advocate, discussed the long-term implications of those sky-high prices. Has Bordeaux been short sighted by concentrating so heavily on the Chinese market, and what will be the impact on the region in the future?

Martin was quick to point out

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that the current Asian love affair with Bordeaux is just the latest in a long line of trends, going back centuries. Champagne, Riesling, Burgundy and now Bordeaux have all benefitted from the changes in international economies.

“Now everyone is looking towards China,” he said. They came in like the cavalry with open chequebooks and the situation for (wine) merchants changed over-

night. Now-a-days when you go to Bordeaux, every Chateau has someone who speaks Mandarin or Cantonese.”

But Martin believes the tide has started to turn, which may be great news for other wine producing nations.

“Most of the merchants I spoke to said that in 2010 Bordeaux accounted for about 95% of their sales (to China). Now it’s down to

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Neal Martin

around 70%,” Martin said.

He puts that drop in sales down to two things. The hike in prices and the proliferation of fake wines emerging on the market.

“An interview in Decanter recently stated that 15 – 20% of Bordeaux is fake wine. There are long-term implications of that.

And Hong Kong and Mainland China’s consumers have wised up. They have seen the unfulfilled promises that you can easily make 10% on the value of the wines.”

In terms though of what centralising on the Asian market has done to the Bordeaux image elsewhere is perhaps even more interesting. Martin says as the Asian demand has driven prices upwards, they are now out of reach of most people.

“There is now a younger generation of wine drinkers for whom Bordeaux is meaningless. It has priced itself off the dinner table and certainly out of restaurants.

Now a lot of top Michelin restaurants only pay lip service to Bordeaux, whereas 10 years ago, it was the heart of the wine list. They can’t afford to spend thousands of Euros on a wine and wait in the hope that someone will come in and want to buy it. The long-term

implications for Bordeaux are severe and I don’t think they quite understand that.”

There is one other issue that is of grave concern to Bordeaux Estate owners, Martin says. And that is what the high prices have done to land values – and consequently the inheritance taxes.

“They are so high they have made it impossible for children to inherit the estate. They have to be sold off. So who are they being sold to? The East, where there is money. People see this as a loss of identity especially when some of these properties have a long history and are entwined into French culture.”

In terms of the future, Martin believes there will be an awakening to other wine producing regions as the Asian consumer becomes more educated. The natural progression will be for other varieties to emerge, starting with red Burgundy and followed hopefully by a plethora of white wines.

“I can’t see it happening in the very near future, but I hope that it does happen.”

Producers here in New Zealand would whole-heartedly agree with that sentiment. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 35

BOB’S BLOG BOB CAMPBELL MW

The joy of LAX

Wine clubs in decline?

Radio waves

It’s been a busy month for overseas travel.

One night in Los Angeles, two nights in New York, two nights in Hong Kong, three nights in Montreal and four in Singapore. No jet lag thanks to Melatonin – a prescription drug in this country but available over the counter in the US and Singapore. Trust me, it works.

Is it my imagination or are there less wine clubs now than a decade or so ago? Perhaps it’s just the big city clubs that have gone the way of the Dodo? I was the first guest speaker at the Tokoroa Wine Club which celebrated its 25th anniversary by inviting me back.

I once had a regular wine slot on the Kim Hill show and thoroughly enjoyed the immediacy of radio as well as the feedback from an audience that was probably larger than the readership of any publication I’ve written for.

More recently I’ve been chatting about wine on the Paul Holmes show while their regular, John Hawkesbury, was away on holiday. For much of the time Paul Holmes was in hospital so I had a series of substitute talk show hosts.

They like me to recommend a wine although I can chat about any topic I wish. The most popular theme so far has been the best, worst, oldest and most expensive wines I’ve tasted.

People are fascinated to learn that I have tasted a wine that was 200 years old and have uncorked a bottle that cost $37,000.

Red hot in Alex It’s complicated A group of Kiwi wineries called Complexity invited me to join them on a very novel promotion. They hired two restored 1940s Pullman railway carriages; filled them with influential New York wine writers, buyers and sommeliers; hitched them to the back of a train at Grand Central Station and lectured them on New Zealand wine during a nine-hour journey to Montreal. The simple concept worked brilliantly.

Guess the region “Guess” is an appropriate word. At a well attended Pinot Noir tasting in Marlborough I invited 50 winemakers to identify the regions in four blind wines. The result confirmed my view that New Zealand’s regional Pinot Noir styles are easy to define but difficult to pick in a blind tasting. Martinborough is the easiest because the region is small with a relatively consistent soil and climate. Central Otago is plain-sailing if the wine is from the Cromwell Basin or Bannockburn but more difficult if from Gibbston, Alexandra or Wanaka. The Waimea Plains and Moutere Hills make Nelson a region of two halves as do the free-draining plains and richer hillside soils of Waipara.

A Syrah tasting with 35 Hawke’s Bay winemakers featured four Côte-Rotie from the excellent 2009 vintage served blind with four Hawke’s Bay Syrah from the equally excellent 2010 vintage.

The Hawke’s Bay wines generally preferred to the French wines although the overall standard was very high on both sides.

In most (but not all) cases the country of origin was easy to identify.

36 //

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

Each year the Alexandra wine producers offer the paying public a chance to try their wines at a new release tasting with a guest speaker in attendance. This year it was my turn. In addition to tasting wines from 18 local producers I managed to visit most of their wineries. One of the highlights was a tasting of 79 library wines going back to 1997.

Pinot Noir is the region’s star with fine-boned, perfumed wines many of which possess surprising power. Riesling was also predictably good while an equally impressive brace of Gewurztraminers was a real eye-opener.

Spitting in Singapore I ran my wine course in Singapore for many years until exchange rate changes eroded my profit margin. After a break of

several years I recently ran another course there. It was a full house (35 people) with a waiting list.

I discovered two terrific restaurants on this visit. The more expensive of the two was Halia Restaurant set in the ginger plant section of Singapore’s botanic gardens. “Halia” is a Malay word for ginger. The cuisine is Modern European, with specially created dishes and beverages featuring ginger and its related family. Terrific food and a wine list resplendent with many good Kiwi wines. We sat outside in an area surrounded by ginger plants and their distant relatives which include the banana palm.

La Petite Cuisine in Upper Thomson Road is a small BYO restaurant offering classic French foods at bargain prices. I had Foie Gras for an entree and Duck Confit for a main. The bill of $45 included corkage.

into a glass of wine and describing what they perceive”). The pack includes three bottles of masked wine. Contestants (2-10 people) must taste the wine and describe it by ticking a series of options on a scorecard. Everyone who has played it so far has loved it.

Cellar for sale We spend so much time away from home that for years we’ve planned to sell our large

Devonport villa and buy the sort of house that real estate agents describe as a “lock up and leave”. Once a year Marion would tell me it was time to sell the house. I’d respond by saying that the first thing we needed to do was clean out the garage. We’d then lose interest in the project.

We’ve finally done it. We’ve bought another house, cleaned out the garage and put our much loved home on the market. ■

Como Villa Alexander.

Winoceros is coming A student at one of my courses has, with a little help from me, developed a terrific wine game called Wineoceros (Definition: “A person who takes pleasure in sticking their nose

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 37

REGIONS AUCKLAND

SOLJANS CELEBRATE JOELLE THOMSON

D

riving out west never ceases to take on new meaning in Auckland.

If it’s not fruit orchards being replaced by vineyards or vineyards being uprooted to widen motorways, then it’s wineries being transplanted by fast food outlets, bowling allies and apartment living.

But not all is lost for winer-

ies in the west. They have just moved further out. Lincoln Road is no longer stained ruby red with the juice of freshly picked grapes but, thanks to faster motorways, it is now quicker than ever to get from the centre of Auckland to the wineries in the west and, since nearly all of those remaining represent the historic backbone of New Zealand’s wine industry,

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their existence is reason enough to celebrate. This year, however, there’s another reason too; Soljans marks its 75th year of continuous service.

The winery was founded in 1937 by the late Frank Soljan; father of Tony (who runs the winery today) and son of the late Bartul Soljan, who arrived in New Zealand from the Croatian island of Hvar in 1927.

Their first vineyard was planted in Henderson in 1932 and the first wine made within a couple of years of that. Today the grapes come mostly from further afield, while Tony (who took over the winemaking in the 1970s) retains a mere five acres of vines around the winery, from which he sources Pinot Gris grapes.

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in the Auckland climate but our Pinot Gris does very well here,” says Peter McDonald, Soljans sales and marketing manager.

There is no vineyard ownership in the other regions from which Soljans Wines are made, he says.

eries, Soljans was first founded on a Lincoln Road site but Tony Soljan moved the winery and restaurant to a new complex in Kumeu in 2002. That relocation took Soljans to a new level in both size and focus.

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“It built a foundation for growth with tourists and other winery visitors, both of which have been increasing year on year, thanks to close proximity to Auckland and the attractive restaurant and visitor centre we have built here,” says McDonald.

The winery’s 75th anniversary lunch this year was attended by Prime Minister John Key and celebrated with a vinous blast from the past too; Soljans 75th Anniversary fortified wine; once known as Soljans ‘Port’.

The Prime Minister alluded to Jim Anderton’s ‘sherry tax’, which has all but scuttled the declining New Zealand fortified wine industry and he congratulated Soljans Estate on its 75th anniversary and saluted the three generations of winemakers at Soljan’s.

The winery today is owned by Tony and his wife, Colleen, Soljan. ■ jthomson@xtra.co.nz

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“In the large scheme of things, family companies have been left behind by the massive growth of the big corporations, but we produce between 12,000 and 20,000 cases with most of our growth in export. At the moment our exports are about 60 per cent with an increasing percentage moving in that direction,” says McDonald.

One of the reasons for the growing exports is the positive sales experienced in China during the past five years. The winery’s other two most important export markets are the United States and Japan. And here at home, Soljans Wines pulled out of supermarket wine sales about five years ago.

“In part this was because we needed our wine to meet export demand but as we’re more of a boutique company, in terms of size, we can’t do those massive supermarket demands in volume or price, so we steer clear of that.”

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REGIONS HAWKE’S BAY

HIGH FLYER MARY SHANAHAN

T

he quality of New Zealand wines and this country’s potential to achieve even greater distinction in the international wine scene were siren calls for Damian Birchman when he retired from the United State Air Force after 33 years service.

Aged 54, Damian is dovetailing viticulture and wine science degree studies at EIT with working as a “viticulturist in training” at Unison Vineyard. His dream is to own and run a boutique winery in

Hawke’s Bay. From Seattle, Damian can track winemaking in the family back to his maternal grandfather in the south of Italy. His interest in wine was further sparked when he was based in Christchurch, helping provide airlift support for the USA’s Operation Deep Freeze mission in Antarctica.

Damian was a frequent flier between Christchurch and McMurdo Sound, transporting cargo, scientists and support personnel to one of the world’s

harshest and most demanding environments. As loadmaster, his role was to calculate fuel loads and plan cargo and passenger placement to keep the military aircraft within permissible centre of gravity limits throughout the flights.

“I would do that for a month at a time, in addition to combat assignments elsewhere, usually in Iraq. The Antarctic run was regarded as a premium deployment. The season started in August and continued to February, and the airmen were picked

two months prior.”

It was during his Christchurchbased stints that Damian was befriended by Daniel Schuster, the legendary Waipara winemaker who crafted New Zealand’s first gold-medal winning Pinot Noir.

“He hooked me into the idea of studying in New Zealand and ultimately opening a business here.

My goal now is to have about 10 hectares of vineyard and a winery where I’ll have a better chance of controlling the product”.

Damian says working at Uni-

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son is very hands-on. Shoot and leaf plucking are non-mechanical and harvesting the six hectares of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in the heart of Hawke’s Bay’s Gimblett Gravels is done by hand.

He’s also been “taken under the wing” of Jon Peet, EIT senior soil science lecturer and owner of the Wines Under Ground vineyard in the Bridge Pa Triangle.

“I have spent so many hours at his vineyard learning about soil properties and the best way to conserve the soil. This is one subject that really has caught my interest in the wine business. I’m now involved in a two-year research project on his vineyard on the subject of available soil water content and stem water potential.”

Damian’s opportunity to study in New Zealand came about as a result of President George W Bush signing into law a post 9/11 bill which takes care of veterans

who have served in combat and are disabled or retired in offering them retraining for a new career.

The veterans can take up scholarships of up to four years duration at training organisations anywhere in the world, subject to the educator being approved by the American authorities.

“I chose to study in New Zealand because it has the potential to prove how good its wines are.”

While Damian finds Marlborough’s Sauvignon Blanc “really nice to drink”, his favourite wine is Syrah – “the bigger the better,” he says. With the region growing some of New Zealand’s leading examples of the style, he says that’s another good reason for putting down roots in Hawke’s Bay. And he is already making his mark. At this year’s Hawke’s Bay Mercedes Benz Wine Awards Damian won a bronze medal in the student class with a 2011 Merlot

Cabernet blend, he won a silver in EIT’s student wine competition for a 2011 Merlot/Malbec – and he was the overall winner in the

competition. Hawke’s Bay will be happy for him to place his roots in their area. ■ maryshanahan173@gmail.comoil.

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 41

SOMMELIER’S CORNER CAMERON DOUGLAS MS

CHARDONNAY RENAISSANCE Chardonnay is one of the more polarising grape varieties

T

he perceptions of the buttery oak bombs that historically represented the New World ‘style’ is undergoing somewhat of a revolution in New Zealand perhaps a better term might be renaissance.

As winemakers develop their skills and grapevines mature, the options evolve; and explorations of the boundaries and tolerances of this cépage are producing some exciting results. The growing incidence of indigenous ferments, higher solids ferments, specific lees contact and sulphide complexities are beginning to change the face of what we know and recognise as Chardonnay.

I am excited by these developments, though accept there is some resistance to, and even misunderstanding of, some of these new expressions.

For both the loyal and the potential Chardonnay drinker, there is growing interest in and excitement for this often misunderstood variety.

Recently, I was engaged by a company to present a wine tasting for a group of Corporates.

There was a specific instruction: “No Chardonnay – it’s unpopular.” In the first tasting line-up of five wines, I asked the participants to identify the Chardonnay. Guests confidently

42 //

discussed which of the wines they did not like, and which they found interesting and enjoyed.

Every wine in the flight was then revealed as Chardonnay, highlighting that all Chardonnays are not created (or built) equal - and it is generally a particular aspect of a wine that is causing a negative perception. Oak was the biggest culprit for the

ferent ways - sometimes a ‘less is more’ and/or a move from Barrique to Puncheon approach.

The challenge is to be finding the new niche for these modern expressions, while still recognising the group of drinkers who love oak flavour.

To test this idea I asked some fellow judges (local and international) at the recent Air

Chardonnay is again riding the cusp of both a resurgence in popularity and change, with stylistic interpretation driven by wine makers embracing some great vintage conditions, older vines and a much better understanding of the ‘terroir’ they are part of.

‘ABC’ group that day - elements that were not enjoyed included creaminess, nuttiness, vanillin or popcorn flavors – interesting, because for many ‘traditional’ Chardonnay drinkers, these are the qualities that are sought.

Chardonnay is again riding the cusp of both a resurgence in popularity and change, with stylistic interpretation driven by wine makers embracing some great vintage conditions, older vines and a much better understanding of the ‘terroir’ they are part of. Oak is being used in dif-

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

New Zealand Wine Awards to comment on the styles we had tasted that day. The response was as wide and varied as the styles themselves, yet one theme remained – that as the ‘classic’ style of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is entrenched in our history (it is too important to dismiss summarily) so the ‘Kiwi’ palate for the familiar oak flavoured Chardonnay needs to be coaxed gently. It would seem that wine makers have to be slow and decisive in their ‘weaning’ strategy of the

oak centered styles.

One of the most difficult wine list sections to manage and keep both current and interesting is Chardonnay. I find there are so many styles and brands, local and imported, to choose from that it is necessary to taste and consider each one carefully to avoid the risk of creating a selection that has a certain ‘sameness’.

It is also a section of the list that can become incredibly long – perhaps not so much because of diversity in style, but in including the wellknown brands the dining public expects. Complexity, weight, origin, appropriateness with food and style make choosing the right combination both challenging and fun.

Customers are the reason we are in business – and increasingly, the ones who like Chardonnay have definitely different style preferences. While many of the new and emerging expressions are exciting, there are those that are definitely a ‘hand sell’ to Sommeliers and in turn to customers.

The more food friendly styles will be an exciting addition to restaurants who are proud of their food and wine programmes, and who ensure their staff are well versed in their offerings. Bring it on! ■

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HEALTH NEWS

PREVENTING SKIN CANCER NEIL HODGSON

A

s we move into the heat of summer and work in the vineyard increases, the issue of protecting ourselves from skin cancer becomes a major issue.

Dr Susan Seifried is uniquely qualified to talk about the wine industry and the sun. As a specialist skin surgeon, she is also married to Chris Seifried from Seifried Estate who has grown up working in vineyards. She says

that even though we are becoming more aware of the dangers of the sun we still have a long way to go in actually protecting ourselves.

New Zealand and Australia have THE highest rates of melanoma in the world, something we are very good at, but not something to be proud of.

Approximately 2000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in New Zealand each year and about 300 people die from this preventable

disease each year.

Skin cancer is often downplayed because it is so common and there is often a misconceived idea that it is easily treated. However there are different types of skin cancer basal cell is the most common and least dangerous but can be serious if left untreated; squamous cell cancer is usually easily treated if found early but can be fatal if left untreated, and melanoma which

is the most serious form of skin cancer and is responsible for over two thirds of skin cancer related deaths.

Seifried says; “While you are more likely to get melanoma skin cancer when you are older it is quite common in young people, in fact there aren’t a lot of cancers causing death among young people, but melanoma is one of them.”

There isn’t a lot of evidence melanoma screening saves lives

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because the research simply hasn’t been done but we do know if melanoma is found early in a screening process chances are it will be a thin melanoma and able to be treated quite successfully with a good long term prognosis.

“While there are some exciting therapies on the horizon and in trials currently, we don’t have a chemotherapy drug which has been proven to successfully treat melanoma once it is in the lymphatic system (unlike many other forms of cancer). We still don’t know if these trial drugs will be the miracle we are hoping for and they can have significant side effects.

The current gold standard is surgical removal of both melanoma of the skin and the lymph nodes if they are involved.”

That is the harsh reality but the sun isn’t all bad. Seifried says we just need to learn how to manage our exposure to UV better than we

have in the past and prevention is much easier than treatment.

If prevention fails, then early detection is paramount and it is important to realise skin cancers don’t just appear where the skin has been exposed to the sun. They can appear anywhere on the skin “including places the sun does not shine”. Melanoma don’t always appear dark in colour, they can just be a light pink or red discolouration of the skin.

So what does the wine industry need to do to protect its workers from future skin cancer issues?

The first thing is to acknowledge this is a real health risk and secondly insist workers take appropriate safety measures in the workplace, just as you would do for those working with machinery.

These measures are as simple as making sure there is sunscreen in every vineyard vehicle and insisting workers apply it 20

minutes before going into the sun, reapplying every two hours or at least at every break. It needs to be applied everywhere exposed including the face, neck and ears.

Workers need to wear close-weave long sleeve shirts, wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses given you can get melanomas at the back of the eye.

As Seifried says “prevention is far better than treatment” and notice she doesn’t say ‘cure’ because not every skin cancer can be cured.

Finally the good news – research shows consumption of alcohol (wine) doesn’t increase your risk of getting a melanoma! ■ neil@hodgson.net.nz Early melanama.

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WINE &FOOD

EXTREME WINE MATCH MICHAEL HOOPER

I

allowed myself a small purr as I passed the glittering glass walls of the Ming Cellar for the final time on my way to check out of the Langham Place Hotel in Hong Kong. There were the Pasquale Waitaki and Hakataramea Valley Pinot Noirs displayed directly beneath a bottle of Grange in one of the most prestigious boutique wine outlets in the city.

It was a suitable fulfilment of a mission that had begun with a friendly kick at our Australian neighbours and included carrying part of a Kiwi beach to Hong

Kong to complete a wine and food match.

In 2010 our company, Wine and Food New Zealand, had been contracted for a year to develop export and marketing plans for boutique winery Pasquale. Reconnecting the winery with NZ Winegrowers and plugging into their expertise and promotions was our very first strategy. Their intelligence validated our attempts to restrain the ebullient Italian owner from taking on the entire world, including all of China, in his first two years of export activity. Following exploratory, relationship-building visits

NZ team chef Ben Bayly with his hero, the legendary chef Albert Roux.

46 //

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

in Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia, we had confirmed the focus would include Hong Kong. So it was with eagerness and purpose that we welcomed to our Auckland tasting room a senior Langham Hospitality Group executive visiting from the territory.

He had been dining around the globe, scouting for some of the world’s best dishes and matching wine to create a luxury festival that would set Hong Kong buzzing. Over 10 days it would feature a galaxy of Michelin-starred chefs, headed by London’s legendary Albert Roux, champagne houses

including Krug, and other mostly European wine companies. He agreed to grant us 15 minutes, but stayed an hour, captivated by the purity of the Waitaki wines of Antonio Pasquale and entranced by the beauty of North Otago. If we could promise him a Kiwi chef who could produce stunning food as smart as the wine, could we bump Australia out of the festival kitchens in Hong Kong, we asked? That challenge accepted, with chef Ben Bayly we began a series of late night and sometimes pre-lunch flavour experiments at Michael Dearth’s Auckland restaurant, The Grove, as we looked for combinations that would excel against such gourmet gravitas.

The chalky minerality and sometimes nippy acidity of the Waitaki wines destines them for food. As Pasquale self-effacingly comments “the purpose of our wines is to make food taste better”. We gave Ben Bayly the novel freedom of working without a budget. It allowed him to bring Aoraki Alpine Salmon, French caviar and Kina bavarois into play with the unique White Rose - a fragrant, bone-dry white Pinot Noir we had designed for Pasquale.

We were also able to have pigeon flown in from France to present with liquorice root, black garlic and wine-mulled cherries to pick up the brooding masculinity of the trophy-winning Hakataramea Pinot Noir.

Creative Oysters surrounded by some of Coromandel Beach.

However it was the essence of New Zealand that gave us the point of difference that had diners and starry chefs talking for days afterwards. To partner the just off-dry Riesling, from home came “free-range” sand octopus and line-caught Aji which was flash-smoked over hay (we had to “borrow” some from the revered Hong Kong Jockey Club!).

The perfectly dry Hakataramea Gewürtz played partner to New Zealand White Truffle, foie gras, and quail all gathered in the style of a most unusual “cup of tea”.

However we started the seven courses with what I believe, was our most creative concept. Stones, driftwood and seaweed were collected from a Coromandel beach to surround what appeared to be a lone oyster in its shell, but which was actually a shaped Tio Point oyster wonton, complete with a

sea foam of salt and egg white.

All this was inspired by Pasquale Arneis, with its seashell, mineral and limestone characters. I was able to stand on the stage and exhort the Hong Kong luminar-

My Te Reo had extended to a short mihi, so it was good to hear from the back of the room “Ka pai”. New Zealand’s trade commissioner Kevin Parish was also among the diners, and

Stones, driftwood and seaweed were collected from a Coromandel beach to surround what appeared to be a lone oyster in its shell, but which was actually a shaped Tio Point oyster wonton, complete with a sea foam of salt and egg white. ies to keenly smell the beach portrayed in front of them, then recognise its elements in the Arneis. It was a revelation, to the extent that someone even swished the shells around his mouth to complete the experience!

expressed his admiration for the tangible tastes of home. “When you live overseas your senses are always picking up little signals that remind you of New Zealand, whether it is the smell of the beach or freshly cut grass. Benjamin trig-

gered these emotions with his fantastic Tio Point Oyster Dumpling – the senses were indeed treated to some of the smells, flavours and textures that represent life in New Zealand.”

Antonio Pasquale had a different revelation. “To me this has been a great school of how much the details are fundamentals in a game of such level. Wines that are nothing less than perfect fail to stand with the cuisine of a Michelin star restaurant. Our wines were fine indeed with the Grove’s production but the tension was high; the clients very demanding. Wines from the old world (which accompanied the Roux dinner) are extremely good and priced properly. We must be careful not to think at any time that we can make wine better than Europe - there is still a long way to go, in my opinion.” ■

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 47

SUB REGIONS

GISBORNE Brought to you by Bio Start C H R I S T I N E B OYC E

T

he favourable soil conditions and climate in Gisborne have always made it a world-class wine producing region, so it’s ironic the first foray into grape growing there was apparently by accident.

In the 1800s missionaries arrived in Gisborne believing it was Hawke’s Bay, and set about planting grapes. Some time passed before they realized the gaffe, by which stage the flourishing grapes revealed the potential for a fledging wine industry.

German winemaker Frederich Wohnseidler arrived in Gisborne in the early 1900s and pioneered commercial winemaking in Ormond under the name ‘Waihirere Wines.”

The family was instrumental in developing the Wohnseidler wine company in Gisborne and by the 1960s was producing two million litres of wine per year.

Montana and Corban’s soon had a strong presence in the region, enlisting contract growers to supply grapes for bulk wine before opening wineries there in the 1970s. Montana bought out Wohnseidler in 1973.

Around this time, Matawhero Winery founder Denis Irwin was making waves nationally and abroad after producing New Zealand’s first benchmarking Gewürztraminer.

In 1981 The Millton Vineyard at Manutuke became the first biodynamic vineyard in the

48 //

Southern Hemisphere; paving the way for those who have followed in the footsteps of sustainable, environmentally conscious vineyard and winemaking practices.

Following the recent vineyard register, Gisborne is the fourth largest grape growing region in New Zealand, with 1616 hectares of producing vineyard area.

Rainfall averages 900-100mm per annum, with head summation at 1400-1500GDD. Sunshine hours average around 2186 per annum.

Fertile plains are sheltered by hills and a combination of northern warmth and plentiful sunshine, which, in favourably dry seasons, ripens the grapes before the arrival of autumn rains.

The wine growing area is made up of several distinct localities, each producing a broad varietal mix and diversity of wine styles, reflecting the different soil types and mesoclimates of the region.

James Millton has long advocated for Gisborne to adopt the terminology used for classification of French wine, based around the quality and geography of the terroir.

“The geographical indicators have a divine influence on the wine; therefore the quality of the wine and the value of the wine.

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

When you use the term village wines – the premier cru, or grand cru, you are giving honor and prestige to the wines. It tells people ‘this is a great wine’.

“It’s not about each winery being like ‘this’, it’s about stopping and looking at where the wine comes from. By registering these geographical indicators, we can trade on an international stage.”

Gisborne Winegrowers Society president Doug Bell agrees in the merit of further exploring the sub regions of the appellation, and the varieties and unique characteristics they produce.

“Every bottle of wine is accompanied with a story – where the grapes come from, what it means to come from that place and I believe we’ve got to try to expand on that story locally. All sub regions produce

good grapes, but they each have their own different aspects and attributes.”

Golden Slope (Hexton Hills) This 10-kilometre strip running from Ormond, Waihirere and Hexton is made up of small parcels of elevated sloping land.

Medium to heavy Kaiti clay base material is overlaid with 20-30cm of light black topsoil, with influences from the limestone foothills. The Kaiti clay has good moisture retention during dry periods in summer but can become wet during winter which is usually mitigated with targeted drainage.

Ormond Many premium wines are produced from this region, made up of a mixture of silt and clay loam soils.

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Soils here are similar to those of the Hexton hills, with areas of Kaiti clay, combined with a meso climate of gentle slopes with high-calcified soils within a narrow valley. This area has a brilliant record for single vineyard wines.

Manutuke In the Southern veils of the Gisborne appellation, Manutuke is the oldest wine-growing region in Gisborne with a history dating back to the late 1800s. It’s relatively close proximity to the sea brings a cooling effect from the sea breeze throughout summer, resulting in improved acidity. In late autumn, the warmth of the river water against cooler night air gives rise to mist, contributing to ideal conditions for

the formation of Botrytis Cineria. Silt loam soils near the river are varied and light with high

calcium levels, creating wines of finesse. Moving further away from the river the soils become

heavy and complex, well-suited to full-bodied Chardonnay and Viognier.

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to balance out scorching summer temperatures, while the soils feature free-draining silt loams allowing fruit to ripen well with high fruit sugar levels.

Patutahi This region is home to over a third of Gisborne’s vines and is known for producing superior, often award-winning wines.

Predominantly a 50/50 combination of silt and clay loam, the large parcels of land allow for premium viticulture for large scale producers, with natural vigor and water holding capacity.

Spade Oak vineyards, in Central Valley.

Central Valley Covering from Waerenga-oHika, Makaraka, Makauri and Matawhero, the northern areas of the Central Valley consist of a mixture of clay loam and silt soils, allowing for consistent qualities across the blocks. In the low land, sand gives the fruit flavor and elegance, while higher

up the clay translates to fullness and fragrance.

Riverpoint Similarly to Manutuke, this special little ‘premier cru’ has a prestigious history, as the home of Bridge Estate, Matawhero and further back to Montana. It benefits from the cooling sea breeze

This area receives 30 percent less rainfall during the growing season.

Patutahi Plateau One of the youngest growing areas in the Gisborne appellation, the Patutahi Plateau runs west from Kaimoe Road back towards the surrounding hills.

Once again, the Kaiti clay loam soils have proved to offer richlyflavoured wines.

Waipaoa Waipaoa benefits from a heat trap caused by a narrowing of the valley and clay soils to produce wines with ripe fruit flavours and a honeyed complexity.

It is protected from cool sea breezes and coastal showers, with most vineyards situated close to the Waipaoa River on lighter, free draining soils. ■ christinejboycegmailcom

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REGIONS MARLBOROUGH

SCALE AND SPEED TESSA NICHOLSON

T

he sheer scale of a new winery facility being built in Marlborough is only surpassed by the speed in which it will be able to process.

Once complete, VinLink Marlborough Ltd will be capable of handling more than 30,000 tonnes of fruit, with the ability to process that amount within a two-week period.

General Manager, Dave Pearce

says the company’s philosophy is quite simple – they are providers of infrastructure to process people’s fruit.

“We will not make any wine for ourselves. Instead we will provide the infrastructure and risk management for our clients,” he says.

“Because every grape coming into our winery belongs to someone else, we’re absolutely client focused and very conscious that

the industry relies on sustainable grower returns. Whether the client is estate driven or otherwise, we provide the infrastructure and access to economies of scale that our large format processing enables.”

Based in the Riverlands Industrial Estate on the edge of Blenheim, VinLink has bought the former Taylor’s Engineering site for the winery. Given Taylor’s are

one of New Zealand’s largest stainless steel tank manufacturers, it seems appropriate that their former production base now houses well over one hundred tanks, ranging in size from 30,000 litres to 225,000. For vintage 2013 VinLink has the capacity for 10 million litres of wine. With offices, laboratory, three tank cellars (all under cover) and a massive receival area, the size of the operation is in some

VinLink GM Dave Pearce with the 2-tonne tipping bins created by Taylor’s Engineering.

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 51

The Glycol pipes are up to 10 times larger than in most wineries, catering for the scale of the new winery.

ways daunting. Take the receival area for example. Initially there will be three tipping bins, the largest ever built by Taylor’s Engineering. (Another two are planned in the future.)

“They are quite simply beautiful,” Pearce says. “They are the strongest, biggest, fastest bins they have ever produced. To put it into perspective, they are big enough to swallow the biggest truck and trailer. Receival has to be our strength. Everything is about getting the client’s fruit in,” Each of the three bins can hold 25-30 tonnes of fruit at a time and Pearce says they expect to process 1500 tonnes of fruit a day.

“And that’s at cruising speed and includes clean down time.”

Each of the bins has a 100 tonne crusher next to it, which then feeds Della Toffola central mem-

52 //

brane presses. The speed of the press is impressive in its own right.

“Their normal cycle is 90 minutes, compared with a standard three hours in other

which is lower than the normal maximum on an airbag press which is 2 Bar.” For anyone who has lived through a vintage when Mother

“They are quite simply beautiful,” Pearce says. “They are the strongest, biggest, fastest bins they have ever produced. To put it into perspective, they are big enough to swallow the biggest truck and trailer.

Receival has to be our strength. Everything is about getting the client’s fruit in,” presses. They are also very efficient at getting free run juice at no pressure what-so-ever and press out to higher recoveries than normal membrane presses at lower pressure. The maximum pressure on them is 1.8 Bar,

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

Nature decided to wreak havoc, (think 1995 or 2008 in Marlborough), the ability to be able to process vast quantities in a short period of time is an obvious advantage. Even VinLink’s receival ramp has been specifically designed to

cater for numerous trucks at a time. Pearce says throughout the process of building the winery, they have consulted individual companies asking for advice, including haulage contractors who commented on the down time that often occurs for drivers waiting to deliver fruit.

“So we have looked at that and the ramp alone can have six truck and trailer units on it at one time.”

Set to be complete well before vintage 2013, VinLink will employ nine permanent staff, including three winemakers. Up to two dozen others will be employed for vintage itself.

Given the lack of development within the wine industry in recent years, VinLink’s commitment, valued at tens of millions of dollars, is a massive boost to Marlborough in general. ■

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REGIONS HAWKE’S BAY

COASTAL WINERY EXPANDS JOELLE THOMSON

I

f you had to describe the New Zealand climate in a single word, which would you choose?

Like many, Steve Skinner, winemaker at Hawke’s Bay winery Elephant Hill, says that word is ‘maritime’, and it’s begun to pall slightly. Not only is the land around the coastal winery he works at limited in terms of expansion, but the coastal climate is sometimes a challenge.

For both reasons he has begun to look inland for more grapes for the first time this year.

Skinner, formerly at Trinity Hill Wines, has been at Elephant Hill since its inception; the first vintage was in 2007.

He says Elephant Hill is growing and diversifying with the acquisition of grapes from a 15-hectare, long-term leased vineyard at Bridge Pa Triangle and also from the purchase of 17 hectares on the Gimblett Gravels.

“The key for me in using the grapes from these two other areas

54 //

is in being able to blend from the coast with grapes from inland areas too; diversity in climate and soils is the strength of Hawke’s Bay and provides us with a really interesting flavour profile in our wines,” says Skinner.

“The Bridge Pa Triangle is the country’s newest appellation. Grapes from there come from a vineyard we now have a long term lease arrangement with.

This will add to the quality and style of our wines.”

The owners of Elephant Hill, Reydan and Roger Weiss, are based overseas and, on Skinner’s recommendation, they have purchased a vineyard on the Gimblett Gravels.

The new lease arrangement and vineyard acquisition will allow Elephant Hill Winery to grow from its current 25 hectares, all of which are planted at Te Awanga on the coast, to a new 56 hectare total from this year.

“Whether we label our wines as Gimblett Gravels remains to

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

Steve Skinner

be seen. We will probably blend between the regions and for a wine to be labeled ‘Gimblett Gravels’ it must contain 95% of grapes grown on the gravels,” says Skinner.

“Investing in these new vineyards is the next step in the growth of Elephant Hill from 15,000 cases of wine a year to a maximum of 35,000 cases over the next three vintages and these vineyards fit perfectly with our plans for sustainable growth.

Having total control over the viticulture and winemaking is very important to keep our quality standards high,” says Roger Weiss.

Skinner says the new vineyards in the Bridge Pa Triangle and Gimblett Road areas offer him grapes with structural differences; helpful both for blending and making interesting stand-alone subregional wines. ■ jthomson@xtra.co.nz

INDUSTRY NEWS

BAYER LAUNCHES MOVENTO 100SC INTO GRAPES

N

ew Zealand winegrowers now have a new innovative tool for combating Grapevine Leafroll Virus (GLRV) with the launch of Bayer’s Movento 100SC into grapes.

GLRV has been a problem for the past five years and causes grapevines to become unproductive. It is spread by Mealybugs, which are sucking pests that feed directly on the phloem in plants.

Some growers have had to pull infected vines out entirely.

“Mealybug control is one of the keys to virus elimination.

The registration of Movento for use on grapes provides growers with another tool to achieve effective control,” says Philip Manson, General Manager Sustainability for New Zealand Winegrowers.

Movento is unique to Bayer.

Its unique “two-way systemicity” distributes the active ingredient upwards and downwards in the plant, killing pests wherever they are on the plant.

This is especially important for controlling insects such as Mealybugs. They hide under bark, in crevices and underneath leaves, making them hard to target with pesticides.

The original formulation,

Movento 240SC, was launched in New Zealand in 2009 for use in kiwifruit, and Movento 100SC was launched into apples in 2011.

“It’s great to see that Bayer’s innovative chemistry is having a real impact for local growers. New Zealand wine is worth protecting, and Bayer is working hard to assist winegrowers produce top quality wine,” says Bayer CropScience Country Manager Holger Detje. ■

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 55

NZW NEWS

 

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PURE DISCOVERY TESSA NICHOLSON

F  

ollowing on from last year’s strategic review, NZ Winegrowers has recently examined the validity of the marketing by-line, New Zealand Wine – Pure Discovery. Five years on from replacing “Riches From A Clean Green Land”, is Pure Discovery still the right generic brand expression?

Jeff Clarke Consulting were tasked with talking to members who have a plethora of experience in the export field, to determine how they see the brand expression and how they believe the market sees it. The good news is Pure Discovery has come out as an “appropriate, relevant and compelling expression of New Zealand’s international wine brand proposition.”

The report states it is becoming better understood, interpreted and more valued.

But there is more that can be done to enrich the current image Pure Discovery provides within our export markets.

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       

 

Phone (09) 3729155 Email : rsf@rd2.co.nz Web: www.rd2.co.nz Available through all good Ag retail stores 56 //

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

What Does Pure Discovery Say about our Wine?

Pure translates to both product and place.

Discovery is our future; stories around new and different places, new and different wines, plus new and different angles.

It represents what many people imagine of New Zealand as a place – highly aspirational. “This is

referred and reported as isolated, insulated, bright, clear, authentic,” the report states. “For some markets which experience highdensity living, pollution and lack of access to natural environments, New Zealand is the antidote for their day-to-day reality. Openness, clean green reputation, cool climate, fresh produce, naturalness and accessibility have special importance and appeal.”

How do the words quality and premium fit within our brand?

Interestingly, the consumer views these as two very different things. According to the report, the market selects and is loyal to quality ahead of premium. “Quality is what wine drinkers buy and enjoy; premium is a price segment or sometimes a wine expert’s award rating.”

And given that since 2007, quality wines from New Zealand have been within a variety of price segments, the quality aspect transcends the premium price points “New Zealand wines consistent quality across higher and (more recently) lower price segments has confirmed our reputation as well as our versatility…..The quality attribute has been earned, and it applies to all New Zealand wines, regardless of the price point.”

What more can de done to enrich Pure Discovery

Some may speak of range.

Others of quality.

All speak of

Internationally respected producers of bottles for the wine and spirit industries.

Lightweight. Heavyweight. Proprietary. Decorated.

SAVERGLASS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd 289 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000 PO Box 6537 (Halifax Street), Adelaide SA 5000 Tel. : (08) 8232.0770 / Fax : (08) 8232.0880 www.saverglass.com / info@saverglass.com

in the future?

While those questioned believe the brand is right, there was also a question emerging over what role does it and could it play? There is also an increasing wish to link Pure Discovery, generic promotion and programmes more with the activities of exporters.

“Deconstructing Pure Discovery might help its future development.”

It should be expanded to include more on the diversity of New Zealand wine, through better communication on sub regions, GIs, the range of varieties and styles and the personalities not

only of the wines but the people who create them.

“For new and developing markets, emphasis would be balanced between Pure (especially place) and Discovery (especially the regional diversity and varietals). For developed markets, the emphasis would be on Discovery – stories about diverse varietals, their regions and sub regions.”

The audit has been accepted by the NZW Marketing Committee with the suggestions to be integrated into future marketing activities. The full audit is available to be read or downloaded at www.nzwine.com. ■

SAVERGLASS NZ Ltd Unit G, 383 Khyber Pass Rd, Newmarket 1023 Auckland PO Box 8020 Symonds St Auckland Tel. : (09) 522 2990 / Fax : 09 522 2994 www.saverglass.com / krb@saverglass.com

SAVERGLASS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd 289 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000 PO Box 6537 (Halifax Street), Adelaide SA 5000 Tel. : (08) 8232.0770 / Fax : (08) 8232.0880 www.saverglass.com / info@saverglass.com

SAVERGLASS NZ Ltd Unit G, 383 Khyber Pass Rd, Newmarket 1023 Auck PO Box 8020 Symonds St Auckland Tel. : (09) 522 2990 / Fax : 09 522 2994 www.saverglass.com / krb@saverglass.com

SAVERGLASS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd 289 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000 PO Box 6537 (Halifax Street), Adelaide SA 5000 Tel. : (08) 8232.0770 / Fax : (08) 8232.0880 www.saverglass.com / info@saverglass.com Paul Paleologos: pnp@saverglass.com.au Sally Arnold: sjt@saverglass.com.au

SAVERGLASS NZ Ltd PO Box 8020 Symonds St Auckland Tel. : (09) 522 2990 / 021 580 104 Fax : 09 522 2994 www.saverglass.com / krb@saverglass.co.nz

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 57

BOOK REVIEW

The Wild Bunch

By Joelle Thomson PUBLISHED BY NEW HOLLAND PUBLISHERS, RRP $39.99

N

Z Winegrower magazine’s Auckland based writer Joelle Thomson has recently released her book The Wild Bunch, based on some of the most renowned winemakers in New Zealand.

In the following Q&A she gives us an insight into its production.

Where did the idea and name for ‘The Wild Bunch’ come from?

“Originally, the working title was ‘A Case of the Best’ and I loved the concept of a dozen profiles of people I thought of as movers, shakers and groundbreakers in New Zealand wine, the only trouble being that even a baker’s dozen (13) doesn’t begin to touch the sides. Soon the book had grown to 14 profiles and by the time I’d persuaded the publishers to include 18 people, we really did have to change the name. These people are a wild bunch, most of them openly admit they like pushing boundaries.

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Who else would you include if you could?

The Wild Bunch?

“The obvious names to spring to mind first are Frank Yukich, John Hancock, John Buck, Peter Cowley, Peter Hubscher and Steve Smith, among others, although I also believe Ivan Sutherland warrants far more than the passing mention he receives in this book; his story of bringing Vitis vinifera to Marlborough is probably a book in itself.”

What was the hardest aspect to the book?

Sitting down to write. Ernest Hemingway once said, ‘Every first draft is shit.’ He was right. The aim is to get fingers to keyboard, the facts right and then wait for the muse to strike and hone what comes when she does.

Who was the most surprising interviewee in

That’s a tough one. Most people in this book seemed surprised to be chosen for inclusion and on that basis, I admire those with quiet determination because they’re busy searching for the best way to create great wine rather

1980 when he first drove to Martinborough to buy land and plant grapes; that Ivan Sutherland’s relatively early understanding of decent grapes came about because of his travels as an Olympic rower and that Kevin Judd was one of those unusual Australians who

“Wine is the most exciting subject in the world. Why wouldn’t you want to read more, taste more and drink more widely?

It’s just like this massive plate of candy out there waiting to be enjoyed. It totally rocks my world.” than shout about it from the rooftops. I was fascinated, amused and entertained to learn that Mat Donaldson didn’t get his pocket money until he had racked his dad’s wines in the garage as a teenager; that Clive Paton was a single dad in

always had more of a passion for piercingly fresh white wines than for big gutsy reds.

But of all the quotes I’ve been lucky enough to harvest in The Wild Bunch, it’s Lynnette Hudson’s that rings the loudest bells

with me: “Wine is the most exciting subject in the world. Why wouldn’t you want to read more, taste more and drink more widely?

It’s just like this massive plate of candy out there waiting to be enjoyed. It totally rocks my world.” ■

GIVEAWAY NZ Winegrower has a copy of The Wild Bunch to give away. Send an email with your contact details to tessa.nicholson@me.com

by December 18, to be in the draw to win.

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 59

RESEARCH NEWS

HALT THE MARCH OF BLACK FOOT!

BY JANETTE BUSCH

B

lack foot disease is caused by several species of Cylindrocarpon, a fungus present in some soils. It is a major cause of death in young grapevines and currently there is no known control.

It is a scourge of newly planted vineyards worldwide and because this disease kills young vines it has the potential to cause significant economic loss to the New Zealand

wine industry as diseased vines and inoculum must be removed or a new site sought.

Carolyn Bleach, a postgraduate candidate from the Department of Ecology at Lincoln University, undertook research to investigate a range of chemical, physical and biological treatments for reducing levels of Cylindrocarpon infection in young nursery-grown grapevines in two wine growing areas

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of New Zealand. Her aim was to find a potentially effective treatment to control this disease.

Bleach showed that biofumigation (where pests and diseases are suppressed by natural compounds present in plants) using mustard plants incorporated into the soil, before planting young rootstocks, was a promising treatment as infection in treated plants was reduced by more than a third com-

pared to untreated plants.

Black foot symptoms include slowed growth and yellowing leaves; however, the disease is named from the dark brown and black dead cells in the roots of diseased vines – the ‘feet’ of the vine.

“It was exciting to find that the mustard treatment was an effective, economical and natural way to reduce black foot infection.

This treatment also has the added

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benefit of improving the structure and organic matter in nursery soils where the rootstock grapevines are initially grown,” said Bleach.

“These findings show that biofumigation using mustard may be highly effective for reducing soilborne Cylindrocarpon inoculum and so the incidence of black foot disease.”

The basis of the treatment is; when the cells of brassica species such as mustard are damaged, they release volatile compounds called isothiocyanates which have been shown to suppress pests and pathogens in a range of plants, but not in grapevines until now.

For her first biofumigation experiment Bleach grew crops of mustard, rape and oats for five weeks in two vineyard sites previously infected with Cylindrocarpon spp. After flowering the plants were incorporated into the soil by

Black foot infected root, internal trunk symptoms.

rotary hoeing and then covered with polythene to stop the release of allelochemicals. Two weeks later callused cuttings of two different grapevine rootstocks were planted into the soil, grown for nine months and then assessed for infection (presence of fungal growth) by growing tissue samples on agar plates. The results showed that the mustard plants were the most effective of the three

Mustard plots.

treatments.

In her second experiment, Carolyn tested mustard meal and repeat crops of mustard incorpo-

rated into the soil and found again that pathogen levels were reduced in vines planted into the biofumigated soil. ■

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 61

BOTRYTIS UPDATE

A NEW WEAPON AGAINST MIDSEASON BOTRYTIS DR KIRSTIN WURMS – PLANT & FOOD RESEARCH

T

he freedom to apply synthetic botryticides throughout the growing season has become very restricted because of market demands for residue-free wine. Many wineries now require residue-causing fungicides to be applied pre-bunch closure, with no residue-causing fungicides being applied after bunch closure.

Ironically, it is during the mid- and late-season that berries become increasingly susceptible to botrytis infection.

But season-long residue-free control of botrytis bunch rot on grapes is now a possibility with the introduction of MIDI-ZenÒ, the newest member of the BotryZen ( 2010 ) Ltd, product family.

MIDI-Zen’s journey began back in 2003, when Plant & Food Research scientists, Drs Kirstin Wurms and Annette Ah Chee were testing the claims that milk could be used to control powdery mildew. They tested major components of milk including whey and casein proteins, sugars and milk fats, discovering that milk fat was the most effective. A range of animal and protein lipids were then screened for antimicrobial activity and one of the most effective of these, a plant oil code-named NP2

62 //

was selected. This is the forerunner of MIDI-Zen®.

A suitable formulation had to be developed, because raw oils and fats are associated with unacceptable plant damage (phyto-toxicity), difficulties in handling/storage, blockage of spray equipment, poor shelf-life and development of rancid odours. Following demonstrations of powdery mildew control in cucurbits, pipfruit, wheat, grapes and ornamentals, a small-scale field trial carried out

by Plant and Food Scientist, Peter Wood, in a Hawke’s Bay research orchard on Chardonnay grapes also showed the potential of NP2 to control botrytis.

In 2005 a three-year project began, with the support of New Zealand Winegrowers, Plant &

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

Food Research and BotryZen Ltd, to evaluate biologically based products for use in integrated programmes against botrytis bunch rot. This involved laboratory studies and vineyard trials on Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay in Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Marborough. BOTRY-Zen® was applied from 5% bloom to berries pea-size, NP2 mid-season from pre-bunch closure to véraison and ARMOUR-Zen® from véraison to harvest. In terms of disease control, fruit quality and yield, the three applications performed as well as a full-season commercial fungicide programme (generally up to seven applications) recommended for high value, botrytis susceptible grape varieties.

Different rates and timings of

NP2 applications were studied.

Field results showed that lateseason application delayed fruit maturity – but this was overcome by restricting usage to mid-season.

Analysis of microvined wines showed no lipid-breakdown residues, and there were no adverse effects on sensory qualities.

In the case of trials in Marlborough, there was poor disease control in the final year of trials. This is thought to be due to the dense canopies that may have restricted spray penetration and coverage of the fruit. Because NP2 is not systemic, it has to have contact with the fruit surface to provide protection against botrytis. In further trials, the use of leaf plucking which achieved a more open canopy increased spray coverage and significantly decreased botrytis crop loss.

Experience over the last decade has shown that multi-component, biologically based programmes consistently out-perform single or two-component programmes under high disease conditions.

This is most likely because they target multiple parts of the pathogen life cycle and/or have different modes of action, which also means that resistance is less likely to occur. ■

BRAT – A BOTRYTIS TRAINING PROGRAMME TESSA NICHOLSON

T

he financial impact of getting botrytis assessments wrong should be reason enough for growers to be signing up for a new online programme. BRAT – (Bunch Rot Assessment Trainer) is a first ever programme aimed at grape growers, wishing to improve their knowledge in judging the severity of botrytis outbreaks.

Designed by Gareth Hill, and developed by Plant & Food Research in partnership with HortPlus, BRAT went live at the end of last year.

Its aim is simple – to provide information for growers to become more confident when making botrytis bunch rot severity assessments.

Growers using the site get provided with 20 different pictures of grape bunches, every one with a different level of disease.

Hill says he used grape photos and then stylised them with purple berries to indicate the level of disease. The grower is asked to assess what percentage of botrytis is in each bunch.

Once completed, the correct/ accurate level is displayed, which the grower can compare with his own assessments. Hill says it is

an educational tool to help people before they head out into the field.

“It helps train them to adjust their estimates and ensure that everyone is on the same page, prior

ity is in the low or high levels, the accuracy can be way off.

“It’s interesting that people tend to under-estimate at low severity and over-estimate at high severity. Plus there is something

One of the stylised photos. Can you guess what the botrytis severity is here? It is in fact 27%.

to going out into the vineyard.”

The reason there is a need for such a training tool, is because the level of accuracy is not all that high among growers. Hill says as many people under-estimate severity as over-estimate. While there is a certain level of uniformity when bunch severity is around the 50 per cent mark, when bunch sever-

that we have found a lot of people do; when the severity is less than 20 per cent the grower will estimate the percentage of the infected berries.

But when it’s up around 70 or 80 per cent, they will estimate the healthy berries and then just switch the number in their head. They will always estimate

the lowest proportion and then if they need to, they will switch that around. So if someone is under-estimating at low severity, they will do the opposite at high severity.”

Which means they may end up treating the fruit in ways that are not proportional to the disease level, either by not using enough preventative sprays, or over using them when not required. The end result in both scenarios is expensive.

BRAT does not provide information on what is required to deal with botrytis at certain levels.

However it is designed to work in with other on-line programmes such as the Botrytis Decision Support Models.

Currently the images are based on white grapes only, but Hill says they are planning to include red varieties. Believed to be the only training programme of its kind geared towards grape growers, it has already garnered interest from other wine producing nations.

While it does cost to subscribe to the programme there is a free three session trial available to first time users at; www.bunchrot. co.nz ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 63

SAVING POWER

TAMING THE BEAST D AV I D G I L L – W I N E T E C H N O L O G Y M A R L B O R O U G H

T

he second article in our power savings series is about taming the savage beast that is responsible for most of our monthly running costs. In many wineries it accounts for 70% of our power bill and at times can be more. It runs when it wants, unhindered by complicated control systems, often only controlled by a single probe in a glycol line that passes the coolant past the heat exchanger. In most industries where refrigeration is required it needs little else but the wine industry is vastly different than most other industries. One significant difference is the variable load. Refrigeration likes to be run loaded to get the best out of it but most of the time we have our refrigeration running at very low loads so the Chiller often short cycles. This is the result of several factors, one being the Chiller

64 //

is sized to run your whole winery during vintage so it is way too big to run it in winter when the load is small and often the Chillers don’t have multiple compressors that they can be staged in when needed.

On the face of it not much can be done to improve the situation, the Chiller is what it is and is way too costly to replace in most instances. And what would you replace it with? For now we can do a lot to reduce the cost of running the Chillers we have.

First let’s look at the Cold Glycol Pump. Get the probe out of the glycol line and put it in the glycol tank. Hook the cold glycol pump up to the Chiller so that when the Chiller stops the pump stops. This will save you thousands of dollars a year in power usage. Simple and makes sense but many wineries still have systems that rely on the Glycol pump running all of the

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

time.

Have a good look at your Glycol storage.

I know that Glycol is expensive but it is often the difference between short cycling and not.

Too little glycol and your refrigeration will chill it down quickly and shut down and a few minutes later will start again. This happens when you are only cooling a few tanks rather than when the system is loaded. Give your Glycol tanks a reasonable setpoint differential so that the Glycol has to warm by a couple of degrees before the Chiller cuts in again.

Watch your cold Glycol setpoint, the colder the Glycol is the more it costs. You only need about six degrees of difference between your coldest setpoint and the cold Glycol temperature, less as the

David Gill

temperatures get lower.

Synchronise your tank cooling. A winery I now have as a client would set the setpoint manually for each of their 600 tanks to 1 degree colder at the end of the day and in the morning set back to setpoint. The time and labour costs were overshadowed by the savings in power. The benefit of synchronised cooling is that you can plan to use off peak power and you can work your refrigeration at its most efficient under high load at night time. ■

INDUSTRY NEWS

TARGET SPRAYING T

he application of chemicals to control disease is vital for grapegrowers, but conventional sprayers can cover more than just your vines.

Early in the season as little as 10% of spraying may hit its mark, with the remainder landing on the ground or dispersing in the air.

The FMR R-series (previously SprayPro R-series®), designed and built in New Zealand, uses patent pending technology to reduce spray drift by catching excess spray, filtering out material contamination and returning the liquid to the main tank for reapplication. Growers using the R-series are more efficient because tanks need refilling less.

A unique fan and shroud system means the machine can also be used in less favourable weather conditions and the reduction in spray drift is more environmentally sustainable and friendlier to neighbours too.

Last season Plant & Food Research conducted trial work with the FMR R-series, to examine whether there were any issues

associated with the recycling spray of material. The research analysed efficacy of botryticide applications over a 10 hectare area through an entire season.

Efficacy at the beginning of the vineyard spray run was compared to efficacy at the end of the run.

The results, reported in the 2012 Proceedings of the New Zealand Plant Protection Society Conference, showed there was no difference in botrytis bunch rot distribution across the block,

plus the low incidence and severity of disease recorded increased at the same rate over time. In addition, an analysis at harvest showed there was no difference in residue levels of the systemic botrytis spray.

The R-series recycler is being used by commercial vineyards across Australia and New Zealand.

Chemical savings are on average 25-40% of annual spray usage and, in one instance a saving of close to $200 per hectare over the season

has been reported by the vineyard owner.

The FMR R-series comes in three sizes – a 3000litre and a 2300 litre for wider row spacing and a 1500 litre for narrower rows. Both are able to traverse rugged terrain and service large areas of vineyard.

A variety of boom, axle and hitch options are available to suit almost every vineyard.

A copy of the Plant & Food Research study is available from FMR Group on request. ■

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NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 65

CALENDAR DECEMBER 1

8

8

16

A Day on the Green Kiwi Summer Edition – Mud House Winery Waipara

South Island Wine and Food Festival 2012 – Hagley Park Christchurch

A Day on the Green Summer Edition – Alana Estate – Martinborough

A Day on the Green Summer Edition – Villa Maria Estate – Auckland

JANUARY 28 - 31 Pinot Noir 2013 – Wellington

FEBRUARY Feb 2-March 3 Classic Hits Winery Tour throughout the country

2 Nelson International Aromatic Symposium

Waterfall Bay

7 – 10

9

13 – 15

23

Seresin’s Waterfall Bay Wine and Food Festival – Marlborough

Marlborough Wine and Food Festival – Brancott Estate, Marlborough

NZ Syrah Workshop – Bayview Chateau Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu

Mission Estate Concert with Barry Gibb and Carole King – Mission Vineyards – Napier

Details james@seresin.co.nz

Guest performances by Wellington International Ukulele Band and Avalanche City.

MARCH 1 – 17

16

Melbourne Wine and Food Festival

Havelock Mussel Festival – Havelock (Marlborough)

7 – 10

24 – 26

Vinitaly – Verona, Italy

ProWein International Wine Fair – Dusseldorf, Germany

9 Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival – “The Cliffs”, Dakins Rd, Wairarapa

66 //

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

WHERE

EVENT

ATTENDANCE

AUDIENCE

UK

The Three Wine Men Consumer Fair (Manchester)

NZW

C

1-2 December

UK

The Three Wine Men Consumer Fair (London)

NZW

C

8-9 December

Sweden

New World Wine Day - Stockholm

NZW

C

January Date TBC

Ireland

Dubling Annual Trade and Consumer Tasting

W, A, NZW

T, M, C

7 Februrary

UK

London Annual Trade and Consumer Tasting

W, A, NZW

T, M, C

13 Februrary

Japan

New Zealand Wine Fair (Tokyo)

W, A, NZW

T, M, C

19 Februrary

Japan

New Zealand Wine Fair (Osaka)

W, A, NZW

T, M, C

21 February

Australia

New Zealand in a Glass (Melbourne)

W, A, NZW

T, M, C

25 February

Australia

New Zealand in a Glass (Sydney)

W, A, NZW

T, C, M

28 February

Australia

New Zealand in a Glass (Brisbane)

W, A, NZW

T, C, M

4 March

W, A, NZW

T, M

24-26 March

W=Winery A=Agent NZW=NZ Winegrowers

Germany Wine Fair - Dusseldorf 2029-08 layout 9/5/08ProWein 10:51 AMInternational Page 1 C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY CMY

M=Media T=Trade C=Consumer

EVENT DATE 2012

K

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Composite NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 67

STATISTICS STATISTICS

MAJOR NZOF VINEYARD AREAS SUMMARY KEY INDICATORS PRODUCING HECTARES

PRINCIPAL PRINCIPAL EXPORT EXPORT MARKETS MARKETS

Following is a summary of key indicators at intervals: Region (Actual)

1985

2012 1990

2015 2000 (forecast) n/a n/a 23.017.7 204 358 4,938.5 6,110 10,197 1,791.9 12.2 7.8

% of Total 2010

1995

No. of Growers Marlborough No. of Wineries Hawkes Bay Producing area (Ha)* Otago Average yield (t/Ha)

n/a

13.2

n/a 22,587.3 n/a 4,841.4 4,880 1,786.7 14.4

Gisborne Tonnes crushed

78,000

1,616.5 70,265

74,500 1,586.280,100

266,000 5%

Waipara Total production (m.L) 59.6

1,034.5 54.4

56.4 1,082.260.2

190.0

Domestic (m.L) 42.6 Wairarapasales / Wellington

39.2 941.9

30.9 943.5 41.3

56.7

n/a 5,900

Per capita consumption: Nelson

962.6

1128

66%

672

33,428

14% 5%

8.0

3% 3%

1,015.4

3%

(litres NZ wines) 13.1 11.7 8.7 10.6 Auckland / Northland 319.77 315.7 Export volume (m.L) 0.8 4.0 7.8 19.2 Waikato / Bay of Plenty 16.1 10.2 Exp. value (m.$NZ fob) 3.0 18.4 40.8 168.4 National Total 34,269.5 34,952.8 *estimate of probable total scaled up from actual returns

13.0

1%

142

0%

1041.0

Exports Averageup $ again per litre down again!

Exports for the 12 months to end of June 2012 (Moving Annual Total) While total annual exports of New Zealand wine for the 12 months to 31 January 2011 have stayed fairly static since passing the $1 billion over a year ago, the average $ per litre has dropped again, by by an alarming Country Litres $ Fob Average Average 94c. Compared with Jan 2010, annual exports increased 20% in volume, value increased only 6%,(m) $/L 2012 $/L 2011 due to significantly higher bulk exports.

In volume and value, Australia retained the lead over UK, with average per litre price to Aussie at $7.00 against UK’s low of $5.68.

United Kingdom

Australia UNITED KINGDOM: 2011 2010

MAJOR VARIETIES IN MAJOR AREAS MAJOR NZ VINEYARD AREAS

2010 2010 2011 2010

2012 2010 (Forecast)

% producing 2012 area (from 2010)

2015 % Change % producing % Total area Area (2010)

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

19295 19,929.8

19570 58.2

+1.4% 20,214.7

57.7% 57.8

Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir

4947 5096.4

5046 14.9

+2.0% 5175.1

14.8% 14.8

2011 2010

Gisborne Chardonnay

2083 3120.9

2003 9.1

-3.9% 3164.0

6.2% 9.1

IRELAND: Ireland

Otago Pinot Gris Canty/Waipara Merlot Wairarapa/Wgtn Riesling Nelson Syrah Auckland

1540 2396.2 1779 1195.9 871 719.0 842 354.1 550

1543 7.0 1828 3.5 885 2.1 880 1.0 573

+0.2% 2399.7 +2.7% 1245.4 +1.6% 746.2 +4.6% 400.6 +4.1%

4.6% 6.9 5.3% 3.6 2.6% 2.1 2.5% 1 1.6%

2011 2010

Gewurztraminer Waikato/BoP

147 331.3

147

311.4 n.c.*

0.9 0.4%

Cabernet Sauv National total

284.8 33428

0.8 33600

323.7 +0.5%

0.9 100.0%

Viognier

160.8

0.5

146.5

0.4

Malbec

130.2

0.4

143.9

0.4

Cabernet Franc 111.6 108.9 MAJOR VARIETIES IN 0.3 MAJOR AREAS0.3 All other varieties

438.7

1.3

572.7

New vineyard will increase by only 0.5% over Total Zealand’s total producing 34,269 34,952.9 the next 2 years. This table shows the variation for major varieties (in Ha), with % change and percentage of total in 2012.

PRODUCING AREA IN HECTARES BY SIZE - NUMBER OF 2012 VINEYARDS Variety 2010 % Change % Total (Actual)

(Forecast)

Region Sauv.

Blanc

16910 0-5

Chardonnay

3865

3792

AklndGris / Nthlnd Pinot

1763 60

13 1764

Canterbury Riesling

986 16

6 1009

Gewurztraminer Gisborne

314 20

290 30

Semillon Hawkes Bay

185

182 56

57

Pinot Noir Marlborough

4773 190

4828 291

Merlot Nelson Cab.Sauvignon Otago Syrah Waikato / BoP Cabernet Franc Waipara Malbec

371

1403 37 521 61 300 1 162 16 161

Wairarapa / Wgtn Total National *n.c. = no change

// 68 68 //

519

75

45 80

297 161 157

2 12

33428 61 561

(from 2009) 5.01-10 17297

Area (2011)

10.01-20 +2.2% 20.01-50 -1.9%

16 33600 527

NZ NZWINEGROWER WINEGROWER AUG/SEP DEC 2012/JAN 2011 2013

JAPAN:

Singapore 2011 0.848 2010

FINLAND:

0.5%21 13.9% 100

2011 1.607 Others

4.0%

npr

1 3

_

n.c.*% +2.5%

6

10+0.5% 8 349

3

261

_ 0.5% 4 0.5% 3 143

$8.12 $10.17

-20.2

18.754 +38.0% 13.591

$10.57 $12.02

-12.1

14.623 -7.8 15.850

$13.14 $13.15

n.c.

14.028 -30.8 20.258

19,541

6.451 +11.6 5.778

$11.69 $12.93

12.16

$5.98 $5.54

-9.6

13.28

+7.9

8.076

$14.41

0.204 *npr 2.673 1325 6.47 8.94 npr $9.24 npr npr npr npr

+1.1%

1.5%

17.724 +18.9 14.901

Norway 2011 0.289

-2.7% 32

0.8%

-14.7

GERMANY: Finland 0.199 9.33 2011 0.678 +37.2 5.052 1899 9.53 +14.4 $7.45 -16.8 2010 0.494 4.416 $8.95

0.9% 7

15

$7.26 $8.51

1167 14,766 12.65 12.55 10.815 +33.9 $12.75 -11.5

+51.4 0.560

2.7% 1

+0.4%

23.359 +8.4 21.522

1606

-7.7% 13

+1.0%

-13.7

1.079 +3.5 1.042

+2.3% 0

26

$8.11 $9.40

DENMARK: 2011 2010

2

3

62.547 +9.8 56.941

2385 28,137 11.79 11.67

25

6

-10.0

1.200 -23.4 1.567

4.3% 1

+2.3%

$7.19 $9.49

2011 2010

0

12

234.674 +7.1 219036

1412 7682 5.44 6.75

1.113 -7.6 1.204

n.c.*

181

-15.1

1093 13,441 12.29 11.48 1.561 +21.4 1.286

3

210

50.01 44.3% and over 11.3%

7.19

SINGAPORE: China

Hong Kong

1.6

-4.6

2165 16,039 7.41 8.06 2.184 +49.1 1.465

HONG KONG: Germany 2011 2010

6.91

0.928 5737 6.18 6.90

3.216 +27.1 2.530

CHINA: Japan 2011 2010

$5.68 $6.69

Ave

4711 27,932 5.93 6.23

7.708 +27.2 6.060

Denmark NETHERLANDS:

296.686 +3.9 285.630

5.25

6811 74,805 10.98 11.03

32.623 +34.5 24.250

Netherlands CANADA:

Variety Region (Actual)

1.0

284,865

52,289 383,162 7.33

52.305 +24.8 42.708

Canada USA:

New Zealand’s total producing vineyard will increase by only 0.5% over the next 2 years. This table shows the variation for major varieties (in Ha), with % change and percentage of total in 2012.

54,621

Country/Years Litres(m) +/- % Total NZ +/- % +/- %

fob (m) $NZ/L USA 41,683 265,148 6.36 AUSTRALIA: 2011 47.038 +6.0 329.115 +1 $7.00 2010 44.389 325.750 $7.34

npr NORWAY:

Sweden 2011 0.138 npr

1.358 npr 1.118 11,120 npr 8.19 8.20 $8.12 npr npr npr npr

SWEDEN: npr 14.080 npr $8.76 4.869 49,051 10.07 npr npr npr

npr 9.31

3.352 177,509 1,204,658 npr 34.111 npr npr npr

npr 6.81

OTHER: 2011 Total npr

TOTAL EXPORTS: 2011 156.667 +20.4 1,080.951 +6.0 *(npr = not previously recorded separately) 2010 130.130 1,019.808 *n.c. = no *(npr = change not previously recorded separately)

$10.17 6.79 npr $6.90 $7.84

-12.0

RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT Information and Updates on NZ Winegrowers Research Programmes.

Associate Editor: Dr Simon Hooker, General Manager Research and Innovation

A regular feature at the back of each issue of WineGrower to inform industry people about research projects being undertaken for their benefit. Newly approved projects (when available) are briefly summarised in the first section ‘Introducing New Projects’. Longer reports in the section headed ‘Progress Reports’, will describe what has been achieved so far. Scientists in charge of each project have been asked to make these reports reader-friendly rather than to follow the usual format of scientific papers. When completed, each project will be reported in full detail, with references, on the website: http://winenf.nzwine.com/research:asp

LIST OF PROJECTS Quality Wine Styles for Existing and Developing Markets Cost reduction/increased profitability Identification of natural genetic variation in grapevine contributing to pathogen resistance Lincoln University (Chris Winefield) Early defoliation: carryover and hand versus mechanical Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) (Mark Krasnow) Potassium nutrition of grapevines Plant and Food Research (Mike Trought) The development of a functional genomics tool for the capture and characterization of transposon mutants in Vitis Vinifera (PhD Scholarship) Rod Bonfiglioli Scholarship Lincoln University (Darrell Lizamore) Investigation of perceived minerality in white wine Lincoln University (Wendy Parr) Identification and quantification of chiral volatile compounds in New Zealand wines that affect aroma Lincoln University (Roland Harrison)

Pests and Disease Implementation of Virus Elimination Strategy Various (Nick Hoskins – Project Manager) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund A sex pheromone as a citrophilus mealybug monitoring tool (2011-12) Plant and Food Research (Jim Walker) Managing Botrytis in New Zealand Viticulture Vino Vitis Ltd (Ruby Andrews) Botrytis decision support (BDS) industry training & botrytis sampling protocols Plant and Food Research (Rob Beresford)

Sustainability/Organics Organic Focus Vineyard Project Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (Rebecca Reider) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund Residue profile in grape leaves and sheep meat and offal from leaf plucking in vineyards Agrivet Services Ltd (Ben Vlaming) Cost Reduction/Increased Profitability New opportunities for sustainable grape thinning Plant and Food Research (Mike Trought) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund

Understanding causes of slip skin Plant and Food Research (Rob Beresford) Improving management of grapevine trunk diseases in New Zealand South Australian Research & Development Institute (SARDI) (Mark Sosnowski) Describing GLRaV-3 sequence variants in New Zealand Plant and Food Research (Robin MacDiarmid)

Tools for manipulating Sauvignon blanc wine flavour and aroma: Harvest and processing of grapes Plant and Food Research (Claire Grose)

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 69

PROGRESS REPORTS

Identifying compounds of importance in New Zealand Pinot Noir wines using aroma reconstruction Tanya Rutan1, Mandy Herbst-Johnstone1, Benedicte Pineau2, Roger Harker2, and Paul A. Kilmartin1* 1Wine Science Programme, School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, 2Plant and Food Research, Auckland, * p.kilmartin@auckland.ac.n 10-103 Over the past two years, researchers within the Wine Science programme at the University of Auckland, and the Plant and Food Sensory and Consumer Science Facility in Mt Albert, working on a New Zealand Winegrowers funded project, have worked together to examine the aroma compounds that feature in Pinot Noir wines.

With the assistance of Mt Difficulty wines in Central Otago, two Pinot Noir wines from both the 2009 and 2010 vintages were examined in detail for concentrations of the aroma chemicals that may have a sensory impact and influence wine quality.

The starting point was a full chemical analysis using gaschromatography (GC) separation methods, some specially developed for this project, such as trapping the volatiles directly from a wine headspace. These analyses provided concentration values for over 50 aroma compounds of known importance in wine aroma studies. Of these 50 compounds, from different aroma classes, 22 were found to be present at levels above their respective perception thresholds. This data provided an initial list of compounds to work with. Further compounds were identified through an alternative approach of progressively diluting the wines, and observing

70 //

Table 1: Effect of omitting groups of aroma compounds on a complete wine model for two Central Otago Pinot Noir wines Aroma compounds Pinot Noir wine 1 omitted from the complete model

Pinot Noir wine 2

monoterpenes

no change noted

increase in lactic, chocolate, fruit jam, rose decrease in ash

ethyl esters

increase in mineral

increase in toast/wood

acetate esters

increased in aniseed decrease in black currant

increase in flinty decrease in ash

C13-norisprenoids

increased in caramel decrease in geranium, liquorice, peach, raspberry

increase in animal chocolate, decrease in mineral

oak derivatives

increase in geranium, red cherry decrease in leather, toast/ wood

if the compounds could still be perceived after separation along the GC column. The more times a wine could be diluted and the compound still detected, the higher the aroma impact according to this measure. The particular odour of each compound was also noted during this procedure.

With a list of potentially important aroma compounds to work with, the next step in preparing for aroma reconstitution studies was to develop an effective deodorisation method. Dearomatising allows a base Pinot noir wine matrix to be obtained

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

that still contains most of the colour, acids and polyphenols, as the original wine, but is missing the aroma compounds that can be added back in groups. Several deodorisation procedures were tested as part of this trial, and a number of these were found unacceptable, particularly due to unwanted oxidation effects. A partial deodorisation procedure involving a LiChrolut resin was chosen as the most effective for sensory panel work.

With a list of important aroma compounds, and a deodorized Pinot Noir wine base in place,

the next step was to create fully reconstituted wines, the complete model, by adding the aroma compounds back at the levels determined earlier. Next a select group of compounds could be omitted from the complete model to see how critical their presence is to the aroma profile of the wine.

The classes of aroma compounds included the floral monoterpenes, fruity ethyl esters and acetate esters, C13-norisoprenoids with floral/tea characters and a selection of oak-derived compounds.

A sensory panel, of nine participants, already experienced

with evaluating Sauvignon Blanc wines, underwent extensive training in characterising the aromas involved in Pinot Noir wines. The wines were profiled at the level of overall impression (e.g. rich, complex, weak, light), the intensity of general aromas (floral, berry, spice, dried fruit), and thirdly of specific aromas (e.g. roses, blackberry, clove, prunes).

A number of trends were seen when comparing the omission of aroma families with the fully reconstituted wines, as recorded in the accompanying table for two Pinot Noir wines from the 2010 vintage.

The effect of removing the families of compounds was different in each case. Quite often omitting

a group of compounds led to certain sensory descriptors increasing in intensity. This observation can come about because of a masking effect of some compounds on the sensory impact of further compounds, and their removal can allow other aromas to come through more strongly (see table 1 opposite page).

At the same time, the results of the sensory panel work indicated that the differences between the complete reconstituted wines, and those with compounds omitted, were not profound. Indeed, it was not easy for the panel to consistently identify differences between the commercial Pinot Noir wines, somewhat in contrast to clearer sensory classification of

different Sauvignon Blanc wines.

With complex and subtle aromas, Pinot Noir appears to be more difficult to work with in this regard, but important improvements for future Pinot Noir panel work have been identified as part of this research project.

The study has shown that the distinctive and complex aromas of New Zealand Pinot Noir, at least from the Central Otago region, are more dependent on unique ratios of many compounds instead of the absolute concentrations of a few prominent compounds.

Given that the removal of families of compounds had fairly small effects on the overall aroma profiles, it is also evident that Pinot Noir, unlike other varieties, does

not rely on a particular family of compounds for its distinctive aroma. Instead, interactions between compounds from several aroma families are involved. At the same time, the details profiling aroma compounds present in the wines can guide future projects where viticultural and winemaking trials are undertaken with this important New Zealand red variety.

Acknowledgements This research is being undertaken under a contract with NZ Winegrowers (NZW 10-103). The authors gratefully acknowledge Mt. Difficulty Wines, Central Otago, for their support of the project and for supplying wines.

Influence of harvesting and grape processing on protein content and bentonite requirement of Sauvignon Blanc Bin Tian1, Roland Harrison2, Jim Morton2, Marlene Jaspers2, Claire Grose3and Mike Trought3 1Ph.D. candidate; 2Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Lincoln University; 3Plant & Food Research, Marlborough Wine Research Centre 10-123 Proteins in white wine concern winemakers because they can form precipitates in the finished product. Bentonite fining is the traditional technique used to stabilise the wine by removing proteins. However, addition of large amounts of bentonite can result in removal of important aroma and flavour compounds and loss of volume as bentonite lees.

The bentonite requirement is usually determined by a hot/cold test and is strongly influenced by wine protein content. Wine proteins are primarily derived from grapes. Thus, wine protein stabil-

ity is related to the extraction of grape proteins into juice which in turn is affected by many other factors including harvesting method and grape processing.

In this experiment, we determined the protein concentration of Sauvignon Blanc juice and wine from different harvesting and grape processing treatments, and investigated the relationship of protein concentration with bentonite requirement.

The trial Sauvignon Blanc grapes were hand-harvested and mechanical

harvested separately from the same commercial vineyard in Blenheim. Mechanical harvested grapes were destemmed, crushed and then pressed after storing in the shade for three hours. Handharvested grapes were processed by three different methods: 1.

Whole bunch of grapes were pressed directly after harvesting; 2. Grapes were destemmed first, then pressed after storing in a chill room for three hours; 3. Grapes were destemmed and crushed first, then pressed after storing in chill room for three hours.

The pressing procedure was

carried out by increasing pressure from 0 MPa to 1.6 MPa and juice was collected at 0.4 MPa, 0.8 MPa and 1.6 MPa individually. Wine samples were made according to the Sauvignon Blanc winemaking protocol of the Marlborough Wine Research Centre (MWRC).

Results The concentration of total soluble proteins in juice and wine samples ranged from 119 to 224 mg/L and from 58 to 100 mg/L, respectively. Juice protein content in the machine-harvested treatment was similar to hand harvesting with the whole bunch press

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013 // 71

treatment, and less than that in hand-harvesting with destemming and crushing treatment but the juice yield was much greater.

Higher juice protein concentration was measured in the 0-0.4 MPa pressing.

Proteins decreased by 29-62% after fermentation. In contrast to greater proteins in juice from the 0-0.4 MPa pressing, protein concentration in wines fermented from the 0-0.4 MPa pressing tended to be lower than that from the other two pressings.

Bentonite requirement had a better linear correlation with juice protein concentration (r2=0.7) than wine protein concentration (r2=0.5) (Figure 1).

Discussion Mechanical harvested grapes used in this study were a subsample of total grapes mechanically harvested in the vineyard. As some juicing had already occurred due to mechanical damage of grapes, mechanical harvested grape samples may not have been properly representative.

The much greater juice yield from the mechanically harvested treatment may suggest that the subsample may have a greater proportion of liquid vis-à-vis solid material included. This subsam-

Figure 1. Relationship between bentonite requirement and juice protein concentration.

pling issue combined with juice oxidation (grapes were stored in the shade instead of chill room for three hours) might result in lower protein concentration in the resultant juice.

The greater juice protein concentration observed in the 0-0.4 MPa pressing suggested a progressive dilution of proteins initially extracted in juice. This result indicated that most of proteins were extracted up to 0.4 MPa, and less protein was obtained with each additional press increment. However, after fermentation, protein

concentration in wine from the 0-0.4 MPa pressing tended to be the lowest indicating that the proteins extracted at low pressure were less stable.

The strong linear correlation between total juice protein concentration and bentonite requirement provides a theoretical basis for winemakers to predict the final wine protein stability, However, because the more resistant PR proteins were gradually extracted into juice by increasing pressing, we believe that a better prediction should be pos-

sible by measuring PR proteins since these are the ones mainly responsible for haze formation.

This work is continuing and we hope that in the future it will be possible to give winemakers information about the likely bentonite requirement of individual batches of juice.

Acknowledgements This project was funded by New Zealand Winegrowers and Lincoln University.

Tools for manipulating Sauvignon Blanc wine flavour and aroma: harvest and processing of grapes Claire Grose, Damian Martin, Mike Trought, Rob Agnew, Lily Stuart and Sharlene Haycock Plant & Food Research Ltd, Marlborough Wine Research Centre 11 - 118 Previous research has shown that grape harvesting and processing methods can influence flavour and

72 //

aromas in Sauvignon Blanc wine.

The characteristic thiol-related flavours of Sauvignon Blanc wine

NZ WINEGROWER DEC 2012/JAN 2013

(tropical, passionfruit) are lower in wines made from hand harvested, whole bunch pressed grapes than

in those from machine harvested grapes. Some of these differences may reflect changes in juice oxi-

dative reactions; others may be caused by the relative extraction of key secondary metabolites in different stages of the press cycle.

The first part of our project investigated manipulating flavour and aroma of wine by managing exposure of juice to oxidation during grape harvesting. The effects of high and low additions of sulphur and/or ascorbic acid to grapes at harvest on wine flavour and aroma have been investigated using commercial-scale grape processing. Juice samples were taken

from St Clair Family Estate winery and micro fermented at the Marlborough Wine Research Centre.

Preliminary results show that the sulphur and sulphur+ascorbic acid treatments produce wines of differing thiol concentrations. Juice collected from different press fractions (freerun, heavy press and combined press sample) influence thiol concentrations in the finished wines. Further statistical analysis of the data is being completed and will be reported at a later date.

The second part of the project investigates manipulating flavour and aroma of wine by applying alternative processing methods to harvested grapes before pressing. The Harvest Processing trial run in 2011 and repeated in 2012, as part of the SBII programme, investigates the effect of harvest processes on flavour and aroma in Sauvignon blanc wine. To further investigate harvest processing treatments and the influence of different site conditions, the trial was replicated on an alternative

vineyard site during the 2012 vintage.

The Ben Morven site finished wine has lower concentrations of thiols than the Lower Wairau site wine. The trends in harvest processing treatments at both sites in 2012 appear similar to those observed at the Lower Wairau site in 2011. The hand harvested, whole bunch pressed treatments produce much lower concentrations of thiols than treatments involving skin contact and/or mechanical harvesting.

Chiral carbon and other magic mirrors Dr. Roland Harrison Senior Lecturer in Oenology Department of Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences, Lncoln University 11 - 117

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Most of you will recognise these as the words that Snow White’s evil stepmother spoke in front of her magic looking glass every morning to reassure herself that she was still the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

And the evil stepmother was quite right to ask the looking glass to answer this question because what she was looking at was not herself ... but her mirror image! And as all good boys, girls and chemists know, the mirror image of something is not the thing itself, and can have quite different properties.

Take for example, tartaric acid; or as chemists like to write it (+)-tartaric acid. This compound is an important ingredient in all wines, contributing fresh zing to the palate and low pH to stave off nasty bugs. This naturally occurring compound has a mirror image called (-)-tartaric acid, identical

in almost every but not quite all respects. (The + and – signs show the direction in which the compound rotates polarised light). I have a letter in my files from New Zealand Winegrowers which I take out periodically and wave at unwary students warning of the

dire consequences for cold stabilisation of adding the non-natural form (-)-tartaric acid. Because one of the subtle differences between these two mirror images is in their precipitation behaviour Strange then, given winemakers’ knowledge of the existence

of compounds which can exist in two mirror image forms in wines that so little research has been carried out in this area. Partly, this is because the technical means for the separation of mirror image compounds is only now become available to research wine labs.

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But equally it is becoming clear that although mirror image compounds are identical with respect to many physical properties such as boiling point or density, they are often quite different when it comes to biological activity including, crucially for wines, aroma and flavour.

So, how do we recognise a compound that has a mirror image which is different to the original?

If you put something symmetrical in front of a mirror, what you will notice is that its mirror image is identical, and we can confirm this because we can exactly superimpose the two. However, if the thing we put in front of the mirror is not symmetrical, then we end up with a mirror image which cannot be superimposed on the original.

Traditionally, the tool that is used to illustrate this point is a pair of hands. Looking down at them you can see that one is the mirror image of the other, but no matter what contortions you undertake, there is no way you will be able to superimpose one over the other.

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In chemical terms, we look for a carbon atom that is bonded to four different groups. This asymmetric carbon atom is termed a chiral centre. And any molecule containing a chiral centre is called a chiral molecule. In fact some really interesting molecules contain more than one chiral centre. An example winemakers will be familiar with is catechin, a polyphenol with a bitter taste but more importantly a constituent of grape and wine tannin. Catechin has two chiral centres which means that there are four different forms of catechin; to help keep track we call two of them (+)-catechin and (-)-catechin and the other two (-)-epicatechin and (+)-epicatechin.

Given how important aroma and flavour are to vibrant New Zealand wine styles, we have started to look for those compounds which might be of sensory significance and which are also chiral. One example is 1-octen3-ol which has one chiral centre and therefore exists in two mirror image forms. The (-) form

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is described as “fruity, genuine mushroom-like, soft” and has a perception threshold of 10 parts per billion. On the other hand, the (+) form is described as “mouldy, grass, artificial” but perhaps fortuitously has a higher perception threshold at 100 part per billion.

We measured this compound in Pinot noir. It turns out that two very important thiols in Sauvignon blanc are also chiral and this has been the subject of one of the few published papers in the area. Riesling, it seems, is positively bursting with chiral compounds.

At Lincoln University we are currently undertaking a project to ascertain whether chirality might represent an as yet unrecognised contributor to the uniqueness of some wine styles.

A few years ago, with financial support from Lincoln University, we were able to modify the gas chromatograph we use to separate and identify aroma compounds in wine. The new unit consists of some sophisticated pipe-work and software which allows up to trans-

fer the material eluting from our normal column to a second column for further separation. Now, with funding from New Zealand Winegrowers, we have been able to obtain and fit a column capable of separating chiral compounds.

This means that we can target specific compounds which chemistry tells us can exist in mirror image forms and attempt to separate these forms on the second column.

We might find that only one form exists or that both forms exist but in constant proportions; at this stage we just don’t know.

We are currently at the proofof-concept stage and have managed separate two different chiral compounds. This is interesting but the really exciting results will come if we can show variable proportions of an important compound with differing aromas or thresholds. This could point towards some very interesting directions for understanding and modifying complexity in our wines.

A new twist on QR Codes Quick Response or ‘QR’ codes are a popular way to increase consumer interaction with a product or brand, and provide additional information via smart phone technology. Recognising this opportunity, Lark Hill Wines has partnered with Amcor to develop Australia’s first QR code on a wine screw-cap.

N e w Z e a l a n d g l a s s f o r w o r l d cl a s s

New Zealand Wines The skill of New Zealand’s winemakers has ensured that the results of each new vintage are eagerly awaited around the world. The quality of these wines demands the quality packaging that O-I can provide as our wine industry grows from strength to strength.

“With the industry looking for innovative ways to reach new and existing customers, we were only too happy to support this initiative and continue to develop print solutions that add value to the package without adding significant cost,” said Brian Lowe, Group General Manager of Amcor Beverages. “We see many future opportunities for this technology, which will support the wine consumption experience.

It’s a great way to communicate with the consumer, particularly generation X and Y.” Featuring QR codes on wine screw-cap closures enables consumers to easily access relevant information about that specific wine, such as wine tasting notes, complementary food styles and information on other vintages within the winery portfolio.

Lark Hill’s Winemaker and Director, Chris Carpenter says, “Every bottle is our business card – adding our QR code to the cap is our innovative way to create a highly visible, dynamic interaction with our customers far beyond the scope of conventional packaging. Whether it is scanned today or in 10 years’ time, this screw-cap provides an enduring link to Lark Hill.”

To find out more about Amcor’s approach to innovation and how we can take your wine packaging to new heights, contact us.

O-I New Zealand. 752 Great South Road, Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand Phone: +64 9 976 7100 Fax: +64 9 976 7191 Email: sales.nz@ap.o-i.com www.o-i.com

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