terroir Archives

View of New Zealand vineyards with mountains in the distance

Guide to New Zealand Wines

Guide to New Zealand Wines The New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ocean New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and specifically Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc have been pretty much synonymous with New Zealand wine until fairly recently. Indeed even in 2023 Sauvignon Blanc still accounted for 65%* of New Zealand’s total wine grape vineyard area – and most of that was in Marlborough, 58% of New Zealand’s total vineyard area. Amazing facts especially when you consider that the grape was first planted in Marlborough only in 1975. You cannot ignore the importance of this grape as it thrust New Zealand onto the international wine scene. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc still clearly has its fans. Many have fallen for its aromatics, its crisp zing and unique flavours of gooseberry, red peppers with hints of passionfruit and fresh cut grass. As Sauvignon Blanc production started to become more commercial in the 1970s, at the lower end of the market (encouraged, it has to be said, by retailers importing into the UK and other countries), the bigger, tropical-fruit style of Marlborough Sauvignon dominated some markets. However a wider variety of styles has since evolved as producers embraced the diversity of the different terroirs even within Marlborough itself and used that to their advantage such that now New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has become an international benchmark for many. The modern, more terroir-focussed and more subtle style of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is evident in the more premium end of the market. Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc and Auntsfield Estates Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc are two great examples and both are consistently two of my customers’ favourite white wines. In addition, both are loved by me, once a self-professed Sauvignon Blanc hater! In fact Anna Flowerday of Te Whare Ra once described their Sauvignon Blanc as “a Sauvignon Blanc for people who think they don’t like Sauvignon Blanc”. At this higher but not necessarily too expensive end of the market, producers are experimenting further with different techniques such as lees ageing and even oak aging and so we are going to keep seeing Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc on the radar for some time to come. If the zingy freshness of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is too crisp for your palate, try a New Zealand Sauvignon blended with Semillon, like Pegasus Bay Sauvignon Semillon. The Semillon softens that crispness and makes the wine a little rounder. However, there is so much more to New Zealand wine than Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as you are about to discover. Why try New Zealand wine? There are a number of underlying reasons why you should try New Zealand wine: Diversity of soils This is one of New Zealand’s major benefits and it allows them to grow a wide variety of grapes and produce a wide variety of styles as explained below. In addition it is partly responsible for an abundance of terroir-focused wines. Diversity of micro-climates The climate as a whole is temperate maritime which makes it generally a cool-climate region. This means that New Zealand has an advantage in the production of premium wines. That is not to say that New Zealand doesn’t produce more commercial styles of wine. It does but there is an increasing focus on making great wine. The variety of micro-climates contributes to the focus on terroir. Commitment to sustainability New Zealand is at the forefront of sustainability. It was one of the first to establish a formal sustainability programme – in 1995. Today 96% of New Zealand’s vineyards are certified as sustainable and other countries are following its lead. You can read more about this commitment below. Innovation It is argued that, with a relatively new wine industry, New Zealand is not hampered by commitments to long-standing traditions. It is certainly true to say that New Zealand has been a driving force in several areas of experimentation and innovation such as canopy management which is the leaf cover over vines and can have a significant impact on the quality and quantity of grapes fermentation techniques remote temperature control which helps to reduce energy thus adding to its sustainability credentials and screwcaps – New Zealand was one of the first wine-producing countries to start using screwcaps even for its quality wines and now 95% of NZ wines are under screwcap. Collaboration in the New Zealand wine industry New Zealand Winegrowers is the only unified national winegrowers industrial body in the world with almost all New Zealand wineries and grape growers signed up as members. The organisation supports members in many different ways – education, advocacy, research to name but a few – and has a real collaborative feel. One of its most important roles is promoting “Brand New Zealand” worldwide. Its brand refresh in 2023, Altogether Unique, highlights New Zealand Wine’s three pillars – purity, innovation and care – and helps support and grow New Zealand wine’s reputation in a very competitive market. Other New Zealand wine styles Aside from Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, what else can New Zealand offer wine drinkers? After I previously wrote about Old World & New World wines (blogpost being updated and to be re-published soon) it is interesting to see that New Zealand Wine, mainly lists as the wine styles that New Zealand has to offer the different grape varieties that are grown there. Wine styles therefore include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon. Their approach is mirrored below. New Zealand Pinot Noir The second most-planted grape variety in New Zealand is Pinot Noir which accounted for around 14% of the vineyard area (up from 9% in 2016) followed by Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot, Riesling and many more grape varieties. If you have not yet tried a Pinot Noir from New Zealand, you really should. In my opinion New Zealand Pinot Noir is generally speaking one of the best in the world, hence why I have two different Pinots in the Wines With Attitude® portfolio. They differ in style due to the diversity of climates and soils but generally are intense in flavour, fruity

Precedent Evangelho old vine Zinfandel from Wines With Attitude

Do old vines make better wines?

What's in my wine?

Do old vines make better wines? Chances are you will have seen the term “Old Vine” or one of its foreign equivalent terms such as “Vieilles Vignes”, “Alte Reben”, “Viñas Viejas”, “Vinhas Velhas” or “Antico Vitigno” on some wine labels. There is no requirement under any wine regulations that I know to mention the age of the vines used for wine grape production and yet old vine is a term that seems to be used increasingly frequently and with the implication that old vine wine should be held in high esteem. In this wine blogpost, I’m looking into whether grapes from older vines really do make better wine. HOW OLD ARE OLD VINES? Here in the UK we have an amazing old vine at Hampton Court Palace. Planted in 1768 under Capability Brown’s direction, it is said to be the largest vine in the world but even at circa 250 years old, The Great Vine cannot claim that it is the oldest vine in the world as for a long time Georgia, Slovenia and Italy have claimed to have vines planted in the 17th century. Nor can it claim that its fruit is used for wine since it produces a table grape variety. In fact the 17th century has now been trumped as Weingut von Racknitz, a former monastery, in Germany claims to have a 600 year old vine found on an old abandoned terrace. It is hard to imagine when looking at a woody, gnarly old vine that it could produce good quality fruit or indeed any fruit but vines can still produce grapes when very old – those Georgian, Slovenian and Italian 17th century vines are said to be producing grapes still used for wine today. Good quality grapes are not a given however – according to the Old Vine Registry, of which more later, grapes from the 600 year-old German vine taste “terrible, like cucumber”. REGISTERING & DEFINING OLD VINES California started a register of its old vines in 2011; it is believed to have the highest number of old vines and ironically Prohibition played a major role in this as vines were simply abandoned at that time and later “rediscovered”. According to the Californian Historic Vineyard Society website “To qualify as a Certified Historic Vineyard, a vineyard must be a currently producing California wine vineyard with an original planting date at least 50 years ago, in which at least 1/3 of existing producing vines can be traced back to their original planting date.” Over in Australia, the Barossa Valley is proud to have some of the oldest continuously-producing vineyards in the world. It is one of the few wine regions that avoided the phylloxera aphid which is the reason why most of the world’s vines are now grafted onto phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. Understandably keen to protect its precious ungrafted old vines especially after many were uprooted in the 1980s it saw what California was doing and started its own register of old vines. Australia’s Old Vine Charter categorises the old vines further according to their age: Barossa Old Vine – Equal or greater than 35 years of age like the one to the right Barossa Survivor Vine – Equal or greater than 70 years of age Barossa Centenarian Vine – Equal or greater than 100 years of age Barossa Ancestor Vine – Equal or greater than 125+ years of age South Africa in fact has the oldest records of old vines dating back to 1900, a database run by the South African Wine Industry Information Systems (SAWIS). Since I first published a blogpost on this subject in 2017, South Africa’s Old Vine Project, set up in 2002 by viticulturalist Rosa Kruger, launched a Certified Heritage Vineyard seal which certifies that a wine is made from vines of 35 years and older. But producers don’t necessarily always put the seal on their bottles. Conversely some wine producers don’t wait until a vine is 35 or 50 years old before labelling it an old vine; since there is no legal definition of the term ‘old vine’, it is very much a matter of personal preference or perhaps more of marketing preference but as old vine wines are generally and increasingly revered, the term old vine can be misleading. However we are beginning to see some signs of conformity in the registering and defining of the term ‘old vines’… The most significant step in coming up with a worldwide recognised age for old vines since my last update is the 2023 launch of the online registry of old vines that was initiated on a spreadsheet in 2010 by Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages. Now maintained by the Old Vine Conference, a non-profit organisation that aims to highlight the value of old-vine vineyards and make them economically viable, The Old Vine Registry is still very much a work in progress but is already the most comprehensive online database of old vines worldwide. You can search by country or by age and there are links to the vineyard owners’ websites. The ultimate aim is to also provide links so consumers can see where to find a particular vineyard’s wines. But, as mentioned, it is an on-going project and, since few countries have detailed records like South Africa, sometimes an estimation of age is all that is possible. NEW VINES OR OLD VINES – WHICH ARE BETTER? New vines take time to establish themselves; they don’t tend to produce many grapes until year three first concentrating on establishing their root structure and a sturdy trunk. It is usually only by year five or six that the grapes are of use for commercial wine production. After that the vine’s growth below and above ground is more balanced. As it ages further the vine’s growth becomes less vigorous and as a result fewer grapes are produced; this reduction in yield starts as early as the age of 20 years old. This reduction in yield is in fact the very reason why older vines are sometimes ripped out (often with

Terroir & its impact on wine by Wines With Attitude

All about terroir and how it affects wine

What's in my wine?, Wine Styles

ALL ABOUT TERROIR & HOW IT AFFECTS WINE Terroir is a much-used and much-debated term but what exactly does it mean? Some say terroir produces better wines with more character, so-called terroir wines – but is that right? I confess I have long been a great fan of terroir and I use the expression quite liberally in my unique tasting notes. But there are many who think the term terroir is over-used and the concept over-rated, little more than a marketing ploy. This blogpost looks at what terroir means, how terroir affects wine and why it is such a topic of hot debate. WHAT DOES TERROIR MEAN? It is not, as some have suggested, pretension that dictates the use of the French word “terroir” in the English-speaking world; there is simply no one word that can describe the concept in English and it originated in wine’s old world. Terroir is a concept that has dictated the appellation system in many old world wine regions. Burgundy’s small ‘parcel’ vineyards for example were ranked centuries ago according to the perceived quality of each specific vineyard and these rankings formed the basis of Burgundy’s appellation systems formalised in 1936. The top ranking or Grand Cru wines of Burgundy originate from the vineyards with the best terroir of the region; consequently they command the best prices. There have been few changes to the system since and classification by terroir has been copied in other wine regions of the world. It is mistakenly thought by some, since vineyards are the basis for this sort of classification, that terroir must refer specifically to the soil in the vineyard; after all there are hundreds of different types of soil and they are known to affect the taste of the grapes/ wine but soil is just one component of terroir. Terroir in fact comprises the whole ‘natural’ environment in which the grapes are grown and is therefore a combination of: the soil, with differences in structure, texture, depth, pH levels, water drainage & storage capabilities all having an effect. Note – contrary to popular belief, it is not well-watered vines on fertile soils that produce the best fruit but vines on well-drained soils that have to struggle to find water the general climate of the region the climate of each specific vineyard, a so-called meso-climate and even the vine’s own micro-climate since the climate at one end of a vineyard may differ to the climate at the other the topography of the land including: the aspect, with south-facing vineyard considered superior in the Northern hemisphere and north-facing in the Southern hemisphere elevation or altitude, considered to be a significant factor as it affects temperatures in the vineyard incline, with slopes facing the sun generally preferred to flat land proximity to water, not necessarily for watering purposes but for the water’s ability to store heat and warm up land areas close to it the surrounding vegetation which can affect not only the local climate but also the taste of the wine e.g. the taste of eucalyptus often detected in Australian wine plus the interaction of all these components for example in governing how much direct sunshine the grapes receive and in dictating how much water is available to the vines etc. Therefore each vineyard (or even each plot within a vineyard) has its own unique terroir and this is in part what makes each well-made wine unique. Terroir determines the quality of the grapes grown and therefore is a significant (but not the only) contributor to the character of a wine. DOES TERROIR INCLUDE WINE-MAKING? Many argue that the wine-maker and the wine-making process are necessarily also part of terroir. It cannot be denied that human intervention greatly affects the elements of terroir listed above whether winemakers choose to let nature take its course and intervene as little as possible in the vineyard and in the winery or whether they throw every chemical permitted at the vines and in the wine-making process. After all the wine-maker must decide whether and how much fertiliser and pesticide to use, how densely the vines are planted, which training system to use for the vines, which date the grapes should be harvested, whether natural or bought yeasts are used for fermentation, whether to use oak barrels, stainless steel vats or concrete tanks etc etc. The list is endless. But for many others, myself included, ‘natural environment’ is the key phrase in the definition of terroir; terroir is about the naturally-occurring elements that affect the wine not about the decisions made to create the resulting wine. But it is the wine-maker who dictates how well the terroir is reflected in the wine and therefore has a huge effect on the character, as well as the style and quality, of the wine they produce. It is a combination of good terroir and great wine-making that produces great wine. ‘TERROIR WINE’ The phrase terroir wine seems to be increasingly used in marketing wines but surely all wine is terroir wine since all vineyards have terroir – and a terroir that is unique to them? Be a little wary of the expression as the implication is that terroir wine is superior wine and it may be used simply to justify a higher price label than a wine deserves. Whether labelled as terroir wine or not, wines that don’t display terroir can sometimes be the subject of snobbery. New world wines especially were accused in the past of being devoid of or ignoring terroir and it could be argued that that was why cheaper, more commercially-produced wines were the focus for new world exports to Europe from the 1980s to the 2000s. It could however just be that they wanted to do something different from the strict classifications and regulations of the old world, that the wine-maker preferred to accentuate a wine’s fruit flavours rather the terroir, that the winery wanted to produce a consistent style of wine year on year or, as was the case with South Africa,

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