Browse by Date
Subscribe via RSS
home » robin's raves
Staying Ahead of the Pack
With the explosion of winegrowing in New Zealand in the last 30 years or so it is easy to believe that we occupy an important place in the world of wine. The New Zealand wine industry has undoubtedly made astonishing achievements in a very short time, but it is important that we do not become complacent about this if we are to retain the leadership role we presently enjoy, because the rest of the world is rapidly catching up.
Wine Label Speak for Beginners
The language of wine labels can seem curious. Here are a few explanations about information commonly displayed on labels.
Sustainable Winegrowing
NZ Wine is the national organisation of the New Zealand grape and wine sector, funded under statutory authority through levies on grape and wine production. One of NZ Wine’s most important initiatives since the late 1990s has been to establish and promote the sustainable winegrowing project. This has been enthusiastically embraced by the industry, and NZ Wine estimates that in 2012 94% of the country’s producing vineyard area is participating in the Sustainable Winegrowing NZ programme.
Vintage 2012 - Different but the Same
There has long been a tradition in New Zealand’s wine regions to “talk up” vintages, which I suspect happens in wine regions everywhere. My view is that this is driven largely by concern amongst winegrowers that if punters understood that the grapes harvested in a particular vintage were in less than perfect condition and not optimally ripe, they might be less inclined to buy the wines when they are released.
handcrafted wines
This is a description so commonly used by winemakers that some might think it does not mean much. Wrong. It is especially apt when used by small winegrowers to describe their process and wines.
In Anticipation .....
The next few weeks for winemakers are an incongruous mix of being busy getting ready for the vintage, but also getting impatient at the seemingly long drawn-out waiting period whilst the grapes become fully ripe.
The Magic of Oak
Wooden containers have been used for storage and transport of wine for over 2500 years. According to Herodotus writing around 450 BC, Armenian merchants shipped wine in hollowed out palm wood casks down the Tigris River to Babylon in the 7th Century BC. Constructing barrels from staves was a Celtic invention around 350 BC. The Celts in central and western Europe used them for transporting wine and a range of other goods. Julius Caesar noted their use during his campaigns in France in the 50s BC.
Accolades for Matakana Wines
In 2010 the University of Auckland Wine Science Department established the “Upper North Island Wine Challenge”. This competition “…was initiated from a perceived need for the region and its sub-regions to be recognized as making a unique and historical contribution to the New Zealand wine industry”. The region encompasses Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. Many of the sub-regions within this area share similar climate and soils conditions, and even where they differ, they remain more similar to each other in “terroir’ characteristics than to the wine regions further south. So this competition really allows valid comparison of like with like.
Taste is a fickle thing
Over the time since we opened our cellar door in 1997 it has been noticeable how much more experienced and confident people have become in their wine tasting. In the past, individuals in a group would often defer to one of their number who was perceived to have tasting expertise, whereas today many people will engage in insightful discussion about the wines they taste.