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growing up savvy
New Zealanders are drinking much more NZ-grown wine than ever. In the last ten years our consumption of home grown wine has increased gradually from 44% of the total to 71%, with most of that increase in the last three years.
excise – “a hateful tax…”
Excise is the tax administered by the Customs Department which levies alcohol products, tobacco and petrol. Excise taxes have a long history, having first been imposed under that name in England in the mid-17th Century. Samuel Johnson in his 1755 Dictionary of the English Language describes excise as “A hateful tax levied upon commodities and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.” An excellent description, although I am sure Customs Department staff do not see themselves as “wretches”.
my, how we've grown!
I can recall quite vividly my first experience of “serious” New Zealand wine. A sophisticated friend brought a bottle of Montana Pinotage to share with us over dinner way back in 1969. It was probably 1968 vintage. I was an inexperienced imbiber at the time but remember being surprised at how enjoyable this wine was, and how wonderfully it complemented the meal. That was a seminal wine experience for me – the moment the light went on for the first time.
boom, bust or both?
Mahurangi Matters (1 June) reported that some local grape growers were removing some of their vines. This raises questions about whether this indicates a malaise either in the Matakana wine region or in the NZ wine industry as a whole, or what?
grape harvest a la nina
Global weather has just come through a fairly intense La Nina episode.
alcohol reform?
The Alcohol Reform Bill is presently being considered by Parliament. These two words together in the title of the proposed legislation create an impression that all uses and users of “alcohol” require “reform”, an impression more suited to a prohibitionist polemic than a clear-headed attempt to address the real problems associated with the harmful use of alcoholic beverages.
how do we see red?
As reported recently, Syrah and Merlot are the most planted red grape varieties in the Matakana region. Compare this with New Zealand as a whole, where Pinot Noir, (represented in Matakana by one small block of grapes in the Hyperion vineyard) is by far the most planted red with almost four times the acreage of Merlot. Cabernet Sauvignon is a very distant third and Syrah an even more distant fourth.
the extraordinary diversity of matakana wines
One of the interesting characteristics of the Matakana winegrowing community is the large range of grape cultivars we grow. A recent survey has disclosed 22 different varieties. To put this into perspective the NZ Wine Institute Annual Report shows separate acreage figures for only16 varieties for the whole of New Zealand, and 12 of the varieties grown in Matakana are not amongst these 16. This indicates that around half of the cultivars planted in the region are rare and unusual.
harvest 2010
Quite simply 2010 has been the best of the 15 vintages we have had to date. The fruit from all of our grape varieties were picked in excellent condition due to the extraordinarily dry summer and autumn we have had. We wer able to "hang" the fruit for as long as we liked to get optimal ripeness, and having no pressure from the weather made for a very relaxed and enjoyable vintage. All of which means that the red wines from 2010 should have great depth of colour and flavour, ripe tannins, full mouthfeel and long silky finishes. The whites should be fruity with intense aromas and flavours. For wines from the Matakana region and more generally from the Auckland region and further north, 2010 will be a year to watch out for.
living the dream
At the time of writing we are deeply embroiled in the business of harvesting and processing grapes - the time called 'vintage'. This is the most intensely busy period of the winegrower's year, and it goes on for around two months, from mid-March to around mid-May, depending upon which grape varieties your have, with crazed activity peaking around mid-April.