Splash out on New Zealand
Splash out on New Zealand
Look to Antipodean wines for cool-climate Syrahs, standout Sauvignon Blancs, fruit-driven Pinot Noirs and many others.
On a mid-winter day, Cape Town wine bar French Toast serves three wines in 50ml pours, tasting notes emphasising their origins and diversity in the glass. The Sauvignon Blanc flight compares the mineral, seaweed iodine elements of South Africa’s Cape Point Vineyard Reserve 2009 with the herbaceous, grapefruit and flinty notes of Domaine Denis Jamain Reuilly 2008 ‘Les Pierres Plates’ from the Loire. Wild Rock The Infamous Goose 2009 from Marlborough, New Zealand, jumps out with grapefruit, passionfruit, melon and cut grass.
It’s a reminder that, for many, New Zealand equals Sauvignon Blanc. It typifies freshness in a glass – from herbaceous grassy notes or green peas and green peppers, to riper grapefruit and tropical litchi, melon and pineapple. Sauvignon Blanc far outpaces all other varieties grown in NZ. In 2011, New Zealand Wine growers notes that wineries harvested over 220.000 tonnes of Sauvignon Blanc of a total intake of 328 000 tonnes. This means wines of average drinking appeal to topend examples bursting with boutique deliciousness. These serious Sauvignons are crisp, tank-fermented vineyard selections, but might have a hint of barrel fermentation for textured palate weight.
Marlborough is the best-known and biggest region on South Island, and Sauvignon Blanc dominates. Pinot Noir, the country’s most widely produced red, is sometimes criticised for being fruit-driven and simple, but great examples can reward with bright fruit, lively acidity and a sense of purity. Central Otago wineries on South Island are particularly accomplished in the Pinot medal stakes and wines often have a fleshier tactile quality.
NZ Chardonnay is also worth seeking out: fans will find brilliance on occasion in Gisborne, Marlborough, Nelson and Hawkes Bay. In whites, NZ Pinot Gris and Riesling are worth a try, and Hawkes Bay on North Island is best known for Bordeaux blends and Syrah.
South African winemaker Jasper Raats made news in 2004 by launching Marlborough’s priciest Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir under his Koru label. Justifying the prices (R290 and R575 respectively) and comparing them with the South African wines he produces with brother Bruwer, Raats says NZ wineries typically use machines for everything aside from pruning, because labour is expensive. His Koru wines epitomise a handmade approach, grown on only one hectare, harvested and bunch-thinned by hand, and matured and bottle-aged before release. Raats loves New Zealand Pinot Noirs but rates the “coolclimate peppery expression” of New Zealand Syrah as the next big red discovery.
The Rugby World Cup may be looming but NZ wines aren’t plentiful on local shelves. Specialist wine stores polled in Gauteng and Cape Town generally stock one or two Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs – established Marlborough, Martinborough, Central Otago and Hawkes Bay labels. Roland Peens of Wine Cellar points out that higher import duties make NZ wines pricier than those from Italy or France, which pushes them into a R500 to R800 bracket at restaurants. If this doesn’t scare you, head for tourist-focused hotels or wine-inclined restaurants with large cellars and splash out in an Antipodean direction.
TRY THE FOLLOWING
• Norman Goodfellows, 192 Oxford Road, Illovo, tel 011 788 4814
• Wine Cellar, Price’s Park, Nelson Road, Observatory, Cape Town, tel 021 448 4105
• International Wine Company, 58 Bompas Road, Dunkeld, JHB, tel 011 447 6427
