While studying for the blind tasting in the WSET diploma, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was always the banker for me. My mum drinks it most nights and it is a wine I can comfortably recognise inches away from the glass. I have a feeling more than a few WSET Diploma students feel the same. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is just so recognisable: the intense aromatics of freshly cut grass, gooseberries and that telltale passionfruit…
Could you, however, spot a Central Otago Pinot Noir? Or a Wairarapa Riesling? After a couple of weeks touring New Zealand’s main wine regions, here are my takeaways on each region’s key wines and terroir.
Central Otago: Land of Pinot Noir and mountains
There are few wine regions that look more like a set for Lord of the Rings than Central Otago. The surrounding region was indeed used for some of the filming and the wine region is supremely scenic. Snowcapped mountains surround the vineyards in what seems like an almost continuous chain in certain areas, and you certainly feel like you are in a protected pocket of sunshine and warm temperatures.
This is the only continental climate of New Zealand and the mountains surrounding Central Otago wine region offer protection from wet and cold weather fronts, casting a rain shadow. Central Otago is New Zealand’s driest wine region, with just 350mm rain in some parts, and so it is even necessary to irrigate here. The dry and sunny climate make it ideal for ripening healthy grapes and the cool temperatures at night keep acidity fresh.
My key takeaway from Central Otago is that it is extreme and intense as an environment, which means you have deeply coloured, very aromatic and naturally quite powerful Pinot Noirs. However, some of the Fine Wines producers (New Zealand’s equivalent of a Michelin star in wine) I tried have definitely used gentle winemaking techniques in order to err on the side of elegance rather than powerhouse. Cool-climate white wine varieties, such as Riesling, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, also do particularly well here. However Pinot Noir remains King, taking up three-quarters of vineyard plantings.
Read more on Central Otago wine regions:
Hawke’s Bay: Red wine territory
Although New Zealand is best known for its white wines, Hawke’s Bay is certainly red wine territory. This is where some of New Zealand’s most prized red wines come from and two-thirds of the region is planted with red grape varieties. It’s fascinating to me that actually one of the first regions to be planted in New Zealand was Hawke’s Bay in the 1850s and it is known for red Bordeaux varieties when today we so readily associate New Zealand with white wines.
The Maori name for Hawke’s Bay is Te Kauwae-a-Maui which means fish hook, reflecting the shape of this bay. Well-protected by the coastal winds, Hawke’s Bay has a relatively mild maritime climate and in the warmer inland parts of the region, you can even ripen Cabernet Sauvignon. The region I was most interested in visiting was Gimblett Gravels, which is known for making rich red wines (mainly Bordeaux blends and Syrah) because of the extra heat retention of the gravel soils. It’s a relatively recent rise to fame for Gimblett Gravels. Although it now receives some of the biggest wine investments in recent times, just 40 years ago it was being used for concrete mixing and drag racing!
Read more on Hawke’s Bay wine region and wines:
Waipara: Canterbury’s fast-growing wine region
Waipara Valley is just an hour from Christchurch city and has grown at an exponential rate since it was first planted in the late 70s. Today there are over 1,300 hectares of vines in this North Canterbury region on the South Island. What makes it a unique spot in New Zealand is that it is a cool-climate region – best suited for Pinot Noir, Riesling and Chardonnay. But you also have quite a long hang time here, meaning that botrytised styles are popular, especially with the whites. Protected by hills from the wettest of the maritime climate, with just over 500mm rain a year, some producers even choose to irrigate in Waipara.
Zippy Riesling and savoury Pinot Noir were my highlights from this region, but another feature was the fact that it is also a hotbed for smaller, boutique producers. This makes it interesting to visit because each producer has their own style and ethos. One winery in particular had an interesting way of making their wine – out in the vineyard. Greystone is the first winery I know of that actually ferments their grapes outside!
Read more on Waipara wine region and wines:
Wairapara: River terraces and savoury Pinot Noir
It’s a bit confusing to have two wine regions with such similar names (Waipara and Wairapara) and I mumbled my way through the names incorrectly several times when interviewing winemakers! It helped when one, Helen Masters of Ata Rangi, actually explained to me that ‘Wai’ means water in Maori. So whenever you see Wai in a word it means water, and in the case of Wairapara it means ‘where water sticks together’, referring to the Ruamahanga river.
The river is important, especially in the sub-region of Martinborough, which I visited, because the vineyards are all planted on old river terraces. These gravel soils have good drainage, which helps with the 800mm of rain that Martinborough gets each year.
This is very much Pinot Noir territory, with almost 500 hectares planted, but Sauvignon Blanc (324 hectares) and aromatic white varieties (Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer) do well here too. Compared with other Pinot Noirs in New Zealand, I found the Martinborough Pinot Noirs much more savoury and austere in style.
Auckland: where it all started
Auckland was one of the first regions to be planted with vines, back in the mid-1800s. European settlers (notably Dalmatian families) started producing wine in and around Auckland and Port and Sherry-style wines were very popular during the mid-1900s. The city grew, pushing producers out, and New Zealand’s wine boom moved elsewhere but there are a few relics of this historic wine production within the ever-growing city limits today.
Most of the vineyards now are outside the city in the sub-regions of West Auckland and Matakana, as well as overseas on the beautiful island of Waiheke. Although Auckland producers have a massive market on their doorstep with Auckland city, making wine here has its challenges. The North Island is warmer but wetter so, while ripening is easier, vineyard management is not. The rich, volcanic, clay soils also mean that good viticultural management is key, as is finding the right site. The bonus is that Auckland’s wine is in the hands of some great producers and there are stellar examples of Chardonnay and red (Bordeaux-style) blends made here.
Marlborough: More than just Sauvignon Blanc
And finally, the mecca for New Zealand wine lovers. Marlborough produces three quarters of the country’s wine, so understandably this is the region we always see on supermarket shelves. While the sheer dimensions of the land covered in vineyards was overwhelming, there’s actually a lot of diversity in Marlborough.
First of all you have to get to grips with the different sub-regions. The Wairau is the main sub-region of Marlborough where vineyards are planted on an old river bed with stony, alluvial soils that lead out towards the sea. It is the warmest sub-region of Marlborough and produces the classic, tropical-fruit style of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc we all hope to get in a blind tasting!
Further south are the Southern Valleys with some vineyards planted on slopes and hillsides with clay-rich soils. This is where you’ll find more of Marlborough’s red varieties grown and it is here where the top Pinot Noir of the region comes from. The furthest south is Awatere Valley, which is also the coldest of all the sub-regions. The soils are also stony river terraces but the cooler, windier and drier climate means that you get much more austere wines and the Sauvignon Blanc from Awatere tends to be on the more herbaceous side.
Beyond Sauvignon Blanc, I tasted some great sparkling wines (Methode Marlborough is a category to look out for), Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I also had some interesting Albariño, Gruner Veltliner and Riesling, and producers are experimenting with varieties such as Tempranillo and Syrah.
There’s plenty happening in Marlborough. But, most importantly of all, is that the focus on Sauvignon Blanc isn’t just making a cookie-cutter style of the same Sauvignon Blanc but looking to the sub-regions to express nuances of the terroir and variety. Spotting a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in the WSET blind tasting might have just become a lot harder…
