If there exists a wine-producing
country that to have to look toward to the future, it is the New Zealand.
The original idea was good: to attract a cold climate viticulture. Aware of their lack of
experience, New Zealander called on German expert, in the sixties, Helmut Becker that
counseled to plant the Müller-Thurgau. This grape variety gave good results and permits
to obtain overabundant harvests of grapes with simple aromas and no surprises.
But it gives no exceptional vintages.
It took talented wine-growers, like John Buck of Te Mata or Spence's brothers of Matua
Valley, for new and ambitious vineyards to appear, modeled on the great classics from
Bordeaux and Burgundy.
One discovers that grape varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, mature easily on this
adopted soil and that the climate of the Northern Island was even too hot for the Pinot
Noir. John Buck was convinced that it could succeed to make mature grape varieties like
Cabernet-Sauvignon and Merlot in the region of Hawke's Bay. Spence's brothers obtained
good results, at the first attempt with Sauvignon. It's in 1973 that the new era of the
New Zealand wines began, with the plantation of the first vines of Marlborough in the
Southern Island.
In 1986, the overproduction of grape was such that public authorities granted generous
pulling up allowance. In total 25% of the national vineyard disappeared.
In the end of eighties, the New Zealand began to be known in the world for its
quality wines from grape varieties Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and sometimes Riesling, Pinot
Noir, Cabernet and Merlot.
Despite the success of the other grape varieties, this was incontestably the first wines
of Sauvignon of Marlborough that created the event. They remain, to date, standard
bearer of the New Zealand viticulture. They brought the New Zealand to the wine producing
country forefront of the New World, by offering some thing that neither Australia nor
California had been able to produce : a style of totally new wine that, with its
spectacular success, has made emulators in the entire world.
The Northern
Island is characterized by a high rainfall. Its fertile soils , abundantly
watered, don't allow a viticulture of quality: the vine prospers there and has no chance
to give great wines. The best vintages come from the region of Hawke's Bay. The
regular sunniness insures a complete ripening of the grape. Among best wineries are:
C.J Pask Winery, Ngatarawa Wines, Te Mata Estate, Vidal Estate.
Red grapes : Cabernet-Sauvignon, Pinot
Noir, Merlot.
White grapes : Chardonnay,
Müller-Thurgau, Sauvignon, Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer,
Chenin Blanc, Palomino.
The Southern Island
benefits of a fresh climate, with a abundant sunniness that facilitates the
ripening. The rainfall is small in the spring. The freeze and the wind are feared.
The best vintages are come from the region of Marlborough. The Sauvignon of Marlborough
has been of a remarkable quality from the first vintage. The Riesling of Marlborough is a
superb wine, generally dry and sometimes deliciously liqueur-like. Among best wineries are: Cloudy Bay Vineyards, Corbans, Hunter's
Wines, Montana Wines.
Red grapes : Cabernet-Sauvignon,
Cabernet, Merlot.
White grapes : Sauvignon,
Chardonnay, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau.
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