New Zealand: Reds at the ready

With Pinot Noir leading the charge, Rupert Millar sees no reason why New Zealand’s reds won’t replicate the global success enjoyed by its white varieties.

The red wines of New Zealand have, slowly but surely, being creating something of a following at home and overseas. There are even those in the UK trade who believe that the country’s Pinot Noirs are developing in such a way that their regional complexity may one day rival that of the Côte d’Or.

But can New Zealand prove that it is capable of making serious fine red wines, what are the state of its vineyards at present and which grape varieties is it pushing and in which markets?

Of late, areas of production have not been growing as fast as before. New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) estimates that between 2010 and 2011, the growing area expanded by 400 hectares to a grand total of 33,600ha. This is all part of a considered strategy by NZW to balance out New Zealand’s supply and demand situation which threw the country’s – admittedly white rather than red wine production – into such a tailspin in 2008.

David Cox, European director of NZW, explains: “New Zealand Winegrowers has been strongly advocating a ‘rebalance and recovery’ strategy and has discouraged new plantings until the industry has its supply and demand back into balance.”

However, this has not been to the detriment of the red wines and may even have allowed them to create a solid base from which to promote themselves – a base focused on consistency and quality rather than just volume.

As a result Cox states that distribution is increasing for New Zealand red wines in the UK and, “We are clearly not seen as a producer of just Sauvignon Blanc”.

Sauvignon Blanc still sits on an unattainably high pedestal in pure production terms and, as of the 2011 vintage, now accounts for 69% of all wine made in New Zealand.

However, the rise in volumes has meant an increase in discounting and certain image problems as a result. This is not the case with the red wines. Furthermore, they remain the preserve of smaller estates. NZW’s analysis of the 2011 vintage found that the production of Sauvignon Blanc in large wineries (those making over 4 million litres per year) was around 72% compared to 61% in smaller wineries (less than 200,000l/yr). On the other hand, smaller wineries were much more reliant on Pinot Noir, which accounts for 16% of their production as opposed to 8% in the larger wineries.

Cox continues: “New Zealand is most definitely being recognised as a fine red wine producer these days and this manifests itself mostly, but not exclusively, with the growth of Pinot Noir.”

Quest for quality

Rod Easthope, chief winemaker for Craggy Range Vineyards, admits that work may be required to promote the image of some of the red wines due to the “leafy examples that we sent over in the 1980s and 1990s”, but he was enthusiastic overall about “how incredibly quickly” these mistakes had been rectified.

Matt Mitchell, winemaker at The Crossings in Marlborough and Crossroads Winery in Hawke’s Bay, singles out the rising quality over the years and the awards garnered as a result. “The quality and resulting sales and profile of New Zealand red wine has risen markedly over the last 20 years,” he says.

“Many wines are now standing up in benchmark tastings against famous, and pricier, international examples.”

Patrick Materman, chief winemaker at Brancott Estate, raises the point that the brand’s “Estate Pinot Noir” and “Terraces Pinot Noir” have won nine awards between them in the last five years.

Pinot Noir is undoubtedly New Zealand’s second grape and the one with the most global recognition next to Sauvignon Blanc.

Its production is growing too. Cox reports: “Pinot Noir used to be less than 4% of what we made but it now represents over 10% of what we produce and the 2011 harvest was up 32% overall.”

That 32% increase on 2010, according to the group’s figures, takes production to 31,156 tonnes in 2011. Nevertheless, Pinot Noir still accounts for no more than 13% of production over all. Nielsen figures did show that Pinot Noir exports to the UK fell 4% this year (MAT May 2011) to 2,165,622 litres, but this was surely counterbalanced by a 49% increase last year on 2009’s imports.

More importantly though is how Pinot Noir is seen as important to New Zealand and how seriously it is taken as a grape.

Marlborough again leads the pack in terms of tonnes produced each year, with 16,355 this year. However, even though Central Otago and Hawkes Bay, the next biggest areas producing 5,512 and 3,514 tonnes respectively, are smaller it is they that arguably have the better image and certainly Central Otago is viewed as something of a Pinot specialist.

But it is not just Central Otago that can lay claim to making excellent Pinot Noir. What is appealing about New Zealand’s Pinot production, is how diverse it can be from different regions.

Added to this is how quickly the winemakers appear to be locating the best sites (and this applies across a great many varieties not just Pinot Noir) and what clones work best where, all leading to fast development and a sense of regional identity which is rather distinct from most such New World attempts. Martin Lam, chef proprietor of Ransome’s Dock in London, believes: “The argument with Pinot Noir now is that it’s important to have examples from Marlborough, Martinborough and Central Otago because they’re so distinctive. I have eight to ten Pinots on my list because I think there’s room for them. Also the sub-regions of Otago are fascinating but we’re still more than a decade or more before the public gets regional subtlety.”

However, Easthope adds that, whether or not the customers understand it, Pinot Noir will develop hugely in New Zealand. He states: “Pinot Noir’s story is going to become more complex all over New Zealand. The national story with Pinot will have a great regional base to it and Central Otago is going to have to share some of the limelight.”

The Bordeaux Blends

As a relatively cool climate part of the New World, it is perhaps surprising that the plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah were greater ten years ago than they are today. According to NZW, Pinot Noir over the last decade has always maintained a share of production between 9% and 13%, while the share of Bordeaux blends and full bodied reds (FBRs) has in fact fallen from 13% to 4% over the same period, although Merlot remains the fourth most widely produced grape variety.

In Northland, where FBRs are the trademark style, production fell by 35% in 2011 to 46 tonnes and in Hawkes Bay, production of FBRs fell 559 tonnes or 4.5% from 12,485 to 11,926 tonnes. It is interesting to note that when one considers NZW’s export figures MAT to May 2011 and calculates the percentage difference between that time and the figures MAT to May 2006, one can see that Pinot Noir exports have risen by 127%, Merlot by 153%, but Cabernet and blends by only 1.7%. Elsewhere, Pinot Noir production shows strong growth in production. Is there a danger of New Zealand’s winemakers flocking once again to what is considered to be the most profitable grape?

Phil Tutton, owner of the Waipara West vineyard, hopes that this is not the case but does fear slightly that there may be an attempt to commercialise Pinot in a way that happened to Sauvignon Blanc. He says: “My worry is that large producers may be trying to do the same thing with Pinot in Marlborough as Sauvignon Blanc. That would be a mistake. Pinot needs care and attention; it’s not a mass wine. Red wines are gaining on whites very fast in the UK but hopefully it’ll be through value not volume. But I have little faith in that. The trouble is too many people want volume and Pinot Noir can crop very heavily if you want it to. ”

To return to the FBRs, however, there are a couple of things that could help this style of New Zealand wines into the future. The first was Jancis Robinson MW’s comparative tasting of Gimblett Gravel-based wines and Bordeaux classed growths in 2009 – followed earlier this year in Hong Kong (see box on p48 for more) – which put the style firmly on the map. The second is Asia’s continued rise and the ever expanding demand for red wines in that market. It is certainly one that a great many producers are considering very closely, not just as a new and dynamic place to sell wine, but also one that provides them with a market, as Tutton describes it, with “better price flexibility than the UK”.

Easthope agrees that, due to China’s arrival on the scene, there has been a “revitalisation” of the FBR category but also that greater knowledge of the Asian market will be required before its potential can be properly exploited by New Zealand’s producers.

China truly began to register on New Zealand’s export charts in 2010, when it posted remarkable increases (MAT May 2010), with a 97% rise in Cabernet and blends on 2009 to 181,769 litres, Merlot was up 331% to 300,784l, Pinot Noir jumped 583% to 342,994l and other reds also rose 55% to 53,948l. Hong Kong and Singapore showed strong growth in these red wine categories as well and China’s growth in the Cabernet and other red categories continued into 2011, when growth was put at 49% to 271,564l for Cabernets and other reds jumped 191% to 157,223l.

Another important part of the potential of these wines, aside from their increasing quality, is their price. Lam remarks: “Compared to actual Bordeaux you get one hell of a wine for £20 with Gimblett Gravels, whereas in Bordeaux you’re just beginning to get something proper. I think the wines are consistent and extremely impressive.”

Screwcap versus cork

Any wine region or country claiming to produce fine wine must be able to show that its wines are capable of bottle age. Most parts of the New World cannot yet draw on wines made in previous centuries to back this up.

Nonetheless, the red wines coming from New Zealand are made in a style that demands ageing. Nicholas Buck, sales and marketing director of Te Mata, believes: “Rather than asking, ‘will they age?’, it’s more a case that they absolutely require some degree of age. For the very best examples, as demonstrated by the leading producers during the ‘80s and ‘90s, the great wines can be very long-lived, multi-decade wines that develop all the complexity shown in the world’s greatest wines.”

But should they be under cork or screwcap? Even within New Zealand the opinions are not so clear cut. There are those who do not believe that screwcap is best for ageing their FBRs and Pinot Noirs and they believe it just as strongly as those who think that cork is inferior to screwcap.

Lam worries about the number of spoiled bottles under cork and likes the security screwcap gives. Screwcaps are also “synonymous with New Zealand”, according to Cox. Furthermore, results to date show that wines are capable of lasting under screwcap. But it is the question of the wines’ development in bottle, not just remaining taint-free, that is surely the issue.

Tutton, whose red wines are all under cork, states: “I make a better wine by using cork. The small ingress of oxygen allows the wine to develop. Young red wine is a bit one dimensional and I’m not sure ageing with screwcap will change that.”

Buck too comes down on the side of cork saying: “To date we have continued to opt for cork for our longer-lived wines as we prefer the development path – both aromatically, and particularly in the palate structure – over time that comes under that closure.”
Others take a cannier approach and argue that the issue of cork or screwcap should be decided upon by the country for which the wine is bound. Mitchell hints at this when he says: “Customers seem to have accepted screwcap and it would be hard to go back to an inferior seal unless the consumer demanded it.”

The UK is no longer bothered by wine under screwcap and even the US is reportedly getting used to the concept but for a market like China where perceptions are different again, cork is a necessary part of the whole tradition and ritual of wine. So although a great many winemakers reject the idea that cork is innately superior to screwcap for ageing wines, it would be no surprise to see quite a few return to it when selling to Asia. Easthope emphatically asserts: “I’m sure with the emergence of China there’ll be many producers in NZ who’ll be only to happy to oblige going back to cork if China asks for it.”

New Zealand’s reds take the spotlight away from Marlborough. Although that region also produces red wines with Pinot Noir and Bordeaux blends, the likes of Central Otago, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Waipara can stand on an equal level of recognition for the wines they produce. The trade is evidently happy with the burgeoning quality and consistency as well.

The cork-versus-screwcap debate will no doubt linger on for a good while yet but, as Easthope notes, it would be foolish to think that there will not be a good deal of repackaging for the growing Asian market, no matter what principles tie certain producers to the benefits of screwcap.

Perhaps most important though is that producers resist the temptation to cash in on red varieties, particularly Pinot, as happened with Sauvignon Blanc. If growth can be managed sustainably and consistently then there is little doubt that New Zealand can and will be ranked as one of the New World’s best countries for red wine production.