‘Purity and acidity’ are the hallmarks of NZ sparkling wine

Sharing a similar flavour profile to English fizz, “purity and acidity” are the hallmarks of New Zealand sparkling wine according to Jane Skilton MW.

Rudi Bauer of Quartz Reef in Central Otago is leading the charge on the New Zealand fizz front

Speaking at the inaugural Chardonnay and Sparkling Wine Symposium in Gisborne, New Zealand, earlier this year, Skilton told attendees: “For me, purity and acidity are the hallmarks of New Zealand sparkling wine.

“The better our winemakers get, the more complexity they will add to them, but it’s still a very new industry here where freshness is the focus. Regional character is beginning to emerge in New Zealand sparkling wine but people still buy by brand like they do with Champagne – producers triumph over site at the moment.

“Production is centred around Marlborough and Central Otago. There are a few producers leading the way like No. 1 Family Estate and Quartz Reef. Australia, the US and the UK are taking the lion’s share of our sparkling exports at the moment, but we also drink a lot of it ourselves in New Zealand. The overall quality here is high – there aren’t many turkeys.”

Andrew Keenleyside of Akarua in Central Otago is looking to double production of the estate’s sparkling wines to capitalise on the category’s growth

While the NZ fizz industry looks set to grow, Michael Brajkovich MW believes the initial investment required to make sparkling wine is putting winemakers off.

“Serious traditional method sparklers are hand harvested and whole bunch pressed. You have to do it to make quality wine. The juice extraction step is critical.

“Being a sparkling producer is not an easy thing to do – it requires capital and you have to buy a lot of equipment and have the means to build up your stock. The expense discourages many New Zealand winemakers from doing it.

“Being able to use other people’s equipment is helping some producers to make their own sparklers, and once you get going the business model is good,” he said.

“We’re building up our library of reserve wines, which are aged in old barrels. Using around 30-40% reserve wine in our sparklers would be ideal,” he added.

Francis Hutt of Carrick Wines believes the future is bright for NZ sparkling wine. “Sparkling wine is a big effort to make it but I think we’ll see more and more Kiwi winemakers giving it a go over the next few years.

“People like Rudi Bauer of Quartz Reef in Central Otago are helping to pave the way and are giving us confidence in the quality of the sparkling wines we are able to produce in New Zealand.

“It’s still a very small industry at the moment though,” he told attendees at the Sparkling Wine Symposium.

Another producer leading the way on the fizz front is Akarua, which dedicates 20% of its output to sparkling wine production. Being able to use the equipment at the No. 1 Family Estate facility in Marlborough helps.

“Tony Jordan has consulted on our sparkling wines from the start, which has helped us build our style and reputation. We get great acidity in our sparklers in Central Otago. Sparkling wine is booming all over the world and we’re looking to double production as we’re keen to invest in the category as we think it’s going to get much bigger,” Akarua’s winemaker Andrew Keenleyside told db.

“We sell our Brut in the UK through Liberty and it’s going really well. The sparklers across the range are getting better with age, even our non-vintage. I’d love to make a blanc de blancs as I’m a fan of Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne, but we’re a bit hamstrung by Chardonnay grapes at the moment.

“They’re quite hard to get hold of in Central Otago as a lot of producers grubbed it up. We’ve increased our acreage and I think there will be more plantings in the future as everyone is talking about Chardonnay in Central Otago at the moment,” he added.