NEW ZEALAND RESOURCES: VITICULTURE

PART ONE

Contents:! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! page

THE TIMELINE: HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT PHASES 3

(Duration 54:27)

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
HISTORY Toast New Zealand: 1/10/2003 (extract)
THE DALMATIANS Here To Stay: The Dalmatians (extract)
HISTORICAL FOOTAGE
CORBANS (1) Bottled Sunshine
CORBANS (2) Sun, Soil & Tradition
TE KAUWHATA 1947 Weekly Review 316 (extract)
MCWILLIAMS 1956 Pacific Magazine 25 (extract)
INTERVIEW LONDON WINE CORRESPONDENT 198- Interview Jane Macquitty
London Wine Correspondent
THE WINE GLUT 1985 6:30 News & Top Half 18/11/1985 (extract)

REGIONS, WINEMAKERS & VARIETALS (Duration 57:43) 6

WINEMAKERS & REGIONS

CANTERBURY
GEISEN 1991 Holmes 14/11/1991 (extract)
C P LIN WAIPARA 2000 Inside Out: C P Lin: Winemaker (extracts)
CENTRAL OTAGO
BENDIGO 2008 Country Calendar: More on a High Country Winner (extracts)
MARLBOROUGH
MARLBOROUGH 1991 Holmes 14/11/1991 (extract)
WIFFEN ESTATE 2002 Country Calendar: Wiffen(extracts)
WAIHEKE
STONYRIDGE 2003 Toast New Zealand: 19/12/2003 (extract)
VARIETALS
RIESLING Toast New Zealand: 19/12/2003 (extract)
SAUVIGNON BLANC Toast New Zealand: 1/10/2003 (extract)
NEW ZEALAND RESOURCES: VITICULTURE
PART ONE

THE TIMELINE: HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT PHASES

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

HISTORY
Toast New Zealand: 1/10/2003 (extract)
One Productions 2003 Duration 4:01
Food presenter Peta Mathias teams up with wine buff Timothy Giles and
explores where we’re at when it comes to creating and consuming wine. In this
extract the historical overview provided is succinct. It concentrates on the
period of the generational change in consumption and production that occurred
from the 80s on. Note that this programme aired in 2001 when production litres
stood at 53.3 million - this had risen dramatically to 205.2 million litres in 2008.

THE DALMATIANS
Here To Stay: The Dalmatians (extract)
Gibson Group 2007 Duration 2:21
Former All Black and Kiwi league star Frano Botica takes a journey into the
heart of Croatian roots in New Zealand. The Dalmatians were the earliest
group of any real size to practice serious viticulture as a matter of culture
and diet. ‘Dally Plonk’ was the name often given to backyard production in
earlier decades. Nick Nobilo, whose father Nikola first planted vines in west
Auckland in 1943, talks about the changing tastes that saw the emergence of
quality varietal wines in the mid-'60s, as the laws changed [ the 6 o’clock
swill was abandoned and wine was allowed to be served in restaurants ]
then gained steam in the '70s. The early affectation with ports and sherries
is mentioned, the wines of Europe were seen as dangerous. Check out the
views of Nikola the elder - this programme aired shortly before he passed
away.

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HISTORICAL FOOTAGE

CORBANS (1)
Bottled Sunshine
[1930] Duration 15:09
Silent film of Assid Abraham Corban’s Mt Lebanon Vineyard in Henderson.
The first vines were planted in 1902 and Corban’s and Sons was a family
concern until the company went public in 1963.

CORBANS (2)
Sun, Soil & Tradition
Reynolds Films 197- Duration 21:28
Black and white still images describe the history of Assid Corban’s winery in
Henderson, Auckland. The label sequence at the end show the specific under-
developed tastes of the pre-eighties era.

TE KAUWHATA 1947
Weekly Review 316 (extract)
National Film Unit 1947 Duration 2:54
TE KAUWHATA... WINE MAKING: Procedures for winemaking are shown. Note
this was a government Department of Agriculture affair. To explain:
“In 1895 European wine expert Romeo Bragato surveyed New Zealand’s wine
industry. He saw promise in several areas, especially Hawkes Bay, but also
Wairarapa and Central Otago. He thought wine could be a considerable source
of wealth, so he urged the government to help winemakers by setting up a
viticultural college and experimental farms.
In 1897 the Department of Agriculture began planting grapes – syrah,
chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and riesling – at its experimental
farm at Te Kauwhata, Waikato. The vines grew well and a small winery was set
up there in 1901.
As government viticulturist in the Department of Agriculture from 1902, Bragato
improved the research station and vineyard at Te Kauwhata, and another at
Arataki, Hawkes Bay, in 1903 ... Bragato’s 1906 booklet Viticulture in New
Zealand quickly sold 5,000 copies.
Bragato provided healthy vines – European vines grafted on to American
rootstocks – that were resistant to phylloxera, the root-destroying pest that had
wrecked French vineyards in the 1870s.” From Te Ara website.

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MCWILLIAMS 1956
Pacific Magazine 25 (extract)
Pacific Films Duration 2:37
GRAPE HARVEST: Late summer in Hawkes Bay is time for the grape harvest.
The grapes are taken to New Zealand’s largest winery, McWilliams in Hastings
[Australian Company]. Once again fortified wines to the fore and this is 1956.

INTERVIEW LONDON WINE CORRESPONDENT 198-

Interview Jane Macquitty London Wine Correspondent
TVNZ [198-] Duration 3:51 [sound quality poor]
Mike Bodnar interviews English wine columnist from the Times (she still is),
Jane MacQuitty about her interest in New Zealand wines. Among the average
developing vintages she had begun finding examples that compared with the
best of Europe. The reasons she listed were: a temperate climate, superior
technology, wine expertise, grape production as part of a farming nation - all
advantages. Her major concerns were the amount of grapes taken, the high
tonnage per acre, and the percentage of ungrafted vines being used - hark back
to the instructions of Bragato regarding phylloxera eighty years previous.
Macquitty went on to champion our wines, particularly after the first Cloudy Bay
Sauvignon’s appeared in the UK.

THE WINE GLUT 1985

6:30 News & Top Half 18/11/1985 (extract)
TVNZ 1985 Duration 2:05
Two wine companies, Villa Maria and Vidals, call in the receivers stating that
the wine industry is in a mess and is currently untenable due to over supply
of grapes and the world’s highest wine taxes.
Te Ara puts it succinctly: “Expansion didn’t occur without hiccups. Higher
sales tax on local wine forced up prices, and in the tight economy of the
mid-1980s, wine drinkers were reluctant to buy. Bumper vintages saturated
the market, so big producers slashed prices. The smaller family-run wineries
suffered in the price war, and some went out of business. Even major
producers struggled: Villa Maria, which had bought Hawkes Bay producer
Vidals in 1976, went into receivership in 1985.
A glut of lower-quality wine led to the government, in 1986, paying growers to
pull out their vines. Up to 25% of the national vineyard was uprooted, mostly
around Gisborne and in Hawkes Bay. Production slowed, and it was not until
1993 that the area in vines reached the pre-1986 level.

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REGIONS, WINEMAKERS & VARIETALS

WINEMAKERS & REGIONS

CANTERBURY

GEISEN 1991
Holmes 14/11/1991 (extract)
TVNZ 1991 Duration 4:25
The Geisen Brothers started in Canterbury in 1981, with what at that stage
was the southern-most vineyard in the world, growing Riesling and
Chardonnay on their block at Burnham south of Christchurch. Dr David
Jackson from Lincoln University talks about the potential of the Canterbury
region. Marcel Geisen talks about the risks and successes of his venture. The
Geisen’s now concentrate most of their winemaking in Marlborough with
Sauvignon Blanc.
Canterbury is becoming well known for its Riesling and Pinot Noir wines.
The soils of the region are stony and alluvial. The climate is hot and dry in
summer, and often cool, clear and frosty in winter.
Almost all of Canterbury's wineries can be reached after a short drive from
Christchurch. They are located over a number of areas. To the east of
Christchurch are the wineries of Banks Peninsula, to the south are those of
Burnham, and to the north are those of the rapidly expanding Waipara sub-
region. Of these areas, Waipara is creating the most excitement and is fast
becoming internationally recognised for the production of very good quality
Riesling wines, and some big winners (Pinot Noir) in international tastings.

New Zealand Resources: Viticulture Part One

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 C P LIN WAIPARA 2000
Inside Out: C P Lin: Winemaker (extracts)
Long White Cloud Productions 2000 Duration 16:47
Not your typical winemaker - C.P. moved from Taiwan to New Zealand at
the age of 13 and initially dabbled in engineering before discovering the
world of wine. However, his love of the product and passion for the
industry is now obvious and, along with a lot of personal determination,
has seen him translate the Oxford Companion to Wine into Braille and be
internationally hailed as one of the very best makers of New Zealand Pinot
Noir after his work at Mountford Estate, in Waipara. C. P. introduced
himself to his future employer in 1996 by tasting Mountford's first
vintages and telling owner Michael Eaton, "These wines are crap."
Recently became a consultant winemaker at the Hunter Valley's Mount
Eyre Vineyards whilst continuing at Mountford estate.
Good description of the potential and difficulties of of the region’s climate
and soil.

CENTRAL OTAGO

BENDIGO 2008
Country Calendar: More on a High Country Winner (extracts)
TVNZ 2008 Duration 9:13
A big change started at Bendigo in the early 1990s with the arrival of
Austrian winemaker Rudi Bauer.
Every day as he travelled by to work on another vineyard, he used to look
across at Bendigo and wonder whether grapes would grow on the station's
north-facing lower slopes.
John Perriam had always called the area his "rabbit shit country" because it
was stony and unproductive, seemingly fit only for rabbits.
Eventually Bauer approached the Perriams with a plan which led to a multi-
million-dollar transformation of the lower slopes into what's now seen as a
significant new wine area.
The first pinot noir grapes were harvested on Bendigo's Quartz Reef vineyard
in 1998. Following the success of that first harvest, many more grapes have
been planted - all part of a massive change from the traditional high country
activities based around merino sheep.

New Zealand Resources: Viticulture Part One

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MARLBOROUGH

MARLBOROUGH 1991
Holmes 14/11/1991 (extract)
TVNZ 1991 Duration 3:20
The rise and rise of Marlborough. Daniel Le Brun (Winemaker); Kevin Judd
(Winemaker); Jilly Goolden (BBC Wine Expert); Thomas Woolrych
(Winebuyer). What was one of our youngest wine growing regions
(Montana’s interests began in 1973) Marlborough (and Nelson) developed
quickly from the eighties on. The ‘mad Frenchman’ Le Brun has won
numerous awards and is internationally recognised today under his No. 1
Family Estate label. Cloudy Bay’s production became a cult item on the
overseas markets.

WIFFEN ESTATE 2002

Country Calendar: Wiffen(extracts)
TVNZ 2002 Duration 13:08
Relates Charles Wiffen’s story from diversification of his second property,
90 hectares outside Blenheim to include grape production as a contract
grower, to wine production under his own name. Wiffen’s winemaker,
Anthony Ivicevich is in Auckland (Westbrook Vineyards), his grapes
crushed at a neighbour’s winery (Dry Hills).

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WAIHEKE

STONYRIDGE 2003
Toast New Zealand: 19/12/2003 (extract)
One Productions 2003 Duration 3:32
From the Stonyridge website: “Waiheke Island, in the Hauraki Gulf off
Auckland, is famous for producing great red wines because of its low
summer rainfall and consistently high temperatures. [Stonyridge is]
located at the same relative latitude as the southern tip of Sicily. The soil
is a poor low-fertility Waitemata clay saturated with nodules of
magnesium, manganese, and iron oxides. Magnesium is the central
molecule of chlorophyll, essential for photosynthesis, much loved by
grape vines and so often deficient in NZ soils.
The only fertilizers [added] are natural-ground limestone and a homemade
seaweed emulsion.”
Stonyridge and Goldwater Estate on Waiheke Island were two red varietal
pioneers in New Zealand with Stonyridge's Larose achieving significant local
and international standing.

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VARIETALS

RIESLING
Toast New Zealand: 19/12/2003 (extract)
One Productions 2003 Duration 3:41
Early Riesling production in New Zealand was low quality fare. Its
resurgence is highlighted along with its versatility. Here’s some international
perspective from the Boston Globe (June 2009) under the title “New
Zealand’s new Rieslings are vine and dandy ”.... "New Zealand sauvignon
blancs are just about everywhere these days - and, if you drink wine at all,
you’ve probably had quite a few. The crisp, high-acid, citrusy white put New
Zealand on the map as a credible and popular wine-producing locale.
But sauvignon blanc isn’t the only varietal this multi-island country grows, nor
should it be the only one you try. Riesling has become one of the hottest grapes
around, and New Zealand is offering its own entries into this suddenly hip
category.
True, its production is tiny compared with the output of Germany, Alsace and
even this country; less than 2,300 acres are planted in the varietal. (German
acreage alone is close to 52,000.) ... Some, especially those from the South
Island’s Marlborough region, tend to be crisp and racy, like their sauvignon
blanc neighbors. Allan Scott 2007 ($16), for instance, nicely balances mineral
flavors with a grapefruit/lemon/lime acidity. Villa Maria Cellar Selection 2007
($22) is brighter, dry with citrus fruit flavors as well. Babich 2007 ($14) is a
crisp, grapefruit and mango refresher.
Rieslings from Martinborough, on the North Island, are often richer and more
honeyed. Palliser Estate 2007 ($45) sets the standard: It’s just what a riesling
should be. Lovely fruit, full-flavored, but with excellent acid backbone....” And
so on!
[Note this in $US, putting them in the quality rather than quantity bracket in
terms of sales.]

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SAUVIGNON BLANC
Toast New Zealand: 1/10/2003 (extract)
One Productions 2003 Duration 3:37
New Zealand’s success with Sauvignon Blanc is detailed. From environment
- free draining soil, proximity to the ocean: hot days, dry weather then cool
nights. The cool nights are excellent for acid and flavour retention. Mike Just
from Lawson’s Dry Hills (seen in the Wiffen extract) provides the detail.
Aspects of yeast choice single vineyard wines and blending are covered (in
this instance Just has got the product of close to 70 different grape
sources). The translation of Sauvignon Blanc is literally ‘Savage White’ with
it’s raw herbaceous potential. Just’s thesis is a new move towards
sophistication without losing New Zealand’s trademark green ‘edge’.
Consider the latest mutterings from Jane Macquitty in the Times regarding
the bumper crop of 2008:
“I was horrified last month at the Decanter World Wine Awards, judging a
whole slew of supposedly top-notch £7-£9.99 South Island New Zealand
Marlborough sauvignons, to discover that most of them were evil, watery,
grassy wines.
The top drops among them did have the herbaceous, flowering currant and
tropical fruit characters that have made this classic New World appellation a
global crowd-pleaser ever since Cloudy Bay’s moody, misty label and zingy
sauvignon blanc within pushed this wine style into the finest and rarest cult
class in the mid-1980s. But there were none at this Decanter competition to
which I personally wanted to award even a bronze medal and none that I would
have paid £7 to taste again...” MacQuitty has been championing New Zealand’s
wines since the 80s, so it would pay New Zealand producers to stay awake.

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