Zew Nealand

The New Zealand tasting, an annual extravaganza showcasing a good section of wines from the Land of the Long White Cloud, occupied Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh this week. It's always a busy event, owing to the stupendous popularity of New Zealand wines in the UK.

New Zealand is an anomaly in terms of wine. It enjoys a strong market share in the UK, and an enviable average price of £6.47 a bottle, yet it produces fuck all wine. It's number 26 in terms of production, falling well below Georgia, Mexico, India and Russia, and it releases less than a sixtieth of France's output. Looking at these stats, it seems amazing that it even registers on the everyday wine drinkers radar, however, the Brits, and the yanks, love New Zealand wines. It's pretty obvious why: A combination of high latitudes and a high UV (thanks to the massive hole in the ozone layer) gives their wines cool-climate freshness with sun-basked ripeness. Thus the wines are clear-fruited, unsubtle numbers that show new-world juiciness with a bit of old world acidity. Some of them are fantastic, and very few are very bad, but they worry me as a nation that could easily rest on its laurels. Marlborough Sauvignon blanc, the only New Zealand wine properly in the public eye, is nigh past its sell-by, with examples that are so overtly pungent as to be undrinkable. Sweaty jockstraps, cat piss and mouth-puckeringly green fruit tend to be emphasised to the extreme in Marlborough, and I predict that the market will sooner or later become sick of it, much the same way they did with California Chardonnay.

Anyway, on the day there were few things that really impressed, but these are those that did:

Felton Road, Central Otago.
One of the legends of the Central Otago region, this was the first time I got to taste a range of Felton Roads, and, despite the apparently problematic vintage in the region, I was well impressed. They are really into their Burgundian texture and balance, so all their wines have incredible mouthfeel.

Felton Road Calvert Road Pinot Noir, Central Otago, 2007, £28
Light cherry red, bright, perfumed nose with amazing top notes. Hint of earthy dried herbiness, lifted cherry redcurranty fruit, almost cardomomy spice. Fantastic length and weight, and beautiful silky tannin texture.

Felton Road Chardonnay, Central Otago, 2007, £19
Big fruit on the nose. You can almost smell the weight of this wine. Obviously well selected oak, and nicely integrated. Creamy, soft palate, amazing weight, but not showing that much complexity yet.

Domain Road, Central Otago.
I met the owner Graeme Crosbie last year at a Central Otago tasting. Lovely bloke. He and his wife make a mixed bag of Otago classics (Pinot, Riesling, Sauvignon, Pinot Rose). Most were a bit crap, but the Pinot represented good value for money.

Domain Road Pinor Noir, Central Otago, 2006, £17.
Nicely herby nose of cherry and blueberry, bit of tarry complexity. Piercing fruit on the palate, decent weight and texture. Very of its place.

Te Mata, Hawkes Bay.
The oldest estate in NZ. I'd heard good things, but only tried the Gamay, which I'm not too much of a fan of.

Te Mata Estate Woodthorpe Vineyard Shiraz/Viognier, Hawkes Bay, 2005, £12.75
Amazing Hawkes bay Syrah nose. White and black pepper so intense you almost want to sneeze. Soft palate with brambles, raspberries and more pepper. Perfumed and lovely.

Te Mata Bullnose Syrah, Hawkes Bay, 2006, £19.29
Massive nose. More meaty and serious than the Woodthorpe. Almost cariacatured. I like, but not sure if I could drink.

Staete Landt, Marlborough.
From Rapaura in Marlborough, with an eye for terroir, these had one of the two Sauvignon Blancs that I thought was interesting (the other being the new Ata Rangi Sauvignon).

Staete Landt Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2007, £10.45
Relatively restrained nose. Honeyish, toasty notes alongside ripe tropical fruit. Oak-influenced weight and texture, and more buttery toast on the palate. Clearly Bordeaux influenced. Great.