Home New Zealand Research in Central Otago

Research in Central Otago

0

Central Otago

Central Otago is in the midst of finishing its 2017 harvest with the last picks on Pinot Noir and Riesling coming in over the next several days. Most of the other varieties are already finished, and much of the Pinot has come in already as well. The cooler reaches of the area – vineyards at its outer edges such as Gibbston Valley and Wanaka – and higher elevations are still harvesting some vineyards.

It’s been an interesting vintage with stretches of cold weather through the growing season slowing down ripening. That’s meant that the length of time between the very first pick of the season and the very last is wider than usual as the coolest sites come in more slowly. I’ve spent the last month in the region getting to know growing conditions for the marginal climate while also researching several articles and a couple of panels I was assigned after my visit earlier this year. It’s been a really great opportunity to do a deep dive, which I love, but even so I left feeling like there is still so much more to explore. With my time there revolving around specific articles (some of which you’ll get hints of from the photos below) there were more producers I didn’t have the chance to see. I fell in love with New Zealand and hope to get back again soon not only to keep getting to know Central Otago but also to spend more time in the other growing regions of the country.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be writing up producer visits from the last month here. In the meantime, here’s a look at some of what I was up to through photos as shared while on the go in Instagram.

Official Tastings for the Pie Club, Central Otago chapter continue with a Kiwi classic. Jimmy’s Pies. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

I ARRIVED WITH THE FIRST FEIJOA OF THE SEASON!!! I LOVE THIS FRUIT!!! FEIJOA==YES! #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Taking it to the source. Jimmy’s Original Pie Shop. Roxburgh. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Fish and chips. Champagne. Southern Ocean. Fromm Syrah. Sunday breakfast. #nzwine @frommwinery We call this heaven.

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Though I tend to think of Malvasia (at its best) as the perfect wine to capture the fresh rising character of a late Spring morning – the crisp cool tension of late morning temperatures lifting aromatically towards the warmth of day – tasting Sand Reckoner 2014 Malvasia Bianca from the crazy high elevation desert of Southeastern Arizona with its snappy cool nights and blooming agave aromatics here in the Autumn night of Central Otago’s Lake Wanaka makes me realize it’s the perfect wine for sunset – effusive and pretty, lifting in color while simultaneously squeezing ever more towards the tightening close of night. Beautiful, reflective and somehow almost melancholic in its beauty. Delicious and nicely done. #nzwine #arizonawine @sandreckonervineyard

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Super affordable delicious – the Picnic Riesling and Pinot from Two Paddocks. #nzwine @twopaddocks @sam_neill___

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

I am a fan. Prophet’s Rock 2012s Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir. #nzwine @paulpujol

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Sitting on the hill at Rippon with Mister Nick Mills. #nzwine @ripponhall @ripponjo

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Heading down the hill to the compost pile on Rippon with Nick Mills. #nzwine @ripponhall @ripponjo

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Entirely way too cool. Nick Mills heading home. #nzwine @ripponhall @ripponjo

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Super interesting to taste across vintage and technique with Lucie of Aurum – we did side-by-side tastings of the Aurum Estate Pinot, which is 100% destem, and the Aurum Madeline Pinot, which is 100% whole cluster, from both the 2014 and 2015 vintages. All special and delicious wines. Part of what blew my mind though was seeing that, in the end, the vintage contrast felt more apparent than the technique difference. 2014 was a dense and savory, deep toned vintage with tactile, lightly angular structure, while the 2015 was comparatively lighter, more lifted and fresh, pure fruit focused and pretty. The difference was clearly vintage expression rather than just time in bottle. Really awesome comparison. #nzwine @aurumwineslucie

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Quartz Reef 2014 No dosage sparkling kicks butt. #nzwine @quartzreefwines

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Jimmy’s Mince & Cheese Pie. Tomato Sauce. Regional Kids Rugby Tournament. Perfect Saturday. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Awesome look at 9 and 10 year old New Zealand Pinot both aging like champs with plenty of time left in bottle. Impressive depth and freshness in both. The Seresin 2007 Sun & Moon shows off natural concentration and energy with a savory, fresh midpalate and lots of length, all elliptical shaped through the mouth – round while focused and trim. The Rippon 2008 Tinker’s Field felt like the mix of scents given from sitting at the edge of a wild raspberry and blackberry patch – hints of earthy soil combined with just a touch of woodsy forest wafted through occasionally by a wind in the distance, dried grass accents and the pixelated, fresh lift of tiny blossoms all with a heart of mixed wild berries. Both really delicious wines showing off how the best New Zealand Pinots can age. #nzwine @seresinestate @ripponhall @ripponjo

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Bannockburn was the first subzone within the larger Cromwell Basin planted in Central Otago after the original vineyards were established essentially simultaneously in Wanaka, Speargrass Flats, Earnsclugh and Gibbston. Bannockburn has a bit more heat than the first plantings and it includes incredible soil diversity from dense white clay, to decomposed and gravel schist, windblown loess, and sand. Most interesting among these, the Bannockburn series is one of the only soil types on the planet classified as man made. (DID YOU JUST READ THAT?! MAN MADE SOIL == MIND BLOWING!!! MAN MADE! THE *SOIL* WAS MAN MADE!) The Wild West mesa-looking formations shown in these photos are actually the result of hydraulic gold mining. Massive amounts of water were washed and blasted through the mountains and terraces of the region in the search for gold deposits. The eroded rocks and soils were sluiced and anything that didn’t contain gold was chucked to the side and washed through caverns out of the way. The Wild West mesa-like formations are what remains of the original mountain and terraces. Miners were given very specific land allotments and not allowed to cut into land they didn’t own. The remaining mesa-like shapes are spots where for whatever reason prospectors just didn’t mine that allotment. Everything surrounding them was washed away in the search for gold. When you stand near these sluice spots and look into the wash-away caverns there are giant rocks everywhere piled up from being thrown away and at the bottom mounds of gravelly silt that was washed down the hill. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Perfect extraction. I have been primarily drinking coffee from Venus Coffee Roasters beans while here in Central Otago and it is good. Roasters in the US have gone through waves of style that remarkably parallel those of US wine – moving from over roasted styles that end up being more about burnt roaster style than origin to super high acid styles without the body to balance the coffee and show its flavor. Not many of the coffee cool kids there have found the middle road yet so I have a hard time finding coffee I enjoy. This Venus coffee is hitting that balance I dig – super fresh with some enlivening high notes for lift and interest but still bringing that just-a-bit-earthy heart of darkness with a lightly bitter finish my fisherman’s heart needs. Venus for the win! (Good name too.) #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

@kenichi_ohashi look who I found! Akihiko Yamamoto, famed wine writer of Japan, at Prophet’s Rock. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Driving vineyards all day with this guy. Duncan Forsyth of Mount Edward. #nzwine (Hi @mrbglover !!) @wineswinger

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Driving the Gibbston Valley area with Alan Brady. Unbelievably beautiful with the storm. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Tasting Chardonnay for Jesus! Yay! Happy Easter, Everybody!! #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

These high elevation Pinot Noir berries from clone 113 are just about ready to be picked. On such a cold vintage the high elevation sites come in quite a bit later than the lower ones as the span of harvest from first pick to last pick sites widens. The thing about checking these today though is they taste and (once plucked loose like this into individual berries) look just like what we call blueberries in Alaska from a good year. Alaskan blueberries are low bush tundra berries – a hint herbal with a burst of acid and light wash of sweetness – that come in late in the year when the weather has started to catch a slight chill to the air, much like the Autumn day today here in Central Otago. So between the feel of the weather, the mountain landscape, my spending harvest in what are essentially my old fishing clothes and then these grapes tasting of tundra berries, there is a comforting synchronicity of my life now as a wine writer and my home from Alaska. It’s a pretty good Easter. #nzwine Happy Holiday, Everybody, which ever of the several happening this weekend you may celebrate.

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

“I think winemaking is a message of peace.” – Francois Millet of Chambolle Musigny. Tasting through the 2017 vintage fermentations and the 2016 elevage of the Francois Millet and Paul Pujol Cuvée Aux Antipodes collaboration Pinot Noir after having spent the morning interviewing Francois and last night tasted the 2015 bottling with them both. Our several hour conversation today moved in and out of the way in which winemaking operates as a relationship between the winemaker and the land with the winemaker acting as an interpreter whose goal always is to let the land show before the person. The winemaker is meant to “stand behind.” He or she must make decisions and importantly guides the process but the goal is to let the wine speak as an expression of the land in the mood of that vintage. Because doing so demands great humility, patience, observation and close listening it is an act and a message of peace. #nzwine @paulpujol

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Going deep on Central Otago Chardonnay. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Central Otago even has charming hippies. Ram Dass inspired restaurant in Queenstown. Amazing. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

My last feijoa juice in New Zealand this time around. Boo. #nzwine

A post shared by Hawk Wakawaka (@hawk_wakawaka) on

Copyright 2017 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com.

Leave a Reply