During this period you discover that you haven’t got this or that bit of equipment which you resolved last vintage to get, or you haven’t ordered enough of the various winemaking fermentation aids – yeast, nutrients etc, because you’ve under-estimated your crop size, or someone in the cellar neglects to open a valve and the pump hose gives way under the pressure, splattering crimson juice all over everything, or your quad bike breaks down and disrupts the whole logistical chain from picking to crushing so you have pickers standing by idle, or you get a heavy shower of rain and can’t decide whether to call it off for the day or take a punt on the weather clearing, or your refrigeration unit goes haywire just when you need to get a tank of juice chilled very quickly….. and so on.
Winemaking and cellar staff get leaner, fitter, hairier (male staff that is) and more tired as the season progresses. Their patience with themselves, each other, the weather, the equipment, and anyone standing around can at times be very frail, and sometimes they can be observed immobile, looking vacantly into the middle distance wondering just what it was they were meant to be doing next….
Some people rhapsodise about “living the dream”, to which I suggest they come and give it a go for a while, especially right now!
Fortunately there is a good measure of fun and satisfaction to balance the long hours and hard yakka. Vintage can be and usually is an exhilarating time, with lots of co-operation between different growers, lots of banter in the cellar, some beautifully ripe fruit coming in to the winery, a convivial beer at the end of the day, and a cellar full of gorgeous fermentation aromas. Then there is the satisfying prospect of eventually conjuring up a marvelous product deriving from soil and sunlight, which gives many people a good deal of pleasure.
Robin Ransom, 16/4/09
Originally published Mahurangi Matters May 2009
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( 2.9 / 649 )A recent news item out of France was lamenting, quite rightly, proposed EU regulation changes which would allow rosé wines to be made by simply blending red and white. The traditional way of making rosé uses only red grapes. The process, which in France is called “saignée” (bleeding) involves the grape juice and skins being kept together for a very short time - just a few hours after crushing. This allows a small amount of red colour to bleed from the skins into the otherwise almost colourless juice to produce a shade of pink, which varies in intensity according to grape variety and the length of time the juice and skins are kept together.
Without going into technical details or gushing aroma and flavour descriptions it is fair to say that the traditional process produces a more distinctive, unique and enjoyable product and one with more winemaking integrity than simply blending white and red wine.
This uniqueness and distinctiveness has in recent years begun to be appreciated by a much wider wine drinking market. For example growth in rosé consumption in the UK has been astronomical recently. Apparently 10% of all wine consumed there is now rosé.
In New Zealand rosé consumption has also grown very rapidly in the last few years. We are not hampered by any particular regulations as to how we can make rosé wines, so there may be some examples made using the red-white blending procedure. In the Matakana region the number of rosé wines now produced has just about reached double figures, and to the best of my knowledge they are all made in the traditional manner.
True rosé is very different from the lolly-water formerly sold under the name of rosé, which gave it such a bad name for many. It is also very different from the red wines produced from the same grape varieties. Rosé can be delightful consumed chilled on a summer afternoon, or slightly warmer at this time of year and into winter – try it as an aperitif or with antipasti.
Call in to The Vintry next time you are in Matakana village and you will be able to taste the full array of local rosés. Approach them with an open mind and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed - you might even become a convert, as many others have in recent times.
Robin Ransom
President, Matakana Winegrowers Inc.
robin@ransomwines.co.nz.
(Originally published in Mahurangi Matters, April 2009
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( 2.8 / 507 )The daily round of news we are getting about global economic recession and its effects both abroad and in New Zealand is depressing and can be quite scary. The most dramatic manifestations of it so far have been overseas, although we are starting to see job losses in New Zealand, and those who are retired or close to it are arguably in the worst position of all, with interest rates, property values and investment portfolio values dropping through the floor.
In view of all this it is nice to be able to report some good news. It is clear from lots of anecdotal evidence that at least in some sections of the local economy, the anticipated recession has yet to take hold. Quite the opposite in fact. Warkworth Visitor Information Centre is reporting a big jump in visitor numbers this summer over last. This seems to be a pattern amongst businesses servicing the needs of visitors to the area and also the needs of locals who like to get out and about. The common experience has been a good season of trading to date, with some reporting a considerably better summer than previous years.
How can this be? Great summer weather? Partly, but while January was excellent, February has not been all that good, and yet the buoyant trading continues. The new motorway extension bringing more people in to the area? Partly, but business for many was going well long before it opened.
These effects are playing a part, but something else may be happening as well. Perhaps people are tightening their belts on big-ticket spending, especially overseas travel, and channelling more time and money into local recreational activities. The money not spent on bigger items allows this, but also it gives good times in the face of endless bad economic news. People are enjoying themselves without spending a fortune.
Even a relatively small proportion of Aucklanders making these sorts of changes means that we in beautiful Matakana and Mahurangi become the recipients of their recreational spending. In addition it seems that many local people – possibly more than usual, are also out and about and having a great summer with family and friends. That is all good for the local business community, and with more money coming into the area, it must be good for the wider community as well.
Robin Ransom
Originally published in Mahurangi Matters March, 2009)
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( 3 / 463 )At this time of year we expect the weather to be great – endless sunny days stretching into the distance. And so it has been, which is great for local winegrowers. In Matakana we had an excellent spring so the vines have set large crops. Since spring the summer has also been very kind. Warm and mostly dry, and with enough wind to curb any effects of humidity on the vines. Magnificent ripening weather, and if it keeps up we could be in for an early and excellent season. However we don’t count our chickens in this game – the vintage is not over until it is over.
This year we are all facing an uncertain future due to the gathering economic storm – black clouds on the horizon. Winegrowers have been alerted to the implications of this by our professional body, the Wine Institute of NZ. In the face of a potential reduction in demand for New Zealand wine offshore due to harder times economically, they have recommended that we consider bunch-thinning our crops so as to produce less wine. Bunch thinning is the process of selectively removing a proportion of every vine’s bunches of grapes a few months before ripening. This recommendation was aimed squarely at Marlborough, with its vast acreages of sauvignon blanc – its “savalanche” as one wit has dubbed it, most of which has to be exported. But it is a message we would all do well to consider.
Bunch thinning has the effect of reducing production costs but perhaps more importantly, smaller crops make better wine (all other things being equal). So the argument is that the increased wine quality that comes with bunch-thinning might help to minimize any drop in demand in a market where people are being cautious in their spending. At the very least it will help to keep a high quality image for NZ wine in the minds of our overseas consumers, which will put us in good stead for when the economic storm passes.
In the Matakana region the combination of a great spring fruit set and the uncertainty ahead gives us a double reason to thin our crops. Bunch-thinning is not much fun, but the combined economic and wine quality reasons for doing it are compelling.
The silver lining probably applies more to you the buyers of wine: If winegrowers heed the advice of their professional body, economic pressures may mean that over the next few years you will be able to buy even better quality New Zealand wines and at very good prices.
Robin Ransom
President, Matakana Winegrowers Inc.
robin@ransomwines.co.nz
Originally published in Mahurangi Matters February 2009
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( 2.9 / 440 )Many people prefer to drink white wine during the summer, so this is a good time to talk about the Matakana region’s most widely grown grape, Pinot Gris.
Probably the best known Pinot Gris wines are those from the Alsace region of north eastern France. But it is widely grown elsewhere, for example in Switzerland, where it is known as Malvoisie, in Germany, as Rulander or Grauburgunder, in Italy, as Pinot Grigio, in Hungary, as Szurkebarat, and also in Austria, Slovenia, Moravia, Romania, Russia and Moldova, under various names. Pinot Gris is rapidly becoming a favourite in New Zealand, being currently our fourth most widely planted variety after Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with by far the fastest rate of acreage growth in recent years.
Pinot Gris (“grey pinot”) is apparently a natural genetic mutation of Pinot Noir, (“black pinot”). Pinot Noir is Burgundy’s famous red grape, and Burgundy is where Pinot Gris first appeared, in the early Middle Ages, so it has been around for a long time. The name is a reference to the skin colour as it ripens. Ripe berries can be anything from greyish-blue to brownish-pink, compared with the black of Pinot Noir.
The wine has a reputation for being luscious and sometimes unctuous. Some see it as being all about mouthfeel and texture, as it has more gentle flavours and aromas than many varieties. These characteristics make for great versatility as a food wine. Some New Zealand commentators puzzle at why it has become so popular, noting that there is not yet a recognizable New Zealand “style” of Pinot Gris. This is partly because some producers make it slightly sweet, while others prefer it drier and more crisp.
My view is that its popularity owes something to the fact that New Zealand wine drinkers have become more sophisticated in recent years, and have found in Pinot Gris an excellent food wine which is also an easy-drinking alternative to some of the aggressive, obvious, sledgehammer wines which have dominated our wine scene for many years, such as Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and oaky Chardonnay.
Pinot Gris wines from the Matakana region show some variation in style, notably in levels of sweetness, but they tend to share the gentleness of aroma and flavour which characterize the variety and make it so appealing for many. A great summer wine.
Robin Ransom
President, Matakana Winegrowers Inc.
Robin@ransomwines.co.nz.
Originally published in Mahurangi Matters, January 2009
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