A new zeal for winemaking

As land masses go, New Zealand is the youngest country on Earth, having been around for about three million years. Averaging around 120 kilometres from west to east coast, it's the only truly maritime wine-producing country -- ocean breezes cool vineyards off substantially in the evenings.

Marlborough is easily the New Zealand winemaking region pumping out the most wine. Located on the northeastern edge of the southern island, it's where most of New Zealand's renowned Sauvignon Blanc is produced. These days, there's more focus than ever on sub-regions -- valleys within Marlborough that each produce their own style based on climate and soil. Hawke's Bay, located on the eastern shores of the north island, is the second most popular region, with Central Otago and Martinborough bringing up the rear.

Last Wednesday, there was a trade tasting of New Zealand wines led by Robert Ketchin of New Zealand Winegrowers. Canada imports the equivalent of about 850,000 cases of New Zealand wine a year, 350,000 cases of which is shipped in bulk for blending into Cellared in Canada wines made by some of our larger producers. The other 500,000 cases hit the shelves, a big jump from the 30,000 cases we saw only 15 years ago.

Sauvignon Blanc is New Zealand's baby -- of the 850,000 cases shipped to Canada, around 64 per cent is Sauvignon Blanc. Forty-two per cent of all vines planted across the country produce Sauvignon Blanc, most made in a style that's often imitated but never duplicated by other countries. The wines are typically very crisp -- they're almost never aged in oak barrels, but rather kept in stainless steel tanks until bottling. Lemon, lime and grapefruit flavours typically dominate, with grassy/herbal and green pepper/jalapeño notes often present as well.

While Chardonnay is still produced in healthy numbers, Ketchin reported that as a category it's flat -- Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris are New Zealand's rising stars. The former grape (which makes up 18 per cent of Kiwi wines) results in light, fruit-forward reds with cherry and raspberry notes and modest, earthy complexity. They're not as funky as red Burgundy or as concentrated as those from Sonoma County, but still over-deliver for the price. Pinot Gris, a white grape, makes up around five per cent of production; it's typically made in a style that brings a great, viscous mouthfeel and ripe tropical fruit notes.

There are a couple of areas in which New Zealand wineries are both unified and progressive -- the closures on their bottles, for example. Around 95 per cent of Kiwi wines are sold in screwcap bottles; clearly the country's winemakers have faith in their ability to keep wines fresh and devoid of flaws.

New Zealand wineries are also making great strides in sustainable winemaking, with the goal being that all wineries will be sustainable by 2012. As it stands, around 80 per cent of wines are sustainable -- all materials, carbon outputs, etc. are monitored and documented -- with that number continuing to climb in light of the country's self-imposed deadline.