Central Otago

Central Otago, due to its climate and inland location on the South Island, is different from the rest of New Zealand's wine areas. It's the most southerly wine region in the world, vineyards located beneath dramatic mountains on difficult, rocky soils. The wine is uniformly excellent, the climate and soils producing intense, concentrated wines that are only going to get better as the region matures.

One thing Central Otago does share with the rest of New Zealand's wine regions is that it's still very young, producers striving to learn what works and what doesn't. It's only thirty years old, and it's going to be fascinating to see how Central Otago develops. Its future will clearly be dominated by Pinot Noir, but other varieties, particularly white grapes, will help further understanding of this beautiful region.

climate 

New Zealand is surrounded by sea, 2,000km from Australia's east coast. The climate is maritime, rain hitting the islands from the ocean throughout the year. The one exception to this maritime climate is Central Otago, which, sheltered from the ocean by mountain ranges, is cool continental. In the summer, the days are hot, reaching as high as 40˚C, and the nights are cool, dropping below 10˚C, so there is intense ripening during the day slowed by the cool nights. Heat summation is similar to northern Chablis, yet Central Otago successfully ripens Pinot Noir. This is due to the intense UV rays coming from the sun, which intensifies ripening - the sun really does have a burning heat to it.

Central Otago regions

There are different climates within Central Otago, which has led to the informal classification of several sub-regions. Altitude is key, where both days and nights are cooler than lower down on the valley floor. The centre of Central Otago is a large valley surrounded by towering mountains, even topped with snow in the summer; this is the Cromwell Basin, which gradually rises at the southern end to the highest quality sub-region, Bannockburn. Here, the sun hits the north-facing slopes while wind rushes down from the mountains and through the valley to provide ventilation. Current plans to formally classify Central Otago have Bannockburn as the one stand-alone sub-region with its own geographical indication. Further north, Bendigo is warmer and the wines are ripe and rich, while to the east Gibbston Valley is higher up and produces thinner, more acidic wines. Many producers blend from the different sub-regions to make balanced wines that express the region as a whole, but the one area that stands out on its own is Bannockburn.

history 

The first commercial wine released in Central Otago was by Gibbston Valley Winery in 1987. There were vines planted in the 1860s, when the region was subject to a huge gold rush, remnants of which are scattered throughout Central Otago, not least in Bannockburn where barren hillsides stand next to recently planted vineyards. Once the gold rush faded, Central Otago became a quiet region populated by shepherds and orchard farmers. Cherries are still a big industry, but the region has been transformed in the last thirty years by wine. There are now well over a hundred producers and, despite the youth of the industry, quality is consistently high. As vines get older, that quality is only going to increase.

Pinot Noir vines at Peregrine winery

However, like the rest of New Zealand, the rush to make wine from the 1980s onwards led to compromises. New Zealand has a strict quarantine policy, which means that any plant matter must spend three years under quarantine before being allowed into the country. The downside to the strict import conditions is that the rapid expansion of the industry in the last twenty years meant that there weren't enough rootstocks available to graft vines on to and new plantings couldn't keep up. Instead, growers simply planted ungrafted vines. Phylloxera as a result is slowly spreading, which means necessary replanting of those young vines. Although it's under control, this is something that may slow the development of New Zealand wine as a whole, Central Otago included.

pinot noir 

Cornish Point vineyard, owned by Felton Road

75% of plantings in Central Otago are of Pinot Noir, the only black grape variety that will reliably ripen there. The hot days get the grapes ripe, while the cool nights preserve acidity and allow the aromatics to slowly develop. The wines vary from sub-region to sub-region, but there is a deep, rich intensity to them, and a deep colour which comes from the skins building up resistance to the UV rays. In a short time, these have come to be known as some of the finest Pinot Noirs in the world. They're certainly very good, but I feel at the moment that we're tasting potential rather than the definite finished result. As the vines age and producers understand site selection better, the wines will continue to improve: producers will worry less about ripe fruit aromas and concentrate more on making Pinot Noir which are compelling expressions of place. That's Central Otago: the youth of its vines as well as its producers leads to rich, fruity wines that will become more complex and intense as the region ages.

recommended producers: Felton Road, Burn Cottage, Bannock Brae

pinot gris 

The search across New Zealand has been to find a back-up to Sauvignon Blanc, in case worldwide interest in those wines finally comes to a halt. Many producers have focused on Pinot Gris, an aromatic grape that's closely related to Pinot Noir and not planted that widely across the world. Styles have varied in New Zealand, from dry and insipid to rich and bloated, which hasn't helped spread the wines' popularity. Producers have finally settled on a consistent, recognisable style: off-dry (the slight sweetness offsets the tannins of the grape), aromatic, but not too rich. In Central Otago, the grape accounts for 15% of plantings, and is held up as the region's white equivalent to Pinot Noir. The wines are good, food-friendly, with a refreshing acidity not always found with Pinot Gris. But I do feel that Central Otago producers made a mistake when they chose Pinot Gris rather than Chardonnay as the white equivalent to Pinot Noir. Now, many are having to consider whether to replant to Chardonnay or to stick to Pinot Gris.

recommended producers: Misha's Vineyard

riesling 

Rippon Vineyard, Lake Wanaka

Central Otago has, with a collective purpose among producers, focused on aromatic white grapes to promote the region. Pinot Gris is the accessible wine, while Riesling is grown for quality and small production. Just 3% of plantings are of Riesling, a variety that's always fashionable among wine geeks like me but difficult to sell. Two producers, Felton Road and Misha's Vineyard, convincingly persuaded me that Central Otago has, in its schist soils and cool continental climate, much in common with Mosel in Germany. Like Mosel, the best wines have some sweetness to them to counterbalance the naturally high acidity that comes with the cool climate. Despite being so food friendly, such wines are not universally fashionable so many producers make dry Rieslings whose acidity I found just too tart - Central Otago's climate really is that cool.

recommended producers: Felton Road, Misha's Vineyard

chardonnay 

The elephant in the room is Chardonnay. I am loathe to suggest that yet another region concentrate on producing Chardonnay, but this, besides Pinot Noir, is what Central Otago is best at. The wines have a refreshing, crisp acidity, which allows malolactic fermentation, and a steely, stony texture. They taste exactly how the best Chardonnays should. Yet, only 3% of plantings are to Chardonnay. This is because when many of the current plantings were made twenty years ago, Chardonnay was an unfashionable grape and Pinot Gris was planted instead as an alternative. Now, producers have to decide whether to replant to Chardonnay or to stick to the aromatic varieties they already have. Central Otago is a young region: mistakes are likely to be made before figuring out what works best.

recommended producers: Felton Road, Peregrine

Blind Tasting at Australia House

One of the many daunting aspects of studying for the Diploma is tasting wines blind. All you have in front of you is a glass with some wine in it, and after that it's up to you. No clues about taste, no prejudices about quality, and lots of fear you just might get it completely wrong. Sniffing the wine, swishing it in your mouth, writing tentative tasting notes are a test of your ability as a taster, proof that you can distinguish a good wine from a bad one, as well as one style from another.

At the same time, it's an exciting challenge. The wine speaks for itself; you have to dig deep into your knowledge; and if you get something completely wrong, it's a learning experience for the next time. And if you get something right, there's a feeling of smug satisfaction you shouldn't cherish for too long.

so what's the point of blind tasting and how do you go about it?

The point of blind tasting is quite simple: you taste a wine without knowing what it is in order to form an objective opinion. It's almost like a conversation where the wine is speaking to you in code, which you use your knowledge and experience to interpret. It's difficult - as much knowledge and experience as you have, that code can still be indecipherable - but with a certain logic, educated guesswork, and luck you can come to the right conclusions. Perhaps more importantly, you can discover exciting wines you might have otherwise ignored.

Blind tastings, for instance at the launch of a region's new vintage, can involve hundreds of wines or, at smaller tasting events, are arranged in flights - that is, three or more wines that have something in common to taste side by side - with the purpose of distinguishing wines by quality, style, origin, flavour, and/or price. It requires knowledge, of course - for instance, what Cabernet Sauvignon generally tastes like compared to Syrah/Shiraz - and the ability to reach conclusions based on that knowledge. Look for flavour characteristics and think of grapes they're associated with; the intensity of the aromas may also point you to a grape or a region; analyse the acidity on tasting and, for a red wine, the tannins; and from all this draw conclusions about the style and quality of the wine.

But it also requires a great deal of guesswork and luck; after all, there are so many wines out there doing their own thing and not adhering to textbook descriptions. That's why assessing the flavour profile and quality of the wine is just as, if not more important than, guessing the grape the wine's made from: origin is important, quality is essential.

When you discover the identity of the wine, will your opinion change or be confirmed? Will the price point alter your view of the wine commercially? Will you turn away in disgust and inwardly curse, I can't believe I liked that wine?

Australia House

I travelled down yesterday to the Unreal City for a blind tasting arranged by Wine Australia. This is part of a series of trade blind tastings they've arranged in order to promote Australian wine, all held at the Australian Embassy. A great opportunity to taste a range of styles of Australian wines, there were twenty-one wines arranged in four different flights. Excitingly, there were quiz questions too. Tasting these wines one after the other, without knowing what they were but constantly trying to work out what they were, was intense and tough. The difficulty is at the beginning of the flights conclusions are formed that the subsequent wines dispute. Still, when I got a list of the wines afterwards, I didn't do quite as badly in the quiz questions as I had worried.

flight one

Four white wines: three of them from the same grape, the other from a different varietal. Which was the odd one out and what was the grape? Wines with a palate-cleansing high acidity and a searingly dry finish pointed to Riesling, but the quiz question didn't help because with each wine I was trying too hard to spot the one that stood out as different. In the end, I plumped for the wine which had fruitier flavours and was less dry, but I had no idea which other varietal it could be. As a safe bet that's always wrong, I went for Chardonnay. It turned out to be Pinot Gris; I don't think I've ever had an Australian Pinot Gris before, so this was a new experience. I didn't actually like it that much though (one of the indications to me that it wasn't Riesling).

trick wine: The Lane Block 2 Pinot Gris 2012, Adelaide Hills (£15)

best wine: Gatt Eden Valley Riesling 2010 (£20)

 

flight two

Six white wines, all the same grape variety: which of the wines is from Margaret River? In France, it's possible to differentiate between regions because the grapes used are different: despite the similarity in name, the differences between a Pouilly-Fuissé (made from Chardonnay and powerfully oaked) and Pouilly-Fumé (Sauvignon Blanc) should be clear in a blind tasting. The differences between the wine regions of Australia are less clear, because the same grapes are grown across the country and styles vary according to producer as much as anything else. The wines in this flight were all from Chardonnay and I went for Wine 7 as being from Margaret River just because it was fuller bodied and oakier than the other wines. No idea if it was educated guesswork or sheer luck, but I was right.

Margaret River wine: Voyager Estate Chardonnay 2008 (£22.40)

best wine: Lethbridge Allegra Chardonnay 2008, Geelong (£46)

flight three

Six red wines, all the same grape variety: what's the grape variety and which is the most expensive wine? The menthol aromas of the first wine suggested that it was Cabernet Sauvignon, aromas which were constant throughout this flight, to the point that I felt the wines were just too minty and eucalyptus flavoured, lacking the black fruits and oaky tannins that makes wine from Cabernet Sauvignon so appealing. The best wine by far was the final one of the flight and which I selected as the most expensive of the six. As with the Chardonnays, my favourite was the most costly: proof that I have acquired an expensive palate, but also that price and quality do sometimes correlate.

most expensive wine: Balnaves The Tally Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Coonawarra (£82)

best wine: as above

flight four

Another five reds: which one is from Barossa? Part of the education in the guesswork is knowing which grapes Australia mostly uses: for whites, there's Semillon, Chardonnay, and Riesling, for reds Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Of those five, it was obvious that there could only be one of them missing in these four flights and that it was going to be white. The simple difference between Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, I have found in Diploma tastings, is the menthol and cassis aromas of the former and the chocolate aromas of the latter. The Shirazes impressed much more than the Cabernets, as there were some really complex, developed wines. Which one was from Barossa? Didn't have a clue, so went for the one I rated the best. That was from Adelaide Hills. My second favourite was from Barossa, at £9.99 amazingly good value.
 

Barossa wine: Thorn Clarke Shiraz 2010 (£9.99)

best wine: The Lane Reunion Shiraz 2010, Adelaide Hills (£28.50)

There was another quiz question: which of the wines on show is not from Australia and where's it from? My methodology here was to find the wine that wasn't screwcap, but every single bottle was (this is why a blind tasting should be served in neutral bottles). I went for one of the Cabernets as being from Hawke's Bay in New Zealand because it had gripping, unripe tannins (and most wine from New Zealand is screwcap and I thought wouldn't it be wonderful for the Ozzies to advertise a Kiwi wine in their own embassy), but it turned out to be a Chardonnay from South Africa. It would have been much more fun to involve a French wine, for that direct New World/Old World comparison; plus, it's so difficult to distinguish between New World wines as it's down more to the producer than the region or country.

my guess at non-Australian wine: Chapel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, McLaren Vale (£20)

actual non-Australian wine: Bouchard Finlayson Crocodile's Lair 2012 (£13)*

This was a great, if intense, educational experience. The wines were mainly of very good quality; the tasting showed just how good Australian white wines are; and I do feel my tasting qualities have improved since I started my Diploma. One caveat though: Wine Australia have been hosting these tastings once a month since March through till June, every one in the same venue in the centre of London. The rest of Britain would like to learn about Australian wine too!

•yes, at an Australian tasting they picked a non-Australian wine called Crocodile's Lair

A Vegetarian Christmas

Christmas can't be an ideal time to be a vegetarian; all that turkey and when it's not turkey it's goose, or some other game. However, there are plenty of vegetarian food options - the BBC, Jamie Oliver, and the Vegetarian Society have some good recipes - which can be as rich and decadent as a traditional Christmas meal - and, after all, all those side dishes are meat free.

Matching wine with vegetarian food is not as obvious as with meat or fish. The great wines of France, Spain, and Italy have developed in tandem with the local gastronomic culture, which has usually involved meat or fish dishes, and these are countries where vegetarian food can still be difficult to find.

What this means, though, is that matching vegetarian food with wine is not based on tradition but innovation, and you can really experiment with both food and wine. Thinking about matching flavour intensity rather than specific flavours, here are some pairing recommendations based on styles of wine.

Champagne

Any Christmas meal should start with a bit of fizz, and the yeasty, bready, toasty flavours of Champagne make it a great match for canapés, pastries, tarts, bruschetta, or even poppadoms.

Sauvignon Blanc

The aromas of Sauvignon Blanc are intensely green - apple, gooseberry, green bell pepper, asparagus. Goat's cheese salad is a perfect match: this polenta and goat's cheese stacks recipe would be a much more indulgent and Christmassy option.

Gewurztraminer

This is where you can really start to experiment. Gewurztraminer is often off-dry (particularly if it's from Alsace) and has rich, opulent flavours of tropical fruits (think lychee and mango) that makes it a great pairing for spicy Asian food, particularly Thai or Vietnamese. It may not sound that Christmassy, but that just depends on what you want to eat on Christmas day.

Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris is the same grape as Pinot Grigio, but it's picked much later on in the harvest, meaning that it has much deeper, richer aromas and may be quite a bit sweeter. Whereas Pinot Grigio is an easy-drinking aperitif, Pinot Gris can accompany an array of foods. Again, like Gewurztraminer, the nutty depth of Pinot Gris can stand up to spicy food: I recently had a New Zealand Pinot Gris alongside an aubergine and cauliflower rogan josh curry (at Green's in West Didsbury) and its nutty spiciness added further complexity to the meal. This Christmas curry would similarly benefit from being paired with Pinot Gris.

Italian Reds

Due to their high acidity and high tannins, Italian reds are at their best as food wines. The reason that Italian reds are so high in acidity is to match the sauces in pasta, so it doesn't matter whether there's meat in the pasta dish or not: it's all about the rich sauce accompanying it. Jamie Oliver recommends a couple of spinach-based pasta dishes that a Chianti or Valpolicella would be great with.

Pinot Noir

A grape that tradition pairs with game, but the earthy characteristics of Pinot Noir mean that it will go perfectly with any mushroom-based dish. This vegetarian Christmas roast almost demands a bit of Burgundy.

Sweet Wine

At the end of the meal, veggies and carnivores can get together in sweet harmony and share a sherry and Christmas pudding or port and cheese. For sherries, seek out in particular the intensely sweet Pedro Ximénez style. The French may not make their wines to suit vegetarian palates, but there's one combination that works well: Sauternes and blue cheese. Now there's a way to end Christmas day...