New Zealand is fast becoming a premium wine producer to reckon with, writes Joe Breen
Lest José Mourinho be under any illusions about the size of the task facing him in his new role as the "public face" of Portuguese cork, a visit to the annual New Zealand Wine tasting in Dublin recently would have provided a sharp reality check. There were 44 producers showing more than 180 wines and none, from what I could see, used cork as a closure.
Mourinho, the Special One as he has named himself, following his remarkable football successes, not least with Chelsea, has agreed to become the face of a campaign aimed at reinforcing the value of cork in the face of widespread adoption of screw-cap closures such as Stelvin. Almost all New Zealand wineries have adopted the screw cap, and other countries are following suit.
As one of the youngest members of the international wine club, New Zealand has little affection for cork, nor do its wine makers subscribe to the theory that wines age best in bottles using cork closures. They see the change to screw caps as essential to their determination to present every bottle of wine in mint condition, with far less risk of spoiling. Portugal's attachment to the cork is not sentimental, either; cork remains a key export worth millions of euro.
New Zealand's wine exports continue to grow and, critically, so do the range and quality of wines on offer. From a position where it was known only for its Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand now boasts a wide range of whites, and some of the most remarkable Pinot Noir outside Burgundy. The 2004 vintage, from which most of the red wines were drawn, continues the upward graph, as does the 2005 vintage for the whites.
Warren Adamson, the director of New Zealand Wine for the UK and Europe, says that the 2005 vintage was a struggle for some wineries, but that overall the vintage was good.
New Zealand, he says, accounts for 1.1 per cent of the Irish wine market. "New Zealand wine exports into Ireland as of November 2005 now represent 785,016 litres, an increase of 30 per cent year on year." Of this total, 85.6 per cent was white wine, 12.8 per cent was red and 1.6 per cent was sparkling.
The overwhelming popularity of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc is reflected in the figures, though the red wines are beginning to make headway. Apart from tasting the vivacious 2005 vintage of Isabel Sauvignon Blanc (available in March), I stuck with the reds, principally Pinot Noir, for which New Zealand is gaining a deserved reputation.
The wines hailed mainly from Marlborough, with a smattering from Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Martinborough, Nelson and the awesome Central Otago. Last year we raved about Otago's Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2003, which was rich, earthy and silky smooth. The 2004 vintage is totally different, a sensuous silky whisper, a feminine partner to the elegant male muscle of 2003. More about this wine when its owner Michael Herrick ties up a distribution deal for this country.This level of class does not come cheap - Mt Difficulty Pinot will cost about 33.
Adamson says New Zealand Wine wants to stress that it is a premium wine-producing country, with small wineries producing small batches of carefully crafted and concentrated wine.
These include the likes of the rightly acclaimed Felton Road. Owner Nigel Greening showed off two lovely Pinots full of depth, structure and summer fruit: Cornish Point 2004 (28) and Felton Road 2004 (38).
There were many other fine Pinots, not least Ata Rangi 2003 (lovely balance, nosebleed price 45), the classic earthy aromas of Otago Wild Earth 2004 (27.95), the suave Villa Maria Cellar Selection 2001 (16.50-18.99), the silky Nautilus 2004 23.99) and Matua Valley's 2004, a relative steal at €13.99. But generally you get what you pay for, with the best wines set at premium prices. New Zealand has put down an impressive marker, and as these wines become available in the shops in the coming months we will return to them.
RUSSIAN EYES ON TUSCANY José Mourinho is not the only one at Stamford Bridge concerned with wine matters. Decanter reports that his boss, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, wants to buy Castello Banfi, a leading Tuscan estate. However, the American owners, brothers John and Harry Mariani, turned down an offer in excess of 500 million. "We are not selling it to Mr Roman Abramovich whatever the offer may be," said a spokesman for Banfi.