May is the month to celebrate three international white wine days, from Sauvignon Blanc Day on 3 May, Pinot Gris Day on 17 May and Chardonnay Day on 23 May.
New Zealand Wine has just announced its Pour Yourself a Glass of New Zealand, inviting white wine enthusiasts across Australia to join in the celebration as well as help champion the quest for a white wine emoji on smart phones globally.
And who better to take us on a New Zealand wine tasting journey than the General Manager of NZ Winegrowers Charlotte Read who says 93% of NZ wines are exported – a good reason to get to know the fuss about their whites.
“These international wine days give a great reason to gather a group around a bottle and talk about who made it, where it was made and to pair it with something delicious,” says Charlotte Read.
“Or better still, with by glass wine lists expanding in bars and restaurants, it’s a great opportunity to compare flavours of the same grape from different region,” she says.
She explains why New Zealand’s whites rule her world.
CHARDONNAY IN NZ
With New Zealand being a long skinny country spanning 10 degrees of latitude, Chardonnay is a wonderful grape through which to experience the differences in the grape growing conditions of our regions, and it’s grown in every one of them. We have a range of styles from the steelier leaner styles with more minerality through to the fuller body styles with vanilla toasted characters from elegant use of oak. Many show long ageing potential due to their fruit concentration and fresh backbone of acidity, which is further enhanced by New Zealand’s almost universal use of screwcaps from the early 2000s.
PINOT GRIS IN NZ
The attractive fruit character of Pinot Gris and its slightly softer acidity makes it so widely appealing. This wine can also go by the name of Pinot Grigio, and helps explain the style the winemaker is aiming for. The Grigio style is crisper and drier with a lemony flavour. A wine bearing the name Pinot Gris often is made from riper grapes and the fruit character can be more in the ripe pear spectrum with hints of spice. Having lived in Thailand for a few years, I know first-hand Pinot Gris with a touch of residual sweetness is a wicked pairing with a spicy curry and helps put out the fire.
SAUVIGNON BLANC IN NZ
I’ve been pretty lucky in my wine career to visit over 40 of the 100 countries NZ Sauvignon Blanc is exported to and have been so proud to receive so many compliments during tastings on the purity of fruit and freshness of our wines. I’ve felt privileged in many of those places to have served their first glass ever of New Zealand wine and see the ‘wow’ look on their faces. It’s the lifted pungent aromatics that first impress, followed by the vibrant freshness and acidity and the generosity of fruit. Depending on where the Sauvignon Blanc is grown its fruit character can show such fabulous diversity from lime citrus, through to richer guava, and passion fruit. Some are fabulous as an aperitif on their own or with fresh seafood and goat cheese and those from comparatively warmer regions of New Zealand can pair with richer dishes.
Charlotte spoke to us for our At The Bar series.
MY CITY
I live in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city. I love its maunga (mountains) which are all dormant volcanoes. It’s a great bucket list to climb up them all and gain a different perspective of the city. Favourites for sunset views are Mt Eden (Maungawhau), Mt Albert (Owairaka) and One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie). The latter is a working farm right in the city filled with baby lambs and daffodils in the spring. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a glass of New Zealand wine on a picnic blanket. Compared to other big cities I’ve lived in you’d have to travel for hours to get similar expanses of green.
FAVOURITE FOOD MEMORY
Being married to a Colombian who has spent a lot of time in Spain we love the concept and experience of tapas. The best experience to date for us has been Casita Miro Winery restaurant on Waiheke Island. The owners have a penchant for all things Spanish and the exterior is decorated with colourful mosaics inspired by the eponymous artist of the vineyard’s name. The interior is adorned with legs of Pata Negra ham hanging from the ceiling. It’s such a gorgeous place nestled amongst its vineyard on a hill with a refreshing sea breeze as one overlooks the ocean, and looks down through the vines to Obsidian winery in the valley. It’s just a short walking distance from Stonyridge and Tantalus via a path through the vineyards.
FAVOURITE BAR
Apero Wine bar on K Road in Auckland has an amazingly eclectic wine list, and it’s not uncommon to bump into another from the wine trade there. I think they serve the nation’s most premium cheese toastie. It decadently contains sliced black truffle. Enough said….
DRINK THAT DESCRIBES YOU
I think anything with bubbles would best describe me. Pretty effervescent, and normally in a state of constant motion and feels very comfortable at celebratory occasions.
BEST HANGOVER CURE
Marmite (with a capital M) and avocado on Vogels toast.
FAVOURITE WINE
I love a bottle of wine that is versatile over the course of the evening. A wine that has freshness and delights the palate as an aperitif, but opens up and has a bit of palate weight to carry the flavours of a meal. I especially enjoy wines made by good friends that happen to be winemakers too.
NEXT DESTINATION
Off to Hong Kong for VinExpo Asia May 28-30 to help host our members on the New Zealand Wine pavilion. It attracts over 10,000 people and over 1,000 exhibitors so it’s a wonderful opportunity to network with trade, media and wineries from other countries and gain valuable insights on market and consumer trends.
