New Zealand Flashcards
New Zealand’s northernmost GI?
Northland GI
3 GI’s nested within Auckland GI?
Matakana GI
Kumeu GI
Waiheke Island GI
Martinborough is nesting within what GI?
Wairarapa GI
Southernmost GI on New Zealand’s North Island?
Martinborough GI
2 GI’s are nested within the Wairarapa GI?
Gladstone GI
Martinborough GI
GI nested within the Hawkes Bay GI?
Central Hawkes Bay GI
Which GI’s within the North Island GI do NOT have any nested GI’s within?
Gisborne GI
Northland GI
What are the 5 “main” GI’s on New Zealand’s South Island?
Nelson GI
Marlborough GI
Canterbury GI
Waitaki North Otago/Waitaki Valley GI
Central Otago GI
Central Otago’s sole nested GI?
Bannockburn GI
(Est 2022)
TUKU Collective
Māori led and/or owned winery organization with goal to promote Māori contributions to wine
(there’s only about 6 actual Māori wineries yet there’s 80 Māori related labels)
1st commercially available Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc? What year?
Montana (now known as Brancott Estates)
1979
Marlborough accounts for approximately what percentage of New Zealand plantings?
70%
What is AMW?
Appellation Marlborough Wine
*growers association/promotions collective
*certification scheme for sustainably grown wines produced and bottled in Marlborough, est. and trademarked in 2018
What body of water separates New Zealand from Australia?
Tasman Sea
Only semi-continental region in NZ?
Central Otago
New Zealand % rule for vintage, variety, origin?
85% for all
3 most planted RED varieties in New Zealand?
1 Pinot Noir (~73% of plantings)
#2 Merlot
#3 Syrah
3 most planted white varieties in New Zealand?
1 Sauvignon Blanc
#2 Chardonnay
#3 Pinot Gris
1st Sauvignon Blanc in NZ were planted in?
Auckland GI
(1968 by Ross Spence)
Why is Wayne Thomas important to New Zealand viticulture?
He asked Ross Spence for Sauv Blanc and planted it in Marlborough
1st plantings and commercially available vintage of Marlborough Sauv Blanc?
planting in 1975, wine in 1979
(Montana aka now Brancott Estates)
What year did Sauvignon Blanc become New Zealand’s most planted variety? What was the most planted variety prior?
2002
Chardonnay
(Muller Thurgau 1996 and prior)
1st vintage of Central Otago Pinot?
1987
(From Alan Brady at Gibbston Valley Winery)
French winemaker in partnership with Prophet’s Rock?
Francois Millet of Comte de Vogue
Most New Zealand Merlot plantings are found in what GI?
Hawkes Bay (90% approx)
The majority of New Zealand Syrah is planted in what region?
Hawkes Bay (77% approx)
What is the main grape in Ngakirikiri? Who is the producer?
Cabernet Sauvignon
Villa Maria
(Hawkes Bay. The name is Māori referring to the unique soils left when the Ngaruroro changed course)
Magna Praemia - what is the main grape and who makes it?
Cabernet Sauvignon
Destiny Bay
Waiheke Island
***not readily avl in US
How would a winemaker preserve the buttery flavors/aromas produced by malolactic conversion?
Sulfur addition
* Diacetyl is the byproduct - lees consume it. If you hit them with sulfur, you’ll stop them from basically “eating up” all of that buttery character
What is the most planted Bordeaux varietal in Hawke’s Bay GI?
Merlot
Name a member of the TUKU collective?
Steve Bird Wines
Te Pa
Kuru Kuru
Jeff Sinnott
Tiki
What is Te Kauwhata?
New Zealand’s government research station
Significance of Matua Road Vineyard?
This was the site of the first Sauvignon Blanc planting in New Zealand - 1968, planted by Ross Spence
Biggest virus problem in NZ?
Leafroll virus
Varieties for 10/5 Clone (Ten Bar Five) , Limmer Clone
Gumboot/Abel?
10/5 = Pinot
Limmer = Syrah
Gumboot = Pinot
*New Zealand
New Zealand spans what parallels?
35ºS to 45ºS
If it were superimposed on Europe in the northern hemisphere, that’d be like Bordeaux to Jerez
What body of water borders New Zealand to the west? to the east?
West = Tasman Sea
East = Pacific
Central Otago climate & moderating factors?
Central Otago
*this is the only semi-continental climate in the country and only region with a big portion of land more than 50km from coast
*Southern Alps
*Lake Dunston, Lake Wanaka, Lake Wakatipu
*Klutha, Kawarua Rivers
New Zealand’s soils - young or old?
Young! Some as young as 10,000 years.
When did New Zealand pass its first GI bill?
2016
When and where were the first vines planted in New Zealand? Who planted them?
1819
Planted by missionary Samuel Marsden in Kerikeri in what is now the Northland GI
Why is the Northland GI one of New Zealand’s least successful growing areas? Top 2 varieties here?
Chardonnay, Syrah
- Humid and subtropical weather. Not terrible, but doesn’t create as fascinating wines
- high poverty rates
- the wines aren’t competitive enough to warrant the high costs
What are Auckland’s 3 GI subzones?
1) Matakana
2) Waiheke Island
3) Kumeu
What Gulf separates Waiheke Island from Auckland on the mainland?
Hauraki Gulf
Biggest producer on Waiheke Island? The other major producer here? Most planted grape here?
Man O’War = biggest
Destiny Bay
Syrah
Biggest influences on Kumeu River climate?
Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean - Kumeu occupies a narrower strip of the top part of the North Island with less distance between both coasts
Name 2 of Kumeu River’s single vineyard bottlings.
Maté’s Vineyard #1
Coddington Vineyard
Ray’s Road Vineyard (Hawke’s Bay GI)
Huntington Hill Vineyard
Furthest east GI of NZ?
Gisborne GI
The whole thing about how it is the first to see the sun daily.
Gisborne GI’s most planted grape?
Chardonnay
(they are the self-proclaimed “Chardonnay capital” of New Zealand)
Ormond Valley is important to?
Gisborne GI
What body of water forms Gisborne GI’s eastern coastline?
Poverty Bay
Highest producing NZ region before Marlborough took over?
Gisborne GI
This was “carafe country” - lots of bulk production. Lindauer, a huge sparkling brand, still sources a lot of grapes from here
Gisborne’s leading producer?
Millton Vineyards
*1st biodynamic winery in NZ/Southern Hemisphere
(one of the pioneers of sustainable practices - among the first organic and the first to do biodynamics. Their Te Awai Chenin Blanc is supposed to be a very special bottle. Clos Ste Anne is the source of many of their best wines)
Who planted New Zealand’s first Gewurztraminer vines? What was the winery?
Nick Nobilo, avid Gewurz fan and creator of Vinoptima, which was dedicated to it.
* Gisborne GI
* Most popular in China but..went out of business.
* object was to rival Alsace
(https://www.vinography.com/2018/10/vinoptima_too_much_of_a_good_t)
Context question: Why might Cabernet Sauvignon hold more advantages for growth in the Hawke’s Bay GI?
Climate change - Merlot ripens earlier and has thus been more affected by ill-timed harvest rain. Warmer seasons have moved harvest dates up in a way that is better suited for Cab Sauv’s growth cycle. Cab also just performs better on bony gravel soils.
What weather event in 2023 was particularly devastating to the North Island’s harvest?
Cyclone Gabrielle
(https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2023/02/cyclone-gabrielle-could-cost-new-zealand-13-5-billion/)
The Ngaruroro River is responsible for the creation of what growing areas?
Bridge Pa Triangle
Gimblett Gravels
*the general Heretaunga Plains growing area
The Gimblett Gravels growing area boundaries are based on?
800ha of gravelly greywacke soils from the bed of the old Ngaruroro River, which were exposed following a major flood in 1867
3 Gimblett Gravels producers?
Craggy Range
Esk Valley
Te Mata
Smith & Sheth
Trinity Hill
Villa Maria
NZ “region” that is actually a registered brand? Rules to use the brand?
Gimblett Gravels, est 2001
*95% of grapes must be from there
*95% of grapes must be from approved soil type
What is greywacke?
grey sandstone with a high clay content and plenty of coarse-grained particles giving stony, free-draining soils