New Zealand Flashcards
1
Q
location
A
- concentrated in Marlborough
2
Q
climate
A
- marlborough has a cool maritime climate with dry sunny summers
3
Q
soils
A
- soils are free draining
- sometimes irrigation is required
4
Q
grapes
A
- CH and PN the most popular
5
Q
vinification
A
- premium grapes made in the traditional method
- transfer method may also be used
- more tank method, leading to fresher fruitier styles of wine for immediate consumption
6
Q
styles
A
- NV, Vintage, Blanc de Blanc, Rose
- most frequently seen
- climate is reliable so vintage variation is limited
- thus most wines are based on teh base wines from a single vintage
- vintage wines do not have the same connotation as CHampagne vintages
7
Q
trade structures
A
- few estates that focus on sparkling wine but most have added sparkling as a way of rounding out their product line
- a number of producers use contract facilities to bottle, age, and disgorge their sparkling wines to avoid the costs of specialized equipment and benefit from the highly skilled staff
8
Q
production
A
- until 1981 there were only two sparkling producers, Mission and Selaks
- one reason for this has been the lack of suitable grapes
- few classic varieties were grown prior to 1980
- most widely planted was Muller Thurgau but not good for brut style
- industry really came about after 1981 when Montana released Lindauer
9
Q
Marlborough
A
- northeastern tip of the South Island
- dry sunny region
- most important region for wine
- high yielding Muller Thurgau were vine-pulled to lead the way for the more successful SB
- sea breezes are vital to the Marlborough terroir
- sunshine during the day is tempered by the wind leading to substantial diurnal variation
- this with a sunny dry autumn creates a long growing season which gives time for the grapes to develop fully without losing acidity
- soils are great for drainage and poor in fertility
- largely alliuvial to gravely silty loams
- PN are lighter and fruitier than other NZ locations
