New Zealand General/History

Question 1

What is “Six o’clock swill”

Answer 1

A form of the temperance movement. It was an early closing hour for pubs instituted in both Australia and New Zealand during World War I that lasted until 1967 on the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

-The early closing time of six o’clock was a move by anti-alcohol forces in the country to return men to their wives at a respectable hour, and those in the business of selling alcohol capitulated, preferring such a restriction to outright prohibition

Question 2

What grapes are grown in New Zealand? (In diminishing order, 2008)

Answer 2

Sauvignon Blanc (In 2011 it was 70% of the countries harvest)
Pinot Noir
Chardonnay
Pinot Gris
Merlot
Riesling
Cabernet Sauvignon
Gewürztraminer

Question 3

What is the New Zealand Winegrowers?

Answer 3

An organization formed in 2002 as a joint initiative of the Grape Growers Council and the New Zealand Wine Institute. All New Zealand producers and growers belong to the organization. They promote and present a unifed face for NZ wine.

Question 4

What country is the easternmost and southermost winemaking country?

Answer 4

New Zealand

Question 5

Who is Romeo Bragato?

Answer 5

New Zealand’s first government viticulturist, stationed in Victoria, was given the task of studying the New Zealand’s vineyards and combating its newest scourge: phylloxera at the turn of the 20th century. Made changes between 1895-1909 despite the ravages of phylloxera.

Bragato identified many of New Zealand’s modern wine regions (with the important exception of Marlborough) and educated growers on the merits of grafting vines onto disease-resistant American rootstock. This was stymided by the temperance movement.

Question 6

What mountain and body of water create a rain shadow effect for the South Island?

Answer 6

Southern Alps and Tasman Sea

—rainclouds moving eastward from the sea deposit all of their moisture high in the mountains, resulting in a rain shadow effect for the island.

Question 7

When were shops and restaurants first allowed to sell wine in NZ in the 20th century?

Answer 7

1955- Wine shops could begin to sell a single bottle of wine

1960- Restaurants gained the right to sell wine.

1976- Wineries were allowed to sell a glass of wine.

-country’s last “dry” areas—relics of the temperance movement—persisted until the 1990s

Question 8

When was Cloudy Bay Vineyards launched?

Answer 8

1985

-put Marlborough region on the map and created an international sensation.

Question 9

How did the 2008 vintage change the New Zealand wine industry?

Answer 9

An extraordinary bumper crop jolted the industry. For the first time in the modern era wine firms had to grapple with a serious glut of grapes with a industry record

Marred by poor wine quality from many key wineries, lead to issues at the processing plants and a less concentrated, highly sulfured, harvest of Sauvignon Blanc. This set the industry up for some very bad wine reviews by some of the top wine writers in NZ biggest market, the UK.

Question 10

Name two reasons why New Zealand generally deals with too much vigor in grape growing? How is it combatted?

Answer 10

Only 150 years ago much of the country was covored with rainforest. Soils here can be so rich in nutrients that vines grow too vigorously for their own good,

Exacerbated by the country’s generous rainfall.

-Combatted with canopy management

Question 11

Is there modern bulk wine production in New Zealand?

Answer 11

No. Unlike Australia, with its huge irrigated agricultural zones, New Zealand has little land to spare; thus, modern bulk wine production is not economically feasible—there is no New Zealand equivalent to California’s Central Valley or Australia’s Riverland.

Question 12

What is the body of water separating the North Island from the South Island of New Zealand?

Answer 12

Cook Strait (notoriously windy)

Question 13

What is loam?

Answer 13

A fertile soil with roughly equal parts sand, silt, and clay.

Question 14

In line with EU standards, what are NZ wine laws?

Answer 14

-wines must contain a minimum 85% of a stated varietal or vintage. This minimum will extend to the statement of region on the label, once such regions are legally defined.

Declaration of vintage and varietal is optional.

• Winemaking and viticultural choices are, in general, left to the winemaker’s discretion
• there are no laws governing enrichment, acidification, pruning, yields, or irrigation techniques.

Question 15

When did Vitis Vinifera vines begin to replace hybrid and table grape plantings in New Zealand?

Answer 15

1970’s

Question 16

How much of New Zealand’s harvest does Sauvignon Blanc account for?

Answer 16

Staggering 70% of the 2011 harvest was Sauvignon Blanc

Question 17

Where are most vineyards planted in New Zealand?

Answer 17

Typically planted on flat expanses and most are located within twenty miles of the eastern coastline.

Question 18

What was the growth of vineyard acreage in NZ from 1960-2008

Answer 18

From approximately 400 ha to over 29000

Question 19

What country commands a higher price per bottle than any other country in the world?

Answer 19

New Zealand

-this position is threatened by the recent release and influx of cheaper Sauvignon Blanc wines, especially in the British market—an unfortunate turn of events for the country’s serious producers, who have worked so hard collectively to craft the modern image of premium New Zealand wines.

Question 20

What countries arrives throughout the 1800’s in New Zealand to plant grapes?

Answer 20

Croatian (Dalmatia “Dally plonk”), French, Spanish, and German settlers.

Question 21

Who was the first to plant grapevines in New Zealand?
When and where?
Who was the first to produce wine in New Zealand?
When and where?

Answer 21

1819- first planted in Northland by an english missionary named Samuel Marsden at Kerikeri on the far northeast coast of the North Island.

1830s- (1836?)James Busby planted a small vineyard from French and Spanish cuttings at his estate in Northland.

Question 22

What is the southernmost wine region in the world? What parallel?

Answer 22

Central Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. 45th parallel.

Question 23

What is “Albany Surprise”?

Answer 23

Also known as America’s Isabella grape (vitus lambrusco) was New Zealand’s most planted variety in 1960s. This was a representation of the low quality fruit be offered in hysteria of phylloxera and temperance.

Question 24

How many miles separate NZ from Australia?

Answer 24

There are 1200 miles of ocean between North Island and Tasmania. (Both lie on the same latitude)

Question 25

Why is mechanical harvesting common in New Zealand?

Answer 25

A consistently cheap source of manual labor is difficult to find in the sparsely populated country.

Question 26

What is the Screwcap Initiative? What % of NZ is finished with the closure?

Answer 26

An international association, formed in 2001, commited to using the closure–even on ultra-premium bottlings. Today over 85% of the country’s wines are finished with the closure.

Question 27

Who was the first to commercially release a NZ wine under screwcap?

Answer 27

Kim Crawford in Marlborough in 2001

Question 28

How many wineries in New Zealand today?

Answer 28

Over 600

-ballooned from approximately 100 wineries in the mid-1980’s

Question 29

How much of New Zealand’s wine production is exported?

Answer 29

2/3

Question 30

How does the climate differ from the North and South Islands of New Zealand?

Answer 30

North Island is less mountainous and generally rainier

South Island has the rain shadow effect and warmer.

Question 31

What is the largest winemaking company in New Zealand?

What was the countries first varietal wine?

Answer 31

Montana (Now Pernod Ricard New Zealand; acquired in 2005)

Established the first commerical vineyard in 1973 and released the country’s first varietal wine (Gisborne Chardonnay), and produced one of the first Marlborough SB’s in 1979.