Many doctors give up their career to concentrate on improving their golf swing and playing with the grandchildren but Jim Jerram is not your average medicine man.
After 29 years as a GP in New Zealand and as far afield as Kunde hospital, on the trail to Everest Base Camp, Jerram moved to grape growing in 2001 in a venture with his brother-in-law, Jeff Sinnott (Amisfield’s winemaker).
You wouldn’t get me setting up a vineyard in a million years – it’s way too much like hard work and drains your coffers before you can even get a grape off the vines. To make things even more difficult, they planted in an area where no-one had planted vines before.
In a previous blog, I have written about Waitaki – a new and upcoming region on the edge of viticultural possibility. Jerram set up shop here with eight hectares of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir on limestone soils.
“Our mission was to do Pinot Noir on limestone,†said Jerram, who sells his wine under the label Ostler. “We saw the site and thought it was a mini Cote d’Or. It’s on an escarpment too above the main valley floor so we get away from frost pockets.â€
Some of the big companies have checked the area out and decided it is too marginal, Jerram revealed, and in 2007 there was barely a berry harvested in the valley thanks to rain ruining flowering.
Jerram clearly has exacting standards and this is an area that really needs attention to detail with cool weather, frosts, powerful winds and bronze beetles ready to pounce every day. Touring the region’s vineyards, it’s evident that absentee owners are not going to succeed: vines are looking very sorry for themselves and growth is slow.
The proof is in the glass with those who care most reaping the rewards. Ostler’s ‘06 Caroline Pinot Noir and ‘08 Audrey Pinot Gris getting a 18-18.5 out of 20 while; the 08 Valli Pinot Noir also getting an 18+. Pasquale also scored highly with its whites, particularly the 08 Alma Mater – a blend of Riesling, Gewurz and Pinot Gris – but its reds were a bit heavy on the oak (great fruit but 40% new French is too toasty for me). Craggy Range also makes some good wines here.
Hot on the heels of its first winery and cellar door opening in November, Jerram has set up a Regional Tasting centre in Kurow. The Vintners Drop opened at the end of December and you can taste wines from every producer in one place for the first time. I hope all the producers support it, as the region needs to improve its profile.
