New Zealand Pinot Gris is a “force to be reckoned with”, according to Villa Maria’s chief winemaker.
Considering there was hardly any Pinot Gris planted in the mid-1990s that’s a turn up for the books. There are now more than 1300 hectares planted – an increase of more than 800ha in three years. Consequently, most of the vines are pretty young and that means we haven’t seen the best yet.
Alastair Maling MW waxed lyrical about the potential of Pinot Gris at a Villa Maria event last night. “New Zealand Pinot Gris is coming together but it is still evolving. It is a very young variety in terms of planting. With vine age, we will see more concentration of flavour.
“At the moment we have to wait late for physiological ripeness so that’s why we have such high alcohol. With vine age, we will be able to pick earlier with the same flavour intensity.â€
Germany vs New Zealand
When it comes to Riesling, the Kiwis are learning that they can emulate the Germans. New Zealand has the natural acidity to leave a little bit of residual sugar in their Rieslings and produce wines under 11% – or even 10%.
Maling admitted, “We were not making good Riesling back in the mid 90s. We used to pick the fruit late and were afraid to stop the ferment early but we have grown and we are prepared to experiment.â€
Villa is now stopping its Riesling fermentations early, leaving a little bit of unfermented sugar in the wine and keeping the final alcohol level low.
Maling had the courage to put his Taylor’s Pass 2007 Riesling alongside Donnhoff’s Riesling (Nahe) and it stood up well. While it lacked some of the complexity of its German rival, it was lean, clean and characterful. It has high acidity and a low pH, which makes the wine seem drier than it is (27g/l residual sugar). And with 10% alcohol, it ticks the low alcohol box.
If the Kiwis can introduce the consumer back to low alcohol, off dry Rieslings, there may be hope yet for Germany. And yes, I am an eternal optimist.
