Wine treasure in vintage vines

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/The Press

Hands on: Helen, Josh and Grant Whelan in their Kaituna Valley vineyard.

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Tucked away in the sheltering hills of the Banks Peninsula valley from which it takes its name, is New Zealand's oldest commercial pinot-noir block.

Given the importance of vine age to the variety, and the youth of most of the country's plantings, the Kaituna Valley vineyard is one of New Zealand's viticultural treasures, as well as being the heart and home of the Kaituna Valley estate and its proprietor-vignerons, Grant and Helen Whelan and their four-year-old son, Joshua.

While the vines were planted 30 years ago when a career in winegrowing was still many years off for the Whelans, they have a longstanding connection with the vineyard.

While studying at Lincoln University in the early 1990s Grant for a post-graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology and Helen for a PhD in Plant Pathology the couple worked their first vintage there, going on to persuade the owners to let them tend and take grapes from the vineyard, making their own wines from the site from 1993.

"We thought it was a magical spot," recalls Grant. "We saw that there were cherry trees, as well as oranges, mandarins and grapefruit growing there."

Ripeness was certainly no issue. A degree warmer than spots as close as 1km away, requiring no irrigation and one of the region's, and indeed New Zealand's, rare frost-free pinot-noir sites, they found Kaituna Valley to possess a unique mesoclimate.

Despite their inaugural vintage from Kaituna Valley being a difficult and cold year, their pinot managed to scoop a prestigious trophy, one of the first major accolades for a Canterbury pinot since Danny Schuster's success at Saint Helena in the early 1980s.

Kaituna Valley may have been a pinot paradise, but the Whelans were keen to set up a vineyard of their own.

As a former soil scientist, Grant was impressed by the dry stony terrain of Marlborough's Awatere Valley and they purchased a plot there. Soon after this, the opportunity arose to buy the Kaituna Valley vineyard.

"It was a bit of a dilemma, but we're very pleased we did," says Helen. "It's a lovely environment to live in, it produces great grapes and its climate is hugely consistent."

Kaituna Valley's intense and elegant pinot noirs, from both the Canterbury and Marlborough vineyards, have earned the Whelans a place in the top ranks of the country's pinot producers.

However, they have also had considerable success with their pinot gris, as well as their Marlborough sauvignon blancs and Canterbury chardonnays.

Last year they released an impressive new pinot noir from the Bone Hill vineyard, owned by their Kaituna Valley neighbours, as well as a lower-priced pinot noir.

"We're also looking to make a serious white wine out of pinot noir, as well as a seriously good dry rose and a flagship pinot gris," says Grant.

In 1999, the Whelans bought a further vineyard at Tai Tapu, which is likely to be their last given their intent to remain small.

"We've no desire to be a big company as we want to keep hands-on," says Helen.

"We've developed a great understanding of our block here in Kaituna Valley and want to put that into practice ourselves."

- Jo Burzynska is a New Zealand wine writer, a contributor to international publications Harpers Wine & Spirit and Decanter, and an educator at Canterbury-based Adventures in Wine school.

- © Fairfax NZ News