New edition of wine guide is indispensable

BY DEBORAH WALTON AND PETER MORICE

The new Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines 2010 tastes and rates a phenomenal 3033 wines.

This book has, as the back cover states, become the indispensable guide for New Zealanders. We use the word "guide" because, as with anything subjective, it comes down to personal preference in the finish.

Last year's Buyer's Guide included a profile on pinot gris, a variety we have struggled to get excited about since it first hit the shelves in any great quantity.

Cooper hit the nail on the head when he said, "The problem is that the quality of New Zealand pinot gris is hard to predict. Many of the wines are boring, bland and neutral, while others are deliciously perfumed, weighty, rich and rounded."

Why pull something out of the old edition when we're reviewing the new? Because we also continue to struggle with pinot gris in all its permutations.

This year's Guide has plenty of new information of interest, including listings for two new varieties – gruner veltliner and zweigelt.

It also has a chapter headed The Wine Glut. Cooper outlines the current difficulties being faced by the industry in a forthright manner that makes disappointing reading if you're a grape grower. However, the oversupply also delivers some serious pluses for the consumer.

The Guide is good value at $34.99, and just a word of advice – don't toss out the old copies. They provide something of a history of your favourite wines, vintage by vintage.

This week, we look at two wines from the new Showcase Series from Montana.

In an exciting move, Montana viticulturists have looked at the match between terroir and variety – where certain varieties have proven successful, they have considered any closely related or similar varieties that may also thrive under similar conditions.

The promising varieties have been planted on selected sites, giving the winemakers small parcels of fruit to work with and "explore". If a trial is successful, more vines may be planted to give the winemakers a larger resource for experimenting with their winemaking techniques.

In this way, some interesting new varieties have been released under the Showcase Series label.

Montana Showcase Series Marlborough Sauvignon Gris 2009

This wine is not a blend; sauvignon gris is an ancient variety in its own right, hailing from the Bordeaux region. Montana has been trialling this variety in Marlborough vineyards for several years and has found that it grows strongly in this climate, producing ripe fruit and good acidity.

Colour: Very pale straw.

Aroma: Quite a prickly aroma, vibrant and grassy. There are some lovely sauvignon characteristics including gooseberry, mineral and tomato leaf. These are softened by creamy pear and peach notes.

Taste: Intensely flavoured with some zingy acids and a surprisingly silky palate. This wine encourages a pause for thought; it's quite different and very interesting. The ripe aromatic fruitiness is slightly spiced; crisp apple and herbal flavours sit surprisingly well alongside the softer tropical (almost syrupy) notes. There's good palate weight and plenty of mouth-filling flavour from start to finish, where the herbal, citrus finish bows out with style. A delightfully fleshy wine that deserves to find favour.

Price: $23.95.

Montana Showcase Series Gisborne Arneis 2008

At a recent dinner at an Italian restaurant, I suggested that we order a bottle of Italian wine. Unfortunately, the decision was not entirely mine and I was informed the Italians do not make good wines.

You can thank the cheap imports in the wine club mailouts for a statement like this. Italy's vineyards abound with grape varieties, many of which produce some of the finest wines in the world.

Arneis is a variety that is highly rated nationally and internationally. Arneis means "little difficult one" or, more simply, "rascal". The name refers to the vine's unpredictability; low yields and vulnerability have been its stumbling blocks. It produces one of Italy's most distinctive and fine whites, light and dry with a distinctive nose. The grapes themselves also taste good and traditionally they went straight to the table.

The viticulturists at Montana describe Arneis as a rare, though highly prized, variety from Piedmont in Northern Italy. It is a late ripener with exacting requirements in the vineyard. Hot days, cool nights and free-draining soil are just some of its many demands. In the vineyard, fruit that is even slightly less than ripe must be removed.

Colour: Pale straw with hints of lemon.

Aroma: Peaches and pears – a tight, reclusive aroma that needs a jolly good shake-up to get it to give anything away. Some slightly sweaty notes, a jot of vanilla and some rich citrus aromas eventually make their presence known.

Taste: A subtle, complex wine with good length and palate weight. Some vanilla and macadamia support the fruit flavours nicely. The taste is an interesting blend that reminds us of gold kiwifruit and pears; there's some herb and mineral flavour towards the finish, which becomes quite orangey, and there's mild spiciness on the long, clean aftertaste. An elegant wine that is complex and subtle, and puts us in mind of European wine styles.

Price:$23.95.

- © Fairfax NZ News