Wines that sing a song of 'somewhereness'

CHEERS: Barton on Wine

Back in the early 1980s when Gisborne winemaker James Millton arrived on the scene with his crazy notions about producing wines by following a philosophy involving not only organics, but homeopathy, astronomy and astrology, I thought he was nuts.

He called it biodynamics, a system of winemaking developed by the Austrian educator cum spiritual philosopher Rudolph Steiner and was the first in the southern hemisphere to embrace it. Truth is, for much of the next 20 years he was also its only disciple, in this country anyway. But in the past three years things have changed dramatically. The list of New Zealand wineries either fully certified as organic or biodynamic, or in the process of becoming so, has risen from just eight to about 160 with more showing an interest every day.

At its most basic level, organic wine is made from grapes that have been grown without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides and made with little or no manipulation. Biodynamics is the most advanced form of organic farming. It works with cycles of nature and the cosmos to grow grapes and make wine, and uses plants and animals and natural preparations to take the place of chemicals and fertilisers.

The aim of wineries making the switch from conventional production is, by whichever of these means, to produce wines that truly convey a sense of place, a cause championed internationally by an organisation called Renaissance des Appellations (Return to Terroir).

James Millton, the only New Zealander so far admitted to the French-based group, puts it like this: "What we're looking for and promoting are wines that sing of where they come from". And sing they do, with some of the world's leading winemakers lending their voices to the growing chorus. One of biodynamics' most famous practitioners is Olivier Humbrecht, of Zind Humbrecht, in Alsace.

The first Frenchman to pass the Master of Wine examination and a trained scientist, he refused to be put off by the "spiritual" aspects of Steiner's agricultural philosophy.

Likewise, the guardians of other great benchmark labels - among them Maison Chapoutier in the Rhone Valley and the domaines Leflaive, Leroy and Romanee Conti in Burgundy.

In fact it was the widespread use of biodynamics in Burgundy that convinced Nigel Greening , the Englishman who owns Felton Road, in Central Otago, to follow the same path. He says: "We do it, as they do in Burgundy, out of respect for the land and to ensure that nothing gets in the way during wine's journey from the soil to the glass. It's about producing wines with 'somewhereness'."

Not to mention, in Felton Road's case, pinot noirs and other wines that continue to wow some of the world's finest palates.

Felton Road is, of course, only one of quite a collection of organic or biodynamic producers in Central, including Quartz Reef, Rippon Vineyard, Burn Cottage, Carrick, Mt Edward, Kawarau Estate, Northburn - plus half a dozen others, maybe more, in the process of making the switch.

And there are plenty of others doing the same elsewhere, acknowledging the need, not only for sound ecological practice, but a rapidly-growing market at home and overseas for wines produced either organically or biodynamically.

Which explains, I guess, the emergence on a fraught market of two super-premium organic reds from Two Gates, a new Hawke's Bay producer.

One (the 2007 Omahu) is a dark, sweet-fruited blend of merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon, laced with licorice and spice; the other an earthy, savoury 2007 syrah; both of them seriously stunning wines, as they should be at $55 a bottle. Made in limited quantities by Tony Pritchard, formerly winemaker at Church Road, they are a must for anyone who fancies the flavours of Hawke's Bay, the Gimblett Gravels in particular, and is over the notion that the only people who drink wines such as this are sandal- wearing, tofu-eating tree-huggers.

Not any more they're not.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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