Happy Spring 2017 to you all. As the season starts, I am responding to a suggestion of a reader and friend, to write about wine from the new world. In the world of wine, this typically refers to wines from outside of Europe. In particular outside of France and Italy for sure. New world includes places like the United States and the Southern Hemisphere wines as well.
Focusing on the reader’s suggestion, intake on a tour of two very important and varied production; Australia and New Zealand. Before we get in to any wine and food pairings, let’s have a little history.
Significant wine production and exporting in Australia and New Zealand began in the 1980’s. The wine making style at first was very austere and considered unrefined. The red wines in particular were high tannin wines, with a pronounced level of American oak barrel finish on the nose and a high alcohol content.
By comparison the white wines lacked the finesse of French or California whites and drew very little interest on the global market. But then a few things changed the wine production and make these two regions very desired today.
The red wine vines and viticulture got a shot in the arm from a few high quality producers like Penfolds, Leeuwin and Mollydooker (a winery known for the tragedy of losing an entire vintage of one it’s top wines) to name a few. In New Zealand, the red wine production and better wines in general started being produced in Marlborough in the late 1970’s. Although wine was being commercially produced in Marlborough almost 100 years ago, it was a few key producers that made New Zealand a true contender in the world wine market.
Wineries like Cloudy Bay and Kim Crawford created a wine that was and is unique until itself. The steel tank produced Sauvignon Blanc. It was and is everything a French Sauvignon Blanc is not; it’s not aged in wood, it has very grassy and citrus notes on the nose and is generally sold for under $20 a bottle. Mr. Kim Crawford took the non oak aging to a new level in producing Chardonnay as well. This wine is everything a California Chardonnay is not; it is not high vanilla or buttery on the palate and it has no vanilla or oak on the nose.
The red wines from Marlborough tend to be largely Pinot Noir and like their white brethren, are made to drink shortly after bottling at a lower price point than most other Pinot Noir from burgundy or America.
One other thing you might notice, is that most wines and these two regions are not sealed with corks. New Zealand in particular states 90% of its wine is a screw top. This applies to both white and red wine. While many of the top producers in Australia still use corks, this phenomenon arose out of necessity at the time their wine industry was emerging. In the late 1990s, with the prevalence of taint in wine corks, the Australian and New Zealand wine producers sought new closure methods.
While screw tops began as a response to the inconsistency in cork production in the late 1990’s, the acceptance of screw tops by wine drinkers took hold largely because of the producers in New Zealand.
The red wine of Australia continued to evolve in the late 1980’s and 90’s to the place now where certain of the Penfolds bottling draw interest from wine collectors and red meat lovers alike. The Grange bottles and the various Bin numbered wines stack up well with the better California cabarnet and red Bordeaux wines.
It is now time to get to the varietal that is claimed to be uniquely Australian, but is not, Shiraz. Shiraz is nothing more than a pronunciation and spelling error for Syrah. It’s the same grape with the same sweet and dry finish as Rhone Valley Syrah. It does not diminish the beauty of the wine, but the record needs to be set straight.
The New Zealand wine industry has two major geographic areas that produce the best wines the country has to offer. They are Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. Producers like Trinity Hill and Greywacke are producing not only great Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, but also some other varietals like Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet and Syrah (Shiraz).
The better producers are making approachable, affordable and easy to drink wines. The fact that the Southern Hemisphere has seasons opposite of the northern hemisphere creates offset vintages and allows those of us who love a good Sauvignon Blanc to enjoy a glass of Whitehaven at the first sign of spring, or a Villa Maria Syrah with your spring lamb.
I guess I have crossed over to food pairings with an effortless turn of a phrase. So, as a general rule, the New Zealand whites are higher acid, citrus finish wines. The have notes of white grapefruit and white floral aromas. They pair beautifully with all shellfish served cocktail style, fresh oysters or a summer afternoon on the deck.
The Australian Chardonnay has a very similar taste and feel of California Chardonnay. It tends to be grown in a warmer climate, so there is a little more alcohol in the finished product, but generally a refined Chardonnay nonetheless. It pairs well an herb roasted chicken or pan roasted blackened fish with a fruit salsa.
The cabernets from the region occasionally have a Zinfandel feel, with a peppery structure and a dark berry finish. The best of the lot can age as well as any cabernets and deserve the time to develop. If you are inclined to give the more affordable wines a try, plan on a protein that can stand up to the structure and tannins. Either choice, bargain or wallet buster, the best pairing is grilled red meat. Maybe on the “barbies?” So before this devolves into a bad pun about Crocodile Dundee, I would give a strong and heartfelt recommendation for the wines from down under!