Making wines to last – the future for the NZ wine industry?

Tuesday saw me make my way to the O’Connell Street Bistro in Auckland for a tasting hosted by Dr. Damian Martin, General Manager for Winegrowers of Ara. Before us were vertical tastings of the Composite Sauvignon 2005-9 and the Composite Pinot Noir 2005-9. Composite is Ara’s middle tier range of wines and as its name suggests  it is a fusion of grapes sourced from carefully selected areas of Ara. Martin considers it the most complete expression of Ara and the aim is to deliver absolute consistency year on year in terms of style, flavour and balance.

Being a Pom, I am well used to vertical tastings with Old World wines – but Marlborough Sauvignon – this was going to be interesting! And pleasantly surprised I was too. Yes the 2008 and 2009 were probably the best in that all the ingredients of top class sauvignon were there  and the added vine age has created texture and complexity BUT the 2005 and particularly the 2006 were excellent drinks too – almost European in style. Indeed this is Martin’s intention. He is doggedly focused on making wines that mature and evolve both in the bottle and the glass. His desire is that they should be consumed with food not taken as a fruity aperitif and should be appreciated all the way down the bottle – not just in the first mouthful.

So is it possible to ‘re-educate’ the wine public? Can they accept that a 4+ year old Marlborough Sauvignon is delicious, interesting and will complement their meal beautifully? As Dr. Martin rightly points out – many restaurant lists contain older vintages as most wines do not sell out quickly. The customer still has a right to expect a quality product. In fact, I would suggest that if the NZ wine industry, and especially Marlborough Sauvignon, wishes to continue growing and cement its status as a quality brand then it must go down this road else it may follow Australian chardonnay et al as a passing fashion.

Ageing Pinot Noir is also something dear to my heart. Back in England the winelist at my hotel contains no red Burgundies younger than 2005. Thus it was with avid interest that I approached the Composite Pinot Noir. Martin’s aim here is to get “a balance between concentration and elegance”. For me this was strikingly achieved in the 2006 – wonderfully elegant and was simply superb with the chicken and sage sausages. The 2005 is a darker, bigger beast that I thoroughly enjoyed and will improve further still whilst the 2009 – barrel sample – has the potential to be something special. I said it first!

Thus, yes, I believe that Ara is producing wines that will mature and evolve beautifully. The hard part will be changing the public perception but Dr. Martin appears to be a very determined and passionate person and I think, and sincerely hope, that he will succeed.