It’s a guessing game
Rebecca Taylor
WITH so many international visitors in town at the moment I thought how hard it must be to choose a wine in restaurants or shops without local knowledge. It’s hard enough to pick the right wine even for those of us who are used to the local labels and styles.
The European visitors particularly, used to their highly regulated wine industry and systems of nomenclature must be finding things difficult in much the same way that it can be daunting taking your first steps into European wine here.
The concept of terroir is integral to the European wine industries. Thus in France, for example, you talk about Burgundy with the understanding that the varieties used will be either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. More specifically, the sub-region will indicate a certain style, for instance the Chardonnay that comes from Chablis in the North Eastern part of Burgundy is totally different in character from those produced in the Macconais region in the South. There are also strict rules regarding the hierarchies of quality. A raft of conditions must be met from vineyard management, cropping levels and winemaking techniques for a wine to claim certain levels of quality. It is complicated and prescriptive, but it does mean the buyer has a pretty good idea of what’s in the bottle.
In our young industry, the varietal, rather than the region is the dominant classification. Innovation abounds, and wineries have a lot of freedom to decide how they want to make their wine, but this means buying wine can be a bit of a guessing game. With no regulation surrounding expected levels of quality that a wine must achieve in order to be classified in certain ways, there is nothing to stop a producer calling all their wines “reserve”, for instance. Quite a lot of knowledge about producers as well as regions is required to make a good selection. I hope that our guests make the right choices and enjoy the best our industry has to offer.
Some wines I’ve enjoyed particularly lately are:
Mahi Twin Valleys Chardonnay 2008 – delicate fruit and smoky notes on the nose, a savoury character on the palate with a touch of creamed corn, this has a bright acidity and is a very textural wine. $41.00
Jackson Estate Shelter Belt Chardonnay 2010 – loads of warm spice on the nose, cinnamon, mace, cardamom and cedar flow through to some nutty, seed-like characters and ginger and stonefruit notes. Great value at $25.00
Charles Wiffen Riesling 2009 – citrusy marmalade, white blossoms and honey, this has a vein of minerality that keeps it clean and refreshing. $21.50
The European visitors particularly, used to their highly regulated wine industry and systems of nomenclature must be finding things difficult in much the same way that it can be daunting taking your first steps into European wine here.
The concept of terroir is integral to the European wine industries. Thus in France, for example, you talk about Burgundy with the understanding that the varieties used will be either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. More specifically, the sub-region will indicate a certain style, for instance the Chardonnay that comes from Chablis in the North Eastern part of Burgundy is totally different in character from those produced in the Macconais region in the South. There are also strict rules regarding the hierarchies of quality. A raft of conditions must be met from vineyard management, cropping levels and winemaking techniques for a wine to claim certain levels of quality. It is complicated and prescriptive, but it does mean the buyer has a pretty good idea of what’s in the bottle.
In our young industry, the varietal, rather than the region is the dominant classification. Innovation abounds, and wineries have a lot of freedom to decide how they want to make their wine, but this means buying wine can be a bit of a guessing game. With no regulation surrounding expected levels of quality that a wine must achieve in order to be classified in certain ways, there is nothing to stop a producer calling all their wines “reserve”, for instance. Quite a lot of knowledge about producers as well as regions is required to make a good selection. I hope that our guests make the right choices and enjoy the best our industry has to offer.
Some wines I’ve enjoyed particularly lately are:
Mahi Twin Valleys Chardonnay 2008 – delicate fruit and smoky notes on the nose, a savoury character on the palate with a touch of creamed corn, this has a bright acidity and is a very textural wine. $41.00
Jackson Estate Shelter Belt Chardonnay 2010 – loads of warm spice on the nose, cinnamon, mace, cardamom and cedar flow through to some nutty, seed-like characters and ginger and stonefruit notes. Great value at $25.00
Charles Wiffen Riesling 2009 – citrusy marmalade, white blossoms and honey, this has a vein of minerality that keeps it clean and refreshing. $21.50
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