AS part of my continuing quest to try new wines I have uncovered a few gems. These are wines that are local, unique, ingenious and new in some way or other. The wine industry in New Zealand is relatively young, inquisitive and vibrant, and there’s innovation happening in terms of vitculture and winemaking. The brave pioneers who are planting new grape varieties are taking huge risks. Typically it will take three years before new vines can produce grapes worthy of harvest and vinification, and if the results are poor, that’s a lot of time and money lost. It takes knowledge and experience to decide whether a new variety will grow well on a given site, and often a lot of experimentation in the winery to produce a good result. We are lucky that there are people experimenting and producing some exciting wine. New varieties being produced include Gruner Veltliner, an Austrian grape that has taken off in America, and Arneis, an Italian variety from Piedmont. These are very much niche wines, but as they are both crisp and refreshing, there’s a chance they might take off. There are a handful of each being produced (all by particularly good winemakers), and I recommend trying them.
Seifried in Nelson is making an even more rare and exotic wine, a Wurzer. This is the only Wurzer produced in New Zealand, and in fact the German native accounts for only 100 hectares planted worldwide. I’m not sure why this is, but if this wine is anything to go by, we should be embracing it more. This is a curious wine, but delicious. It tastes like nothing I’ve ever tried before, and is reminiscent of dried tropical fruit, with savoury elements, a weighty texture, and what a friend described as a hoppy character on the nose. This is huge fun, hard to find, but not hard on the pocket. I’d serve this with anything you might contemplate serving or adding dried fruit to. Cheese platters or moroccan spiced chicken are good options. $25.00.
Richmond Plains, also in Nelson, are an organic and biodynamic producer who may have flown under the radar but are makingsharp wines at really reasonable prices. One of my favourites from their range is the Blanc de Noir. Never heard of this? Don’t worry - it’s not a grape variety, but a style of wine. It’s actually 100% Pinot Noir, but made as a white wine. This may sound strange, but the result is a dry, fruity delight that is versatile with food. Peach gold in colour, luscious pear, and stonefruit with a bit of spice and kaffir lime. $23.50