WineNZ Summer 18-19 (1)
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
tastings | alternative sauvignon blancs<br />
Alternative sauvignon blanc time. Simon Nash, Barry Riwai and Briar Davies.<br />
The other<br />
sauvignon<br />
blancs<br />
Words by Paul Taggart<br />
A mildly vulgar, but oft-repeated observation about Marlborough sauvignon<br />
blanc, is that it is generally picked, poured and peed before Christmas.<br />
Which is great for<br />
cash flow: no<br />
months or years<br />
wasted with it<br />
sitting around in<br />
barrels – in fact,<br />
no expensive barrels required.<br />
But the simplicity that makes sauvignon<br />
blanc great, is also its achilles heel. Because<br />
it is relatively easy and quick to make,<br />
everyone’s doing it and the price has been<br />
sliding in recent years.<br />
Marlborough sauvignon blanc is still<br />
classed as a premium-priced product in<br />
some markets; however, premium means<br />
it fetches better prices than Australian’s<br />
nastiest bulk-exported shiraz, but it isn’t<br />
anywhere near Bordeaux type of premium.<br />
So some producers have come up with<br />
the idea that wild yeast fermentation, ageing<br />
in oak – or both – is potentially the way<br />
forward if sauvignon blanc is going to<br />
continue to develop and retain a premium<br />
reputation and the public’s interest.<br />
There are many great products that rest<br />
on their laurels, and, as a consequence,<br />
eventually fall by the wayside. The Nokia<br />
mobile phone springs to mind.<br />
With shiploads of sauvignon blanc<br />
heading north every year, Marlborough’s<br />
finest is a long way from where Nokia now<br />
finds itself, but there are concerns that a<br />
lack of innovation is beginning to take its<br />
toll on our sauvignon blanc’s reputation,<br />
especially in the UK. (we’re not talking<br />
bulk exporting innovation here, we’re<br />
talking wine innovation).<br />
In a recent debate in London, Richard<br />
Siddle, editor of Grapevine magazine, said<br />
New Zealand wines were the “Coldplay<br />
of the wine world” – meaning they were<br />
consistent, popular, but a little bit boring.<br />
The comment, made at New Zealand<br />
House in Haymarket, grabbed headlines<br />
and will, likely, do some damage. But the<br />
same sentiment has been expressed in<br />
different ways and by different people for<br />
a number of years. As with Nokia, which<br />
didn’t bother with new-fangled touch<br />
screens, as they were too busy selling 130<br />
million old-school handsets, sometimes<br />
it’s hard to imagine the music will stop.<br />
In Nokia’s case, Apple adopted touchscreen<br />
technology and the result was the<br />
Nokia juggernaut shuddered to a halt.<br />
32 <strong>WineNZ</strong> Magazine | <strong>Summer</strong> 20<strong>18</strong>-<strong>19</strong>