You have only to look at the way the Kiwis have handled Covid to see why their wine industry is such a success: clear, focused and decisive. If they weren’t so nice, it would be borderline nauseating, like the girl at school who was beautiful, brainy and good at sport.
OK, I may not be the biggest fan of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, which makes up the vast majority of the country’s production, but you can’t say it doesn’t deliver, especially if you avoid the very cheapest bottles. It’s much better to buy it when it’s on promotion, such as the Villa Maria sauvignon blanc below, which is currently on offer at Waitrose at £7.99 (down from £9.99); the same store also has the Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc for £7.19 at the moment, down from £9.69, which is comparable in price to supermarket own-labels and a good deal better than many of them. Or try Tanners’ £12.95 Greenhough River Garden Sauvignon Blanc, the stablemate of the pinot noir in today’s recommendations, to appreciate the difference that paying a bit more can make.
There are more strings to New Zealand’s bow, however. I’d say the two highlights are chardonnay and pinot noir, though the country’s winemakers also do a great job with aromatic varieties such as pinot gris, riesling, gewürztraminer and, more recently, grüner veltliner and albariño (87% of the country’s production is white wine). Some of its wines look just too expensive by international standards, though – syrah, to take just one example: if you want a big red, you’ll do much better looking to Australia, Argentina or the Rhône. There are some pretty rosés, too, but, lighter styles apart, I don’t see them giving Provence a run for its money any time soon.
New Zealand has also been an early adopter of new approaches to viticulture and winemaking that have since become commonplace elsewhere. Wines that are naturally low in alcohol (pioneered by Dr John Forrest in his ‘The Doctors’’ range), screwcaps, sustainability … if there’s a trend, the Kiwis are on top of it, with the exception of orange and natural wines, which are not really how they roll, bar a few wineries such as Mammoth and Mount Edward (Mammoth’s Rare White is wonderful, but you can’t buy it in the UK).
For a country that accounts for a minuscule 1% of world wine production, it’s an impressive achievement, not least because the average value of a bottle of New Zealand wine in the UK is currently £7.43, as opposed to £6.09 for the market as a whole. They’re smart, those Kiwis.
Five Kiwi wines to quaff this spring
Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2020 £7.99 (on offer) Waitrose and Waitrose Cellar, £8.49 (on mix six) Majestic, £9.75 Morrisons (though on promotion in Scotland at £6), 13%. One of the biggest and best-known brands, but still hard to fault for quality and consistency. Classic Kiwi savvy b, all gooseberries and passionfruit.
Adnams Marlborough Rosé 2020 £8.99, 9.5%. New Zealand pioneered the 9% style, and this is a great example: wild strawberry-scented and drier than it looks. One for chilling out with on the warmer (hopefully more social) days ahead.
Yealands Reserve Grüner Veltliner 2019/20 £12.99 Waitrose, 12.5%. Fruitier and less peppery than the Austrian style, but just as good with slightly spicy food such as south-east Asian-style salads and Vietnamese summer rolls. Maybe wait for a promotion.
Greenhough Stone’s Throw Pinot Noir 2017 £16.50 Tanners, 13.5%. Gloriously silky-textured pinot noir, bursting with ripe berry fruit. Expensive, but it would be hard to find a comparable red burgundy at this price. The sauvignon blanc in the same range is excellent, too.
2019 Berry Bros & Rudd New Zealand Pinot Noir £18.95, 14%. This is actually a touch young to drink right now, because the oak is still too much in evidence, but the underlying fruit is just glorious. Hang on until autumn, or decant and drink with a butterflied leg of lamb off the barbecue.
• For more by Fiona Beckett, go to matchingfoodandwine.com
