New Zealand
The vineyards of New Zealand are found from near the top of the North Island to way south in the South Island. TNew Zealand is of course incredibly beautiful and a wine tour is a great way of getting round nearly the whole country. A short extension can the cover the mountains, glaciers and other truly remote areas.
Wine making and vine growing go back to colonial times in New Zealand, all be it in a small way. The British emigrants were much more interested in beer and spirits, or were not interested in alcohol at all. The temperance movement was very strong here. Dalmatian immigrants at beginning of the twentieth century brought with them viticultural knowledge and set up the nascent NZ wine industry in West and North Auckland. Typically their vineyards produced sherry and port for the palates of New Zealanders of the time, and a little table wine for their own community.
The factors that held back the development of the industry simultaneously underwent subtle but historic changes in early 1970s. In 1973 Britain entered the European Economic Community, which required the ending of historic trade terms for New Zealand meat and dairy products. This led ultimately to a dramatic restructuring of the agricultural economy and diversification away from meat and dairy to products with potentially higher economic returns especially in areas that had previously been marginal as pasture.
The wine industry had, up until this time, shown almost no impulse towards quality at all. The vineyards were planted with grapes such as Muller-Thurgau which not even a wine making genius could make anything better than pedestrian. It was therefore very much against the odds that New Zealand re-invented herself as a ‘super premium’ wine country with a powerful export driven wine industry. Sauvignon Blanc was the first wave, followed by Pinot, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Gewurz etc as Kiwi winemakers turned their hands to an array of successes. After early successes in Hawkes bay and Marlborough, viticulture has spread through the South Island with Central Otago being the latest hot or rather cool spot.
The domestic market too has undergone a change. The rise of the OE (Overseas Experience), where young New Zealanders travelled and lived and worked overseas, predominantly in Europe meant that large numbers of New Zealanders had experienced the decidedly different wine-drinking cultures of Europe. Aukland became a sophisticated city and BYO (bring your own) licences for restaurants had a profound and unexpected effect on New Zealanders' cultural approach to wine. There are now good restaurants throughout the country and many wineries can offer a superb gourmet experience. The passing visitor can catch much of this but the experience is obviously much better on an organised wine tour.
Click here for New Zealand Wine Notes
New Zealand Wine Tour
15 - 28 February 2010
