“It always mystifies me that people put their hands up for what I regard to be lesser European varieties that don’t have the nobility of lineage that Chenin has or as much to offer for the consumer who wants to age a wine. Or Gewurztraminer for another case in point,” says Waghorn. Then there are southern French (and one Italian) grapes which are like the string section of the orchestra – “each filling the space”, says winemaker James Millton of The Millton Vineyard in Gisborne. He’s talking of Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne and Vermentino (the last one growing in both southern France and also along Italy’s northern coast and in Sardinia). These grapes can also be complemented by Muscat a Petit Grains and by Petit Manseng; the latter being tried by Marlborough winemaker Sam Weaver.
So variety is alive and thriving; the numbers are just extremely small in New Zealand. So small in fact that many of the wines are likely only to sell via mail order or cellar door, once released.
grown locally on Matakana Road but the birds ate them all in 2011 and in 2012 they were used for a vineyard trial (sad). The winery has since top grafted some Roussanne into its vineyard and will pick its first grapes this year, but quantities are small. They have also planted Albarino and will make their first this year. Waghorn is also making a small quantity of Albarino and expects the first will most likely appear from the 2013 vintage.
Which Whites? Arneis, Gruner Veltliner and Viognier are the best known alternative white varietals to have found their way into New Zealand vineyards in the past decade but there is a clutch of winemakers branching out further still; this is where Albarinho, Chenin Blanc, and – in very small quantities – Roussanne and Marsanne come in. Mahurangi River Winery in Warkworth, an hour’s drive north of Auckland, is dabbling in Albarinho and Roussanne, although the 50 cases of 2010 Garden of Light Roussanne (13.9% ABV) was all but sold out at the time of writing. The grapes for this wine were
Pinot Gris That said, Waghorn is proPinot Gris; a variety he regards as having “a great place in the Marlborough context. I think it can be a very serious wine and is a niche variety for us.” Compared with Sauvignon Blanc - now the 10th most planted grape in the world with 98,000 hectares internationally - Pinot
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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 // 43