Matua Valley shows off its wines and its winemaker
By John Schreiner
October 3, 2006
With Australia drowning in a wine surplus, what does an ambitious young Australian winemaker do?
Peter Munro moved to New Zealand last March, becoming the senior winemaker for Matua Valley Wines. In Vancouver this week to lead several tastings, Munro confided that – unlike Australia at this time – the New Zealand wine industry is full of optimism and excitement.
New Zealand’s wine production, of course, is a drop in the bucket compared with Australia. In the current world wine market, that’s not a bad thing. New Zealanders should never have trouble selling all their wines – because there is not much of it and because the wines are so good.
Munro previously spent five and a half years with the Wolf Blass winery, one of Australia’s most-recognised brands around the world. Part of Foster’s Wine Estates, it is a sister company to Matua, which Foster’s purchased several years ago. While the Blass production is measured in the millions of cases, Matua’s total production is about 400,000 cases a year. That’s a good size for New Zealand but modest on the world scale.
Matua, however, also enjoys a fine reputation. The winery was founded in 1974 by brothers Bill and Ross Spence, with partners, who ran it until a few years ago when the partners decided to cash out.
Their claim to fame is that they were the first to plant Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, now the signature variety for that nation. Ross Spence has aware of the variety in the 1960s while studying in California and recognized its potential for cool climates. There’s a touch of irony in that: Sauvignon Blanc does not perform nearly as well in warmer California as in New Zealand.
The Spence brothers managed to source 250 vines from a government research plot in New Zealand to establish a planting in 1969. The first wines caused a sensation among New Zealand critics and wineries when released in 1974.
The clone that had been planted, however, was disease-prone and a poor producer. With some diligent searching, the Spences found a far better clone – but only a single vine - in a different government trial block. They nurtured cuttings from that vine to develop seven acres of Sauvignon Blanc. In turn, cuttings from the planting spread throughout New Zealand, now comprising more than 80% of all the Sauvignon Blanc vines.
Making wines from this variety was one of New Zealand’s attraction for Peter Munro. Matua now grows the variety in vineyards on both islands. The differing terroirs enable Munro to explore all the flavours that the grape offers.
Matua is a large producer of Sauvignon Blanc from the Hawkes Bay area, a relatively warm vineyard area on the east coast of New Zealand’s north island. As well, it has vineyards in cooler Marlborough on the south island.
The difference can be tasted in Matua wines listed in this market. The Shingle Peak Sauvignon Blanc ($19.81) is the classically pungent Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, with zesty gooseberry flavours and bright acidity.
In contrast, the Matua Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc ($18.81) has a little less crisp acidity and more tropical fruit flavours, including grapefruit, with an apparent sweetness (the wine is dry) that makes Munro describe it as confectionary.
Both have the appealing freshness that makes New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc so successful. The choice is a matter of personal preference. I lean to the bracing Marlborough style.
Of course, there is more to New Zealand wines. The fine Chardonnays have been overshadowed by the Sauvignon Blanc. However, Matua has long had a premium example, Judd Estate Chardonnay, that is considered one of the country’s best. That’s not listed in the Liquor Distribution Branch. What is available is the well-priced Matua Settler’s Chardonnay at $17.83.
“The opportunity to make world class Chardonnay in New Zealand is huge,” says Munro, who made his share of top examples in Australia.
Pinot Noir has emerged as perhaps New Zealand’s strongest red. Matua’s offering here is its Shingle Peak Pinot Noir ($21), a bright wine with fresh cherry flavours and a dancing lightness in its texture. Munro also showed off a premium example, not listed here, that showed depth and elegance.
Munro has a healthy approach to making this variety, one that sees a restrained use of oak and an effort to keep the fruit bright and the texture charming. He is not interested in making huge, over-extracted Pinot Noir.
“I like to keep the primary fruit as the main characteristic,” he says. “The hard thing from a winemaking perspective is not to make Pinots bigger than they really are.”
When Matua wants bigger wines, it uses Syrah, Merlot and the other Bordeaux reds grown in its Hawkes Bay vineyard. In the best years – New Zealand’s climate can be variable – Matua releases a first class blended red called Ararimu. Again, it is not listed here (they only make 2,000 cases). Matua’s big red in the LDB is a Cabernet Merlot at $20.
There was an impression I had while tasting the Matua wines that I was in familiar territory. The reason? There are parallels in style to the wines of the Okanagan, which is another way of saying: if you like Okanagan wines, you’ll also enjoy Matua – and vice versa.
goodgrog@shaw.ca
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