Julie Harrison - Wine Varieties

So what is exactly meant when we talk about a variety of wine.  These days most wines are made from varieties of Vitis Vinifera, the traditional wine grape of Europe.  Back in the 60’s and 70’s the New Zealand wine industry was producing wines made from American varieties (e.g Albany Surprise) and French hybrid grapes.  These were resistant to disease but unfortunately did not produce high quality wines.

From the mid-seventies Muller Thurgau was the most widely planted grape which again produced rather average wines.  Fortunately a revolution occurred from the early 80’s with the discovery that New Zealand could produce wonderful wines from the classical European grape varieties.

I am sure you are familiar with the main grape varieties we grow here in New Zealand.  We are of course famous for our Sauvignon Blanc and it was the planting of this grape in Marlborough that really began the change in the New Zealand wine production.  Pinot Noir planting in Martinborough and Canterbury in the early 80’s, resulting in some fantastic wines from this challenging grape, lead to Pinot Noir being planted in other areas such as Central Otago and Marlborough.    More recently it has been found that New Zealand can produce some wonderful Syrah which has surprised our Australian cousins who are of course famous for their bold Shiraz Wines, Shiraz and Syrah being the same variety.   

How variety affects the wines flavour is complex subject.  Different varieties have a different chemical makeup that upon fermentation can produce different compounds.  For example the buttery flavour that some chardonnays have (diacetyl) or the green vegetal flavours that you can find in Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon (methoxypyrazines).  Don’t worry about remembering the chemistry it really is just to demonstrate that there is a lot of complex chemistry when it comes to wine flavour and sometimes when you taste “apple” in a wine you might be picking up on a compound that is found in apples.  Viticulturists  and Winemakers use different techniques in the vineyard and winery to enhance or reduce some of these flavour characteristics depending on what style of wine they are wanting to produce.

Later on I will be looking at individual varieties and give you some idea about what to expect from them and what to look out for when purchasing them.  To make things more complicated wines made from the same variety in different regions can taste very different and you can also get a variation in flavour within a region and of course between vintages.  One thing that is for certain is that wine is not boring!