Having expressed some disappointment in the majority of New Zealand wines I tried whilst in the country it is time to redress the balance and highlight some excellent bottles.

‘Savvies’ (the local term for Sauvignon Blanc wines) dominate the line up and are what we most associate with New Zealand. I tasted dozens of examples; from the Marlborough fruit style, to oaked, orange and natural. My criticism was about how many producers simply aim to copy the classic Marlborough style. I enjoy these wines as much as anyone, some of my favourite examples from this trip were Astrolabe, Cloudy Bay (of course), Framingham, Greywacke, Saint Clair, Te Whare Ra. Best of all was the Hunter’s Sauvignon Blanc 2024, more restrained than most with good concentration and layers of flavour including mid-palate – altogether adding up to a clear identity and character. Hunter’s was one of the first NZ estates I bought from so it was good to see they are still going strong. The common factor of all of these wines was that they had concentration, character and developed in the glass. That’s what other producers should be trying to achieve not a one dimensional fruit hit.

I have always had mixed feelings about oaked Savvies, feeling that oak would take away the grape’s main appeal, the tropical fruit notes. So, it was a pleasant surprise to find some very good examples of this fumé style. The best was undoubtedly Cloudy Bay’s Te Koko 23. I have had some of the previous bottles and not been convinced but this was really well made, the oak more subdued and genuinely supporting fruit whilst maintaining acidity and freshness. I also enjoyed Otago’s Carrick Estate Sauvignon Blanc 22 which was lightly oaked, barely noticeable but adding a little complexity to a good wine. Finally, Te Mata, better known for its Hawke’s Bay reds like Coleraine. I thought it too managed the oak very well, featuring the Savvie notes but with added complexity in its Cape Crest 22.

Other white grape fared less well overall. Chardonnays tended to be made with a lot of oak and that is not a style which appeals to me. Maybe this is down to the youth of NZ winemaking, I got the impression a lot of producers want to ape the Old World classics and forget to highlight their main strength, the clean fruit. Two bottles bucked that trend. Felton Road (Otago) made two of my favourite wines from the trip including the Bannockburn Chardonnay 22, a wine which carried weight, fruit and freshness, extremely well made. Brookfields in Hawke’s Bay was the other Chardonnay success, its Bergman 24 shows good concentration and gentle wood influence.

Pinot Gris has found a niche in New Zealand. Like the Chardonnays I enjoyed some more than others. Brookfields again starred, its Robertson 24 full of white fruits and a pleasant sweetness reflecting a hot vintage in 2023, very much like an Alsace Pinot Gris. I also recommend Otago’s Stoneridge Estate Nockie’s Palette Pinot Gris 23 made in a much drier style with appley fruit and clean, spicey notes. (The estate itself is one of the most beautiful wineries I have ever visited). I also rated highly another white made by Felton Road, its Dry Riesling 23 with appealing savoury notes, limey and lingering. Felton Road is a winery I would love to have visited. Finally a lovely wine from Burn Cottage, also in Central Otago. Riesling again but blended with Gruner Veltliner and delivering lovely citrus freshness and balanced fruit in its 2020 version.

White wine makes up 83% of New Zealand’s overall production, it’s what I tend to think of when I look to the country. As I said last time it was a red wine, the aforementioned Te Mata Coleraine, which convinced me that NZ could produce great reds. This trip convinced me of that fact.

Our first stay was in the Hawke’s Bay region because I had heard great things about its reds especially the Gimblett Gravels area. As its name suggests the gravel soils are what makes this area special, the heat being retained in the gravel rocks which heat up the vineyards in early spring and retain heat during the nights. Add in the influence of the sea nearby and this area can ripen red grape varieties more than expected.

Some of the best reds I had during the trip were from the region with Syrah to the fore. Saint Clair’s Syrah Gimblett Gravels 21, for example, offered smooth, easy drinking with classic notes of spice and red fruits, a lovely wine. Church Road Estate has been winning a lot of praise and rewards recently and its Grand Reserve Syrah 21 showed why with concentrated fruit and spice, powerful but drinkable and ageability. Mission Estate’s Syrah Gimblett Gravels 21 was just as good. I was convinced, Hawke’s Bay is making really good red wines. I also enjoyed an unusual variety from Church Road, Marzemino 2019 with earthy dark fruits and a lot of character. Marzemino is a variety usually found in the Alto Adige in Italy and this bottle showed how experimentation could really boost New Zealand’s wine range.

My favourite red from Hawke’s Bay though was from a grape which has featured many times in my wine year, Cabernet Franc. Moreover, it was from a new, natural wine producer, Amoise, the work of Amy Farnsworth. I bought a couple of bottles from the excellent Napier wine bar, Matisse. The orange wine was nice but the Cabernet Franc 23 was excellent. Raspberry fruits, long lasting and fresh – outstanding wine from such a new producer.

Surprisingly, Pinot Noir is the second most planted variety after Sauvignon Blanc with 13% of NZ vines. South Island is the home of Pinot Noir in New Zealand though, especially Central Otago. This was my second visit and I was even more convinced that this is a great wine region. A lot of New World Pinot Noir tries to imitate Burgundy and I find many to be too oaky, just as I did with NZ Chardonnay. Alternatively many producers go for ripe, sweet fruits which I find tiring to drink. I experienced both of these on the trip but an increasing number of really well made wines balancing fruit, acidity and complexity.

My favourite examples revolved around the story of Alan Brady, an Irishman who settled in Otago and ignored advice that Pinot Noir wouldn’t grow well in the area. His Gibbston Valley winery brought in local born Grant Taylor, a successful winemaker in Napa, California. Taylor soon made great Pinots for many estates in the region including Mt. Difficulty, Carrick and Felton Road. He then moved to Valli and famously achieved the award of World’s Best Pinot Noir at the International Wine Challenge in London (he has now won this award four times). I liked the Valli Pinot Noirs a lot, very Burgundian with good fruit but lovely balance. Valli is now the work of Jen Parr and it was no coincidence that one of my favourite red wines was the Pinot Noir 19 from Stoneridge’s Nockie’s Palette, made by her too. And then I enjoyed a flight of Pinots with dinner one evening and star of the show was Wild Earth 19, made by… Jen Parr. Clearly the Brady/Taylor/Parr connection has paid off.

However, it was a visit to Kinross winery that brought my favourite examples of red Otago wines. They run a wine club which has the rights to other wines and they made me want to join!! Valli’s Bannockburn Pinot Noir 21 was very aromatic and the red fruit notes carried into the flavours with good acidity and tannins.

This was followed by Alan Brady’s Wild Irishman Tuturi 23 made in a relatively new area of Otago, the Alexandra Valley. This was aromatic but more serious, it needs time. The colour was an attractive red rose and the flavours were spicy with plummy fruits and ripe tannins. It will be lovely in two or three years but is already very good. Best of all though was High Garden Vineyard 23. This is the winery established by Master of Wine Robin Tedder and is dedicated to producing single vineyard wines of character. High Garden vineyard is on a hillside which gives the vines ninety minutes more sunshine than vines on the plains despite being only sixty metres higher. The wine is still closed and youthful but there were powerful fruit and spice aromas and deep flavours of red and dark fruits. It was a truly excellent wine, made by …. yes, Jane Parr, what a star!

There were other good wines but I hope that I have already convinced you that New Zealand is producing great wines and, as the vines mature and the winemakers gain confidence to experiment, the wines will only get better. Give them a go.

I’m biased because my great friend James Madden lives and makes great wines in the region but, given a free choice, I’d always choose Adelaide Hills as my favourite Australian wine centre. In the first place it is a beautiful area with rolling, sometimes steep, green hills just a few kilometres from the centre of Adelaide. Small villages, fruit orchards and vineyards present much greater variety and wildlife than regions such as The Hunter and Yarra Valleys.

Visiting the Adelaide Hills in 2018 I was fortunate to be taken by James to meet very good winemakers such as Gareth Belton (Gentle Folk) and James Erskine (Jauma), falling for their great wines and the natural beauty of their vineyards with spectacular views across valleys and greenery. Changes afoot in the Hills though and that ties in with a trend against natural wine in Australia. James had mentioned to me that most winemakers, even when producing 0/0 organic, sulfite free wines, are not using the word ‘natural’ as there has been a kick back amongst Australian winemakers. This matched a comment from Howard Stamp, owner of Bar Thyme in Melbourne, who no longer describes natural on his wine list. It’s a great shame to me that people have to almost surreptitiously disguise their clean winemaking but people have to make a living. Gareth still farms organically but has become interventionist and conventional in winemaking practice though people like James Erskine and James Madden still work ‘naturally’.

A scheduled visit to Jauma had to be put aside unfortunately, due to family circumstances, but we made an enjoyable trip out to the Barossa and Eden valleys. The Eden valley, despite its name, looks much more desolate than the Barossa, its landscape looking almost parched even in Spring. It is home to excellent Riesling and Shiraz such as the famous Hill Of Grace. We drove around the Barossa and visited tourist oriented wineries such as Seppeltsfeld and towns such as Tanunda and Lyndoch, home of famous wineries such as St. Hallett whose Old Block Shiraz was a key wine in my education. Unfortunately modern producers such as Mac Forbes were unavailable for visits but good organic wines such as Kalleske’s Moppa Shiraz were much enjoyed.

By good fortune we managed to meet up with winemaker Brendon Keys, proprietor with his wife Kirstyn, of BK Wines based in Uraidla. Brendon kindly invited us up to his winery and new cellar door, so new that James hadn’t been before, and he led us through an extensive tasting from barrels, eggs and bottles. The wines were consistently very good right across the range. Brendon has somewhat bucked the trend I mentioned above by becoming less interventionist and the results were energetic, clean wines full of fruit, character and complexity.

The grapes are bought in and included many varieties including some interesting Nebbiolo in barrel. Personal favourites were The Fall Chardonnay from Carey Gulley, the 23 from bottle and 24 still in barrel showed fruit, minerality and freshness and the beautifully made Yellow Wine Blue Sky, a Savagnin made under flor and tasting fresh, yeasty and persistent. A fortuitous meeting, much appreciated.

We were staying with James Madden and his family in their new home which happens to be next door to perhaps the region’s most famous natural producer Anton van Klopper of Lucy Margaux wines. He kindly invited us up one evening and whilst the children enjoyed the homemade pizza Anton shared a number of bottles. I will confess that some of Anton’s wines have been a bit too unpredictable for me at times but I can honestly say that every one of the bottles opened that evening were clean and, simply, excellent. Certainly amongst the best wines of the whole month in Australia.

From the parcels of vines spread across the hills to the carefully produced labels Anton puts his heart and soul into the wines. He also has a new market garden venture partly run by Andrew Douglas who did harvest with us at Jeff Coutelou’s in 2023.

Anton himself is often portrayed as a wild man of natural wines. That may be the case but I met a generous, thoughtful, searching man passionate about nature and the wines he makes, always wanting to learn about them and about life. I had a great time and enjoyed bottles such as the Gamay of Noir de Florette, the terrific Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon Sensual and especially the Homeblock with its Pinot Noir and lots of other grapes mixed in. Such a beautiful place to live too.

I’ll conclude with James’ wines which stand tall with any others. When I visited in 2018 he was working under the name Little Things but a big company objected as they called one of their wines by that name. He changed to Scintilla which essentially means the same thing of course. I was thrilled by James’ first wines back then, have tasted one or two of the Scintilla wines since but was happy to share a number of the wines with him and with Andrew who has done a lot of work to help James.

The wines are consistently clean, vibrant and a pleasure to drink with good fruit and complexity. He puts a lot of time into the sourcing of his grapes and getting the highest standard with which to work. He is also starting to buy vines and, on his new property, is planning where to plant more vines of his own, together with his partner Sam and their two lovely daughters. The small winery on the property is just big enough to cope with the production and he works with barrel and eggs to cultivate his wines before bottling and labelling by hand.

I liked his Mountain Pinot Noir 23, true to the grape in being light and fruity with a nice acidity but the whites were the big hitters. Sauvignon Blanc again, this time skin contact made was a treat, just enough maceration to give texture whilst bolstering the fruit, Moontide Maceration 23. My favourites though were the single vineyard Chardonnays, River and Forrest, both different and reflecting their vineyards with generous fruit and a clean, refreshing finish. Good man James, be proud.

A great way to finish our stay in Australia before heading to New Zealand. I heartily recommend the Adelaide Hills to anyone planning a visit Down Under or buying wines and, of course, any of the producers I have mentioned. Love and thanks to James, Sam, Flo and Augie for putting up with us.

After all the hard work of the first week and a half with the main picks completed successfully there remained lots of the more interesting grapes to bring in. The main picks remaining were the Carignan of Rec D’Oulette and Mourvèdre of Segrairals. Of more interest were the multitude of different cépages / varieties which make Jeff Coutelou’s vineyards and wines so fascinating.

Jeff, his niece Flora and Linus (see previous posts) shared lots of pictures of these picks on their social media and I share some of these here.

Jeff sent me the analyses of the wines and he was very positive, more so than usual, about the harvest overall. The wines are fermenting at a good pace and consistently, the alcohol levels at 13-14% are spot on for balanced wines. Everything is looking promising for the ’24 vintage which maybe Jeff and the rest of us were not expecting just a month ago.

The parcel which excited me most when I toured the vineyards in August was the Xarel-lo at the top of Peilhan. Despite being only 4 years old the bunches were full and ripening well and this is a variety which is making some of the best white wines in Spain and Catalunya in particular. I was, therefore, delighted to see the grapes being sorted and looking so well, I can’t wait to taste the resulting wine.

Reaching the finishing line in such style was a real boost, it was so good to hear Jeff so happy and positive. Therefore, it was doubly disappointing and infuriating to hear from Jeff that vandalism had returned on Sunday September 15th. Peilhan is the usual target as it is isolated and well away from the village of Puimisson. Once again someone had set fire to the hedge at the side of the main vineyard with its planting of trees and shrubs. I get so frustrated and angry about this and it must hurt Jeff but he was quick to respond with a message headed ‘RESILIENCE’ and a promise to replant even more trees and shrubs. Why someone hates Jeff’s desire to introduce biodiversity into a vast expanse of vineyards I cannot understand.

A sour note on which to finish what had been such a successful period of vendanges. We can only lend our support to Jeff. His resilience is one of many factors which make him such a talented vigneron.

After a traditional Sunday of rest week two of harvest with Jeff Coutelou recommenced with a LOT of fruit. I had only two days left before I started the journey back to North East England but there are some busy days ahead, more later.

I wrote last time that by getting a strong base of wines in tank Jeff is in a handy position to finish this year’s harvest well with plenty of options. I did, however, mention that there would be challenges ahead and that was another reason to get those early Syrah and Grenache tanks full. There was a little bit of rain on Sunday and the forecast contained the threat of a lot more and even storms at the end of this week. That would bring a temporary halt to picking as you don’t want grapes with a lot of water on them which would dilute the wine flavours. It would also make it more difficult for vehicles to get in and out of the vineyards to bring back the grapes. Therefore, Jeff was pushing us to work even harder to try and get ahead of the weather, as much as can be done without compromising the quality of the grapes. No picking early and under ripe just to avoid the weather, for example.

Rain would also increase the threat of damage to the grapes from rot. Though much of the Syrah was very dry and healthy it lacked volume in some vineyards such as Peilhan. The Cinsault on Saturday afternoon was picked just in time from a parcel of Segrairals where it ripens earlier than other rows of vines. A day or two of rain would have quickly made it go over the top though.

There has been some oidium (powdery mildew) in some parcels but nothing out of the ordinary. The main damage to some bunches has come from the perennial issue of ver de la grappe, grape worm. I have written about this many times before and it continues to be a problem with no real organic solution. Jeff has tried using tricholine, a white card containing the eggs of many tiny wasps which predate the grape worms. However, he seems resigned to them not having enough effect. The grape worms lay their eggs inside a bunch and they damage the bunches by piercing some grapes for food, the juice then runs on to other grapes in the bunch and this causes rot. Have a look at the bunch and the black powdery rot which results, up to the pickers and sorters to keep this out of the wine. Rain would simply compound that risk of rot.

On Monday we brought in the grapes for one of Jeff’s most successful new cuvées in recent years, Ploutelou. This is mainly Aramon, the traditional Languedoc grape which is having a small scale revival in recent years. The Aramon, from Segrairals vineyard, provided probably the best quality grapes of my six days of work. Lovely big, conical bunches many a dark black, others shining like rubies. Mixed in were some Mauzac, Aramon Gris, Clairette and Cinsault grapes.

One interesting point to emerge was the grappillon. These are bunches of grapes which grow from secondary flowering, after frost damage or pruning. They don’t ripen fully as a consequence but harvest brings some in, most have been removed as they will use up the vines’ energy at the expense of the main bunches. They will add acidity to the wine rather than flavour and depth. The photograph below shows a grappillon on the left and a full bunch (grappe) alongside. We don’t want to add many though.

Tuesday brought around seven tonnes of fruit, it was full on. Mostly this was the big, juicy Cinsault grapes from Segrairals from the older plantings than the Cinsault mentioned earlier. Once again there was Mauzac and Aramon Gris from a few vines planted in the parcel. The tanks were filling fast, a contrast to the meagre Syrah yields. Clairette was also brought in from Segrairals and direct pressed, it was already showing the slight bitterness which means that the resulting wine stays fresh and dry even with low alcohol.

The other big challenge Jeff now faces is utilising the team to best effect. Those full tanks require care and attention too, for example remontages to keep fresh the cap of skins floating on the wine. Bart, with his experience of winemaking in Tasmania, is taking charge of those jobs, helped by Flora and others. The balance has to be right between picking and processing grapes too, Jeff doesn’t want grapes piled up waiting to be processed because too many are picking, but he equally doesn’t want the sorting team to be standing around waiting for grapes. People, climate, machinery, pests – no wonder Jeff gets stressed. Fortunately he has been in good humour, things have gone well so far. Hopefully, that will survive the challenges and he and the team can finish vendanges with style.

In a horse race (or any other race for that matter) as the start falls behind you need to get into a prime position. Not too fast or you’ll use up all your energy before the finish. Not too slow so that if things go wrong you’re caught out and in no place to achieve what you want.

That’s how it has felt as the first week drew on at Jeff Coutelou’s this year. The Syrah grape is a fundamental part of the domaine. It is grown in four different vineyards and is used to make pure Syrah wines, such as legendary La Vigne Haute, or for blending into wines such as Classe and Le Vin Des Amis. It also matures relatively early and has formed the bulk of this week’s picks.

The grapes from Peilhan were suffering as I described in an earlier post but since then we have sorted several tonnes of lovely, fresh but ripe grapes in good condition. The sorting table has been mainly a question of sifting out snails, sticking to grapes for any water they can get, earwigs and dried leaves. The vibrating table means that the snails shells rattle and it easy to pick them out whilst it lets the smaller leaves, peduncles and any grit drop through the grilles. We remove larger detritus and any bunches affected by grape moths or oidium. The Syrah from La Garrigue was in very nice condition, Jeff even teased about making La Vigne Haute, I’ll try not to get too excited just yet.

Jeff decided on Thursday to pick some Cinsault which was a little underripe and only around 9% alcohol potential. Why? It will be used to balance some of the riper and higher alcohol yields such as some of the Syrah, adding freshness and energy as well as lowering that alcohol level. It’s decisions like these which mean that Jeff has put us in that pole position going into the second week. The base is there and now we can add the grapes to make very good wines.

White grapes were not ignored, I described the Muscat in the last post and since then the Clairette and Macabeu from Sainte Suzanne has been harvested too. This is a young plantation still, only four or five years old and the heat has got to it a bit. Macabeu had a downy underside on its leaves to help dissipate heat but even that has found 2024 a wee bit much. Nonetheless, early picking and direct pressing means that we have nice, fresh white wine in the tanks, just not enough of it really, the effects of the summer.

On touring the vineyard of Segrairals Jeff felt it was necessary to bring in the rest of the Cinsault, just a couple of days after the previous pick. In those two days there had been great changes, amazingly. The grapes were fuller and riper but they were threatening to go over the top just as quickly. Cinsault has very thin skins and full grapes which provide a rich target for grape worms, wasps and other insects and if they get to work then spoiled grapes in a bunch can turn the rest to vinegar. So, Saturday afternoon brought a lot of Cinsault, its size and generosity means that the big bunches soon fill the cases and we were working flat out sorting to get rid of any potential problems. Again, having that in tank to use for the cuvée 5SO or for blending to add lightness and fruitiness, means that Jeff has greater options in the coming days.

Saturday, in particular, was full on and the temperature hasn’t dropped below 30c any day this week. Sunday, and a day of rest, is a welcome break and chance for Jeff to look at the analyses and make his choices for what comes next. Back to the race analogy, the pace has been rapid but steady and we are placed well to go on and finish the race with energy and success. Problems and decisions remain, there is a threat of rain this week and the machinery has felt the pace of work and given a few headaches and lessons in French swear words with occasional breakdowns.

On to the prize!