"Right now, New Zealand wine is captivating wine fans across the globe."
This is a fact.
However, if told that out of the blue, many of you might think, "Really?"
In Japan, when people think of wine countries, most likely France comes to mind first. Beyond that, the wines that stand out on shelves at liquor stores and supermarkets are those from Chile, Italy, Spain, or Australia; you might rarely see New Zealand wine.
Even in the data, New Zealand sits at 11th place in the ranking of wine-importing countries in Japan, so it could still be said to have a modest presence.
However, when it comes to their global presence, it is a different story.
"New Zealand wine is a taste you never forget once you've had it!"
"This restaurant has great taste for stocking New Zealand wine."
"I want to drink New Zealand wine on special occasions."
Right now, voices like these are being raised all over the world.
Why?
Because the character of New Zealand wine stands out clearly compared to other countries.
The fact that its character stands out means that the memory of its taste remains in your brain. It could even be said that for wine fans around the world, "the taste of New Zealand" is remembered as "a taste with a strong personality."
I will tell you about the characteristics of NZ wine, including what that personality is, its history, and its grape varieties.
What are the characteristics of NZ wine? And its history
Now, as I touched upon earlier, what is the strong personality of NZ wine?
It is, quite simply, "the aroma and taste of Sauvignon Blanc."
Wine made from Sauvignon Blanc (a white wine variety) grown in New Zealand has a powerful impact.
The moment you smell the aroma rising from the glass, you are hit with the scents of many fruits, as if you were in an orchard.
And when you take a sip, everyone is surprised by its explosive fruitiness. It has such strong fruitiness, juiciness, and a refreshing herbal quality that you might wonder if it was made from grapefruit or herbs.
This characteristic aroma and taste set it apart from the Sauvignon Blanc of other countries. Therefore, in the wine industry, it is recognized that:
"Among all the Sauvignon Blanc in the world, the New Zealand-produced ones are special."
Furthermore, recently there are several high-quality red wines that are second to none in France, and they are distributed at prices more affordable than those from France.
People who once only drank European wines have started choosing New Zealand wines in recent years, and supermarkets and restaurants all over the world are purchasing large quantities of New Zealand wine, saying "We want to stock it, too."
Responding to that demand, New Zealand's wine export volume has been growing rapidly, and now 80% of total production is exported.
History of NZ Wine
Now, let's touch a little on the "history" of the New Zealand wine that is fascinating the world.
1819
Samuel Marsden plants the first grapevines in New Zealand at Kerikeri, Northland.
1835
The first vineyard for wine production in New Zealand is opened.
1836
British settler James Busby makes the first wine at Waitangi.
1875
Wine production begins in Marlborough, which is now the largest production area.
1881
A special license was introduced to protect the sale of wine in New Zealand.
1897
Around this time, the representative grapes of New Zealand were Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
1902
Romeo Bragato introduces Old World cultivation techniques and new brewing techniques, beginning the reform of the wine industry. A viticulture department is established within the New Zealand government.
1906
Sauvignon Blanc, which would become the representative variety of New Zealand, is introduced.
1912
The Department of Agriculture launches a strengthening of support for grape farmers, recommending the production of high-alcohol, sweet wines.
1960
The sale of wine in restaurants and other establishments is permitted.
1973
Dr. Becker from the Geisenheim Research Institute in Germany, famous for viticulture and enology, recommends the cultivation of Müller-Thurgau in Gisborne. This marks the beginning of the transition to modern wine production.
1976
The wine boom occurs.
1990s–
Production of Sauvignon Blanc increases significantly. It receives high acclaim both domestically and abroad, becoming the representative wine of New Zealand.
2000s–
The wine industry develops in earnest, and the number of wineries and production volume increase dramatically.
A rising wine nation that caught up with the world in just 40 years
First, the surprising fact is that it has only been about 40 years since New Zealand began producing wine that is competitive on the world stage.
Unlike in Europe, there are few producers who have inherited winemaking from generation to generation; most are relatively new producers, like the first or second generation.
Until the 1970s, dairy farming and livestock were the core of New Zealand's industry. Dairy products and meat were famous, but there were only a handful of wineries. Naturally, almost no wine was exported.
However, in the 40 years since then, the number of wineries has increased rapidly (there are now over 670), and it has grown into an industry that supports the country, with annual wine exports exceeding 130 billion yen.
In the background of that...
- In the 1970s, a vast area suitable for growing grapes, Marlborough, was found in New Zealand, which had been said to be too cold for viticulture.
- In Marlborough, the aforementioned "Sauvignon Blanc that fascinates the world" began to be mass-produced.
- There are many producers who study hard and improve their skills to catch up with traditional European countries, leading to the successive creation of high-quality wines.
Due to these factors, New Zealand gained the reputation it has today.
Beginners should learn about "grape varieties" through New Zealand wine
Wine is a beverage made 100% from grapes. Basically, it contains no water.
In other words, the aroma and taste of a wine are determined by what kind of grape is used as its raw material.
Although the world of wine has an image of being somewhat difficult, in reality, once you acquire the habit of tasting while being conscious of the raw material's "variety" and "country," you gradually begin to understand the differences.
At this time, I recommend the method of "increasing your experience by choosing wines of different varieties from the same country."
Japan is a country that imports wine from all over the world.
While it is good to be able to enjoy wines from various countries, if you choose them simply for reasons like "the label looks nice" or "the price is reasonable," you won't be able to learn them in a structured way. This will just increase the number of times you've been drunk, and your knowledge of wine won't improve much.
So, for the time being, narrow down the country.
Drinking various varieties among the wines made in one country is the shortcut to becoming skilled at wine. This way, you can easily grasp the characteristics, such as "this variety from this country has these features."
And in practicing that method, New Zealand wine can be said to be the most suitable.
Because...
First of all, there are basically few blended wines. Since there are many wines made from a single variety, it is easy to grasp the character of the variety without wavering.
Second, each variety has an easy-to-understand character. It can be said to be a country with few wines that have complex or tricky tastes.
Third, it is also significant that the varieties grown in New Zealand are all major varieties grown all over the world. If you build your foundation in New Zealand, you have the advantage of being able to apply that knowledge to other countries.
By all means, please utilize this site and try challenging yourself to input basic wine knowledge using New Zealand wine.
On this page, let's deepen that basic knowledge even further.
Links are provided for each grape variety and production area, so if you are interested, please feel free to click through and continue reading.
New Zealand wine grape varieties
As mentioned earlier, the most important white wine grape variety is Sauvignon Blanc. It boasts an overwhelming share, with 76% of New Zealand wine being Sauvignon Blanc.
By the way, even for Koshihikari, the representative rice variety of Japan, the share is 33% of the total. From this, you can see how much Sauvignon Blanc is the variety representing the country.
| Variety (White) | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Sauvignon Blanc | Scents of citrus and herbs. Very fresh and refreshing. The synonymous variety of New Zealand wine. Accounts for 76.5% of total production (2022). |
| Chardonnay | The world's No. 1 popular white wine grape variety. In New Zealand, while hidden in the shadow of Sauvignon Blanc, it is popular as a raw material for high-end wine. |
| Pinot Gris | With a honey-like aroma, it is made in a style with some richness in New Zealand. |
| Riesling | Distinctive aromas like green apple or petroleum. Strong acidity. Ranges from sweet to dry. |
| Gewürztraminer | Aromas of lychee and pineapple. Distinctive aroma. Ranges from sweet to dry. |
Next is red wine grapes.
Although production volume is small compared to white wine grapes, many high-quality ones are produced.
Among them, Pinot Noir is highly rated by wine enthusiasts and critics around the world.
| Variety (Red) | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Pinot Noir | Elegant and delicate taste. Central Otago is the representative production area. 6.7% of the total variety. |
| Merlot | A blending variety often used in red wine. Elegant and mellow taste. |
| Sangiovese | A representative Italian variety, with a wide range of tastes. |
| Syrah | A spicy, powerful, wild grape. Called "Shiraz" in Australia. |
| Cabernet Franc | The ancestor of Cabernet Sauvignon. Soft, smooth, and has a somewhat light mouthfeel. |
| Cabernet Sauvignon | A representative red wine grape. Rich in tannins (astringency component), with a firm structure. |
| Petit Verdot | A dark and astringent grape. Rarely used alone. An auxiliary variety for red wine blending. |
| Malbec | Its taste is so deep it is sometimes called black wine. A variety that was a big success in Argentina. |
New Zealand wine production areas
New Zealand has a North Island and a South Island. Since it is located in the Southern Hemisphere, the direction of the sunrise and the four seasons are all the opposite of Japan.
In terms of climate, the North Island is "warmer" than the South Island.
▶ Tourism information and other non-wine information about New Zealand
The most important wine production area is the "Marlborough region," located at the northernmost tip of the South Island.
Marlborough is the most important production area, generating more than 70% of New Zealand wine.
The majority of New Zealand wine available in Japan is from this Marlborough region. Because it is such a major geographical name—so much so that when one says New Zealand, they say Marlborough—please be sure to remember it.
Once you can remember Marlborough, it is the next step. It gets a bit more geeky, but when a name other than Marlborough appears on a label, please look at its characteristics from the table below.
By the way, in Japan, production areas are often divided by "prefecture name" and "district," such as "Yamanashi prefecture, Katsunuma district wine," but in New Zealand, it is a little different.
A division that feels like a combination of "region name" and "prefecture name" in Japan (like the image of Yamanashi prefecture in the Koshin'etsu region) is called a "region," and it is simply notated as "XX region." In other words, it is used in such a way that "the representative region is the Marlborough region."
The "YY district" in Japan is called a "sub-region," and it is used in such a way as "the sub-regions of Marlborough include Wairau Valley, Southern Valleys, and Awatere Valley."
Now, let's look at the production areas in detail from here.
Starting with the North Island.
The North Island has five wine regions. This is also where New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, and Wellington, the city with capital functions, are located.
| North Island | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Northland Region | The area where grapevines were first planted. Quite warm. |
| Auckland Region | New Zealand's largest city. Waiheke Island, known as a resort area, is also called the "wine island." |
| Gisborne Region | The easternmost production area. Famous for Chardonnay cultivation. |
| Hawke's Bay Region | The second largest production area after Marlborough, and the largest production area on the North Island. About 7.8% of New Zealand's total production (2022). With abundant sunlight, production of red wine grape varieties is flourishing. |
| Wairarapa Region | The area called Martinborough within this region is known as a famous production area for Pinot Noir. |
Next, the South Island.
The South Island has four regions.
This area has high mountains (Southern Alps) stretching from north to south, which block rain clouds, making it easy for grapes to grow.
| South Island | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Marlborough Region | World-famous as an unrivaled Sauvignon Blanc production area. The country's most important production area, accounting for 77.7% of New Zealand's total production. |
| Nelson Region | West of Marlborough, abundant sunlight. Also famous as a production area for fruit cultivation and hops, an ingredient in beer. |
| Canterbury/Waipara Region | Wine production areas are scattered over a wide area. Home to Lincoln University, a prestigious school that has sent out numerous winemakers. |
| Central Otago Region | Producing high-quality Pinot Noir that rivals the Burgundy region of France, it is garnering global attention. Also has many high-quality aromatic white wines. |
The miracle climate said to have "four seasons in one day"
As mentioned above, production areas have various personalities, but the image of the climate that runs through all of New Zealand is that it is "a somewhat cool and pleasant climate."
The fact that this climate matched grape growing was a major factor in the rapid spread of winemaking in New Zealand.
Above all...
The temperature difference is so intense that they say there are four seasons in a single day.
This is the optimal condition for growing grapes.
In New Zealand, even in summer, it gets quite cool when the sun goes down, to the point where long sleeves are necessary in the morning and evening.
If grapes ripen all at once in a hot place, the acidity is lost and it doesn't taste very good. It is a plant that prefers an environment where it can grow slowly while bathing in the summer sun.
It makes nutrients through photosynthesis during the day, and when the temperature drops at night, the activity of the grape tree stops. Then, it welcomes the next morning without losing the nutrients it stored during the day, and creates nutrients again during the sunny daytime.
The place that can create that best cycle is one with a difference in temperature between day and night.
Be that as it may, until the 1970s, despite the favorable condition of the day-night temperature difference, it was still said that it was too cool overall, and it was hard to find a variety that would grow well in this climate.
However, once the variety that prefers cool places, "Sauvignon Blanc," was planted in "Marlborough" and succeeded, it was proven that high-quality wine could also be produced in New Zealand.
Winemaking with free ideas, precisely because it is a latecomer
New Zealand has a short history of winemaking. Grapes were first planted about 200 years ago, and only about 40 years have passed since commercial wine began to be made.
However, if you think that this shallow history puts it in a disadvantageous position in the world of wine, that is not at all the case. There are many ambitious people who operate wineries in New Zealand who want to catch up with—or even surpass—Europe, and they are performing winemaking that is not bound by tradition.
Mainly in Europe, the current winemaking methods have been established over thousands or hundreds of years. Therefore, methods using old-fashioned traditional practices and modern technology, where cultivation and brewing have become scientific, coexist.
Many New Zealand wineries focus on that modern technology and make wine very rationally.
Here, "rational" does not mean mechanical, but means deciding their own style based on the results of research in various lands.
Starting with where to plant grapes, what kind of wine to make with what variety, and how to sell that wine, they study hard and, while staring at research data, they pursue their own taste.
A New Zealand wine-related person said:
"We joined the party called wine late. That's why it's natural for us to work hard to catch up."
Screw cap adoption rate is over 99%
Traditionally, natural corks have been used for wine stoppers, but now, synthetic corks and "screw caps" that can be opened without using a corkscrew have also become quite common.
In New Zealand, this screw cap is adopted at a rate of over 99%.
This is because natural corks have a risk of being mixed with things that give off a foul odor called "bouchonné," so most wineries have judged that it is better if that risk is extremely low.
It can also be said to be a characteristic unique to a new wine-producing country that seeks rationality.
However, there is also an argument that "doesn't the wine properly age in the bottle if it's a screw cap?"
Actually, however, there are many cases where wine with a screw cap that had been stored for many years aged properly, and in New Zealand, there are wineries that adopt screw caps even for high-end wine.
A country full of boutique wineries
Nearly 90% of New Zealand wineries are small family-run wineries called boutique wineries.
The advantage unique to boutique wineries is that they can pay attention to details such as caring for grape trees, harvesting, selection, and brewing. For that reason, in New Zealand, many high-quality wines where each winery demonstrates its personality are being created.
However, because the scale is small and they take time and effort, the price will also be high to some extent. If you taste the wine of a discerning boutique winery, it often falls into a price range of over 2,000 yen in Japan.
Making organic wine in the midst of great nature
Of the producers who make New Zealand wine, over 94% are organic or sustainable wineries. There are many wineries that satisfy the strict organic standard unique to New Zealand called "BioGro," and organic cultivation that makes the most of the power of nature, avoiding reliance on agricultural chemicals as much as possible, is actively carried out.
New Zealand's great nature and organic wine, which is the benefit of that great nature, have images that overlap perfectly; and now that the organic-oriented mindset is continuing to rise globally, it is accepted as a highly valuable item.
