VARIETALS
Chardonnay (NZ's 'third' varietal after Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Noir) is Gisborne's predominant grape, followed by Gewürtztraminer
- plantings of Viognier, Semillon, Pinot Gris & Chenin Blanc followed Müller-Thurgau's demise. Recent reds to emerge include Merlot, Malbec & Pinotage, though the overall percentage of red plantings, compared to white, is not as high as in the Hawke's Bay.
TERROIR
NZ's most easterly wine region lies in a fertile river valley. Average temperatures range from the mid-30's over summer to 9°C in winter, with annual rainfall averaging 900mm, though compared to Marlborough Gisborne has less sunshine
hours & more rain. Most plantings are on flat, alluvial plains, where the soil is a mixture of silt & clay loams. The main sub-regions are Ormond, Central Valley & Patutahi. (overview)
HISTORY
Friedrich Wohnseidler released his first wine in 1921 & by the late '60's Wohnseidler was producing 2 million litres annually, with the area gaining a reputation for bulk. Corbans & Montana bought Gisborne grapes during the '60's, opening wineries there in the '70's. Based on Müller-Thurgau, these large plantings lead to a wine glut & a government vine-pull scheme in 1985. During the mid-1980's larger producers amalgamated as smaller boutique vineyards emerged.
ABC's of Chardonnay
'Anything But Chardonnay': A fashionable New World trend towards "ultra-oaky buttery brutes" in the 1990's created a backlash from which Chardonnay has taken some time to recover. Excess oak
camouflaged fruit flavours, allowing some winemakers to use inferior grapes in large quantity, further damaging Chardonnay's reputation.
Regional Variation: Warmer regions produce full-to-medium bodied Chardonnay with ripe fruit flavours, whilst cooler regions tend towards medium-to-light showing more minerality & citrus, with acidity increasing further south. Style is equally determined, though, by the individual winemaker using techniques such as malolactic fermentation & oak aging.
Paul Atwood (ICC judge): "Chardonnay is a blank canvas onto which winemakers stamp their own personality. Most winemakers have large egos, hence big, super-oaky wines! But the change in style has been quite remarkable in the last few years - we're starting to see wines now that are showing more elegance"
