Climate And Wine

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31832, 9 November 1968, Page 12

Climate And Wine

Climate is the limiting factor in the production of wine grapes —just as it is in the production of all other food crops.

Sun, soil, wind, and rain—it is the permutations of these which determine the body and bouquet of a wine. Wine grapes in the Northern Hemisphere are grown at latitudes ranging from 20 to 51 degrees; and in the Southern Hemisphere from 20 to, at present, about 40 degrees. In Australia wine grapes are grown from 32 to 38 degrees; in South Africa 33 to 34 degrees; in South America 31 to 34 degrees; and in New Zealand from 36 to 40 degrees. , This means that New Zealand viticulture is within the established latitudes, and that New Zealand grapes ripen under climatic conditions which compare broadly with those of the famous wine - growing areas of Europe and Australia—but only broadly, for there are other factors besides latitude in the New Zealand climate. The sea Is one of them. In the Northern Hemisphere the wine-growing areas extend further into the cooler latitudes than in the Southern Hemisphere, because of the influence of the warm Gulf Stream, which flows from the tropical Gulf of Mexico to Europe. And because New Zealand is an island our Summers are cooler than those of continental areas in the same latitudes. This limits our choice of wine grapes to those varieties which ripen early, and is said to be one of the reasons why, on the whole, our white wines are better than our reds.

But if our climate prevents our wines from achieving the robustness of many French and Australian wines, it does confer certain virtues upon them. One of these is delicacy; another is youth. New Zealand wines are renowned for their ability to be drunk young—and, in fact, sorne wines of last autumn’s vintage are already on the market, at the age of about nine months. The wine snob will not go past these wines, either; for 1968 is already regarded as a vintage year, at least for whites from the Henderson district. Henderson, near Auckland, with its mild winters and generous but even rainfall, is one of New Zealand’s major wine-producing districts; and the Auckland province is the biggest wine producer, with 465 acres planted in 1964 and continual increases since then. Hawke’s Bay is the other major area, its acreage planted In vines being only a little short of that in Auckland. The Hawke’s Bay winter is cooler than that of Henderson, its summer fractionally warmer, and its rainfall, though equally evenly distributed, very much lower. 'l

This means that the Hawke’s Bay wines differ from the Auckland wines, even when they are made from grape varieties also grown in Auckland, for climate influences not only the variety which may be chosen, but the character, flavour and sugar content of varieties from one district to another. The Gisborne area is another well-known, though much smaller, wine district, and some excellent wines are produced there. Minor wine-producing districts include Northland (the first grap vine in New Zealand was planted at Kerikerl in 1819 by Samuel Marsden, but today Kerikerl concentrates on citrus fruit), Thames, Waikato, and Nelson, but wines from these areas are Infrequently offered In Christchurch. The Nelson area, in fact, is much more widely known for the excellence of its apple wines than for the wine produced from its small acreage of vineyards. One district remains—and it is a district from which, many experts think. New Zealand could produce wines equal to the finest from the Rhine Valley. This is Central Otago, which has the hottest summers, the coldest winters, and the driest climate in New Zealand. Some of the first wines in New Zealand were made in Central Otago, from vines planted by goldminers who abandoned their claims on the Clutha, Arrow, Kawarau, and Shotover Rivers when the water rose in summer. Romeo Bragato, an Italian viticulturist lent to the New Zealand Government by the Government of Victoria in 1895 to report on the suitability of various areas for wine-growing, was an early advocate of winegrowing in Central Otago. Bragato tasted his first glass of New Zealand wine at Arrowtown in February of that year, and he found that “although made after the most primitive fashion, it reflected great credit on the producer, and need not be despised by anyone.” At Cromwell and Clyde he saw outdoor grapes ripe on February 25, and was con-

vlnced that “the summer climatic conditions here are conducive to the early ripening of the fruit" Later, he reported to the Government that he saw no “statable limit to the productiveness of that magnificent territory.” But no commercial vineyard was established in Central Otago. Growers in the area chose orchard crops, and made the area the nation's fruit bowl. In the last few years, however, there has been a reawakening of interest in Central Otago’s wine potential, experimental vineyards have been planted there, and wine has been made. But it will be some years before the publie will have a chance to sample the first vintage from Fruitlands.