THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1906. AUCKLAND VINEYARDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13235, 21 July 1906, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1906. AUCKLAND VINEYARDS.

For a variety of reasons viticulture has hitherto been generally neglected in New Zealand, although the great success which has attended the '.work of occasional experienced Auckland vignerons should; have convinced the public that Auckland province is well adapted to the growth of the grape and. to the making of light table wines. If further , proof were needed it would be found, in a visit to either of the experimental stations, in the " Waikato or at Hawke's Bay, -where, under the superintendence of Mr. Bragato, viticulturist to the Government, the . most satisfactory resultsi are being achieved. In spite of all this, however, !-.-■: distrust of open-air grapegrowing and lack of confidence in the possibilities of local wine-making are very hard to remove from the Auckland mind. This may be due to the high prices ..at • which grapes are sold - in the local market, com- ■ pared with those obtained in Sydney, and the advantages assumed to be possessed by Australia generally in its drier and hotter climate. Yet as a matter of fact the dryness and heat of the Australian States, instead of being advantageous to the vignerons, are a distinct disadvantage. It is in climates such as that of Auckland province, not in climates such as that of the wine-making Australian States, that the finest and lightest wines of the world are produced. Australia grows grapes freely and well; but they are much more suited to the making of raisins than to the making of wine. For the large proportion of sugar in the grapes that ripen under the hot Australian sun inevitably produces a large proportion of alcohol in the wine made from them. And the art of ■ wine-making is not to produce a' heavy and '.spirituous liquor, as intoxicating as whisky, but to produce a light and agreeable beverage, as, little spirituous, and consequently as little intoxicating, as possible. Some few days ago it was stated in our cable ; messages that the Australian, Agents-General-were asking the British authorities to raise the percentage of alcohol allowed " in colonial wines, admitted upon favourable terms, from 35 to 40 per cent. ; That is to say, the Australian wine factories, working in what is popularly;, supposed to be an ideal wine country, cannot; easily .manage to produce a. wane that contains one-third of pure

alcohol. Here, in New Zealand wines can easily be, produced which, contain only 12 per cent, of alcohol and less, while Mr. Bragato insists thatin tuna we shall be able to rival those famous vintages of which the alcoholic strength falls below 10 per cent* Already wine has been made in Hawke's Bay that contains only eight p*er cent., and in the Waikato that contains less than 10, results absolutely -impossible in any but the most congenial and suitable climate. The average alcoholic strength of the wines made in New Zealand is Hawke's ,: Bay, 11; : „ Wacrenga, ;.Waikato, 11.10; Kaipara, 12.04-— comparison which shows how speedily increasing climatic heat raises the alcoholic strength of wines. In Europe the average alcoholic percentages are Germany, 10.08; France, 10.34; Austria-Hungary, 11.70; Italy, 12.75; ; ; Spain, ; 14.05. What shall we say now of Australia as a wine country, with its London agents pleading for the admission of 40 per cent, alcohol wines? In one of the most carefully compiled and informative handbooks that has been yet issued by any of our' State Departments, Mr. Bragato gives. the scientific data by which the close approximation of the New Zealand averages to those/ of the greatest European wine countries is immediately explained. It is, as he points' out, merely a matter of climate and humidity, and for the winegrape the climate of Auckland Province is almost ideal. We have exactly the, temperatures at which the fruit ripens slowly but perfectly, with sufficient cold in the winter to rest the vines and to prevent them from becoming evergreen; the climate is not hot enough in summer to induce an excess of saccharine matter in the fruit, nor cold enough in the spring to affect the young buds. We have the temperatures and the humidities of, such winegrowing countries as Germany, France, and Northern Italy. So far from the rainfall being, excessive it is considerably below that of Florence, to whose famous wines those made in Auckland bear a great resemblance, and it is lightest in the ripening months. Our summers are usually fine and bright, and compare well with the summers of countries that lie within the corresponding isotherms in the Northern Hemisphere, which isotherms embrace all the best vineyard countries in Europe. But we cannot do better than quote Mr. Bragato's tabulated comparison between the various temperatures scientifically recognised as the best that can be obtained in viticulture and those which prevail in Auckland. This province draws very little upon that ample margin of variation within which winemaking is successfully carried on. The temperatures are given in degrees Fahrenheit. • ■■■'"' : , V '".;."'"■' AuckIdeal. r land. During bursting of buds ... 53-55 54.75 During blossoming aad setting of fruit? ... ... 64- 65.75 During period of maturing 62-70 67.25 During last 4-0 days . At least 66 " . 72.6 The Auckland temperatures are the averages of the past 19 years. > But those who wish to examine further into this interesting topic can do so for themselves in Mr. Bragato's official " Viticulture, in New Zealand." Enough has been quoted to': show, that while, we may hot be able to make the heavy and alcoholic wines which Australia is producing in enormous quantities we could make, what is infinitely more desirable from every point of view, a light and comparatively non-intoxicating table wine, which would, not only be the best article available to those who do f not intend to abandon entirely the use of alcoholic beverages, but would find a. ready and profitable sale in the United Kingdom. We can well understand the attitude towards wine of those who judge it by the Australian' 40 per cent, alcohol standard, but with wines at nine and 10 per cent, alcohol we might be better able to understand how it is that the true wine-drinking peoples are not drunkards. Having regard to the character and quality of its output, New Zealand vinegrowing and wine-making promises to justify the Departmental work, and ,is certainly deserving of more attention than that generally given to it by the general public. "