Geoffrey Dean interviews WARREN GIBSON, winemaker for Trinity Hill in Hawkes Bay. In 2005, Winestate magazine named him ‘New Zealand Winemaker of the Year.’
Warren Gibson
What's your assessment of the current state of the New Zealand wine industry?
For some time now the general statistics of the NZ wine industry have been hugely biased by Marlborough sauvignon blanc. If you are outside of that particular subset, while you are included in the NZ story, you are in reality quite a different beast. That is not to say that the large increase in Marlborough sauvignon production does not affect those outside this subset.
I don’t really think there is significantly too much wine made in NZ at present, and it is unlikely there ever will be. The fact is that plantings and production (predominantly of Marlborough sauvignon blanc) have outgrown the immediate and budgeted sales curve. It will balance out in the next few years, particularly as the current environment has essentially stopped new plantings. Any grubbing-up of vines will hopefully come from lesser quality and unsustainable vineyards - this will be good for the industry as a whole.
The unfortunate thing is that we have temporarily compromised the image of the country’s industry by forced and 'stressed' sales to keep the wolf from the door. I think that there are presently too few producers in NZ creating heritage with their wines and brand. The ones that have will, and are, being rewarded. We need to make a greater proportion of wines here that are more interesting after five years than when bottled.
How much of a stumbling block has the strong NZ dollar been for maintaining exports?
It is no doubt an issue, but it often seems like a good excuse either from the sales team or importer when they choose not to take the wine on. The strong dollar can help us to reduce production costs – it brings down the price of new French oak barrels for example. Selling more wine domestically is obviously a smart option but in a limited market such as NZ, the potential is small and the consequences normally are the necessity for 'deals' and discounting to improve the volume of sales.
Is the spread of leafroll virus in the Gimblett Gravels of real concern to Hawkes Bay producers like Trinity Hill?
Yes, it is a problem as it is in other areas of NZ and other countries. However, there is a strong network of people ascertaining the level of the problem, and there are very good plans in place to minimize the issues. Most of the responsible producers in the region have a very good idea of the virus status of their vineyards and are using techniques such as “rogueing” of affected vines and/or complete removal of whole blocks. But given the current industry climate, it is difficult for some owners to justify the cost of removal and replanting. There will also be a certain percentage that will not acknowledge the problem.
What makes the Gravels so special?
Well, it is definitely a unique place. It is not an easy place to grow grapes and water stress can be a major issue. What consistently gives the wine quality is the combination of the free-draining nature of the soils and the relatively warm and early harvest which enables a broader range of varieties to reach good maturity. It would be difficult to class the Gravels as a complex soil but this does not seem to compromise the complexity that can be achieved in the syrahs, merlot/cabernet predominant blends and others.
Your own Bilancia La Collina vineyard makes some of the best syrah not just in New Zealand but also in the New World. How did that come to pass?
My wife, Lorraine, and I planted this hillside vineyard overlooking the Gravels in 1998, putting in a little viognier that goes into the syrah. The great unknown was what the wine would taste like from this site. I would like to tell you of all the soil, climate and other tests that we did to prove to ourselves that this would work out the way it has. However, there was a serious element of good fortune. The soil is largely made up of sandstone with some limestone flecking and random limestone boulders amongst the general profile. It faces North-West and is a sun (and wind) trap.
It was not until 2002 that we really made something of note. After a cool 2003 vintage, the vineyard really started kicking in in 2004. Another lesson often ignored – don’t push young vines into something they aren’t ready for. The great thing is that after five years the vineyard started producing wine with very dramatic red licorice, spice, blackberry and floral aromas and flavour. Something unique was always the aim.