New Zealand should concentrate on red wine more than it does. Plus, the secret menace!

Master of Wine Steve Smith, who is also the Director of Wine and Viticulture at Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay, was recently in the news saying that New Zealand should stop for a moment and concentrate on making its reds even better, rather than going off on all these new "fashion" varieties making the rounds (Grüner Veltliner, anyone??).

There's a lot of merit to that sentiment -New Zealand can do great reds, starting with Pinot noirs, Merlots, Syrahs and even overlooked varieties such as Malbec. As well as his mention of Craggy Range and Felton Road, some other noteworthy producers of reds in Aotearoa are Fromm Estate, Forrest Estate, Mount Difficulty, Millton Vineyard, Kumeu River, Te Mata Estate and a host of others on Waiheke Island. And in one fell swoop, I have left out loads of other wineries that produce great tasting reds on a consistent basis...

It will take more work in the vineyard to get this right, starting from the beginnings of site selection and all the rest that goes after it. But done right, and in suitable places, it should be possible to consistently produce great quality reds right here in our little patch of land in the Pacific Ocean.

Let's go to it, guys!!

However, Steve Smith also lets loose a huge cannonball, which is probably the one that should be making headlines in the eyes of viticulturists in New Zealand:

"This year would be the last for the Les Beaux Cailloux [one of their best Chardonnays, ed.] due to the onset of leaf roll virus which is threatening to spread to neighbouring vines with red grapes."

 Grapevine Leafroll associated Viruses, in particular, the Type 3 variant, are insidious beasts, which are working their way through our vines - slowly, but surely becoming something that we will have to manage much more actively in the near future.

It's primary means of spread is via mealybugs or less often, scale insects. The habitat range of mealybug in particular is spreading, and so goes Leafroll Viruses with it.

So far, there is no way to cure infected vines, so control is limited to pulling out infected vines (and often the neighboring vines as well), planting with virus-free stock, and trying to prevent the mealybug vectors from coming in again.

The latter point will be crucial for eventual effective management of the disease - much more research into how the virus and its vector(s) can be controlled is needed, and here in New Zealand conditions - we can't rely on overseas work alone.

Here's hoping that some virologists and entomologists out there and eager to take up the challenge!!

GM vines out in the open? UPDATE

Back in May I noted a story that said that French researchers were trialling genetically modified vines outside.

Recently it was reported that the trial site had been vandalised. It turns out that they were testing some vines made to be more resistant to Grapevine Fanleaf virus (pdf information sheet from Western Australia here), which is a debilitating and non-curable disease found in many wine producing areas of the world.

The planting was destroyed, so it is a big setback for the evaluation of genetically modified vines.

With the challenges facing the human race, in terms of being able meet the demands for dramatic reductions in the use of pesticides while at the same time increasing the productivity of plants and their quality as well, there needs to be a considerable amount of  well informed and robust debate about the role that GMOs may have in our futures.

As far as I can tell, at the moment any debate going on is neither well informed, nor robust: something I hope changes, and soon!

China and the Wine City -part 2

The second full day we had in Yantai, the Wine City, we were able to visit the International Wine City, Changyu, established in 2002 (so I was told, though another source suggested that it was in September 2008). This is what I described as the Disneyland of Chinese wine, covering 100ha. Uncountable great busloads of tourists (well, Changyu counts them, and told me that 100,000 visit per year, though the other source said it was as many as 1,000,000 in the first four months that it was open!) funnel through the gates to learn about winemaking, see the spectacle of grapevines growing, taste some wine and grapes and if they come at the right time of year, partake of harvest and even a bit of grape stomping! Entry is a nominal 30RMB each (about USD4.40 or NZD6.10), but the City is used as a way to get people interested in wine, and to learn more about how to appreciate it. They employ a (Western) sommelier to help with this by offering programmes on wine appreciation and the like.

The Grape Tasting Corridor in the Wine City. Here, patrons can sample grapes, wine, and nibble on biscuits, sweets and cheese.

On site is a museum, a huge Chateau, vineyards and of course, a sales room!

The Chateau in the Wine City - a massive and impressive building, meant to spar with the best that France has to offer

All very impressive, and yet, incongruous, as this City is situated in an Yantai industrial park near the south shore of Bohai Straight, between Bohai Sea and Korea Bay, where condominiums reach towards the stars...

Picturesque vineyards surrounded by massive condos, construction cranes and industrial offices

As a viticulturist, I was shocked by the virus status of the vines, which made the vineyards look like a patchwork of red and green. It seems that there is little clean material available, and no guidelines are in place to monitor and try to keep it out of the nurseries. In fact, that would do little to help, as most of the vine material being planted is simply collected from existing vines and poked into the soil. As I've noted before, the sandy soils aren't phylloxera-friendly, so own-rooted vines won't be beleaguered by the pest.

However, vine virus status aside, looking at the International Wine City with a marketing and tourism hat on, it was a marvel. There's no doubt that China is taking the whole wine experience to heart!