NZ Listener

February 7-13 2009 Vol 217 No 3587

Kiwi utopia

by Michael Cooper

Waiheke Island lives up to its hype - and its prices

From the start, the idea of a red wine paradise on their doorsteps fired Aucklanders’ imaginations. The debut 1982 Goldwater Estate Cabernet Sauvignon won critical acclaim, and the 1985 vintage fetched the outrageous price of $18.50 a bottle. It encouraged others to plant vines on Waiheke, the beautiful, sprawling island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

The romantic notion of a wine island is impossible to resist. Thomas More’s 16th-century Utopia told of an island of vineyards and wine where “all things begin little by little to wax pleasant. The air soft, temperate and gentle. The ground covered with green grass. Less wildness in the beasts.”

Waiheke’s pioneer winemakers also promoted themselves confidently. “My aim is to knock John Buck [of Te Mata Estate, in Hawke’s Bay] off his pedestal as the producer of the best red in the country,” Kim Goldwater declared in 1987. Two years later, Stonyridge Vineyard, launched by Stephen White on the strength of that 1985 Goldwater vintage, claimed recognition as “probably New Zealand’s best cabernet producer”.

Today, Waiheke has less than 1% of the national vineyard area, but dozens of small wine producers are clustered there. Merlot and cabernet sauvignon-based reds – typically lighter than those of Hawke’s Bay but distinctly Bordeaux-like at their best – are still a key part of the success story, although rich, ripe, deliciously well-rounded chardonnays and dark, lush, peppery syrahs are also attracting the limelight.

If you buy Waiheke wine, don’t expect a bargain. The industry is small and its costs of production are high. Grape yields are low at most sites because of strong winds during the vines’ flowering. As a result of the hilly terrain, grape-growing is labour-intensive, and the costs of land and transport are high. Inevitably, the wines are high priced.

How good are they? A decade ago, the prestige of the long-term, heavyweight producers – notably Goldwater, Stonyridge and, since 1993, Te Motu – created an environment in which commentators were reluctant to state the obvious: too many of the island’s reds were thin, under-ripe and overpriced.

As one winemaker put it, “There’s a real mix of vineyard sites. Some are good, but others are not. Some are very windy. Some slope to the north [maximising heat and sunshine], but others to the south-east.” Some inexperienced winemakers appeared to assume that, simply because they were on Waiheke, their wine had to be good.

The good news is the average quality of Waiheke wine has soared over the past decade. Although less-committed producers have faded away, others have worked to identify the best grape varieties, clones, viticultural techniques and vineyard sites for the temperate climate.

Compared to other regions famous for claret-style reds – Bordeaux, California’s Napa Valley, Coonawarra in South Australia and Hawke’s Bay – Waiheke Island has warm minimum and cool maximum temperatures, coupled with a wet growing season, says Steve Poletti of Awaroa Vineyard. Classic, distinctly cool-climate varieties do not flourish on the island, leading many producers to supplement their estate-grown range of wines with sauvignon blanc and pinot noir grown in Marlborough.

For a taste of Waiheke, try Weeping Sands Cabernet/Merlot 2006 ($25). The second label of Obsidian, it’s a deeply coloured, age-worthy red with firm blackcurrant/spice flavours and savoury, earthy notes adding complexity. By the island’s standards, it is fine value.

Waiheke’s chardonnays are hugely underestimated because of the perception of the island as a red wine source. Instantly appealing, Cable Bay Chardonnay 2007 ($34) has lovely, sweet-fruit flavours, a subtle seasoning of toasty oak and very impressive depth and harmony. Te Whau Vineyard Chardonnay 2007 ($70) is weighty, with tight, stone-fruit flavours and superb texture, depth and complexity.

Syrah promises to be Waiheke’s champion red of the future. “Every 10 years we’ll have eight good vintages of syrah, but only four of cabernet sauvignon,” says David Evans, whose powerful,- opulent Passage Rock Reserve Syrah ($50) is the island’s star red on the competition circuit.

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