I’ve been fascinated by New Zealand ever since my first encounter with it in Jules Verne’s Captain Grant’s Children (1867-1868) at the tender age of 7. At some point the courageous European travellers that sail and hike across the world in search of the lost Captain Grant escape from the cannibal Maori tribe’s intent of eating them. They simply take refuge on one of the beautiful dormant New Zealand volcanoes that is taboo (by the way, this word arrived into English from the languages of New Zealand and Polynesia) to their assailants and then create a hand-made eruption to feign their own death. In fact, they ingeniously master the forces of splendid New Zealand nature in many other ways. They even recklessly bake sweet potatoes burying them in thermal volcanic ground – this bit always excited me a lot! And my Mum’s doctoral thesis was on flora and fauna of New Zealand, so even as a child I heard a lot more about it than most of the people living in the Northern Hemisphere do.

As for New Zealand wines, most that I tasted before were excellent, and so the trade tasting at the New Zealand Wine Fair that took place at the Design Exchange last week was something I was looking forward to very much. I was greeted by a giant flat screen showing beautiful landscapes, somewhat familiar after the Lord of the Rings - actually, the best part of the movie for me! - and an even pleasanter sight, wineries’ stalls arranged alphabetically: easy to tour, taste and make notes (happy, chummy, and relaxed wine-makers in consequence). That was a great help in a hall inundated with trade visitors.

I can’t pretend that I managed to taste wines of all the four dozen wineries that were present. But I have collected enough impressions to make a brief summary of my tasting notes. First, I can confirm the well-known statement that New Zealand is really the country for Sauvignon Blanc. Almost every winery had their own Sauvignon for tasting. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is in general a zesty, zingy aromatic wine that bursts with lemongrass and other citrus-y flavours, has lovely structure and pronounced minerality and is, frankly speaking, just delicious. It seems to be more complex and fine than even the best South African Sauvignons I wrote about last week. And some of the New Zealand Sauvignons I liked best (Brancott Reserve Marlborough 2005, Earth’s End Marlborough 2006) had an exquisite note of green asparagus in their bouquet to compliment the lemongrass. So all in all, to my taste, New Zealand Sauvignon is a safe bet (of all the 30-odd Sauvignons tasted I disliked only the unpleasantly over-acidic and grassy Roy’s Hill Hawkes Bay 2006, oh, and a very bizarre creation of Kim Crawford’s, an oaked Sauvignon 2004 tasting all smoky and green at the same time – didn’t work for me!).

One last word on the Sauvignon Blanc. I’ve been long intrigued by the Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush Sauvignon Blanc from Coopers Creek (they have lots of other cat theme-based brands: Fat Cat Chardonnay, Sally Cat Pinot Noir, etc.) that is very much in evidence on LCBO shelves. Well, it is a very neutral international and mass-market Sauvignon Blanc (no classic Sauvignon pee and gooseberry notes in the bouquet, actually) – I wouldn’t be able to make out its origin at a blind tasting; whereas the Essential Sauvignon Blanc they offered for tasting (a couple of bucks price difference and also available at LCBO) was a very pronounced fine New Zealand Sauvignon that I liked much better.

I tasted a great many other beautiful varietal white wines too. The wine-maker, all of whose white wines (Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc) impressed me considerably, was Allan Scott from Marlborough, and I liked his elegant Riesling Marlborough 2006 (priced under $20) more than any other Riesling I tasted at the event (although Saint Clair Marlborough Riesling 2006 was also very good). There were also some very fine Gewürztraminers present, the best of them with heady lychee aroma and beautiful structure (such as very expensive – $50 and up – Vinoptima Gisborne 2004 and more affordable Seifried Estate Nelson 2006).

I still can’t get the hang of New World Pinot Gris/Grigio though, and New Zealand proved to be no exception; a few of the present wines must have been quite decent, I probably just dislike the style (too many Italian wine memories for my own good obviously). As for the New Zealand Chardonnay it proved to be quite another matter. I am not to keen on Chardonnay in general (if it’s not Chablis or other white Burgundy), but many of the presented Chardonnays were lovely, no hot oaky un-summery taste, just refreshing crisp green apples and suchlike flavours, and even an Old World touch of cream in some of the wines (Brancott Gisborne 2006). The Matua Valley “Judd Estate” Gisborne 2004, Te Kairanga Estate Martinborough 2005, Summerhouse Marlborough 2005, Staete Landt Marlborough 2005 to name just a few – I will definitely look forward to finding these Chardonnays on LCBO shelves.

Red wines, mostly from Pinot Noir, were not so impressive. Oh yes, their aroma was sometimes reminiscent of good red Burgundy, but the taste fell rather short of it. Well, Pinot Noir is one of the most tricky varietals in the world. Bordeaux-style blends (Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot) were much fewer and were good, especially Alpha Domus The Aviator 2002, but I personally wouldn’t spend $60 (and up) on such wine, I’d probably just go for the original Bordeaux if I had a wish to splurge. Still, at the rate New Zealand wine-making is evolving (its exports have multiplied by two and a half times in the last five years; the number of wineries is now more than five hundred; quite a few, like Seresin Estate, are organic in the vineyard, etc.) I am quite prepared to be swept off my feet by new New Zealand red wines next year.

But in the meantime my overall impression of New Zealand wines follows the old cannibal Maori saying “white people are more salty”, and New Zealand white wines at present definitely have more character too. My thanks for this insight go to James Wheeler, director of the first Maori winery; “Tohu Wines”. Although rather white himself (“I spend too much time in the cellars” – he grumbles) he is Maori (he even offered to gnaw my arm to prove the saying); and besides tasting his very good wines I had a chance to discuss the un-cannibal aspects of traditional Maori cuisine. I wish I were going to New Zealand! I didn’t win the draw at the tasting though, so somebody else is going. Well, never mind, I still can have as many mini-travels to New Zealand as I please, savouring every new bottle of New Zealand wine that comes across my way.