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New Zealand Wine
Wine Revolution
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From a decidedly unstary beginning, New Zealand has gone on to become one of the great homes for premium wine production. The success of the industry has been such that few people have little notion about the relative youth of today’s modern wine industry. While grapes were first planted in 1819, the impact of nearly 160 years of New Zealand wine production resulted in merely a black space on the world map of wine.
It was not until the late 1960s and even 70s that New Zealand underwent radical change, moving suddenly into modern and premium wine production. Changing relationships with wine at home and the influx of imported knowledge and experience from both neighbouring Australia and even far away Europe spurred on the birth of a new industry.
The process was not without its missteps, mistakes, and miscalculations as the industry grew by a remarkable 350% in just a decade. In many cases particular cultivars, or
varieties of wine grape, were planted in unsuitable sites, chosen by the fashions of the time but discarded later when their short lived popularity waned and/or their poor suitability became apparent, and in general, New Zealand’s burgeoning wine industry was forced to suffer many of the growing pains of a brand new industry despite having over a century and a half of wine making history.
A second revolution was partly the fortuitous result of the attempt in 1984 by the New Zealand government to address a temporary overproduction and glut of wine. The end result was not so much a reduction in the amount of land under vine, but a chance for many canny and forward-looking growers to replace less economically viable cultivars such as Müller Thurgau) with more quality (and hence lucrative) international varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Sauvignon Blanc. Considering the runaway success of these cultivars in New Zealand, especially the nearly unstoppable march of the later variety, it has proven to be a very intelligent gamble indeed.
Also read about Dog
Point Winery and Daniel
Schuster
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