Supporting sustainability and proud of it!
What is sustainable? A glance at the dictionary will tell you that ‘sustain’ means to keep going or to give support. Applied to agriculture and horticulture, however, sustainable also implies being best practice, safe and environmentally friendly.
In these fields there are a number of different philosophies and systems of management, many of which purport to be the best and the most sustainable. Their advocates often have a religious-like fervour and claim that theirs is the one and only true path. In viticulture this situation is no different, including in the world’s most famous wine producing country, France. One of the less extreme and currently fashionable systems there is called lutte raisonable. Lutte refers to the work done by the viticulturist, while raisonable means wise, sensible and reasonable. It is a combination of tradition, common sense and scientifically proven best practice, in which programmes of work are tailored to a specific vineyard and season’s needs, rather than just using an old fashioned one size fits all blunderbuss approach.
New Zealand Winegrowers, the official body representing Kiwi vineyards and wineries, was one of the first organisations in the world to introduce a sustainable programme for vineyards, and Pegasus Bay was one of the first to join and become an accredited, sustainable vineyard. The programme looks at all aspects of vineyard practice and management, making sure that they meet the highest proven standards. It is a holistic system that is concerned with the total environment.
Subsequently Winegrowers has developed a programme for sustainability in the winery. This evaluates everything that is done from the arrival of the grapes to when the wine leaves, and much more besides, ensuring traceability and best practice along the way. We are pleased to tell you that the flying horse fully supports sustainability, and Pegasus Bay has also become a registered sustainable winery. Although such systems can assure you of sustainability in its fullest sense, it can not guarantee quality. This is something only you, the consumer, can award. We hope we will gain your accreditation as only then will Pegasus really be sustainable!
This newsletter is printed on a very sustainable paper, it has FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), ECF (elemental Chlorine Free, PH neutral, the mill has EMAS - which is a very high standard in environmental terms for mill processes.
The BIG BUZZ at Pegasus
Vintage or vendange, as the French call it, is the most vital time in the annual cycle of vine and wine. For most of the year work in the vineyard and winery progress independently of each other but for several short weeks they must precisely intermesh, like the cogs of a well oiled machine. The vigneron aims to pick fruit at the precise moment it is in optimal condition, but has to consider the weather, bird damage and the like.
However, it is no good harvesting grapes if the winery can not deal with these straight away, as they will only deteriorate, and the winemakers can only work on a limited amount of fruit each day. The work needed on each batch can be enormous. Bunches of grapes may have to be fed into a machine which removes the stems, the berries may need to be crushed, and the fruit or juice put into vats to ferment. At some stage the grapes will have to be pressed and the wine or juice put into barrels or tanks. As space is limited at each step in the process of turning grapes into wine, there has to be continual juggling of the timetable in both the vineyard and the winery to ensure the best outcome. It depends on the month or two over vendange whether the efforts of the year’s work will be rewarded by having wine that reflects the best potential of the fruit. This is an exhausting, nail biting time, but it gives the flying horse an enormous buzz.
Strangely, the thing which gives Pegasus the biggest buzz is completely missing from most wineries. It might be called the “mother of all vibrators”. It is a large table across which the grapes pass and, yes, it vibrates. This vibration shakes the grapes down the sloping table, at the end of which they fall onto a conveyer belt. During this time the grapes are automatically shaken so they can be inspected from all sides and any that are imperfect are picked off by a team of people. In addition, any MOG (material other than grapes) can be removed. No matter how carefully grapes are harvested MOG always ends up in the fermenting vats unless you actively remove it. Only by doing this can you ensure that the fruit you have slaved so hard during the year to perfect in the vineyard, is given a fair chance to show its best potential in the wine.
So why don’t more wineries do this? Because it is very time consuming – ie expensive. We feel, however, it allows us to say that our wines are “truly hand crafted” We hope they will end up giving you a buzz, even though the grapes have got off to rather a shaky start!
RE-BUZZING THE BEEHIVE
A few years back the flying horse buzzed the “Beehive”, or Parliament as it is better known, when Pegasus Bay was invited there to present its wines. It has become something of a tradition for the speaker of the NZ Parliament to hold 3 degustation dinners annually, at each of which a winery is chosen to present its wines to match a special dinner for parliamentarians. Pegasus’s previous performance couldn’t have been a total flop as it was recently asked to re-buzz the joint. Our wines have been served to a bevy of notables in the past, including royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, and the presidents of the USA and China, to mention but a few. On a scale of importance, however, we regard Kiwi parliamentarians as being right up there as they daily make decisions that affect our lives, including such unspeakable nasties as excise tax and the like. Yes, we were delighted to accept the invitation and Ivan and Chris Donaldson presented a range of Pegasus Bay wines selected to match dishes especially prepared by Parliament’s chef extraordinaire, Manfred Drotschmann. Our Riesling was matched with canape´s, Bel Canto Dry Riesling with quail, Chardonnay with tuna, Pinot Noir with cervena and Encore Noble Riesling with braised pineapple and chocolate mousse. We thought the pairing was inspired, but then we are biased. It took place in Parliament’s great hall and was ably and entertainingly presided over by the speaker himself, Dr the Rt Hon Lockwood Smith, who, it turned out, is a real wine buff and a strong supporter of the local industry.
Ivan and Chris Donaldson with Lockwood Smith in Parliament’s grand hall.
Christchurch Earthquake Donation
As mentioned in the last newsletter we were very moved by the plight of the many victims of the dreadful Christchurch earthquakes and we wanted to make a donation to the Red Cross earthquake appeal. To all of you who supported us in this by buying Pegasus Bay and/or Main Divide wine over the last 3 months we would like to say a very special thank you for helping us achieve our goal. We have now donated $25,000.
Paul Donaldson donating a cheque for $25,000 to the Red Cross area Manager Carol Ball.
Pegasus trots out the same old stuff!
Heike Bauer from the tasting room selects a Reserve wine from the restaurant museum cellar.
Although a whiff of spring is in the air, signalling the start of the growing season with its promise of vibrant new life, at Pegasus Bay we are trotting out the same old stuff! Yes, selected older vintages of our wines are available in our restaurant and at the cellar door. For some time we have had a policy of laying down a small supply of wines we think will be especially suitable for cellaring and serving with our food. Current releases are also available so you can enjoy comparing and contrasting them with older versions of the same thing.
Our museum cellar, which has been dug back into a bank, is cool and quiet all year round so is perfect for maturing wine. We taste each of these older vintages to satisfy ourselves that they have matured well before offering them for you to savour. While our menu emphasises sparklingly fresh, local produce, we hope you are impressed by its marriage with the old.
Our restaurant is currently open for lunch each day except Tuesday and Wednesday and our tasting room open 7 days a week. It is best to phone 03 3146869 ext 1 to be certain of a table, but pop into the tasting room at any time without calling.
From the Prescription Pad
Pinot noir berries from 2 different blocks - only the one on the right with dark brown seeds is physiologically ripe.
One of the things that for many years have taxed our little brains at Pegasus Bay is deciding when to pick our grapes. It turns out the answer is quite obvious. They should be picked when they are in optimal condition to make the style of wine you want. For example, chardonnay, perfect for Champagne, would taste green, lean and mean if you made it into a still table wine, which requires much riper grapes. This difference in styles is extreme. Never-the-less, two producers making the same type of wine from neighbouring vineyards may harvest at quite different times.
Often it depends on how much risk each is prepared to take, particularly with weather and bird damage. Generally speaking, companies with big commercial brands have more to lose and less to gain by extending their “hang time” ie duration the grapes are left on the vine. If the weather turns ugly they might lose the lot and they are not going to get a particularly high price for the wine anyway. For small producers the parameters used to decide when to pick are usually quite different.
At Pegasus Bay we want our fruit to be fully physiologically ripe or mature before we consider bringing it in. But what does this really mean? I enjoyed the study of physiology when I was a medical student and enjoy watching it in the vineyard. To me, assessing physiological ripeness in grapes is like telling the time on the physiological clock which ticks away in all of us. Teenagers and young adults may look physiologically mature, but any parent can tell you that in many ways they are still green. At the other end of the physiological scale we may become over-ripe and doddery. These stages can be seen in the fruit of the vine. To know when to pick requires frequent assessment and this means regular visits to the vineyard.
So, here we are among our rows of vines. The grapes look ripe, but how do we judge if they are at their best? Firstly we are going to carefully assess colour. As black grapes mature their skins turn a very dark purplish black, while white grapes become lemony or even golden. We will take random samples from each vineyard block to take back to the laboratory to be analysed for sugars and acids. As fruit ripens sugar levels rise and acidity falls. If it is not ripe enough the wine will taste thin and sharp, but if too ripe the wine will be alcoholic and flat. For many wineries assessment stops there and the decision when to pick is made on this information by a winemaker who seldom goes into the vineyard.
But I want you to do something else. We are going to taste the grapes. Unlike when tasting wine your first impression may not be the best. You may need to chew up the berry and hold it in your mouth for a minute or so to get the true impression. Some flavours, which will eventually be in the wine, are bound to other substances in the grape and need to be freed by the chemical action of your saliva before you will be able to appreciate them. These flavouring components are also slow to develop within the berries themselves during ripening. Generally speaking, the longer the “hang time”, the more flavour will be there for you to taste. The increases in these flavour compounds, which indicate true physiological ripeness, lags behind the build-up in sugar. This is why wines made in hot climates from grapes that ripened quickly tend to lack flavour and why cool-climate viticulture has become the vogue. It is a little like tasting a hot house tomato which looks smashing but is tasteless, compared with one from your back garden.
But I digress. While you still taste those flavours make sure they are not only intense but also vibrant and lively. If you leave your grapes too long and they are physiologically over-ripe, the flavours may actually appear to fade or your wine may become too jammy or Porty. It’s equivalent to us losing our bounce and becoming tired and flabby. While you have the juice in your mouth you will be able to gain an impression of its concentration. If it tastes watery then your wine is likely to lack body and richness, even if the sugars and acids are OK. We want our wine to have good concentration and mouth feel.
But we haven’t finished. Suck the flesh off the pips and put them in your hand. Physiologically ripe pips look dark brown, whereas earlier they appear buff coloured, creamy or frankly green. Unless they are brown the grapes are not properly ripe no matter what else your assessment has said. Why does this matter? Put the pips back into your mouth and chew them. Pips that are not physiologically ripe taste bitter, whereas ripe ones just taste dry or slightly chalky. This is because there are different types of tannins. In any fruit tannins come from 2 main sources, the skins and the pips. Skin tannins tend to be softer and more velvety, while those in the pips give a firmer mouth-feel. Tannins are particularly extracted into red wines during fermentation, but they are also present in white wines. Unless your seeds are physiologically ripe the wine may be bitter or coarse, whereas in the best reds they are fine-grained and smooth. The latter will mellow, soften and integrate into the wine with time, whereas the former usually last until the bitter end of the wine’s life.
Well, this has been dry work and we should have a glass of wine. Oh, before we leave the vineyard have a look at the stems of the bunches. What colour are they? If they’re green the tannins will be green and if brown they will taste riper. Some pinot noir producers put stems in their wine because they consider their fruit alone does not give the wine enough structure. We feel our pinots have enough body and fullness so we don’t use stems and they can add bitterness or hardness. Leaving grapes until they are fully physiologically ripe creates considerable risks, as the fruit rapidly spoils if the weather packs a sad.
Matt Kramer, a well known USA wine-writer, talks about “wines of fear” and “wines of conviction”. His former come from wineries that don’t take risks and produce standard commercial blends, while the makers of the latter push the boundaries to do what they believe in. Having a conviction doesn’t mean that you are right and if you are not careful you can have some spectacular failures. But, hell, taking risks is a lot more fun than being safe and boring. Here, let’s try that glass of wine. After all, it’s you who has to be the judge.
Cheers,
Recent Seasons
The weather of the 2006 vintage was very even throughout the growing season, resulting in balanced wines from good, but not excessive, crops. Blustery winds in spring impaired pollination and lead to a small 2007 harvest, but gave richness and flavour to the well ripened fruit. Drought conditions were staved off by a mid-summer downpour in 2008, but beautiful weather followed. A period of rain in the latter part of autumn encouraged the growth of noble botrytis in riesling. The growing conditions of the 2009 vintage were amongst our best and we are delighted with both the reds and whites. The 2010 season was marked by a cloudy and indifferent late spring and early summer. In February, however, the sun began to shine and there followed 3 months of perfect, warm, dry weather, allowing us to achieve excellent ripeness and levels of natural acidity.
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