OF PRESIDENTS, PREMIERS, PRIME MINISTERS & MONARCHS

When premiers, prime ministers and presidents, including Bill Clinton, sat down to wine and dine at the official Apec dinner, they took a break from sinking their fangs into each other and instead set them to work on succulent lamb and savoury Pegasus Bay Chardonnay. As this is New Zealand's largest planted grape variety, virtually every winery produces one, if not more, style of Chardonnay wine. We were thus thrilled that our chardonnay was the only one chosen and accompanied the main course. We have it on good authority that this boring old Apec thing was really just subterfuge and the reason that Bill came to New Zealand was to try our wines.

THE VINEYARD NEVER SLEEPS

The tying down gang hard at work The final bunch of grapes of the vintage has been pressed and the last autumn leaf has fallen. Winter descends on the vineyard. The vines won't stir until buds swell and new leaves poke their tips out the following spring. The vineyard, however, does not rest.

Contrary to most people's view, the vineyard is a hive of activity over winter. It is, in fact, the busiest time of the year. It all has to do with that inconvenient process called pruning. Grapes are climbers and originally grew up trees. Left to their own devices they form huge uncontrollable tangled masses which produce too many grapes of low quality. They have to be severely pruned to limit the number of bunches and the amount of foliage. This is a huge amount of hand-blistering, back-breaking work and, due to the season, frequently digit-numbing.

At Pegasus Bay we have a small group of permanent professionals go through the vines, carefully making the cuts needed to retain just the buds and canes which we want. Not far behind a second gang follows, gently winding the retained canes onto wires and tying them down. Finally, a machine mulches the prunings which have been left lying between the rows. 1999 was like most years, we started full time at the end of May and with an extra large push we finish early September. It is a huge amount of work but our quality depends on it and we know that you will appreciate the effort.

PEGASUS SPREADS HER WINGS

Recently we were delighted to learn that Pegasus Bay Riesling had been selected for service to first class passengers on Air New Zealand. We were thrilled to have our wine honoured in this way, especially as there aren't a lot of rieslings which make it up front. Next time you are winging your way overseas keep a lookout for Pegasus, she may be flying along beside you.

THE PINOPHILES' PICNIC

As all pinophiles know, Burgundy is not only the home of pinot noir, but its top wines remain the benchmark of this variety. Most grape vines have transplanted readily from Europe to the New World, but not pinot noir. It's like a moody singer performing without giving of his or her best; it sulks. The vines grow readily enough and fruit well, but the resulting wine lacks real flavour, depth and quality. Pinot noir is fussy and demands very special soil and climate. For the last 20 years Oregon has been recognised as being the only area outside of Burgundy which can reliably produce world class pinot noir, at least up until recently. Over the last few years it has become apparent that the cooler parts of New Zealand, from Martinborough south, can foot it with the best. Due acknowledgement of this has just been given.

Every year a small select workshop of top pinot noir producers is held in Oregon and this year they generously decided to star New Zealand as the other quality producing area in the world. They selected a small number of wineries to take part. Imagine our delight when they chose Pegasus Bay, along with Ata Rangi, Martinborough Vineyard, Neudorf, Cloudy Bay and Mt Edward.

Our winemakers, Matthew Donaldson and Lynnette Hudson, have just been to the workshop, where pinots were evaluated and growing methods and wine making techniques discussed. After the workshop, our winemakers had to present and talk about Pegasus Bay pinot to over 500 media people, wine merchants, restauranteurs and the like. Hard work but great exposure. What a picnic!

RIESLING - GRAPE AND WINE EXTRAORDINARY

Riesling is one of the great-unsung heroes of the grape world. In Germany and Alsace, its natural homes, it has long been regarded as the king of wines. The true quality of riesling is only starting to be appreciated in our part of the world. In New Zealand riesling developed a somewhat negative image in the 1980's because we were awash with Muller Thurgau, which was erroneously labelled riesling-sylvaner. At one stage it was thought to be a cross between riesling and the lower quality sylvaner grape. It is now known that this is incorrect and that it is really a cross between two strains of Sylvaner, which explains its total lack of resemblance to riesling. None the less, it hindered recognition of the true qualities of riesling. Fortunately this is rapidly changing.

When you bottle most wines they are what they are. Sure, they may alter as they mature with aroma and flavour becoming more intense. The basic characters, however, are there from day 1. Gewurztraminer smells spicy, sauvignon blanc has gooseberry flavours and so forth. Not so with riesling. Young riesling is often quite non descript and has light apple-like characters. With cellaring, however, it undergoes a complete metamorphosis, transforming into an exotic richly perfumed wine, full of honeysuckle, peaches, apricots and limes. The wines are capable of longevity seldom seen in other white varieties and sometimes live for 20 or 30 years. This results from Riesling's high natural acid level. The Germans and French have learned to balance this by leaving a little residual sweetness in the wine, as otherwise it can seem steely, hard and tart. This also aids graceful ageing. In recognition of this, most wine competitions allow a higher degree of sweetness in a dry riesling than in other varieties.

Another wonderful thing about riesling is its amazing versatility. It suits a range of styles from almost dry to lusciously sweet. It is one of the few grapes whose flavours are enhanced and complemented by botrytis.

The highest quality rieslings are grown in cool climates, where they ripen very slowly. It is regularly the last variety picked at Pegasus Bay as we wish to get maximum ripening to intensify the flavours. On occasions we have not finished harvesting until the end of May or start of June! The amount of residual sweetness, which we allow to remain, varies from year to year, depending on the exact balance of the wine and how we think it will age. The perceived level of sweetness is always highest in the young wine and with cellaring it "dries out". We try to choose a level which we think will be perfect in the mature wine.

Discerning wine buyers, however, have at last "caught on" to riesling and it has become a rising star in the vinous firmament. It has now become Pegasus Bay's largest selling wine. In addition to our standard riesling, we also make Aria, a vendage tardive or late picked style, which is not a full-on dessert wine but one which shows the ennobling effect of botrytis. In effect, it is our Reserve.

FROM THE PRESCRIPTION PAD - We ain't figgering on biggering

Spring is the season of excitement - the time when the sap rises, buds break and new leaves start to appear. It is a time of growth and expansion, and nowhere is it felt more keenly than in the vineyard. There is an almost insuppressible urge to put new vines into the ground.

When I think about vineyard expansion, I am reminded of a merchant who was frustrated that he couldn't buy more than a tiny amount of a Bordeaux first growth. When it was explained that output from this famous chateau was very small he asked "Why don't you just build another factory to increase your production?" The notion of there being something very special about a particular plot of land and the concept of terrior had not been appreciated. He certainly wasn't from the small is beautiful school.

Now, I have to confess that I am something of a believer in this philosophy, but vineyards and wineries have to be of a sufficient size to be economically viable. If you are too dinky you have to charge obscene prices for your wine in order to stay afloat and you usually can't afford a good viticulturist or winemake, a scenario which encourages kinky rather than quality wines.

There are many laws controlling the universe but one of the most fundamental, which I believe escaped both Newton and Einstein, is that the average quality of a wine is inversely proportional to the size of the winery. While I would be the first to admit that it takes the exception to prove the rule and there are one or two big wineries around producing excellent wines, this general observation seems fairly reliable. Perhaps it is because the drive to increase production usually has to do with making money than improving the quality of the product. Not that making the odd buck isn't a good thing but most people can't grow premium grapes and make top quality wine by remote control. It needs a hands-on, if not feet-on, approach. It is when the winemaker stops making wine and hires others to do the job that the problem seems to creep in.

Oh well, as green shoots sprout, blossoms open and birds sing, I will have to stifle that overwhelming urge to put vines in the ground. I can't guarantee that I won't poke in the odd one here and there but I will try to put my feet up and relax. It's a tough life.

Cheers, Ivan Donaldson