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New Zealand at forefront of Viognier global development |
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14 June 2007 |
New Zealand’s inaugural Viognier Workshop was held last weekend in Gisborne.
A selection of New Zealand, Australian and French Viognier wines chosen
as being representative examples of this style were tasted and assessed
by a panel of leading Australasian wine experts, including Nigel
Bliescheke, viticulturist for Yalumba Wines who has pioneered the
Viognier grape variety in Australia.
The line up of locally produced Viognier showed exceptionally well
against its international counterparts and the workshop confirmed that
an exciting platform has been established for the future development of
this variety in New Zealand. Philip Bothwell, Fine Wine Manager from
international wine giant Pernod Ricard, commented that Viognier is a
young wine variety in New Zealand and that we are currently at the
forefront of Viognier development in this country.
Viognier pronounced (vee-oh-nee-ay) is one of New Zealand’s fastest
growing wines styles. AC Nielsen statistics to April 2007 reveal that
Viognier has grown by nearly 30 per cent in sales value over the
previous year. Restaurants and cafés throughout New Zealand also report
strong consumer interest and demand in this variety. This growth
suggests that a synonym for Viognier ‘Very Interesting Old World Grape
Variety Now In Exciting Return’ is coming to fruition.
One of the pivotal areas of discussion at the workshop was where New
Zealand winemakers should be heading from a stylistic point of view.
New Zealand Viognier tends to have naturally low acids and a high pH in
contrast to the Australian styles with significantly lower pH, elevated
fruit character and floral components versus the French style which had
distinctive apricot and peach flavours. In Australia Viognier is also
often co-fermented with Shiraz to produce a Shiraz Viognier which is
less full-bodied with more aromatic flavours and a velvety texture.
Viognier is a highly versatile wine style for New Zealand’s winemakers
and with the continued high growth in its popularity it is expected
that this variety will grow to become a leading white wine style in New
Zealand within the next five years. The development of a definitive
Viognier style that wine drinkers become familiar with and can trust to
be consistent from brand to brand and vintage to vintage will be
pivotal in the success of the variety for New Zealand.
Also integral to future success is a collective marketing and publicity
campaign to help wine drinkers to pronounce Viognier (vee-oh-nee-ay)
and to ‘buy’ and ‘try’ and enjoy the unique and delicious wine style
that is Viognier.
Wine drinkers locally and globally are continually experimenting with
new wine styles and this assures Viognier of a bright future. This
workshop was sponsored by Corbans Viticulture, NZ Winegrowers and the
Wines of Gisborne and is expected to be an annual event. - tizwine.com
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