Dedicated winemaker Michael Brown has travelled the world seeking knowledge and experience in making new world wines of distinction. Originally from Christchurch, he has moved to Nelson, to become the chief winemaker for Waimea Estates, responsible for the 2000 and 2001 vintages.
He began his career at Marlborough Polytechnic in 1993, when it was just a viticulture course, then spent three years working in vineyards, wineries, and for HortResearch in a vine nursery. A wide range of jobs learning different skills in Marlborough, Canterbury and Auckland which was followed by cellar work and vintage jobs in the Hunter Valley, Australia, and then in California.
His first winemaking break was in Chile whilst working in a winery for the 1997-98 vintages, then to France to work for a French co-operative as a new world consultant on how to make New Zealand style wines. Then it was back to Argentina, working for an english company in the 1999-2000 vintage, next to Spain to make wine for the english market, from which he returned to New Zealand to take up his role at Waimea Estates.
"I wanted to come home, and buy a house," Michael said, "you can get tired of living out of a pack."
Asked what makes a 'new world' wine Michael said there are two approaches, the first being the new world country of origin such as Australia, New Zealand, USA, South Africa, Chile and Argentina. The second approach is more one of style. "It's reductive style winemaking, protecting the juice from air quite rigorously and trying to preserve the fruit flavours. New world wine is very fruit driven, the aromatics are the most important feature. Cleanliness is very important, so technically the wines are spot on, there are no microbiological problems."
"As against the old world perspective, where obviously some of the best wines have been made and still are, but then there is a huge variation with some quite shoddy winemaking amongst the great wines as well. Also the Europeans put more emphasis on the palate than the nose. They don't look so much for the aromatics as they do how the wine tastes and goes with food."
Michael described his two vintages with Waimea Estates as very, very different. The 2000 summer was very cool with a wet autumn, by contrast 2001 was hot and dry the whole way through so consequently the grapes ripened in different ways with a wide variety of flavours. As an example their sauvignon blanc 2000 was at the more herbaceous end of the flavour spectrum. "We got gooseberries, capsicums and pea pods, while in 2001 we got very ripe fruit flavours and at lower brix levels, so more like passionfruit, nectarines and melons. Completely different aromatics, a more up front, riper style of wine as against the 2000 which was more elegant and a more refined classical style of sauvignon, but the reds were we really noticed the difference."
"2000 was a difficult year for reds and they were a bit leaner, while 2001 has just been stunning for reds. We got incredible colour and concentration and beautiful aromatics."
He said that while sauvignon blanc is the mainstay of the winery, in term of grape varieties Nelson is very lucky as they can produce good wines from chardonnay, riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris and pinot noir as well. The focus for export growth is the sauvignon and pinot noir because they are two varieties that the world is wanting from New Zealand. "Fortunately for us there are only a few places in the world that they grow well and this is one of them. There is a good market for them, and the New Zealand brand generally, and New Zealand wines sell for a premium as a result. So currently we are setting up export contracts and from this we will hopefully grow quite successfully."
The winery is planning for an annual production increase of 25% for the next 4-5 years, this year having doubled in size in 2001 to make 17,000 cases. By 2005 they hope to be producing 40,000 cases. Their current export markets are Australia and Japan but are expanding into the UK, Europe, Asia and the US. "Twenty-five percent growth rate is hard work for any business. It's important to get set up now because with all the plantings around New Zealand the only way forward is through export. In the domestic market there are changes in what people are buying but consumption is static. Our focus has to be on export to the point where in 2005 we will need to be exporting 75-80% of our production. So many wineries are setting up for this expansion phase - it's a bit like a grow or die situation at the moment."
Waimea Estates' vineyard was established in 1993 by orchardists Trevor and Robyn Bolitho with the 2ha Hill Vineyard, and further planting of the 27ha Annabrook Vineyard in 1994 was followed in 1995 with the 11ha Hunter Vineyard. In 1998 a 41ha vineyard was developed in Hope and this was then sold in 2000 in order to finance winery establishment. During the winter of 2000 the fourth 8ha vineyard was planted with newer pinot noir and sauvignon blanc clones. Even though they can produce more grapes than they need, they also buy in grapes from 7-8 growers in the Nelson region to increase the range of fruit flavours in the wine.
"We can bring in more flavours making it multi-faceted with more breadth and interest, more complex," winemaker Michael Brown explained. "We sell on some grapes or grape juice, and after the vintage we sell wine surplus to our own requirements volume wise, or which doesn't fit with our blends."
Michael said they are pulling out all the stops to make the best quality pinot they can and have built special tanks for the pinot noir, and he was looking forward to last weeks Romeo Bragato Conference in Napier, which had a theme of growing great reds. "As a winemaker, learning what we can do to optimise red wine quality in the vineyard is the important thing for me. I have a winemaker's perspective and sometimes my ideas can be impractical. You have to balance up what you do with the costs involved, as well as how much you can sell your wine for."
Waimea Estates belong to the Integrated Wine Production (IWP) scheme, a holistic and reduced-spray approach to grape growing which aims for continued improvement towards sustainability.
However when circumstances arise Tasman Crop Protection supply Waimea Estates with chemicals, fertiliser and advice, and in the last two years have provided them with Gro-Chem products such as Trichoderma. Phillip Hutchinson, co-owner and marketing director of Gro-Chem explained that Trichoderma are a species of fungi which feed on pathogenic fungi, therefore having a beneficial effect on soil. It also appears to produce enzyme complexes that promote plant growth and provide better disease resistance.
"Last year we ran a trial in Nelson, where grapevines were treated with Trichoderma and compared with the untreated controls, growth was double the cane length and vigour," Phillip said.
Chris Prattley from Tasman Crop Protection explained that the Wellington based company Gro-Chem offered flexibility in the manufacturing process with the advantage of targeting specific deficiencies with liquid and foliar fertilisers. "That's a big advantage they have, the ability to tailor make a fertiliser to suit a given situation," he said.
Trevor Bolitho has used Gro-Chem products mainly as a calcium supplement on his pipfruit for many years and has recently used other formulas on grapes and found them very good, easy to use and a consistent product. "Basically as a nutrient based product which we use in our spray programme. Sometimes when you have deficiencies, you need to take steps to get them right and that is one of the products we use."
