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Marlborough Wine Country - Fact
Sheet
Climate
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Marlborough has a relatively cool maritime climate with
generally warm days and cool nights, and an annual rainfall of about 25
inches (650 mm), which tends to be spread evenly throughout the year. It
receives abundant sunshineÑabout 2,500 hours a yearÑwith Blenheim township
regularly claiming New Zealand’s highest annual average. Climatic threats to
vines include infrequent spring frosts and the regular, dry, northwesterly
winds which can not only increase the danger of drought but also
significantly diminish crop levels. |
Grapes
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Sauvignon blanc is Marlborough’s
most widely planted grape variety, covering around 3,600 acres (1,457 ha)
and accounting for 42 percent of the total vineyard. The second most planted
variety is chardonnay followed by pinot noir, riesling, cabernet sauvignon
and much smaller quantities of breidecker, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer,
müller-thurgau, pinot gris, sémillon, cabernet franc, malbec, merlot,
pinotage and syrah. With few exceptions, Marlborough sauvignon blanc tends
to be more intense in flavor and have higher acid levels than sauvignon
blanc produced in other parts of New Zealand. Although it is traditionally
seen as a wine that is made in the vineyard and requires little input from
the winemaker, a new-style sauvignon is slowly emerging that has more oak
and malolactic fermentation influences, and can be aged. Marlborough’s
chardonnay can be of a very high quality, as can the riesling, which many
winemakers believe has great, and as yet untapped, potential.
When it comes to red wines, winemakers have traditionally pinned their hopes
on cabernet sauvignon. About 326 acres (132 ha) are under production, making
it the region’s fifth-most planted grape variety; however, it accounts for
only four percent of the vineyard area. Merlot was long thought to hold
promise for reds in Marlborough, but has failed to reach the planting levels
of cabernet. Plantings of pinot noir, on the other hand, have risen
steadily, and although significant quantities are used in the production of
sparkling wine, the wines have now claimed a place among the country’s best. |
Outlook
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Over the next few years, it is
likely that sauvignon blanc wines will become even more dominant, occupying
close to 50 percent of the total vineyard area. Plantings of chardonnay,
pinot noir and riesling are also likely to continue to increase; cabernet
sauvignon, on the other hand, is expected to continue a steady decline to
around half its current plantings. |
Statistics
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In terms of the number of
wineries in the region, Marlborough is only the second-largest
wine-producing area (it has 60 to Auckland’s 80), but in terms of vineyard
plantings and wine production it is by far the largest. There are 8,591
acres (3,477 ha) of grapes planted - 39 percent of the national total - and
this figure is likely to increase rapidly over the next few years.
Marlborough’s subregions are Renwick/Rapaura, Fairhall, Brancott Valley,
Omaka, the newish Waihopai, Awatere Valley and the Kaikoura Ranges, a
developing area that has yet to produce any wine. |
Viticultural strengths
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One of Marlborough’s greatest
viticultural strengths is its free-draining alluvial soil, and variations in
its makeup account for a stylistically diverse range of wines. The rich
alluvial silt loams of Wairau Valley were traditionally home to intensive
arable crops such as sweet corn, peas and beans, and now produce some of
Marlborough’s most intensive sauvignon blancs and rieslings. In Renwick/Rapaura,
the alluvial soils contain a significant amount of sand and stone that gives
the sauvignon blanc a distinctive pungency and intensity of flavor. The
smooth, rounded stones are also exceptionally free-draining and provide a
degree of heat retention.
The soils in Fairhall and Brancott Valley also have a significant amount of
gravel, but more clay; home to the country’s largest vineyard (Montana’s
Brancott Estate), they are the source of many of the region’s best pinot
noirs. The smaller subregions of Omaka and Waihopai both have gravelly silt
loams with a strong clay influence. In the narrow, thriving Awatere Valley
region, alluvial gravel sits on wind-borne loess, which tends to hold more
water than the gravel soils found on the floor of the Wairau Valley; as a
result, the Awatere Valley produces some of the region’s most intensely
flavored sauvignon blancs. |
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