Wines a reflection of place

‘‘Sense of place’’ is a phrase that gets a lot of airplay in the world of wine.

In essence, sense of place is all about the ability of a bottle of wine to tell you where it’s from through its smells, tastes, and texture.

Regional differences, subregional nuances, vineyard thumbprints … geography-driven diversity is a big part of what we celebrate in wine.

But as a consumer, you have every right to be confused by the different riffs you’re likely to hear on the theme of place.

For example, most of us at some time have got a whiff of a minty, eucalypt note from a glass of Aussie shiraz.

It has been established that the proximity of eucalyptus trees can impart this character to nearby grapes. But although we see it as quintessentially Australian, it’s something Aussie winemakers find difficult to accept as something that is ‘‘of their place’’.

They will bemoan the fact it’s there, or tell you you’re dreaming and that it must be the mouthwash you had that morning.

In stark contrast, consider the wild thyme that grows rampantly in some parts of Central Otago.

Even though its influence on adjacent vineyards is tenuous at best, many winemakers delight in telling you that the thyme lends their pinot noir a fascinating herbal flavour.

You’ll also hear some in the WINE business say that sulphides (those flinty, struck match characters you get in some chardonnays) mask a wine’s origins.

Yet many who make these wines say it is the location itself that is responsible.

Villa Maria’s Keltern vineyard and Kumeu River’s Hunting Hill vineyard are both patches where sulphides literally come with the territory.

A Frenchman, whose vines are never irrigated, will tell you there can be no sense of place where watering vines is the norm. He will explain that that’s because the roots will not be forced to run deep enough for the soil’s influence to be fully realised. If that is so, about 99 per cent of the wine made in New Zealand has no sense of place.

Similarly, many an organic and biodynamic winegrower talks of the heightened sense of place their green practices bring to their wines. In my experience, there’s some truth to that.

Just don’t expect wine producers to ever stop saying their wine reflects its place of upbringing.

That’s because no two vineyards can ever be quite alike, and having a point of difference … isn’t that what good marketing is all about?

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay $39:

This terrific chardonnay could only have come from Central Otago.

Grown on an elevated site in Bendigo, it is flinty, crisp, focused, and long.

Rippon ‘Rippon’ Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2013 $59:

Rippon describes this wine as the ‘‘farm voice’’, and its hard to argue.

Dry farmed biodynamically, it is a distinctive pinot with earthy and floral notes that spread across the palate slowly and surely.