Brightwater’s winning vintage style
‘‘The way we work as a team has been really important to our success.’’ Valley Neale
Brightwater Vineyards is one of Nelson’s quiet achievers. Owners Gary and Valley Neale just get on with the business of making fantastic wines and building a solid business. Their success has been recognised regularly with wine show honours, and even taking out the top award at the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Business Awards in 2012.
Brightwater Vineyards was the first Nelson winery to win a Champion Wine of the Show award when it won that accolade for its 2009 Lord Rutherford Chardonnay at the 2012 Royal Easter Show, one of New Zealand’s premier wine shows.
While I think it’s fair to say 2012 was a pretty special year for Gary and Valley, they have had many other successes since they started making wine in 1999, including winning wine show gold medals and trophies for most of the varieties they produce.
I think the other trophy they can be most proud of is the Champion Pinot Noir Trophy they collected at the 2015 Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Many producers consider it the Holy Grail of trophies, so for a small producer from Nelson to snatch it from wineries in Central Otago, Martinborough and Waipara that are known for pinot noir production is a real achievement.
Having won these accolades doesn’t mean the Neales have been sitting back basking in the glory. With their vineyard manager Dale Springer and winemaker Tony Southgate, they keep focusing on making outstanding wines every year across each variety they produce.
I think their rieslings are beautifully crafted, while their pinot gris delivers quality you can rely on every year, and the Sophie’s Kiss Rose has quickly gained a reputation as a delightful summer wine that has received five-star reviews and a gold medal.
But it is chardonnay where Brightwater Vineyards really shines for me. Year after year it delivers two versions of this wine that are fantastic. The Brightwater Vineyards chardonnay is the little brother to the Brightwater Vineyards Lord Rutherford barrique fermented chardonnay– and like all little brothers, it has its place in the world.
The 2016 Lord Rutherford has just been awarded the Colin Harrison Memorial Trophy for the region’s best chardonnay. It is the third time Brightwater Vineyards has won this award in recent years.
After the awards dinner at Jellyfish in Mapua last week, I had a chat with Gary and Valley about what makes their chardonnay special and what goes into making award-winning wines the consumer wants to keep buying.
Valley said the award-winning 2016 chardonnay was memorable for many reason, but especially for the fact that she had a fall in the winery and broke her shoulder three days before the grapes were harvested.
‘‘This wine is totally down to the guys in the winery – Tony Southgate, our winemaker, and Dale Springer, our viticulturist, were stars for us. I was totally immobile for weeks, and Gary had to spend a lot of time taking care of me as well as running the business, so I can’t say enough about the effort these guys and our other staff made.
‘‘I also think the way we work as a team has been really important to our success over the years. Sure, we have some pretty intense discussion at times, but I think the fact we can do that has made us stronger, not only as business owners but as winemakers.’’
Gary told me the winery has the same challenges as everyone else when it comes to growing grapes and making wines. They include three consecutive vintages where the weather has played a huge role.
This year ex-tropical cyclones Fehi and Gita brought 304mm of rain in January and 245mm in February, when the average is about 110mm over both months. The warm nights that followed in March and April allowed disease to survive and spread, ‘‘as well as vintage being one of the wettest harvest periods we have had for many years’’.
Gary said 2016 was also a challenging vintage, not just because of Valley’s injury, but because the weather caused problems right from flowering in November to harvest. ‘‘But we put a huge effort into ensuring our vines were in good health and set to handle these adverse events that seem to be happening more regularly.’’
He also told me that Springer has said a few times that if he had to pick only one variety to grow on the site, it would be chardonnay. ‘‘It seems perfectly suited to our site, and while we do need to really take care of it, we always seem to be able to harvest excellent chardonnay grapes.’’
When it comes to selling the wines, Valley says this takes up most of the year. People often think wineries make wine once a year and then sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour, but it isn’t like that. Harvest time and making the wines are hugely important, but that part of the process only takes a few weeks.
‘‘We have to manage the wines in the winery for many months, and we need to sell it, too, and that is often the hardest part,’’ Valley says. ‘‘There are so many wines available these days [that] we need to work really hard on marketing both here and overseas.’’
Son Josh has recently joined the business. He has a degree in digital media, ‘‘so he has dragged us kicking and screaming into the 21st century’’, says Gary. ‘‘He deals with all our photo, video and website production stuff, as well as helping in the vineyards and winery when needed.’’
Brightwater Vineyards has gained a reputation for producing high-quality wines consumers can rely on year after year, and I think it produces some of the highest-quality value-for-money wines made in this region.
Wine Picks
Brightwater Vineyards 2016 Chardonnay
RRP $28
All Brightwater Vineyard wines have a certain elegance to them, and this is no exception. With slightly spicy stonefruit aromas, it is deceptively complex. The flavours are immediately appealing, with delicate citrus adding to the stonefruit flavours. The finish is long with a touch of ripe acid juiciness.
Brightwater Vineyards 2016 Lord Rutherford Barrique Fermented Chardonnay
RRP $40
★★★★★
Full-bodied and rich without being too intense, this was made from the very best fruit harvested, and is another beautifully balanced wine. The aromas are packed with beautiful peach and butterscotch and delicate spiced oak notes, while the flavours in the mouth are layered and complex yet beautifully elegant. A delightful minerality and rich, mandarinlike acidity carry the flavours right through the palate.