Less water, better wine

There’s a lesson we could learn from French viticulturalists, says John Saker: keep it dry.

Given our various water scandals and crises of the past few years, and how precious a resource it is, it’s beyond me why we don’t have a Minister of Water in the Beehive right now.

But this column is about wine, not politics. The wine industry may be doing a few things right by the environment, but the manner in which it wastes water is not one of them.

We irrigate vines up and down the country. In many cases, we drench them. I know of a number of Marlborough growers who make sure the tap is turned on every day, regardless of weather conditions.

This is madness, for a number of reasons.

The first is that the gnarly weed from the Caucasus, Vitis vinifera (aka the common grape), doesn’t need such treatment. You’ve probably seen vineyards on sunbaked rocky hillsides all over Europe and noticed the absence of irrigation systems. The vines all look in fine health. Their roots have gone in search of the water they need and have found it.

It’s actually against EU rules to irrigate vines. “Our vines are Catholic – they must suffer,” said a visiting French winemaker in Marlborough years ago, grinning as he did so. Behind the joke was the experience gained from centuries of viticulture – that letting vines fend for themselves, rather than be mollycoddled, did more than just save labour and the water resource. It made better wine. Wine’s own take on the “treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen” adage.

Winemaker Richard Painter, who’s making very good wine at Te Awa in Hawke’s Bay, recently experimented dry farming a plot of chardonnay. He watched as the vines went through a period of stress, then adjusted to their new life without the regular fix of H2O. Now, four years later, he says those vines provide him with his best, most balanced fruit every year.

When roots are compelled to reach down deeper, as well as water they find nutrients they would not have accessed otherwise.

But wait, there’s more. For the French especially, it’s about terroir, the word that sums up the influence of place on a wine. It has been roughly translated as “somewhereness”. The French would argue that you can’t possibly claim that a wine truly expresses its place of origin when the relationship between roots and soil has been stunted through irrigation.

TWO TO TRY Mammoth Pinot Noir 2015, $65

Dry farmed (and organically grown) in Nelson’s Upper Moutere, this wine fruit expression will dazzle you. Dark and dense, with real lift and energy, after a delicate entry it gets big in the mouth with dark cherry and Campari notes. A wine put to put away. mammothwines.co.nz

Landsdowne Estate Pinot Gris, $23

Since planting a vineyard with his son near Masterton more than a decade ago, Derek Hagar has never irrigated. This pinot gris is special, with fascinating Chablis-like characters, pear and minerally finish. It’s dry, with gently viscous mouthfeel. Excellent value too. lansdownewine.co.nz