Celebrate May with New Zealand

The New Zealand wine industry has a lot to celebrate these days.

This month people from around the world will be raising their glasses to great New Zealand white wines. Saturday, May 7 is International Sauvignon Blanc Day, May 17 is Pinot Gris Day and May 21 International Chardonnay Day.

Every article about New Zealand wine should start with a conversation about Sauvignon Blanc, which is grown throughout New Zealand. The largest amount, almost 90 per cent, comes from Marlborough on the South Island.

When I open up a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough I expect few things. There should be aromatic intensity, freshness and lively acidity. The aromas can range from grassy, to pepper, and vegetal, to citrus like grapefruit, and even tropical.

As time goes on Marlborough producers are seeking a little more personal definition in their wines, more often now reverting back to this French notion of terroir, for an expression of place, this wonderful alchemy of influences from soil and aspect and climate and winemaking that creates the unique character of a wine.

New Zealand winemakers have found their own word, it’s tūrangawaewae (too-runguh-why-why) meaning “my place” in Māori. It describes a uniquely New Zealand approach to winemaking that includes terroir but also embraces the surrounding landscape, the characteristic climate and the history and spirit of a place and the people who make it their home. As a concept that expresses connectedness and belonging to the land, tūrangawaewae is a creative force that is producing exciting new styles of emerging out of New Zealand.

The final flavours will depend on the place of origin and the winemaking but one thing you can expect is vibrant acidity that makes these wines a great pairing to salads, shellfish and especially oysters. That salinity in the oysters will amplify the fruitiness in the wine and the wine will bring out a meat richness in the oyster.

FIVE MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND SAUVIGNON AVAILABLE LOCALLY

Cloudy Sauvignon Blanc (NSLC, $42.39, PEILCC, $43.59)

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (NSLC, $23.99, NLC, $21.98, PEILCC, $22.99)

Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc (NSLC, $23.99, NLC, $20.99, PEILCC)

Oyster Bay Sauvignon

Blanc (NSLC, $23.79, NLC, $22.79, PEILCC, $22.49)

Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc (NSLC, $23.79, NLC, $22.98, PEILCC, $21.99)

THE RAW TRUTH: PAIR NEW ZEALAND PINOT GRIS WITH RAW AND CURED FISH

As Pinot Grigio, the wines can be light in style. Even though the grape is the same, when labelled as Pinot Gris, the grapes are typically allowed to achieve full ripeness and winemakers encourage more of the grapes natural aromatics to shine. The New Zealand Pinot Gris Zealand style is more akin to Alsace in France than Italy, which means fuller, more fragrant wines that still with that classic New Zealand zing. Expect aromas of pear, apple, flowers, spice and maybe some bread if the winemakers have done something called batonnage.

I love this style of Pinot Gris, especially when paired with fuller, fattier fish. Oyster Bay Pinot Grigio, widely available throughout Atlantic Canada, is a bridge between the Venetian and Alsatian styles with riper tree fruit flavours but still light and fresh. It’s a great wine to serve with raw or cured fish, such as salmon gravlax.

SALMON GRAVLAX

Paired with Oyster Bay Pinot Grigio (NSLC, $23.79, NLC, $22.79, PEILCC, $22.49)

8-10 Servings

2 lb salmon (best quality possible), bones removed, skin-on 1 cup each fresh dill (chopped),

sugar and sea salt

1 tbsp peppercorn, crushed

Directions: Combine salt, sugar, salt, and peppercorn. Place a large piece of plastic wrap on a flat work surface. Place half of the salt mixture in a baking pan. Spread out salt mixture so it replicates the size of the salmon. Place salmon on salt skin-side down. Top salmon with remaining salt mixture. Wrap pan with another piece of plastic wrap. Place a bag of beans or other weight on top of the plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator. Every 12 hours remove plastic wrap, flip salmon, recover and refrigerate. After 48 hours, pat salmon dry and place in a fresh pan. Cover and refrigerate for another 12 hours before serving. Thinly slice to serve.

NEW ZEALAND CHARDONNAY AND SEAFOOD

I think we should talk more about New Zealand Chardonnay. They tend to be fruit-forward, the oak usually understated and really bright and fresh in the finish. Expect ones from Marlborough, in New Zealand’s South Island, to be a bit more citrusy in style and those from the North Island from places such as Hawkes Bay and Gisborne to have more orchard and tropical fruit notes. They all are bit more texturally rich than Sauvignon Blanc, so for seafood think pan seared fish like crispy skin salmon, and firmer local white fish such as cod or halibut.

CRISPY SKIN SALMON WITH LEMONY ASPARAGUS RISOTTO

Pair with Kim Crawford Chardonnay (NSLC, $23.99, NLC, $21.98, PEILCC, $22.99)

4 Servings

4 skin-on 4-oz salmon fillets, descaled

Pinch each, salt and pepper

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

Ingredients (Risotto)

4 cups vegetable stock

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 lemons, juice, zest

1 1⁄4 cup Arborio rice

1⁄4 cup white wine

1⁄2 lb asparagus blanched, rough end trimmed, sliced into ¼-inch pieces 4 sprigs thyme, leaves removed ½ cup Parmesan cheese, finely

grated, plus more to serve Additional lemon zest and fresh

herbs for garnish

Directions: Start by making the risotto. Warm vegetable stock over medium heat. Place a large pan over mediumlow heat. Add the olive oil and butter. Sauté onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic and lemon zest. Sauté for another 30 seconds. Add rice and stir with a wooden spoon, to ensure all the rice is covered in olive oil and butter (2 to 3 minutes). Add the wine. When the wine has evaporated, add the warm stock, a ladle-at-a-time, until absorbed. Finally, add the lemon juice, asparagus, thyme and cheese. Stir to combine. Garnish with lemon zest and fresh herbs.

For the crispy skin salmon, start by patting salmon dry with paper towl. Make a couple slices in the skin. Season salmon all over with salt and pepper. Add oil to a large non-stick pan set over medium-high heat. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Place salmon skin side down in pan. Sear for 6 to 7 minutes. Flip salmon, add butter to pan, sear for another 1 ½ to 2 minutes.

Serve risotto in bowl topped with piece of salmon. Accompany with sauteed mushrooms (optional).

Mark DeWolf is currently the creative director of food and drink at the SaltWire Network, director of marketing and communications of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (ASI) and pastpresident of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS). He enjoys drinking, eating, writing and talking about wine, beer and food.