SOME OTHER’S TIME

MARY-THERESE BLAIR finds a lot to love among the lesserknown varietals.

THIS PANEL OF WINES was previously called ‘Specialist’ and sat alongside the chardonnay in last year’s issue 202 of Cuisine; here it bears the working title ‘Other aromatics’. This is because these wines are made in such small amounts that collectively they make up less than 1% of New Zealand wine. With such small volumes, the commercially minded might think: why bother? The answer was given to me quite directly when I asked one winemaker why he grew viognier. “I love to drink viognier,” came the reply and it truly is as simple as that. That’s the reason why these wonderful ‘other’ varietals exist in New Zealand. Thank goodness they do. Can you imagine what a bleak and boring scene it would be if you were restricted to a mere handful of aromatics? So, here’s to the people who make these wines simply because they love them. I’ll raise a glass of ‘other’ to that.

TASTING RESULTS ★★★★★ outstanding 3

★★★★ excellent 1 ★★★★ very good 1 ★★★ good 14 No award 11 TOTAL 30