Friday, 17 March 2017 14:21

Pinot Noir 2017: Day one - Embrace

Written by  Tessa Nicholson
The opening day ensemble, who told the story of Turangawaewae to the 600 plus attendees. The opening day ensemble, who told the story of Turangawaewae to the 600 plus attendees.

For far too many years, New Zealand Pinot Noir producers have spent time comparing their wines to those of Burgundy.

But not this year. For the first time the Pinot Noir event refused to compare. Instead it embraced our people, and our wines. The over powering message from day one, was the New Zealand wine industry can be summed up in one word - Turangawaewae.

Turangawaewae, literally means a standing place for our feet, according to the Pinot Noir 2017’s opening presenter, Dame Anne Salmond. The Distinguished Professor and former New Zealander of the Year, gave an impassioned explanation of our country, its people and the current wine industry.

And she also explained why the word Turangawaewae makes sense for New Zealand Pinot producers.

“On a marae a person will identify themselves by naming their ancestral mountain and river. I think that something very like this existential interlock between people and land is emerging in the wine industry in New Zealand.”

Dame Anne, who comes from a family of winemakers and grape growers, said she knows the passion and pride that goes into producing superb grape vines and the ensuing wines from regions throughout New Zealand.

While New Zealand may be viewed as new to this world, Dame Anne explained how grapes originally arrived here in the 1820’s.

“Wine was much loved by many early settlers,” she said, “including the missionaries, and the first vines were planted by Samuel Marsden. In 1820 he planted 100 vines at Kerikeri, hoping to establish a wine industry in New Zealand. The plants did not flourish, however, and during a later visit, Marsden was told that the last vine had been eaten, by a goat.”

As was quickly noted by the delegates, the first foray into wine in this country was not auspicious – but boy have we made up for it since then.

The theme of Turangawaewae was continued, with Larry McKenna adding a winemaker’s perspective to the word.

“Turangawaewae are places where we feel especially empowered and connected. They are our foundation and our place in the world - our home. I would like to suggest the idea that it is very easy to commit to your Turangawaewae if you are born in that place. But the mission is far greater and stronger, in my opinion, if you have left your country of birth and committed a lifetime to growing wine here in New Zealand,” the Australian born winemaker, often referred to as New Zealand’s Prince of Pinot, said.

Which was a point picked up on, on the very last day of Pinot Noir 2017, when two “imports” spoke of how they had come to find their place away from home, here in New Zealand. Two women, Claudia Weersing from Pyramid Valley and Anna Flowerday of Te Whare Ra Wines both spoke of the gratitude of being able to put their roots down in New Zealand. Flowerday whose family have been involved in the Australian wine industry for five generations, found that place in Marlborough, with husband Jason, in 2003.

“To me that search for the place is very closely linked to the search for authenticity, something I hold dear,” she said. “Our search for a place to put down roots was also very much a journey to find a home and about creating a legacy for the next generation of our family. We have embraced the idea of being kaitiaki (or guardians) of this land and looking after it for the next generation, and that drives everything we do to our property.”

For New Zealanders, the use of the word Turangawaewae as a broad concept was easily accepted. But for the large contingent of approximately 250 overseas visitors, it added a new appreciation of the very unique differences within this country and how well the industry has embraced those differences.

Swedish Master of Wine Madeleine Strenwreth described the decision to use the theme as “incredibly wise.”

“It set the scene and calmed us down a bit. You spread the soul and the heart and the passion for the country. We could have dove straight into the wine, but we didn’t. It brought us down to open our eyes, to see the wines with a different perspective.”

Yoshiji Sato a wine writer and international judge based in Tokyo described the use of Turangawaewae as an indication of the confidence New Zealand Pinot producers now have in their own “place”. He said that in earlier Pinot Noir events producers were looking towards other countries for lessons on how to produce better wine.

‘But that is a rapidly changing concept. Now they try to look inside, look at what they are. They are finding their own identity. That is the confidence they now feel.”

However, while he liked the idea of Turangawaewae, he warned that it is probably not the best marketing tool, for export markets.

“I hope you guys use that word for your own identity, because it is a great idea. If you pursue that concept to make your own wine, it is quite unique. But not for marketing.”

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