Springtime in the Valley

We have been having lovely spring rain bands this week here in Matakana. First it is sunny, then a rain shower or even hail storm blows by and lots of wind. Just like March in Tennessee!. Lots of lovely rainbows have been poping up this week as well.
Here is a shot I took by our roadside sign that shows a nice rainbow.

The other shot shows my favorite two drinks diet coke and good ole Hawks Nest 05 Orchard Blog. We had a winegrowers meeting here last week with about 40 in attendance. We all took some of our wine to share during the "social hour" after the official meeting. I took one of our 05 vintage 1.5 liter bottles to share. Many of our neighbours in the wine industery here in Matakana had not tasted our export wine before and it was well received. I took this shot of the dual drinks of choice at a recent tasting event. Now with the good news that two glasses of red wine daily can reduce one's risk of heart disease and stroke I guess I can drink more coke:):):):)

As promised here is another short essay on wine by Robin Ransom our local co-op President. Sandra and I agree with Robin when he points out that Matakana Valley is ALL about Quality not quantity when it comes to wine. We are small but we make good wine!!

More soon;

Dr Jim

STRONG SUPPORT FOR LOCAL WINES

In Melbourne recently I read an article in The Age which reported the AGM of the Victoria Winegrowers Association. The meeting noted that the Australian wine industry as a whole markets itself “from the bottom up”. The big Australian winemaking conglomerates focus on mass production of cheap “commodity” wine, and are flooding the world’s wine markets with this sort of product. Because these big companies account for the great majority of Australian wine production (just like a few big companies do in New Zealand) the discerning wine drinkers of the world are developing a picture of Australian wine as being cheap and second-rate.

The flip-side of this is that the small, quality-focused producers are being tarred with the brush which the big producers are wielding, which compromises their ability to sell their wine profitably. The Victorian solution is that the Australian wine industry should develop a two-tiered marketing strategy, which clearly distinguishes high quality from commodity wine.

What does this have to do with the winegrowers of Matakana? The New Zealand market has been flooded with commodity wine in recent years, most of which comes from Australia, but some also from Europe and some from New Zealand. As a group, Matakana Winegrowers operate at the top end of the quality continuum, so we are in a similar position to the quality-focused Victorian winegrowers.

We acknowledge the place and role of the mass-produced product. But the fact that most wine sold and consumed in New Zealand is in this category presents us with a challenge. That is, to educate consumers to understand the distinction between wine which is mass-produced to a taste formula, and wine which is unique, hand-made, and bears the stamp of its region of origin, then to seek out the latter for preference.

Given this challenge it is great to be able to report that the support we are getting from the local population and restaurants is strong and continues to grow. The local winegrowers with cellar doors talk about the enthusiastic response they get from tourists to the region, particularly from offshore. Having such a good home base helps us tackle a crowded global market when it comes to selling our wines outside the region.

Robin Ransom

President, Matakana Winegrowers Inc.

robin@ransomwines.co.nz