Antipodean wines are perfect for summer

While we’re enjoying a hot, dry summer, our Antipodean friends are shivering through a damp, cool winter. Their climate, however, provides perfect conditions for creating some of the world’s finest white wines.
New Zealand wines are largely produced in ten major wine growing regions, extending across 1,000 miles. Among those is Marlborough, which can lay claim to starting the modern New Zealand wine industry. The region represents 62 per cent of the total vineyard area in the country and the king variety is Sauvignon Blanc, with it heady aromas and flavours.

Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Critics, including Oz Clarke, have described the region’s Sauvignon Blanc as the best in the world and the Oyster Bay 2007/08 is an excellent example. It’s available presently at Waitrose from £5.99, a saving of one third of its regular £8.99 price. The drink is pale straw green in colour with a zesty aromatic nose and lively, penetrating fruit characters. It is crisp, elegant and refreshing with an abundant bouquet.

Famously, one critic described the region’s Sauvignon Blanc thus: ‘New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is like a child who inherits the best of both parents – exotic aromas found in certain Sauvignon Blancs from the New World and the pungency and limey acidity of an Old World Sauvignon Blanc like Sancerre from the Loire Valley.’ Another said drinking one’s first was like having sex for the first time. We wouldn’t go quite that far, but it’s recommended, nonetheless.

Craggy Range Old Renwick Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

A Rolls Royce version is also available at a reduced price, with Craggy Range Old Renwick Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough now on offer at £9.49, a 20 per cent saving on the regular £11.99. It has a very pale colour and vibrant aromas of lime, herbs, gooseberry and steel. The wine finishes lone and dry and is perfect as an aperitif or with seafood and salads. It’s a delightful, infinitely-drinkable wine perfect for long summer-afternoon picnics or impressing friends who call around for dinner.

Montana Unoaked Chardonnay 2007/08 Gisborne, New Zealand

Gisborne is another formidable wine producing region and lies on the north eastern tip of north island. The region is sheltered by high country to the west and has a dry, sunny climate with long sunshine hours, perfect for grape growing. Montana is a name well known by wine buffs, the company having started production of wine during the 1970s boom in Marlborough. It produces a Gisborne Chardonnay and the unoaked 2007/08 is presently available at Waitrose for £5.59, a 20 per cent saving on the normal retail price of £6.99. Gisborne is noted for its fine chardonnays and gewurztraminer – it also has the world’s most easerly vineyard. The deep gravelly soils and long sunshine hours result in healthy ripe grapes with good flavour. There are tones of ripe citrus fruit and a nice round texture and body.

St Hallett Poacher's Blend 2008 S Australia

Of course, no article on Antipodean wines would be complete without mention of Australian wines. St Hallett Paocher’s Blend 2008 S Australian is a great place to start. It’s a fresh and crisp white wine, perfect with shellfish, made from Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Riesling Grapes. It works so well with shellfish because it combines crisp wine with fresh citrus and tropical fruit notes. It has a tart, funky nose and citrus, fruity-lime flavours. Presently, it’s on offer at Waitrose at £5.99, a 20 per cent saving on the regular £7.99 price.