It is an accepted truism that limestone-influenced soils
yield wines with more tension and liveliness.
It is said the ‘active acidity’ in the soils is conferred to the wines,
giving them increased aromatic finesse, and a brightness of palate. And of course, that magic word – ‘minerality’. In a slightly more scientific bent, it’s the
lower pH of the soils. One is always
pointed to the classical burgundian examples of wines from Volnay in the Cote
de Beaune, and in Chambolle-Musigny in the Cote de Nuits.
And from countries blessed with a variety of soils, the
include limestone, this principle is touted as gospel. Just recently I attended a tasting of North
Canterbury wines in which the limestone-influenced wines were indeed lighter,
more elegant and definitely more perfumed that wines from neighbouring
soils. The clay-influenced wines were
heavier and more structured, but that’s another story…
One of our new vignobles in New Zealand is that of North
Otago around the Waitaki Valley. The
climate there is not as benevolent as other areas, and yields are seldom
satisfactory. A number of winegrowers
were attracted to the area because of the significant presence of limestone in
the soils. But due to economic hardship,
many have gone. Not so Ostler Wine, the
enterprise of Jim and Anne Jerram and her brother Jeff Sinnott. They have persevered, enthused and in fact
grown in the size of vineyards. More
importantly, they have released continually from the start, a line of wines
that showcase minerality.
The Ostler ‘Lakeside
Vines’ Waitaki Valley North Otago Pinot Gris 2017 is a beauty of a wine
with clarity of varietal expression with stonefruits, exotic florals and the
complexing hand of barrel and lees work to contribute to the mineral expression. The palate is a healthy 14.5% alc. and it
shows a little, but I like power. The palate
has tension as well as the drive, and that sense of minerals throughout. It’s enough to make people jealous, and
consider giving the Waitaki Valley region a go.
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