New Zealand
Wine making and vine growing go back to colonial times in New Zealand, all be it in a small way. The British emigrants were much more interested in beer and spirits, or were not interested in alcohol at all. The temperance movement was very strong here. Dalmatian immigrants at beginning of the twentieth century brought with them viticultural knowledge and set up the nascent NZ wine industry in West and North Auckland. Typically their vineyards produced sherry and port for the palates of New Zealanders of the time, and a little table wine for their own community.
The factors that held back the development of the industry simultaneously underwent subtle but historic changes in early 1970s. In 1973 Britain entered the European Economic Community, which required the ending of historic trade terms for New Zealand meat and dairy products. This led ultimately to a dramatic restructuring of the agricultural economy and diversification away from meat and dairy to products with potentially higher economic returns especially in areas that had previously been marginal as pasture.
The wine industry had, up until this time, shown almost no impulse towards quality at all. The vineyards were planted with grapes such as Muller-Thurgau which not even a wine making genius could make anything better than pedestrian. It was therefore very much against the odds that New Zealand re-invented herself as a ‘super premium’ wine country. Sauvignon Blanc was the first wave, followed by Pinot, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Gewurz etc as Kiwi winemakers turned their hands to an array of successes.
The domestic market too underwent a change. The rise of the OE (Overseas Experience), where young New Zealanders travelled and lived and worked overseas, predominantly in Europe meant that large numbers of New Zealanders had experienced the decidedly different wine-drinking cultures of Europe. Aukland became a sophisticated city and BYO (bring your own) licences for restaurants had a profound and unexpected effect on New Zealanders' cultural approach to wine.
New Zealand Wine Tour
3 - 19 February 2007, 9 - 25 February 2008, 16 February - 1 March 2009
