A taste of spring: the perfect wine matches for longer days and warmer nights Leave a comment

I love spring.

Sure, I can get into hunkering down in front of a roaring fire during the winter months, but my favourite time of year is when we pass the equinox, the days get longer and warmer, and the garden is, suddenly, in full bloom.

Spring means new life and enthusiasm about the days ahead, and the best wines for spring drinking are the same – exciting and invigorating, as bright and floral as a flowerbed or as crisp and fresh as the new growth in the vege patch.

Here are my favourite wines to take you through a day of activities in your spring garden.

READ MORE:
* Ageing wine: Why when it comes to picking a winner, it is just horses for courses
* Shopping around for wine: Where to get the best drop
* The art of high-low: Why Champagne is the ultimate pairing with fish & chips
* In defence of natural wines

Day drinking in the sun

One of the great indulgent luxuries of this time of year is the chance to sit outside on a warm afternoon and have a few drinks, just because. Here’s what I’ll be drinking.

Château de Roquefort, Côtes de Provence ‘Corail’ Rosé 2020 ($37)

A springtime staple of my drinking calendar for more than a decade, this Provence rosé balances red fruits with savoury wild herbs and an uplifting salinity. It goes down so easily it practically drinks itself. Winemaker Raimond de Villeneuve doesn’t really do moderation, he makes wines for those who, like him, embrace life. This is like fuel for the libatious excesses of springtime.

Available from mineral.co.nz

With your barbecue

Somehow barbecues became associated with muscular red wines and big meaty flavours, whereas I think their complex assortment of smells and flavours – char and salt, green, herbaceous oils, and citrus-drenched leaves and vegetables – lend themselves to tangy, textured wines, like these ones.

Bindi Cantina di Torra, Rouge 2016 ($45)

Thanks to a handful of fiercely independent and determined winemakers working from the 1970s, Corsica today has some remarkable and unique wines. Nicolas Mariotti Bindi is a new generation Corsican winemaker who learnt his trade from those iconoclast vignerons. Made with nielluccio, which is a local varietal closely related to the Italian sangiovese, it is smoky and briny, with shadows of deep black fruit flavours. While quite beautiful, this has a wild and raw edge to it, much like the Mediterranean island it comes from. Great with anything cooked over hot coals.

Available from truffle.net.nz

Olga Raffault, Chinon, 2018 ($30)

This old-school Loire Valley cabernet franc from a highly regarded and storied producer is available for the first time in New Zealand. Limestone and clay rich soils produce wines that are elegantly perfumed and sleek. A dark heart of tannin means they can age for ages, but drink them young and chilled and they’ll have a chewy, savoury core that will be perfect with charred beef. A bargain at these prices.

Available from caros.co.nz

Libiamo, Field Blend, 2020 ($43)

From James Millton in Gisborne, this blend of marsanne, viognier and muscat is fermented and aged with the grape skins left in for 215 days. Sweet perfumed aromatics give way to broad salty and orange pith flavours. So much fun to drink, and especially good with salty, oily smoked fish, punchy citrus and olive oil-dressed salads.

Available from millton.co.nz

With asparagus for lunch in the garden

Of the bounty of produce that spring brings our way, asparagus is top of the pile for me. Because of the way its high levels of chlorophyll react with acid compounds in wines, asparagus is considered among the most challenging foods to pair. But don’t be put off, here are a couple of options that love asparagus (nearly) as much as I do.

Villa Maria, Earth Garden Organic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($20)

The bracing acidity and tropical fruit forward character of a young sauvignon blanc made in a classic Marlborough style accentuates the fresh green flavours of new-season spears. This one from Villa Maria’s organic range should do the job wonderfully.

Available from villamaria.co.nz

Felton Road, Dry Riesling, 2020 ($39)

The complex aromatics, texture and weight of properly made riesling, draw out the richness and sugars of, particularly, roasted asparagus, especially if you can get your hands on the white stuff (try Greenfern in Cambridge). Felton Road in Central Otago makes world-class dry and sweet versions of this noble varietal. A singular and awesome seasonal pairing.

Available from winenz.com

Gardening

My favourite type of gardening is the type winegrowers do. But if I am going to work in the garden, I find spring inspiration in these pretty, delicate wines.

Black Estate, Damsteep, Pét Nat Rosé, 2021 ($39)

Pétillant naturel, or pét nat, is a sparkling wine made by bottling wine before its primary fermentation is finished. The captured CO₂, which is a by-product of that fermentation, makes the wine fizzy. The finished wines are typically less pressurised and have a less persistent bubble than sparkling made in the Champagne method. Pét nat at its best is focused, delicate and refreshing.

Nicholas Brown of Black Estate in Omihi, North Canterbury, is a thoughtful and precise winemaker, and makes what I believe are benchmarks of this wine style in New Zealand. Newly released, and new to the Black Estate range, this rosé sparkler is made from 100 per cent pinot noir from two blocks of its Damsteep vineyard. The label from Te Whanganui-a-Tara artist Wayne Youle depicts his impression of the Damnsteep vineyard and the experience of drinking the wine. It sings of springtime in the garden.

Available from blackestate.co.nz

Eric Bordelet, Sidre Brut, $25 (750ml)

Incomparable cider from Normandy. From his family’s ancient orchids, Eric Bordelet crafts apple and pear ciders with the effort and care you would expect from the very best wine estates. A lower alcohol option, pure refreshment as you toil in the vege patch.

Available from everydaywine.co.nz

Pure springtime in a bottle

And here’s one that is a true indulgence…

Paolo Bea, Umbria IGT Bianco, Arboreus Trebbiano, 2015 ($120)

Opening a bottle of this wine from the Bea family from Montefalco, Umbria in Italy, is like uncorking the abundance of life that is springtime in the countryside: rich, perfumed, aromatic and yet fresh and moreish. Detailed and complex, but in a way that is spontaneous and wild, rather than coldly technical or overworked.

Take your time with this one, and you’ll find something new and unexpected in every glass. Wildflower honey, summer stone fruits, almonds, preserved lemons, thyme – it goes on.

Trebbiano is a humble local varietal. Arboreus refers to the ancient Etruscan method of training grape vines to grow up trees, which the Bea family have been instrumental in reviving. These particular vines range from 100-200 years old. The “tree vines” allowed farmers like the Bea family to cultivate their other crops beneath their grapes.

Fittingly, it’s like a whole farm is captured in this wine. Very much of its own place and time, this wine is so different from what we normally drink it could be from outer space.

Available from artigianoimports.co.nz