The Wine Buff

Its nearing harvest time in New Zealand and its all hands on deck in the vineyards, Joseph Ryan vineyards are no exception, they were mentioned only a couple of days ago in Lar Veale’s Wine Blog sourgrapes .  Joe Ryan the founder of the vineyard spent a week with us last year visiting our shops and sinking a few pints of Guinness, we decided to catch up with him back in NZ to see what he has been up to since his visit.

Joe how long have your family owned and been making wines in the Wairarapa region. Who in your family work in the business and what do they do?
I was actually living in beer–loving Ireland when I decided to take the plunge into producing wine.  My sister Gabrielle and I were both in Dublin at the height of the boom in 2000 and at the time the choice of wine, even in some of the poshest bars, was limited to “red or white?”.  My sister tells a story of how one night she asked for a Sauvignon Blanc in a noisy upmarket Dublin bar and was served up a Seven Up!  While it wasn’t so much this that inspired me to make the move into wine, I certainly saw a potential growth market for it in Ireland.

So after arriving home in 2001, I convinced my six brothers and sisters to plant a vineyard on the family sheep and beef farm.  At first we focused on Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, for which New Zealand is best known, but local favourites Pinot Gris, Viognier and Riesling were then also added to the mix.  In 2005, much to our incredulity, the first wine – Joseph Ryan Sauvignon Blanc was released.  Since then we have slowly but surely been building markets both locally and abroad including Ireland and parts of the UK.

At any given time up to five of the Ryan family are working on the vineyard (including our not so young but still wiry parents), be it amongst the vines, keeping the books, or marketing and selling the finished product.

Can you tell us about the Wairarapa region as its not as well known as other regions in NZ?
The Wairarapa is perfect for certain grape varieties, especially Pinot Noir, with our sweltering summer days (30 degrees not uncommon) but cool nights and cold winters.  We are in New Zealand’s 6^th largest wine growing region which is just over an hour’s drive from the capital Wellington at the bottom of New Zealand’s North Island.  The grape growing area is located on the floor of the Wairarapa valley between the gorgeous smokey Tararua mountain ranges and the eastern hill country.  Vineyards flourish in the gravelly terraces where once the Ruamahunga river ran.  Its inland location lends itself well to the growing of premium quality Pinot Noir- as evidenced by recent glory at international wine shows by some of our some of our close neighbours.  Sauvignon Blanc is the valley’s second most important variety although many other, mainly white wines, are successfully produced here.

What vintage are you getting ready for now, what are you doing in the vineyards at this time of year in March?
Right now we are very busy preparing for the 2011 harvest in March /April.  A few weeks ago we removed the sheep from the vineyard that were eating the excess leaves (leaf plucking) around the grape bunches to allow the fruit to ripen in the sun.  As the fruit is now entering veraison (berries softening, ripening and changing colour) they are becoming attractive to birds so this week we are putting nets over all the vines.  The 2011 harvest will probably begin in late March

How was last year’s vintage?
The 2010 vintage was pretty challenging because summer began very late, in February, meaning our harvest was one of the latest our region has seen to date. This meant that fruit acids were higher and more work was required in the winery.  However we are very happy with the wines we have been able to produce.

How many bottles do you make every year of the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir?
Yields in the vineyard differ significantly year to year, but approximately 12000 bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and 6000 bottles of Pinot Noir of Joseph Ryan wine are produced each year – which puts us in the “boutique” category. 

You also make other grape varieties, what are these?
Alongside Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, the vineyard also produces some really good Pinot Gris and Viognier and a small amount of Riesling.  Pinot Gris is seen as potentially New Zealand’s next big white wine and while many attractive styles are being produced and drunk here, exports of this of this variety are slow.  Viognier is still a relatively unrecognised variety in New Zealand despite a marked increase in the number of wineries producing it.  While Riesling is not widely favoured in this area, it is a personal favourite so we have kept a small number of these vines which have produced some nice wines.

What new grapes would you like to grow and why?
Although chardonnay seems to be decreasing in popularity in New Zealand with the ABC brigade (Anything But Chardonnay), this is the variety I would like to add to our vineyard I have an interest in producing bubbly (methode traditionelle) wine which is often made from chardonnay grapes. 

What your favourite wine region outside of New Zealand and your favourite wine outside of NZ?
Being a Pinot Noir enthusiast (Pinotfile,) Burgundy is the region I would most like to spend time in.

How would you compare your Sauvignon Blanc to other regions?
Sauvignon Blanc styles in New Zealand vary greatly from region to region. Wine of this variety produced in Gisborne, high up the North Island’s East Coast, shows extremely tropical fruit characters  This character reduces the further you go south, becoming the Marlborough style at the other end, which is more ‘green’, herbaceous and acidic and is the style that has put New Zealand on the map. The Wairarapa style sits somewhere in between, it has much to offer with a more fruity taste and delicate acid balance resulting in a more European style sauvignon.

Have you worked in other regions or countries outside of Wairarapa if you have which was your favourite, and please explain?
My wine experiences outside of the Wairarapa are limited to a few vintages in the North Island’s Hawkes Bay and a year in the Waikato, with a short stint in southern Germany.  My vintages at the famous Church Rd. winery in Hawkes Bay doing night shift would be my most memorable. While the company was part of greater Montana at the time (now part of Pernod Ricard), Church Rd was the smaller more boutique end of the operation while still producing 1 million litres of wine. Watching the sun come up with a cup of coffee from the top of a tank farm was always a favourite time of day.

How has wine making changed in the region over the last 20 years?
100 years ago Wairarapa vineyards were producing wines but unfortunately prohibition saw these vineyards ripped out.  In the 1980’s all winemaking in the Wairarapa was centered in the small South Wairarapa town of Martinborough.  Some of these have become very successful locally and internationally, e.g. Dry River and Palliser.  Only one vineyard existed in the Gladstone area in that time but today there are over 60 Wairarapa producers with 13 wine producing vineyards in Gladstone.

You make different wine varieties, which is your favourite and why?
My favourite wine varies from day to day. While I mainly drink Pinot Noir, during the summer you could find me partaking in any one of the white varieties.

What is your favourite time of year in the vineyard and why?
All seasons in the vineyard have their own beauty but I think Autumn is my favourite.  Packing away the nets knowing that the grapes are safely in the tank, while watching all the leaves change colour would have to be the most satisfying time.

What plan do you have for going organic?
Our vineyard belongs to Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, an organisation which enables vineyards to make the most environmentally sound decisions for their vines. We are looking into converting to organic status this year.

What exciting things do you see happening in your region?
As Gladstone’s reputation becomes more renowned we are seeing more cellar doors opening up and more tourism developing.  Our fabulous annual harvest wine festival in March is also becoming increasingly popular.

When are your vines and grapes most at risk and why?
The two most worrying times in the vineyard are the beginning and the end of growing season. During spring we have to contend with late frosts, which we combat with both wind machines (bringing warmer air down) and water sprinklers which envelop grapes in an icy safety case. At the end of summer as the fruit matures, starling birds become our major problem.  At times the sky can turn black as swarms of them search for food. We cover entire rows in nets to keep them away. In between times unseasonable rain can create the troublesome fungus – botrytis.

You’re mentioned your a “boutique”  a small scale producer, how is it different how you make your wines compared to the big producers?
The Wairarapa is among New Zealand’s lowest yielding regions, making great concentrated wines but pushing up the cost of growing grapes. This makes the area less attractive for the larger internationally owned companies which can be considered a good thing.  While larger locally owned companies will purchase grapes off other growers, we solely use grapes grown on our own vineyard. Growing our own fruit gives us the opportunity to manage all factors within our control from pruning through to bottling.

With the World Cup approaching, you got any Rugby connections?
Although perhaps sitting a little incongruously with the general image of wine of wine folk, I have been playing rugby since school up until a few years ago when a knee shuddering tackle made me hang my boots up.  My brother-in-law Brent Anderson played for the local Wairarapa Bush provincial team in its hay day and later for the very successful Waikato province.  Brent made it to the big time in 1986 when he played for the All Blacks.  He also played a season in the early 90’s in Ireland with Garyowen when they won the all-Ireland final. Brent is now the NZRU General Manager of Provincial Union Relationships and Community Rugby so if your looking for tickets he is the man to ask.

It bugs me that New Zealand carry the “favourite” tag into every rugby world cup despite having not won it in over 20 years. Equally I think the All Blacks are looking very very strong at the moment and I do have high expectations of them when we host the cup later this year. Should they fail to regain the cup I’ll be buying the kids a football, a sport in which we can only ever exceed expectations.

What other interests do you have besides wine and wine making?
I have a small sailing boat, I also enjoy camping and tramping. I have a passion for native bush (forest) and when time allows I love to travel.

I have been to Ireland three times now and it’s a country I love to visit.  My last trip in 2010, revealed a very changed and far more adventurous and sophisticated wine scene to what I observed earlier in the decade.  I am very happy to be a playing a small part in this wine ‘revolution’ by supplying some New World wines through the Wine Buff into the old country of my forebears.