A lament for the little guys and gals
Joelle Thomson ponders the absence of smaller wineries from big city wine lists…
I’m sitting in a cupboard at the TSB Arena in Wellington, writing on deadline at this year’s Winetopia about a subject that’s been intriguing me for months.
It turns out I’m not alone in wondering why there is such an obvious scarcity of wines from small regions in our bars, restaurants and at wine festivals. One festival goer at this year’s Winetopia told me that she loved the event and the only thing that would have improved it for her would have been to have some wines from Waiheke Island.
I asked Winetopia’s founder, Rob Eliott, why it can be difficult to attract some of this country’s smallest but most highly regarded wineries to attend the annual event, which will also be held in Auckland in mid-June and in Christchurch in mid-July this year. It turns out that he has been wondering the same thing. “I’d love to see Waiheke wineries here and we have had discussions about why it can be hard to get them to attend sometimes. We have had them come along in previous years and hope they will again.”
The subject leads into a broader discussion as to why wines from Waiheke are relatively rare in Auckland bars and restaurants and ditto Martinborough’s wines, which are in surprisingly short supply in Wellington’s bar and restaurant scene. You’d think we didn’t have a great wine region just 90 minutes’ drive from the capital.
“Small producers often don’t make enough wine to last the distance on these printed lists. But there are ways around this.”
Is it because these regions tend to be home to small wineries with relatively limited production? Is there simply not enough of their wine to go around? Or are the owners of small wine brands simply too busy trying to run their businesses on the smell of an oily you know what?
These may be valid reasons, but beg the question: why don’t bars and restaurants get more proactive and put their money where their mouths are and do the local thing? There is no shortage of championing local produce. What about local wines made from locally grown grapes to go with it?
It is preferable to have continuity of supply on printed wine lists, which tends towards larger, higher volume brands. Small producers often don’t make enough wine to last the distance on these printed lists. But there are ways around this. Innovative writers of wine lists could print ‘Surprise wine from Martinborough’ or ‘Mystery Waiheke vino’ and rotate the wines as they run out. This could help their customers find new taste experiences and build the profile of small but high quality wine brands. It sidesteps the problem of committing to a brand that may run out – and it’s fun. Blackboards are handy for short-term listings of interesting wines from near or far too.
These are win-win ways to boost the profile of small wineries and add interest for customers, but perhaps the onus needs to be on both the producers and the trade.
As for sitting in the cupboard when I began writing this column, it was the only quiet space available at the time. And it’s always important to adapt and try new things.
Beautiful little brands to seek out
Here are just a few of the interesting wine producers we could all enjoy seeing a little more of in the hospitality scene…
Waiheke Island
Casita Miro
Destiny Bay
Frenchman’s Hill Estate
Man O’ War
Mudbrick
Obsidian
Passage Rock Wines
Poderi Crisci
Tantalus
Martinborough
Ata Rangi
Big Sky Wines
Cambridge Road Wines
Johner Estate
Luna Estate
Margrain Vineyard
Moy Hall
Palliser Estate
Poppies
Schubert
Joelle Thomson is an Journalist, wine writer and author.
