For the Viticulture tour, our rather large class (greater than 50) met in Blenheim, which is in the New Zealand's Marlborough region. Not surprisingly, Marlborough is famous for its vineyards, so we spent 2.5 days traveling to vineyards and wineries of various scales (maybe 10 total?), speaking with owners, viticulturists, winemakers, gov't sciencists and marketers. One thing I realized more fully is that being successful in the wine industry requires a lot more than good grapes and quality wine. Success is largely due to market considerations, and people can do well even with lower quality wares. Right now, it's hard to make a lot of money with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay because the market is flooded with it, so the more successful wineries are making money with their Riesling, Pinot Noir, rares, blends and low-alcohol varieties.
The biggest operations were less interesting to me, because the owners seemed all about profit and all about recognition. The smaller vineyards were much more enjoyable - The owners were so passionate about their jobs and just loved a really good glass of wine. They stepped out of the box, tried different things, and didn't seem so preoccupied with the market or strengthening their egos. I thought it funny that we did most of our tasting at the smaller vineyards, and the larger ones seemed less interested in us. I should have taken more pictures, but here are a few:
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| Viticulture Tour |
And if any of you are in a restaurant and you see the "Staete Landt" (think state-land - it's Danish) label, go for one of those, because they were the most delicious wines, and they're made by the most passionate, down-to-earth bunch that we met. "Forrest" is good too, but it carries a huge ego with it.
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