New Zealand wines

New Zealand's oenological history has a tradition spanning over 200 years . Following the English colonization of the "Land of the Maori" , the first New Zealand vine was planted by the Anglican missionary Reverend Samuel Marsden , in 1819 . We do not know if this vine ever produced wine, but it is certain that a few years later, in 1836 , James Busby planted a vineyard in Waiangi , which allowed the distribution of wine to English troops, initially faithful to their traditional drink: beer.
The oenological peak occurred around 1890 , when Romeo Bragato introduced, for the first time, the concept of zoning, greatly increasing the percentage of New Zealand wine consumers. After a few years, misfortunes followed such as the arrival of phylloxera and the Second World War, which reduced the import of wine to its complete prohibition.

The first vineyard of European vines, which replaced the Franco-American vines such as Isabella, was planted in the famous Marlborough Bay in 1973 . In just over 10 years, the cultivation of the vine experienced a considerable development so as to arrive at an overproduction that ended only thanks to a massive government intervention.

Made up of two islands, New Zealand has 15 wine regions : 9 in the North Island and 6 in the South Island. From Auckland to Gisborne geodiversity, biodiversity and thermal excursion of the climate and soil allow the production of high quality wines . Among the most suitable regions, the primacy belongs to Marlborough , located in the northern part of the South Island, "kingdom of Sauvignon" and ideal habitat to also accommodate Merlot, Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Talking about New Zealand wines means talking about Sauvignon Blanc , Pinot Nero and Chardonnay . Since the 1980s, in fact, the Australian country has been recognized internationally by critics for the production of the "best Sauvignon Blanc in the world" , becoming a reference point for the wines obtained from this grape variety.

In the same extraordinary landscape of Marlborough stands the well-known company Cloudy Bay which, since 1985, has contributed to making New Zealand one of the most important wine areas of the "New World". Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir best express the refinement in the production of the estate, which puts care, attention and protection of the environmental impact first.
Among the most popular New Zealand whites we find the creamy Chardonnay, easy to drink wines and fresh wines with intriguing aromas such as Sauvignon Blanc signed href = "producer / Kim% 20Crawford% 20Wines"> Kim Crawford .

The future of this land is played by the elegant Pinot Noir , a vine difficult to work with and extremely demanding from a territorial point of view.