Through The Grapevine
We sat down with Villa Maria’s Senior Marlborough Winemaker Helen Morrison to learn more about the process of creating a bottle of wine.
Where did your inspiration to become a winemaker come from? Was there an epiphany moment you can recall?
At Landsdowne Tennis Club, Dublin, Ireland of all places. I was living in Dublin, working at the Bank of Ireland, but dreamed of returning home to New Zealand. I really wanted to be in a career I was passionate about. I started attending fortnightly wine tastings hosted by a local Dublin wine store (at the tennis club) and it was through meeting many inspirational winemakers at these tastings that started my journey into the industry.
What was the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
The true test of your winemaking abilities is always in the most difficult of conditions.
With Villa Maria producing wine from a range of winegrowing regions across New Zealand, what is your favourite winegrowing region?
Definitely Marlborough, hard to deny the success of Sauvignon Blanc and the impact it has had on the wider New Zealand wine industry.
What wine varietal are you most passionate about and why?
Pinot Noir is the most transparent of the grape varieties, it showcases exactly where it was grown, how the vines were cared for, and needs to be carefully respected in the winery to craft great wines. We try to be hands-off where possible, allowing native yeast from vineyards to take care of the fermentation process, and once pressed the wines rest in barrels for the next 9-14 months. It takes years of practice not to jump in and “interfere” too much, best to sit back and be confident that the wines will express themselves in given time.
Which wines have you been most proud of?
Chardonnay is a very contested varietal at Villa Maria, so I was super excited in September last year to win Wine of the Show at the International Wine Show for our 2016 Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Chardonnay. And more recently we achieved No.1 Rating in Cuisine Magazine for our 2015 Single Vineyard Southern Clays Pinot Noir, an amazing accolade for both Villa Maria and for Marlborough.
If you could choose any wine in the world, what particular bottle of wine (vintage/varietal /region) would you cite as the benchmark – the gold standard – for all wines to be measured up to? The wine you’d like everyone to try at least once in a lifetime?
2002 Dom Perignon.
Just an amazing champagne, so structured, such finesse, yet such power, hard to describe, and I imagine hard to find something I’d like to drink more.
What’s your wine making philosophy?
It really depends on the wine. As mentioned above, we try to be very hands off for Pinot Noir, whereas in Sauvignon Blanc winemaking we have very close attention to detail, starting right from the harvesting of grapes, protecting aromatics at every stage, very closely monitoring ferments to achieve the desired aromatics and highly focused wine assessment and blending session to ensure we get the best blends to bottle.
What has been the most outstanding moment in your wine making career to date?
It’s truly the people you meet in this industry that inspire us along the way. I was recently asked to be on the local Marlborough committee for the newly formed national Women in Wine initiative. To have reached a point in my career where I can now think about ways to help guide others within the industry is a moment I am proud of.
What was the hardest moment in your wine making career?
Wine making is not as romantic as it sounds – expect to work hard – expect to get dirty – I use to suffer from terrible chilblains in the winter months working outside in steel capped boots in temperatures below freezing…
but you are rewarded by working for an industry that will never be dull, there is always something new to learn, and some incredibly passionate people to learn from.
What is the next big thing for New Zealand wines?
I think we should be focusing on improving our New Zealand image as an industry, and striving to achieve a “cleaner and greener” New Zealand. I would like to see a bigger push towards organically managed vineyards, or more truly sustainable methods of growing grapes. We need to be careful of increasing resistance to chemical sprays, but also more mindful of the impact we are having on our environment and how we can lessen these impacts.
Villa Maria is one of our largest exporters and producers of wine, yet the brand still seems to maintain a perception of being a boutique winery – why is that?
The Villa Maria story is one of absolute passion and an unwavering commitment to quality, founded in 1961 by its current owner, founder and president Sir George Fistonich. Through his dedication to quality, George has led the company to become one of New Zealand’s leading privately owned companies, exporting to more than 60 countries worldwide. Villa Maria has been New Zealand’s most awarded winery for over 35 years.
What makes Villa Maria wines unique?
We have a large team of dedicated winemakers and viticulturists across New Zealand, and we get together regularly to collectively assess our wines and our methods. This collaboration ensures we are all continually inspired to perform at our best. Our founder and owner Sir George Fistonich is an inspiration who nurtures innovation and encourages creativity across the business.
Describe an average day in wine making …
Haha, there’s no such thing. Every day is an adventure and that’s why we love it.
Tell us about your latest release?
Our 2018 growing season delivered us a warmer and wetter than average summer which meant vintage started two weeks earlier than the previous two years. We finished processing the last of the grapes on Sunday 15th April. The warm summer meant all our Marlborough Chardonnay was harvested before Easter, possibly the earliest ever, with some rich, ripe flavours showing through in the barrel ferments so far. Pinot Noir has again delivered highlights, and Taylors Pass in particular has produced some stellar wines.
Pinot Gris has reached unprecedented levels of flavour and ripeness and our all-important flagship varietal Sauvignon Blanc is fermenting away and filling the winery with incredible clean, ripe aromas! There is no doubt this will be a very strong Sauvignon Blanc vintage.