A story in every glass
18th August 2010 by Andrew Matheson, Manila | No Comments
One thing I really like doing in this job is helping New Zealand companies to open doors in the Philippines. A sector I enjoy working with is the New Zealand wine industry — and not just because I get to sample its wares.
I was at another promotional event this week, featuring a New Zealand winemaker who was here to educate palates and promote his company’s products. He was one of several to have visited Manila in the past few months.
This time the wine was matched with a range of Japanese foods, which shows the versatility of our wine. New Zealand has a vast range of climates and soil types, and grapes are grown at latitudes equivalent to an area stretching from Bordeaux to southern Spain. That creates a huge variety of styles, so with New Zealand wine you’ve got a unique taste of a unique country in every glass.
New Zealand is justifiably proud of its wines, and the sector is a great example of adaptation and innovation. The wineries might be owned by family businesses or big corporations, and they might have a century’s heritage or be just a decade old. I like the variety of stories behind this wonderful product.
The New Zealand wine industry is quite old (by New Zealand standards), and quite young at the same time. The first grapes were planted nearly 200 years ago and the first qualified winemaker was James Busby, the British resident agent. He’s well known for his role in drafting the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 (it was signed at his house), but not many people know that he was trained in winemaking in Bordeaux and wrote books on the craft.
Winemaking in New Zealand received a huge boost with immigration in the late 19th century of people from what was then called Dalmatia, and even today many people whose surnames are from that part of the world are prominent in the industry.
Wairarapa vineyard (photo: Ian Trafford, via Tourism New Zealand)
But it’s also a very young industry. It was only when New Zealanders travelled overseas in big numbers from the 1970s, that we developed a taste for better wines and a desire for matching wine with food. For instance sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, which really put New Zealand wine on the world map, was first harvested only 31 years ago. Not long before that the land that today is wall-to-wall vineyards was sheep farms.
The industry has grown rapidly since then, and New Zealand now earns more from exporting wine than wool — much more.
The industry has continued to adapt too, and has developed a global reputation for pinot noir and syrah. The old adage that New Zealand produces great white wines, but only average red ones, is really not true.
The other part of the trade, of course, is the importers. I’m impressed by the pride that importers of New Zealand wine to the Philippines have in our product. There are Filipinos and expat Kiwis, Aussies and Brits, and they present New Zealand wine with passion and professionalism.
The annual trade to the Philippines is still small, and probably won’t crack half a million dollars for just over another year. But that will be a 500% increase in just nine years, which is impressive growth by any standards.
I hope my Philippine readers will continue to do their bit to help grow this trade. Cheers!
