Matchmaking

Farmgate Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008. Photo / Babiche Martens

It feels somewhat strange to find myself sipping olive oil rather than wine on a recent visit to Hawkes Bay. But as olive grower Rose Gresson talks me, and an assemblage of wine and food writers, through what to look for in a good example, I'm increasingly struck by the similarities in how we assess these two liquids. In fact it's another crossover between food and wine that has brought me here today to meet some of the producers celebrated on the bottles of the most recently released Farmgate wines.

Farmgate is a novel concept thought up by Hawkes Bay winery Ngatarawa, which pairs each of the label's wines with a local artisan food producer. Launched last year, the first wave of four wines were tied in with an organic farmer, a sauce maker, a venison farmer and cheesemaker, with the most recent releases adding a pickler, a cherry grower plus Rose from Telegraph Hill olivery.

"We had so many friends involved with growing things locally, which, with our passion for Hawkes Bay wine, made us want to put the two things together," explains Farmgate winemaker and one of the main drivers of the venture, Peter Gough. "People like good food and good wine, so it's a simple story for us to tell."

The selected producer is pictured on the wine's front label. On the back they explain something of the philosophy behind their products, which have been selected for their affinity with each wine in the Farmgate range.

Like fresh produce, the wines are released seasonally from ever-changing varieties. And just as the cellar door can be a source of a winery's new and experimental wines, Gough has plans to use the label to release some of the new and more eclectic grape varieties he's been working with, such as chenin blanc.

Thankfully there's a growing interest in where our food comes, with the increase in the number of farmers' markets across the country testament to this. However there are still many drinkers who pay more attention to the grape variety of the wine they're drinking than from where it came.

In a country like France, where most wines don't even mention what grapes went into them, region is considered far more important.

A grape variety may lend certain characteristics to a wine, but nothing can replicate where it's grown.

Place plays a crucial role in shaping most of the world's best foods and wines, which is something embraced by the Farmgate project.

"Hawkes Bay is unique, the microclimate, the soil, the geography," enthuses Gough. "It's about knowing how things work around here, the local conditions, local influences. We thought it was time to celebrate the tastes and flavours that come from round here."

However, growing grapes and making wine, planting olive groves and extracting their oil, cultivating vegetables and preserving them, is all the work of dedicated individuals, making it welcome and extremely fitting that they're given credit through a project like Farmgate.

Products from the farmgate

You don't have to travel to Hawkes Bay to purchase Farmgate wines.

Although they're available along with many of their partner's products at the Ngatarawa Cellar Door, this particular gate can be opened online at: www.farmgatewines.co.nz, the main outlet for their wines.

Farmgate Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008 $21.95
Farmgate's latest sauvignon blanc release is paired with organic vegetable and herb farmer, Clyde Potter of Epicurean Supplies. It's a fitting match with the Farmgate wine exhibiting aromatics of the sage and oregano to be found on his farm. It's an attractive, soft Hawkes Bay style with ripe tropical and cantaloupe melon fruit supported by a gentle lemony note.

Farmgate Hawkes Bay Viognier 2008 $21.95
Pickles may not be the easiest food to pair with wine, but it's the spice of the Farmgate viognier which inspired this partnership with preserver producer Maison Therese's Monique Bradshaw. The spice is accompanied by white peach and pear fruit infused with vanilla and lemon zest in this fleshy fuller-bodied wine.

Farmgate Hawkes Bay Syrah 2008 $24.95
This smooth and supple syrah, with its juicy mouth-filling plum and dark berry fruit overlaid with hints of peppery spice, is matched with Telegraph Hill's Rose Gresson. Her olives would make a fine accompaniment to this ripe and generous drop.