Pure and simple

Little James' Basket Press Vin de Table de France NV. Photo / Babiche Martens

I have to admit, I was totally taken in. When a press release arrived in my inbox heralding the launch of Pinot Chocolat, a new cocoa bean-infused pinot noir from Kim Crawford, confounded, I quickly called for a sample to taste it for myself. In my haste I overlooked the online promotional video in which its "creator" also talked of developing a stomach-churning camembert chardonnay - this was no product innovation but an April Fool joke.

I wasn't the only one hoodwinked by the hoax. "So many people thought it was credible as people expect Kim Crawford to do different things," chuckles Melanie Jones, marketing manager at Constellation, which owns the Kim Crawford brand. "We had a lot of people calling up to order the product, and even interest from Cadbury, who were intrigued!"

The heady combination of horror and fascination stirred up by the spectre of a chocolate flavoured wine, highlights the controversial nature of adding extraneous flavourings to this "natural" product. That the interest was so strong, suggests some are willing to set any scruples aside.

There's certainly been a market for artificially enhanced wines over in Australia. There, Kingston Estate's Nautico range includes a sauvignon semillon blend pumped up with extra passion fruit and peach and white shiraz laced with "wild berries". Even within the Constellation portfolio, there's Hardys Omni Citrus spiked with citrus zest. And we have our strawberry essence infused fizz, Lindauer Fraise.

Given the apparent demand, could the Kim Crawford Vino Chocolat range become a reality? "In a premium brand like Kim Crawford, we're very particular about the flavours and getting the expression of the grapes in each wine, so this wouldn't be appropriate," says Jones.

"Flavoured wines are just another group of beverages made to a Coca Cola consistency, which just serve further to push wine into the commodity products market," laments Sam Weaver of Churton. For him, and many other quality focused winemakers, this kind of product goes against their belief that wine should be made with as little intervention as possible.

That's not to say that nothing's added to non-flavoured wines. Especially in more mainstream examples, acid, sugar and tannin are regularly part of the blend. Then there's oak, in its crudest form incorporated as an essence or oak chips, while barrels have been leaving their woody imprint on wines for centuries.

Although purists could now make all their wines in steel tanks, which impart no flavour, oak is still almost universally regarded as acceptable.

There are also more inconspicuous manipulations. Modern winemaking wizardry means techniques such as reverse osmosis, employed to reduce alcohol levels, and micro-oxygenation, to speedily soften wines, are becoming more widespread. Technology has undoubtedly raised the standard of wine today, but how much tinkering should be tolerated?

As one who winces at the thought of wine coolers and is even queasy about Champagne cocktails, seeing wine heading down the alcopop route is certainly no joke. In wine, the focus should be on forming flavours in the vineyard and preserving them in the final product. Good wine needs no embellishment.

The real deal

Little wonder

Little James' Basket Press Vin de Table de France NV $17.95
Outside sparkling, non-vintage wines are something of a rarity. In this soft and supple red with its juicy, ripe, dark fruit laced with notes of spice, and earth, Rhone producer St Cosme has interestingly incorporated older wine drawn from a solera, which doubtless accounts for the surprising complexity found at this low price point.
(From www.wineimporter.co.nz)

Gru-vee debut

Coopers Creek "The Groover" Gisborne Gruner Veltliner 2008 $22-$24
This is the first New Zealand example of a wine made from Austria's gruner veltliner grape. It's a promising debut which, although lighter than its Austrian counterparts, has an attractively fresh palate of citrus and peach with a whiff of the variety's classic note of white pepper.
(From Caro's, The Barrow, Branos, Duffy & Finns Pukekohe.)

Awesome Awatere sauvignon

Blind River Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008 $27
Showing classic Awatere sauvignon notes of punchy lime, tomato stalk, blackcurrant leaf, spice and mineral, the example from this small family-run estate is fresh, intense, finely textured and elegant.
(From Glengarry, Wine Vault, Artisan Wine Suppliers, Millar & Co, The Barrow, Hamilton Wine Company.)