Science, experience produce best wines

The world is drinking better wine now than ever before, thanks to the interaction between science and experience, say three American scientists visiting Marlborough.

Bruce Zoecklein, Barry Gump and Charles Edwards, speaking at a sulfide workshop in Blenheim, said a two-way relationship had allowed scientists to learn from growers and winemakers, then pass their findings back.

"It is a two-way street. Winemakers try things and learn as a result. Our job as scientists is to find out why," said Dr Zoecklein, a microbiologist.

Unlike winemakers, he liked the odd "spoilage issue" because it opened up a whole can of questions.

Said Dr Gump, a professor of oenology at California State University: "We are drinking the best wines now in history all around the world."

Dr Edwards, a professor of oenology at Washington State University, said wine quality had improved everywhere and the real question was whether the wine quality in a certain region, like Marlborough, was improving at a rate faster, equal to, or slower than the market.

The three were enthusiastic about the wines they tasted in New Zealand.

Dr Gump said they had been "inundated with some really exceptional wines" from the region.

The New Zealand Society for Viticulture and Oenology sulfide workshop kicked off a week of international interaction among wine industry people, with a sauvignon blanc workshop and screwcap symposium following hard on its heels.

Dr Zoecklein said was impressed by the curiosity of New Zealand winemakers and by the insightful nature of their questions.

Workshops and symposiums like those held last week allowed for a flow of information, including "gold nuggets" that enabled the industry to move forward.

- NZPA