{"id":4092,"date":"2021-08-10T11:21:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T23:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092"},"modified":"2021-09-30T17:58:53","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T04:58:53","slug":"winemaker-series-natalie-christensen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092","title":{"rendered":"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

At the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards this year, I got to judge a flight of Sauvignon Blanc alongside Natalie Christensen<\/strong> \u2013 Chief Winemaker<\/strong> at Yealands<\/strong> in Marlborough. I decided then I wanted to come down and have a catch up with her next time I was in the region. And the chance to do it on \u2018International Sauvignon Blanc Day<\/strong>\u2019 this year was too good an opportunity to pass up. We\u2019d actually bumped into each other at an Art Exhibition in town the night before, and started off chatting about our common love of all things arty\u2026<\/p>

WineFolio<\/strong>: My background is very much arts \u2013 both parents were teachers, my Dad taught languages and my Mum was an Art teacher. I still really value \u2018the Arts\u2019 above anything else. I\u2019m really into music, but I\u2019d put things like books, cooking and wine in that camp as well. You\u2019ve got a background in music don\u2019t you?<\/p>

Natalie Christensen<\/strong>: Yes, I\u2019ve got a music degree. After High School I went to Victoria University<\/strong> and did a music degree, because I wanted to be a composer for New Zealand films. It was when the Film Industry was taking off.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I love film music.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Me too, I\u2019m all about music that kind of sets the emotion, sets the tone, and brings everyone along on the journey.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Small market though I suppose? So what happened there?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I love music but after my first year I picked up a psychology degree because I was interested in the healing properties of music and had the idea that I would potentially go on to be a music therapist. At the time in New Zealand I think there were only two registered music therapists but they\u2019d studied abroad. But in a few years time there was going to be a Masters of Music Therapy offered in NZ.<\/p>

Then in my final year of my undergraduate I did a paper in Industrial Organisational Psychology, which is psychology of the workplace \u2013 all about high-performing teams, healthy work cultures, and HR.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: I find that interesting as well though..<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I find it really interesting because I\u2019d been doing quite artsy-fartsy airy-fairy artistic stuff, but I\u2019ve always been really into Maths and what drives people. They were offering a Masters of Science in this area and I thought that would be a pretty safe option to get a career job which would be solid. They only take fifteen students per year, so when I applied and got accepted, I thought \u201cthis is a gift, I should do that\u201d.\u00a0 And so I did my Masters then worked in HR for eight months but I really didn\u2019t enjoy it. I thought \u201cJeez what have I done, I\u2019ve been at University all this time and got three degrees and I don\u2019t think I want to be doing this.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

And that\u2019s when I came and did a Vintage. I was going to save some money to go travelling overseas, because I\u2019d just been study, study, study. My brother was living in Marlborough at the time, and he said \u201ccome and do a harvest\u201d so I came to Marlborough in 2006 and worked at St Clair<\/strong>. While I was studying my Masters degree, I was working in a winebar and I was a volunteer firefighter in Lyttelton, so I had some wine knowledge and was used to pumps and hoses and steel-capped gumboots. Starting in the wine industry, everything started to fall into place. All these things I\u2019d been doing along the way and I\u2019d never really pieced it all together. I remember being so happy when I started working in a winery.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Seaview\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: Those are some interesting study options \u2013 were your family supportive of your choices?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Yes, but I\u2019ve always been quite headstrong, and I think if my Dad had had his way then I would have become a High School Maths Teacher! But I had a very strong passion for music, so that\u2019s why I went down that path. I think they were pretty happy when I did my Masters in Psychology and HR-related studies. But they were incredibly supportive when I entered the wine industry. I think they knew I\u2019d be OK whatever I did, and they weren\u2019t going to hold me back from anything I wanted to do.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: So, having found yourself in the wine industry, what\u2019s your path from there to here.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I did my first harvest in St. Clair in 2006 when they\u2019d just built the new winery and they offered me a permanent job after harvest. I had already booked some overseas travel, so took some leave without pay and was away in Europe for about two or three months. I started studying part time whilst I was working full time towards a graduate diploma through EIT so I could do it by distance.<\/p>

I was at St. Clair for six years. I started in the lab and then I became assistant red wine maker. Then in 2012 I got a job at Matahiwi<\/strong> in the Wairarapa and worked there for 18 months. One Friday night I was with some friends and I was asking if they were going to America to do a harvest, and they said \u201coh no, we\u2019re going to Spain now.\u201d And I was like \u201coh, cool\u201d but then they said that the company they were working for was looking for someone to make white wine for them, and maybe I should look into it.<\/p>

I sent my CV on the Saturday, had a phone call from a lady in Spain on Sunday and then by Tuesday night I had a permanent position in Galicia in R\u00edas Baixas<\/strong><\/a> making Albarino. I only had a month to get there because that\u2019s when their harvest was starting. I had a full time job I had to resign from, a house full of stuff to sort out, and a boyfriend and a cat. I tidied things up, packed up my life and moved to Spain.<\/p>

I was there on and off for about eighteen months. I had to learn Spanish \u2013 well, up there they speak a dialect called Gallejo, which was quite tricky. But the company I was working for got me an interpreter. And then on one of my Christmas breaks I did a harvest here at Yealands as their harvest winemaker on the night shift. Then I got asked back to do that again. That was in 2014 and 2015, and after the 2015 vintage I was offered a permanent role with Yealands that ultimately led to me becoming Chief Winemaker in January 2019.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: So this would be quite a \u2018big\u2019 role \u2013 I mean how hectares is Yealands?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Well the vineyard here, Seaview Vineyard,<\/strong> is around about 1200 hectares, but that includes headlands and wetlands. Then we also have a couple of vineyards in the Wairau Valley, and a number of contract growers.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I was just at Bell Hill<\/strong> yesterday, so to look at that, to this\u2026 it\u2019s Wow! How do you find the \u2018bigness\u2019 of it all?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I like it. It\u2019s high stakes and you\u2019re always busy. I remember first going to Matahiwi from St. Clair; you only have a few tanks to worry about. \u00a0And in Spain, that was smaller again, but always so much going on. But you have to learn to let go. I\u2019ve always preferred team sports to solo pursuits, so I like being part of a team. A collective will working towards the same goal. I thrive in team environments.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: Do you find that wine is hard to switch off from? I think I drive my wife mad with my immersion in all things wine.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: No, I can definitely switch off and relax, and just drink wine. The first sip you always just dissect it a little bit. If I was out for dinner with people who aren\u2019t into wine, I wouldn\u2019t make us all talk about it. But I do love talking about and drinking wines with people who are interested.<\/p>

I think that it is amazing that wine is one of our largest exports, and seeing the accolades and the following that Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc<\/strong> has across the world. I mean New Zealand is a tiny country and the percentage of wine that we produce is miniscule in the scheme of things. And for anyone around the world to be talking about Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is quite mind-blowing really. It\u2019s been a crazy success story.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: And here we are it is International Sauvignon Blanc Day, and I came up specially!<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Yes, I don\u2019t know what the celebrations are across the world. But with all the activity here and going out on social media, it should reach some other parts of the universe \u2013 everything that\u2019s going on down here.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I really like the range of styles of Sauvignon Blanc that we are seeing now, and those regional differences that are quite identifiably unique. It\u2019s great to see Craggy Range<\/strong> planting Sauvignon Blanc on Te Muna Road<\/strong> in Martinborough.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: From working in the Wairarapa, I think they have a quite distinctive style of Sauvignon which is beautiful. It\u2019s very floral and a different offering to what Marlborough does. And then you get the more opulent stone-fruit styles from further north.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: A lot of the people making \u2018natural\u2019 wines seem to have a Sauvignon Blanc in their range as well, with skin ferments one thing that I really like. The bottle I brought to the Judge\u2019s Dinner from The Supernatural<\/strong> was quite a different conversation in New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Do you try to keep abreast of those kind of wines?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Yes, we\u2019ve done skin-fermented Sauvignon and natural-style winemaking. I drink a lot of natural wine personally. It\u2019s important as a winemaker to drink a range of wine styles.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I think though that even if you talk to people who aren\u2019t going to be doing anything like that \u2013 I\u2019ve just been talking to Kevin Judd<\/strong> for example \u2013 but his style has changed a lot over the years. From what he was doing in Australia, to doing wild ferments here. Something that might be viewed as slightly left-field now, can slowly creep into mainstream.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

NC<\/strong>: The wine industry that I\u2019ve observed has always had a lot of conferences and a strong network where everyone\u2019s trying each other\u2019s wines and finding out what they did to get certain characters. I feel as though everyone is pretty open and will share. New Zealand is such a small country and the wine industry is a fairly small community where we are stronger together. We feel we need to do the best we can for New Zealand wine as a whole. There are conferences where it\u2019s very much \u2018no media \u2013 just winemakers\u2019 as a workshop to learn from each other.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I was slightly interested in the Syrah one that they\u2019ve started up, but it\u2019s not for us writers.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: it\u2019s kind of a safe zone where people can talk about absolutely everything.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: I\u2019m just interested. Wine is my favourite subject. That book that Jools van Costello<\/strong> put out \u2013 he sent it to me and I\u2019d read it by the end of the day. And I emailed him back and said \u201cyes, I\u2019ve read that\u201d. He replied \u201cbut I just sent it to you this morning..\u201d I said \u201cwell it is my favourite subject!!\u201d I understand that when you say to people that you\u2019re a journalist and you want to come and talk to them, they get anxious \u2013 I get that. But to go from telling stories and writing articles, reviews \u2013 to being asked to do some judging. I was like \u201cyeah, I can do that\u201d.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I love judging. Are you doing any more?<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know. I really, really enjoyed it; but I also don\u2019t want to take a place that, in my mind, would be better suited for someone who is at the start of their career and will really grow them \u2013 I\u2019m happy to do it, of course. What I really enjoyed was being the smallest voice in the room for once .I don\u2019t know if you get that, but if you let on that you do a bit of wine, in\u00a0conversation \u2013 then suddenly you\u2019re the expert and it becomes the only thing that gets talked about. To go into a room where the wine knowledge was so huge, was great for me.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I love tasting wines and seeing a lot of different styles. And also hearing comments and feedback from other judges who have come from different experiences. Getting a feel for the season and what\u2019s happening in different parts of New Zealand. It\u2019s super educational. Even just the outside stuff \u2013 the social time and connecting with people. I love it.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: There\u2019s some interesting people in wine. The last person I caught up with before coming on this trip was Simon Nunns<\/strong>, and we probably only talked about wine for less than half of the conversation. Also, I was keen to get feedback on how I did at the judging – I checked with Jane (Cooper, Chief Judge) that it would be OK to ask Rebecca for some feedback, and I was interested in some honest opinion on how I\u2019d done.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: You were awesome! I\u2019ve judged at the International Wine Challenge<\/strong> in London a couple of times, and they have very structured feedback. You taste in panels of five and you have to give feedback on everyone else in that panel, it\u2019s all done online, and you have to do it. Through that feedback, you either progress, or you don\u2019t come back.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: Do you do much in the vineyard?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: the only time I spend any considerable time in the vineyard is during harvest, when I spend a lot of time going out tasting fruit, looking at fruit condition. Making the harvest picking decisions and that kind of thing. But the rest of the year I\u2019m usually in the winery. Blending, getting wines out \u2013 I\u2019m not out there pruning or that side of things. At critical times during the growing season I\u2019ll check in and see what\u2019s happening.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Do you get time off to do personal development, like the judging as an example I suppose?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Stuff like judging, yes. Obviously I get annual leave! (laughs). Mostly now when I travel for work it\u2019s for Marketing and Sales, promoting the brand. And some of those trips I\u2019ll tack on regional visits if there\u2019s somewhere I want to visit.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Do you like that sort of thing?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: It can be quite eye-opening to visit our markets. I know people are drinking the wine \u2013 we make a reasonable amount of it, but it\u2019s nice to get a connection to that. See who\u2019s drinking it, what markets it\u2019s being sold in. I like the engagement of that. \u00a0I\u2019m a social person so I like interacting, but I\u2019m quite happy for someone else to do it, I don\u2019t need to be in the limelight. \u00a0<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Do you ever get faced with some quirky situations, where someone\u2019s wine knowledge is such that they ask you funny questions?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: I accept that not everyone has that knowledge. I\u2019ve been asked before \u201cDo you add lemons?\u201d but if you\u2019ve never been involved in wine production, then that\u2019s quite a valid question. Especially when people describe wine with different fruit flavours, like cinnamon stick or that kind of thing. It\u2019s quite a logical progression to then think that those things might occur?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: Shall we try a few wines, and we can carry on talking as well?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Yes, I do actually have some Vintage \u201921 wines which aren\u2019t finished, which I thought would be quite fun to taste. We don\u2019t have to try all of them, but for example, I\u2019ve got a lighter alcohol Sauvignon..<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I\u2019d be keen to try that. I’ve had a few zero alcohol wines that weren’t as nice an experience as a version ‘with alcohol’.\u00a0 Some had a hollowness to the body \u2013 why would taking the alcohol out make it feel like that?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Well, alcohol is a very structural component of a wine. So when you start manipulating that, it takes something that\u2019s sort of a backbone of the structure away.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

When you\u2019re dropping out alcohol you need something else to take its place. Quite often that will be residual sugar, or you need to drop the acidity down a bit more, to try and get some balance. It\u2019s quite a tricky wine style to make.<\/p>

We don\u2019t make alcohol-free at the moment. We make it at 9.5%, so about 25% lighter than our standard sauvignon, and we try to achieve this naturally. Doing styles like Zero, you\u2019re using reverse osmosis or Spinning Cone technology to strip alcohol out. To achieve our lighter in alcohol Sauvignon we trim the canopies really low to slow the sugar accumulation of the fruit. Using this technique, the acidity drops and you get the flavour development. The acids are dropping out but the brix, the sweetness isn\u2019t progressing at such a rate. So the idea is you get flavourful styles but with more moderate alcohol.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: With it being called \u2018lighter\u2019 do you think people would expect it to have a less flavour as well as less alcohol? Like a less-rich tasting wine?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: We\u2019ve been part of a research programme for the last seven years through New Zealand Winegrowers and MPI, and the whole premise of that programme was finding\u00a0different techniques to create a full-bodied wine but in a lighter style. So people aren\u2019t sacrificing their wine experience, and flavour, but are getting the benefit of lower alcohol. The lighter wines do have a calorie reduction too. But I think people are slightly more forgiving on Lighter wines if they know what they are. If they were expecting something big, bold and massive and it\u2019s not \u2013 they might look and go \u201coh well, it\u2019s 9.5%\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

I think with Marlborough Sauvignon, it is so aromatic and it\u2019s got vibrant acidity that gives a lot of character to the wine, so dropping down the alcohol it can be a bit more forgiving.<\/p>

Lower alcohol wines have been around for quite some time. \u00a0The feedback on some of the early ones on the market were \u201cacidic, thin, mean\u201d, because people were just picking them early, or stripping all the alcohol out. So the idea of the programme was finding different techniques to create good styles.<\/p>

Our Yealands Reserve<\/strong>, is a style where we try and make a savoury, richer style. It comes from the Seaview Vineyard, but one of the blocks that makes up 50% of the blend has broader acidity and is a bit more savoury, and we blend it in with a more tropical fruit to get a warm, rich, more structured style.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: I was blown away by the 2020 wines that I\u2019ve had though. I can\u2019t remember one that I didn\u2019t really like \u2013 I think it\u2019s been a killer year.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: You should wait until you see the 2021s. \u201919 and \u201920 have been really awesome Sauvignon vintages. \u201921 is something again (smiles broadly).<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: That\u2019s got that lovely, classic tarragon herbal note to it.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: That\u2019s a classic character from the Awatere, yes. Herbal or blossoming herb flower character. Then we\u2019ve got our Single Vineyard Sauvignon<\/strong>, which only comes from Seaview, and some of our highest-graded blocks from around the site. When I\u2019m putting this style together I like to get that classic salty minerality. That herbal note too, but then it\u2019s all about that textural crushed oyster shell, which I think is one of our hallmarks. It\u2019s so unique and awesome from out here.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: I was so looking forward to doing this, and seeing the progression through the Sauvignon Blancs \u2013 picking up on their individualities. I\u2019m stoked to be doing this on \u2018Sauvignon Blanc Day\u2019. That briny, savoury note to that is fantastic. I love the salinity, and that pithy dryness. I sometimes find the single block expressions too precise \u2013 almost to a point where you are losing something. Their singularity isn\u2019t always \u2018better\u2019 then the whole you get from across a region, where things are added rather than stripped back. Sometimes I want that \u201deverythingness\u201d, and then other times I love that beautiful single voice, that perfect note that a small-block wine delivers.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: it\u2019s interesting with Sauvignon that some of the wines that are the most robust \u2013 or do really well in shows \u2013 are those larger commercial blends, because they are a blend of everything. Some of those more precise expressions are from single sites. That\u2019s a nice segue into our Single Block wines! S1<\/strong> comes from deeper up the Seaview Vineyard in a sheltered warmer site that\u2019s usually one of the first that we pick. We tend to get more stonefruit, like nectarine and a softer, more plush acidity.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Having said what I said \u2013 I do prefer this one to anything else so far!! Hahaha.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: The structure and the texture is completely different from this one. This is briny, almost mineral and edgy. Whereas this one has a soft chalkiness, a softer acidity and there\u2019s more flesh to it. And it doesn\u2019t have that salty intensity through the palate.<\/p>

We\u2019ve just been working on next year\u2019s blends, and this is our\u00a0L5<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the \u201920, but the 2019 won the Decanter Trophy<\/strong> for Best Sauvignon in the World! This isn\u2019t that wine \u2013 this is the next vintage on. It is one of our most coastal expressions and is always kind of herbal, with a savoury structure on the nose, and then a textural mineral palate, but there\u2019s an elegance there too. It\u2019s like the seaside. You feel yourself sniffing an empty oyster shell!<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Yes, it\u2019s like seaspray, and when you walk on a blustery, exposed beach and you get back and it\u2019s kind of energised you. This wine has that sort of refreshing, energy to it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

NC<\/strong>: So we\u2019ve been looking at 2020 wines, but this is 2018 State of Flux<\/strong>, from our egg. The wine comes from our Brackenfield Vineyard<\/strong> which is right on the Awatere River on a river terrace. It\u2019s eleven months in the concrete egg on its yeast lees, and I think that extended time on lees has given it a real freshness. So, for a 2018 Sauvignon, this still has very pure, vibrant fruit.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Does it stay its entire time in the egg?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Yes. So we don\u2019t move it. It stays in the egg for the ferment and just lives in there, until we go to bottle it.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: hmmm. So, excuse my lack of knowledge\u2026 but I imagine that fermentation is a time of activity \u2013 but after that, what? Is there any natural movement in the wine?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

NC<\/strong>: Not really. So, unless its going to go through malolactic fermentation, which it didn\u2019t. It would be just ageing on its lees. So then the yeast will go through an autolysis process, putting texture and weight back into the wine.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Do you pick fruit at certain times, depending on what your intentions are for it? Like \u2013 you know you\u2019re putting this wine into an egg \u2013 does that affect your thought process at picking?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Potentially. There\u2019s another wine which we make that is a barrel-fermented Sauvignon. I like to have that a bit more ripe, and softer acidity, so we pick that later.<\/p>

We\u2019re only trying one wine that isn\u2019t sauvignon today, and that\u2019s the next wine (laughs). That\u2019s our other egg wine, which is a Chardonnay<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

A 2019, second year release, from the Medway Vineyard<\/strong> which is deep up the Awatere. Very rugged terrain, 25 year old vines, and it spends eleven months in the egg. No oak. And it\u2019s had no malo, so it\u2019s a very taut, mineral-focussed Chardonnay.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: that\u2019s got a distinctive honey note to it. Really refreshing and there\u2019s that salinity, again. And an apple skin, tannin edginess.<\/p>

We move on to the end of the tasting \u2013 and my time at Yealands \u2013 to look at the 2021 wines\u2026<\/em><\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Now, these next wines are not finished \u2013 obviously, they\u2019re cloudy, but they\u2019re also not balanced. So they\u2019ll have bracing acidity and be bone dry, some of them. This has been balanced and it\u2019s our Yealands blend for this year. This has only gone together this week, so it is hot off the press. We\u2019ve got a few processes to go through to get this in the bottle, but it\u2019s quite exciting to taste the fresh vintage wines.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I love barrel tasting, and I love wines like this. I had something with Rod MacIvor<\/strong> at Marsden Estate<\/strong> that was bright magenta milky colour, frothy and warm! I was gingerly smelling it and he said \u201cdrink it!\u201d and I was a bit like \u201cshould I???\u201d and Oh my God it was good. Addictively good. Almost better than the finished product. Something about it that\u2019s so vital and alive. Lemongrass, crisp apples.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

NC<\/strong>: I love tasting Sauvignon at this stage. Do you drink hazy beer? I think it would be great to have a Hazy Sauvignon Festival which was just a couple of weeks post harvest, when you\u2019re doing your blending, before you filter or anything. I think it would be fun.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Like a fresh Hop thing!?<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Yes, very seasonal, like Boom Boom Boom.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: The first time I ever had a Sour Beer, before they became a recognised thing. There was this shop and it was having a Clearance of 4-packs of Belgian, Oak-barrel matured, Sour Beer. So quite a posh beer, in bottles. I think I paid something like a bargain $10 for the pack. Poured one and at first I was like \u201cWoah, this is off\u201d, then I thought it wasn\u2019t.. read the notes on the back of it, and got to the end of the first glass. I thought to myself \u2013 \u2018that\u2019s like I\u2019ve never had a beer before in my life\u2019 It was so different, so conflicting.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: This is the\u00a0Baby Doll Sauvignon<\/strong>\u00a0that\u2019s just gone together and had no balancing at all, so might be quite acidic. I\u2019m very excited about the \u201821s!<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: That\u2019s got a lovely lime cordial and an amazing elderflower lift to it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

NC<\/strong>: And this is the L5. It\u2019s just finished ferment.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: So this is the one I really like from before\u2026 it\u2019s a bit funky. It\u2019s got a flavour I don\u2019t taste often now that I live in the Southern hemisphere. You can get all different berries up there \u2013 white ones and pale green and pink ones. This has something of that to it \u2013 there\u2019s a Scandinavian berry called Lingonberry that\u2019s quite sweet and sour at once. Good texture to it.<\/p>

NC<\/strong>: Salty, briny chalky. And finally, this will be different \u2013 this will become the S1.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

WF<\/strong>: Amazing nose. That has got gooseberry to it, and I tend to stay away from that as a description because it\u2019s both become quite a generic term, and who really has gooseberry often to know what it\u2019s like?<\/p>

Our final bit of business is to head down into the winery and have a look at the egg-shaped fermenters. I\u2019m surprised to find out there\u2019s a few of them. Whilst these are obviously working bits of kit in the winery, they are quite photogenic (I think it\u2019s part of the appeal) and they\u2019re something I\u2019m going to be looking into more \u2013 but that\u2019s for another time, in another feature somewhere in WineFolio future.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards this year, I got to judge a flight of Sauvignon Blanc alongside Natalie Christensen \u2013 Chief Winemaker at Yealands in Marlborough. I decided … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews-with-nz-winemakers"],"yoast_head":"\nWinemaker series: Natalie Christensen - WineFolio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen - WineFolio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards this year, I got to judge a flight of Sauvignon Blanc alongside Natalie Christensen \u2013 Chief Winemaker at Yealands in Marlborough. I decided …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WineFolio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wine.folio.1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-09T23:21:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-30T04:58:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1543\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"892\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Walker Bell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Walker Bell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"22 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Walker Bell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8b8706e15ba32f9782222c431fa75d9f\"},\"headline\":\"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-09T23:21:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-30T04:58:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092\"},\"wordCount\":4747,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Winemaker Series\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092\",\"name\":\"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen - WineFolio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-09T23:21:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-30T04:58:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg\",\"width\":1543,\"height\":892,\"caption\":\"Natalie Christensen\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?p=4092#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/\",\"name\":\"WineFolio\",\"description\":\"A collection of writing about New Zealand Wine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WineFolio\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/WF_final_black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/WF_final_black.png\",\"width\":999,\"height\":389,\"caption\":\"WineFolio\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/wine.folio.1\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/winefolio\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/winefolio.co.nz\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8b8706e15ba32f9782222c431fa75d9f\",\"name\":\"David Walker Bell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8597b80119ac3781cc55cc862f5a0514b7945f701d24da2c585751e8ee210ba7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8597b80119ac3781cc55cc862f5a0514b7945f701d24da2c585751e8ee210ba7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8597b80119ac3781cc55cc862f5a0514b7945f701d24da2c585751e8ee210ba7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Walker Bell\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen - WineFolio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen - WineFolio","og_description":"At the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards this year, I got to judge a flight of Sauvignon Blanc alongside Natalie Christensen \u2013 Chief Winemaker at Yealands in Marlborough. I decided …","og_url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092","og_site_name":"WineFolio","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wine.folio.1","article_published_time":"2021-08-09T23:21:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-30T04:58:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1543,"height":892,"url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Walker Bell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Walker Bell","Est. reading time":"22 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092"},"author":{"name":"David Walker Bell","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#\/schema\/person\/8b8706e15ba32f9782222c431fa75d9f"},"headline":"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen","datePublished":"2021-08-09T23:21:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-30T04:58:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092"},"wordCount":4747,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg","articleSection":["Winemaker Series"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092","url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092","name":"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen - WineFolio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg","datePublished":"2021-08-09T23:21:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-30T04:58:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg","width":1543,"height":892,"caption":"Natalie Christensen"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4092#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Winemaker series: Natalie Christensen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/","name":"WineFolio","description":"A collection of writing about New Zealand Wine","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#organization","name":"WineFolio","url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/WF_final_black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/WF_final_black.png","width":999,"height":389,"caption":"WineFolio"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wine.folio.1","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/winefolio\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/#\/schema\/person\/8b8706e15ba32f9782222c431fa75d9f","name":"David Walker Bell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8597b80119ac3781cc55cc862f5a0514b7945f701d24da2c585751e8ee210ba7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8597b80119ac3781cc55cc862f5a0514b7945f701d24da2c585751e8ee210ba7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8597b80119ac3781cc55cc862f5a0514b7945f701d24da2c585751e8ee210ba7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Walker Bell"}}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/PREFERRED-Natalie-Christensen-Yealands-Chief-Winemaker.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4092"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4412,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4092\/revisions\/4412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}