{"id":4436,"date":"2021-10-08T08:03:58","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T19:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4436"},"modified":"2021-10-08T08:09:35","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T19:09:35","slug":"spy-valley-wines-sustainably-crafted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=4436","title":{"rendered":"Spy Valley Wines – sustainably crafted"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Hidden in the heart of Marlborough, down a valley off the main highway is Spy Valley Wines \u2013 a family owned estate that has been called one of \u201cthe planets most notable new producers\u201d. It just so happens that they share the valley with a satellite communication station that finds the terroir perfect for spying too. I\u2019m here to talk to the owner, Amanda Johnson, and winemaker Wendy Stuckey on \u2018International Sauvignon Blanc Day\u2019 at the end of a flying visit to the region.<\/p>

Amanda Johnson<\/strong>: In 1993 my parents purchased Timara Lodge across the Omaka river here and with it came some farmland. My Dad is in the finance world and not a farmer, so he said \u2018what do we do with this land?\u2019 and at that stage there were really no vineyards planted this far up the valley. But he\u2019s always been a bit of a risk taker so decided to give it a crack and put it into vines. We planted out the Lodge Block over on Dog Point road and then not long after purchased the land over on this side of the river in the Waihopai Valley.<\/p>

We began as Johnson Estate, which is my family name, and we were grape growers for Corbans for several years, with the vineyard managed by Peter Masters. In 1998 I moved to Marlborough to live on the vineyard and become involved with the family business. in 1999, we decided to create our own brand and build a winery. Our first vintage was in 2000, and we needed to come up with a name for the Winery and label?<\/p>

Well there were some well-established ones by that stage, so we had a competition between friends and family. We wanted something interesting and that spoke to area, that we could have a bit of fun with and create a sustainable and authentic story behind it. My Brother-in-Law and I got down to the final two, and his vote was \u201cTrout Creek\u201d. He\u2019s an artist and lives in Wellington \u2013 he\u2019s done a lot of work in the winery and the paintings the hang in our cellar door, but didn\u2019t appreciate that we don\u2019t actually have trout in the local river!<\/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

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We have the intrigue of having the Five Eyes spy base up the road, which you should have a look at \u2013 it\u2019s just a few kms up the road. When we first moved into the Waihopai Valley, all the locals jokingly called it Spyhopai Valley. So I thought \u201cSpy Valley\u201d was a fun play on the local intrigue. We can have a bit of fun but are focused on making serious wine. When we built the winery, the architectural cut-outs here are morse code in the wood panels, on the wine labels, and we\u2019ve got a lot of James Bond prints and a spy theme that runs around \u2013 even out in the vineyards.<\/p>

Since that time we\u2019ve purchased a couple of other vineyards, in other parts of the Wairau and Omaka Valleys which give the winemakers different flavour profiles and complexities to play with.<\/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

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WineFolio<\/strong>: is that an on-going thing \u2013 if vineyards come up you\u2019ll look at that?<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: Yes, definitely. The most recent we purchased was \u2018Black Knight\u2019 which was about four years ago now. But we, probably like most others, are looking for more sauvignon supply. The demand certainly isn\u2019t waning and we want to maximise the facility we have here. We do have a couple of growers as well who help with our sauvignon supply, because about 75% of what we produce and export is Sauvignon, and then we have about eight different varietals that we do, and are all estate grown.<\/p>

We\u2019re vertically integrated here \u2013 we grow our own grapes, produce and bottle on site, and warehouse it here. We also have our Sales and Marketing team and admin on site so it is a fun and diverse team. We get good quality control and have oversight from vine to table.<\/p>

Our biggest markets are the US, and the UK which is making a bit of rebound now. We had a bit of a blip with some markets through COVID because we are predominantly on-premise in a lot of countries, and so that was hard hit. Although to be fair other markets have excelled at the same time. So it\u2019s balanced out which is fortunate. After this vintage there\u2019s a lot of juggling with allocations due to the low yielding harvest and supply chain issues with market partners. We\u2019re lucky that we\u2019ve got the UK and US. We export to about thirty five different countries but they\u2019re our two main ones and have been our market partners for twenty years so we\u2019ve got really great relationships with them.<\/p>

This year is low yields which is unfortunate timing. I mean you couldn\u2019t have more beautiful, cleaner-looking fruit and there is the demand. Amazing weather , and after last years Lockdown vintage challenges, although Wendy and the team produced some award-winning wines out of 2020 so that was wonderful.<\/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

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Wendy Stuckey<\/strong>: Our two Sauvignon Blancs \u2013 our Satellite and Spy both got Gold medals, plus an older vintage of Envoy got Gold medals at the Royal Easter Show, from the 2020 vintage. Gold medals aren\u2019t easy to get.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I was at the Easter Show this year. Certainly did some Sauvignon Blanc. I thought the 2020s were generally excellent right through. I think it\u2019s a great wine \u2013 and an extremely important one. I did look at the calendar and think that I could probably be in town for \u2018International Sauvignon Blanc day.\u2019 It was about this time last year that I was going to come and the trip got cancelled.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: Well we certainly welcome advocates of Sauvignon Blanc, because it is what keeps us all in business.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: And on the world wine scene too \u2013 it\u2019s a story in itself, and no other variety or region has done anything like 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

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AJ<\/strong>: This is our low alcohol, the 2020 \u2013 Easy Tiger. We have just recently updated our label.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I like the back part, where it\u2019s just information presented nicely \u2013 the front part on it\u2019s own\u2026 I\u2019m not sure!? And this is around 9% alcohol? I like the idea of that \u2018Lighter Wine\u2019 programme<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: 9.5%. It was slow to catch on, I think it\u2019s getting there. It\u2019s like in the US it\u2019s starting to go.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: Our first market for the Easy Tiger was in the UK, just for one customer, and that was quite a few years ago. Now people are looking for alternatives around a health and wellbeing option. It is definitely picking up.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I think if you are out at lunch and for any reason are not having alcohol, then it\u2019s a viable alternative to a glass of water. However, if you\u2019re sitting at home, and are more focussed on the experience and taste of a glass of wine, then perhaps those zero alcohol ones might disappoint?<\/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

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WS<\/strong>: And it\u2019s not that easy to make either, so that it does have a bit of weight to it. We put a portion of it through malolactic fermentation, get the acid down, balance it out.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: For us it is nice to have the option in our range of Sauvignon. When you\u2019re talking about the future \u2013 there\u2019s another choice for people. But it has to be reminiscent of the truth, the style of a Sauvignon Blanc, and some of them don\u2019t do that.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: When you starting making wine, did you have an ideal in mind?<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: Well, we\u2019ve got the three main ranges. Spy Valley is our main flagship range, and then we have the premium Envoy range which is more parcel selection, and the Satellite range is more that entry level, easy drinking, everyday 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\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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WF<\/strong>: has it always been like that or is it an evolution?<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: The Spy Valley range was the start and that\u2019s what we do all the different varietals in. We\u2019ve got quite a range there and then depending on the season, the winemakers will select what goes into an Envoy wine \u2013 if its worthy \u2013 and then we do a Sauvignon and Pinot Noir in the Satellite range.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: We also have a special range of single block Sauvignon, called E-Block. That sits in between Spy and Envoy.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: You\u2019ll see on our labels, on the front, the Sustainable Winegrowing logo, and we got a bit of flak for doing that but we have been a member of SWNZ for 20 years. It was sort of pre the big sustainable movement and now it\u2019s like everyone is drawn to it. Why not use the tools you have \u2013 like being part of Appellation Marlborough Wine \u2013 to show that we are a true, authentic brand, and a sense of place. Those attributes are important to many consumers.<\/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

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WS<\/strong>: The key is to differentiate yourself from everyone else.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: We get good feedback from people about the amount of information that we put on the bottle, because someone takes a bottle of wine along to a dinner, or something like that and it\u2019s nice that they can learn a bit more about it without having to google your website and read tasting notes.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: This is the Spy Valley 2020, a bit of a step up – this our classic label. We\u2019ll have a look and get the E-Block as well.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I like this one, it\u2019s got a bit of everything. A bit more concentration, and generosity. It\u2019s fruit-forward but it\u2019s got some depth to it as well. I love the way it\u2019s got that classic Marlborough start to it, but then it really deepens out into melon and stonefruit and a great texture.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: Most of the Sauvignon Blanc comes from vineyards around here and it\u2019s a little bit more restrained, so it doesn\u2019t have as much of those thiols \u2013 the punchy aromatics that you get from the Lower Wairau. We don\u2019t have anything over in the Awatere. One of our growers lives just here \u2013 in that house you can see, and they\u2019ve got a block of Sauvignon Blanc. And this year their Sauvignon Blanc is like Awatere\u2026where does that come from?? Each vintage you can\u2019t necessarily say that the wine is going to be the same.<\/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

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WS<\/strong>: The sub-regions do have a style, that\u2019s fairly set, but in some vintages that can move around a little bit. Next week we\u2019re about to start to look at our 2021s and they are looking good.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: I had some \u201821s, not finished wines, but oh wow, they were good. I love that essence of Sauvignon Blanc, before it\u2019s been filtered and \u2018tamed\u2019 ready to bottle. When it\u2019s cloudy and frothy \u2013 it\u2019s intoxicating. If you could get people to drink that!!<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: The best time for Sauvignon Blanc is when it\u2019s about a third of the way through fermentation. When it still has the yeast and it\u2019s sweet.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: I love going into the winery and the smell is overpowering. Beautiful.<\/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

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WS<\/strong>: This is our E-block 2018, so three years of bottle age. A portion of it was fermented in barrel.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: It\u2019s got a nice complexity to it. Reminds of one of those Semillon-Sauvignon \u2013 which I love too.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: Not all Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs – but some, depending on where they\u2019re sourced from and how they are made – can actually age really well. We did a full vertical tasting \u2013 including one from 2004 which had a cork in it. That\u2019s what we need to promote as well, I think. The industry is trying to do that now \u2013 maybe not five or ten years ago, to show the breadth of what Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc can offer.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Would you look to go organic?<\/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

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AJ<\/strong>: We\u2019ve trialled organics before in certain parts of the vineyard.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: I\u2019d like us to go more \u2018sustainable\u2019 not necessarily organic.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: Currently what we\u2019re doing is trying to have a lower footprint. Doing less tractor passes, not under-vine mowing so much\u2026 we had a few comments when we started as it does look a bit more rough and ready. But it\u2019s great actually. Not only is your carbon footprint coming down, but there\u2019s savings in fuel and time. Also on the soil, because every tractor pass compacts the soils. There\u2019s lots of good reasons for leaving it better than we started.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: I like the concept of organics but I think that whole regenerative agriculture is the way to go. Originally, before it was vineyards, this area was a bit of a wasteland wasn\u2019t it. Farming, but with pretty tired soil.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: As it\u2019s a family business, do you have succession plans?<\/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

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AJ<\/strong>: Well, my oldest nephew has gone into the hemp business, and my eldest has just completed his Masters and his thesis was on canned wine. All the kids come and stay with me on the hill up there, and the nieces and nephews come over summer. Their summer job is working in the vineyard. They have to start with the basics \u2013 which is picking up rocks! Then they move up to lifting wires and young vine training. But they have fun and enjoy working alongside our vineyard team. None of them have done a vintage yet, which I think would be a good experience. There\u2019s lots of conversations that happen, but no definite plan, yet.<\/p>

We want them to go out and learn and have different experiences and bring that back to the business, we want them to add value. Learn different ways of doing business.<\/p>

(Wendy scoots off and returns with what looks like a couple of samples of fruit juice..)<\/em><\/p>

WS<\/strong>: Now \u2013 this is dry \u2013 it hasn\u2019t got any sulphur in it, it\u2019s sitting in tank. This is one of our portions of E-Block 2021. We\u2019re just trying to a get a little more texture from the yeast lees.<\/p>

WF<\/strong>: Yum. Big citrus. Lime, lemongrass and nicely herbal.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: and this is the one block that we talked about earlier, that has that Awatere-like character.<\/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

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WF<\/strong>: Oh yes, it\u2019s got that phenolic, apple-skin like character to it too. Green pepper, fennel, chamomile. Classic.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: These growers actually worked with us in the winery this vintage. Normally for vintage we would employ a lot of overseas workers, but this year was a bit more of a challenge, so three from the family and one of Dad\u2019s friends kindly helped out.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: They were great to have here, and looked out for some of the younger ones, like a big happy family.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: I think there\u2019s going to be some stunning wines from this vintage. It\u2019s really exciting. It\u2019s an interesting year for wine, with what\u2019s happened in Europe. We\u2019ll treasure every drop.<\/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

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What about something different to finish off \u2013 a Marlborough Syrah? We\u2019ve got a lovely vineyard up the Omaka Valley, part of the Southern Valleys. If you went thru the river, it goes up the valley behind there. The Outpost vineyard is so steep that it\u2019s all hand-picked, and it is north facing which is important. It\u2019s lovely to have an alternative red on offer as well as Pinot, especially at the Cellar Door.<\/p>

WS<\/strong>: I think that site selection is so important for Syrah in New Zealand. In cooler vintages you could end up with quite weedy wines otherwise. We only have small parcels but it\u2019s fun to do and play around with. Aromatics has always been important, with Pinot Gris, Gewurz and Riesling as well. They are wines I enjoy making. We\u2019re trying to fine tune things and find out what works with what \u2013 especially when you come into a winery as a new person.<\/p>

I\u2019m nearly two years in now \u2013 I was with Constellation here in New Zealand as their Chief Winemaker, and prior to that I was in the US for eight years up in Washington State. It\u2019s a great region for wine and they do a lot of varietals across the board. Riesling is really good from there, and the Cabernets are great too. I\u2019ve spent most of my career in larger companies, so coming to somewhere like Spy has been a challenge in itself, but it has been great. Gets me back closer to the winemaking which is really what I want to do.<\/p>

AJ<\/strong>: And Wendy works with our young winemaker \u2013 Emily Gaspard-Clark who won the New Zealand Young Winemaker Award in 2019, so she\u2019s an up-and-comer which is great. Wendy has so much experience and will be able to mentor her and help her along her pathway, which is really cool.<\/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

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\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<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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