A long awaited celebration

An International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration held here at home has been a long time coming. While aromatics, Pinot Noir and even Syrah have had their time in the proverbial world spotlight with national events, our most famous variety has had to wait until this year to shine. And shine it did at the beginning of February.

Held in Marlborough, with more than 30 guest speakers, 65 international wine media, more than 10 Masters of Wine, sommeliers and winemakers, the event showcased the diversity of the variety. Not just here in New Zealand, but internationally as well – an important facet of the event.

As NZW Global Marketing Director Chris Yorke says, the Celebration reinforced what New Zealand has achieved, but most of all it pointed out how unique our achievements have been.

"I think Matt Kramer said it well when he said, you have got something here, you have made something and you should be really proud. And we should be."

The 2016 event is the first of many more to come Yorke says, and is part of a long-term strategy to promote all our regions and all our wines.

Pinot Noir 2017 takes place in Wellington from 31 January to 2nd February, preceded by an aromatic symposium in Nelson and followed up with a full bodied reds event in Hawke's Bay. A second Sauvignon Blanc Celebration is planned for 2019. 

Then Pinot Noir will be the focus in 2021 – celebrating 20 years since the inaugural event. In 2023 Sauvignon Blanc will again be the star of the show, exactly 50 years after the first modern day vines were planted in Marlborough.

Yorke says while Sauvignon or Pinot Noir are the anchor events, they provide the opportunity to showcase our other styles and regions to the influencers being brought out.

For example this year some of the international guests were treated to a forage in Waipara prior to travelling to Blenheim. After the Celebration they flew to Gisborne to get up close and personal with New Zealand Sparkling and Chardonnay – more on that later.

But occasions like this don't come cheap. The Sauvignon Blanc Celebration was a $1 million event – with funding coming from wineries, delegate fees and sponsors. NZW put an extra $250,000 in to bring out the 65 international media and Yorke says the return on that investment will be phenomenal.

"We have a follow up plan with the wine writers, where we measure how much they have written, how many articles, social meida, etc. We then work out the estimated advertising value. Overall this will run into the millions of dollars."

The immediacy of social media saw both #nzwine and #SauvignonNZ reach millions of people. From tracking Twitter, #nzwine had 4,288 posts during the event and appeared on 46 million timelines, while #SauvignonNZ had 2,590 posts and appeared on 10 million timelines. The latter also trended at number one in New Zealand during the three days and number seven in Australia.

That's an awful lot of people reached in just a few days and there is more to come when you think of the articles, comments and blogs that have yet to appear.

Congrats must go to the organisers of the Celebration – it was a remarkable few days, with everything running smoothly. That is some task given the numbers present and the fact it was new and previously untested.

So if you missed it, here is a basic rundown of what guests, both national and international were treated to.

Day one saw an international Sauvignon tasting, accompanied by winemakers and Masters of Wine. Wines from the US, Chile, Italy, Austria, South Africa, France and Australia, were tasted alongside New Zealand.

That evening there was the garden party held at Marlborough's historic Timara Lodge where the versatility of wine and food was highlighted.

Day two saw an array of speakers, none more entertaining than Alexandre Schmitt, known as "the nose". After a comprehensive tasting of 300 Sauvignons from around the country and world in one of two barrel halls, guests relaxed under the sun with a picnic lunch. Then it was off to the historic train trip through the

Awatere Valley to Kekerungu for a Kiwiana beach party – complete with cricket, KUPs and croquet.

Day three saw where the variety sits out there in the world, while the diversity of Sauvignon expanded to include the alternative tasting, prior to a winery luncheon.

The event came to an end with a Gala Dinner held at Brancott Vineyard, complete with a World of Wearable Arts live show.

Wine, food, great speakers, stunning settings and fantastic weather combined to ensure the first ever International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration will not be forgotten in a hurry.

Then on to Gisborne

For the international guests, the fun wasn't over when the Sauvignon Celebration ended. Instead they were treated to something very unique – a Wine Flight, from Blenheim to Gisborne. Yorke says getting the guests into Gisborne was proving to be a bit of a nightmare, until he approached Air NZ to see if chartering a plane was a logical option.

"I asked them if we could determine our own route and they said yes, they thought we could do that. So I asked if we could leave Blenheim fly over Marlborough, then over Nelson, up to the North Island and fly over Wairarapa, Hawke's Bay and then on to Gisborne. They checked with the chief pilot and he said that would be okay. Then they asked what height did we want to go down to. I asked what height could we get down to and they suggested 5000 feet. (Most commercial flights are at least at 22,000 feet)."

The Air NZ Wine Flight was a go. In the end two charter planes were hired, one led by MW Jane Skilton, the other by MW Michael Brajkovich. While on the flight guests were treated to a wine from the region they were flying over, accompanied by canapés created by Air NZ.

For everyone on board it was a surreal experience. As one international guest said, it was like a three dimensional wine tasting. While looking at the wine region from the air, they were drinking the wine and hearing more about the region itself from a Master of Wine. What more could you want? Maybe a truly unique New Zealand experience?

Which is what everyone got when they arrived in Gisborne.

The local Kapa Haka group provided the Maori challenge then powhiri, welcoming the guests to the region. There were plenty of cameras and phones snapping and there was more than one person wiping their eye at the emotion of it. For the majority of guests, this was there first experience with New Zealand's traditional culture and it is one they won't forget.

Gisborne which also turned on the weather, provided the perfect opportunity for the internationals to find out more about our Sparkling wines and Chardonnay. In depth tastings were held during the day, with a beach party at night, under the stars.

Again another superb organisational effort.

And I have to mention here; hats off to the members of Gisborne Winegrowers who were the waiters and stewards on the night of the farewell dinner. You made the evening very special.

So with the major events of 2016 now behind us, the countdown begins for Pinot Noir 2017 – more on that later in the magazine.