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Photo Credit: Richard Briner
The inaugural Aotearoa New Zealand Chardonnay Symposium traversed the practical and theoretical, writes Emma Jenkins MW in this edition.
The October event was organised by Hawke's Bay Winegrowers, New Zealand Winegrowers, and the New Zealand Society for Viticulture and Oenology (NZSVO).
Viticulturist Dr David Jordan, who is on the NZSVO workshop committee, was very pleased with the collaboration between the organisations to offer a technical workshop on day one, and a market focus and review of current international wine styles on day two, with "great energy and enthusiasm for collegial exchange" brought by attendees to both days.
Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Executive Officer Brent Linn says the first symposium was a great opportunity to bring the national wine community to Hawke's Bay, which he calls "the spiritual home of Chardonnay", and therefore the rightful place to hold the national symposium.
"It was really good for the Chardonnay Symposium to have the NZSVO Technical Workshop provide us with some training wheels in the first year."
They already have keynote speakers booked for 2024, "and it's a must-attend for anyone in the Chardonnay space".
“Who decides what quality is? How do we know it when we see it?” Julia Harding MW’s opening question set the tone for the third Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium held in Te Matau-a-Māui in September. Across two days in Hastings, delegates examined quality in Chardonnay, how it is understood, perceived, discussed and communicated, in the vineyard, in the winery and in the glass.
“The first conviction we need as wine drinkers,” Andrew Jefford once wrote, “is to spend less time thinking about grape varieties, and pay more attention to the places wines come from and the cultures in which they come into being. All the grape variety does is present a spectrum of opportunities.”
One of Australia's most decorated winemakers will speak at the Aotearoa New Zealand Chardonnay Symposium in Hawke's Bay this September.
OPINION: People often want to know what the best part of undertaking my Master of Wine was.
The third Aotearoa New Zealand Chardonnay Symposium will be underway in Hastings, Hawke's Bay, on 17-18 September.
