NZW Fellows: Xan Harding
A self-confessed “nerd” with a penchant for policy and a passion for sociology has been recognised for his commitment to New Zealand’s wine industry.
A partnership between North Canterbury wine producer Pyramid Valley and Dunedin-based forensic science company Oritain will allow consumer to trace their wine from soil to glass via an Oritain Trustmark, which verifies the signature of each parcel of land on the wine. "Sanctity of place sits at the heart of Pyramid Valley’s values, with our Botanicals Collection wines speaking with a unique voice from vineyard parcels located just a few metres apart,” says Steve Smith MW, co-founder of Aotearoa New Zealand Fine Wine Estates, which owns Pyramid Valley. “We were looking for a way to provide two guarantees to our valuable customers. Firstly, that the wines are 100% of the place we say they come from, and secondly, providing verification of their provenance at any time in the life of a wine.”
Oritain Chief Executive Grant Cochrane says the forensic technology provides a level of traceability like no other, tapping into the unique geochemistry of land, which differs even when sites are just metres apart. The technology tracks that soil signature from land to vine to wine, as a guarantee of the source. “The Oritain Trustmark will become just that – a trusted symbol of origin verification,” Grant says.
The technology ensures “ultratransparency” from the company, while maintaining confidence that the supply chain has not delivered a fraudulent wine, Steve says. “Our partnership has provided the answers and may provide the fine wine world with a verification system that links the wine to the land absolutely.”
The 2020 Pyramid Valley Botanicals Collection wines are the first in the world to wear the Oritain Trustmark, a QR code that links to the guarantee. “For Pyramid Valley, it supports our claim that the wines in our Botanicals Collection are true to source, from earth to barrel to bottle, each having their own unique Oritain Fingerprint even when vineyard parcels are just metres apart,” says Steve.
“It supports the story of the unique terroir of each vineyard parcel sitting within the Waikari farm. We have always been able to taste the difference – today we can prove it. Our proposition of ‘wines that breathe of their place’ is now supported by forensic science.”
Fine wine producers should be “totally transparent” with origin, their sustainability story, regenerative story, and how they operate, to give the luxury consumer confidence, he adds.
The fingerprint can also provide proof, at any point of time in the supply chain, that the wine is the genuine article with no modifications. “If a customer wants to verify for themselves the 2020 Lion’s Tooth in their glass is the authentic product, we offer a unique guarantee. They simply have to keep a sample, contact us, and Oritain can supply the verification.”
Some wine companies are already using blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on labels, to protect the integrity of their wines, “but that does not confirm that what is in the bottle is what left the winery,” Steve says.
Pyramid Valley embraces the concept of making wine hand in hand with nature using modern science, technology and natural wisdom, he adds. “While we take our cues from older philosophies, it is marrying these cues with innovation, inquisitive minds, modern technology and science that sets us apart.”
