Mystery clones spark new winemaking experiments leading to victory at Marlborough Wine Show

Gewürztraminer is the relatively new kid on the block for Mount Riley Wines, but it caught the attention of judges at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, and was awarded the champion Gewürztraminer of the show.

Chief winemaker Matt Murphy says he and his team were thrilled to pick up the Wine Brokers New Zealand Champion Gewürztraminer trophy at the show, which adds to a growing list of trophies won by the company at the show in previous years.

It is the sixth variety for which Mount Riley Wines has won a trophy in the Marlborough competition since it began in 2011. Below, Matt shares the story of their Gewürztraminer and how the 2023 vintage came to be a winner…

Congratulations on picking up the award for Champion Gewürztraminer at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show. Tell us about this wine and what makes it special. 

We purchased a vineyard up Brookby Road in the Omaka Valley 12 years ago, which had mature Gewürztraminer plantings on it. We hadn’t been making Gewürztraminer prior, but started from these vines and we were really pleased with the wines we were making. Mystery clones and rootstock add to the intrigue….

Was there anything in particular about the 2023 vintage that made it stand out? 

The fact that it was uneventful was worth celebrating after some tricky vintages over the last few years, with  both weather and covid disruptions making life tough.

The summer was pretty wet by our standards and most of us were resigning ourselves to a vintage dictated by disease pressure. Remarkably enough though, February, March and April were settled, albeit cool, and we had what I’d consider an old school vintage. Cooler, longer hang time and the ability to pick when fruit was ripe and flavours great. It felt relaxed, controlled and restored my faith in our profession.

What is it about Marlborough that makes it a good region to produce quality Gewürztraminer?

 The reasons Marlborough is great for Gewürztraminer are the same reasons for all of the other wines we make. Long warm days, cool nights, our proximity to both the Pacific Ocean and Southern Alps moderating daytime peak temps. 2023 had that typical long, cool ripening period which enabled maximum flavour development in skins through slow sugar accumulation and ripening.

You’ve previously had other successes at the Marlborough Wine Show. Why is it an important competition for Mount Riley, and how does it feel to be recognised by your peers for the wines you’re producing? 

Yeah, we’ve had success at the show before and have trophies across I think around six different varieties, which is pretty cool. It’s always good to benchmark our wines against other great wines from our region, and really pleasing when they go well against very strong opposition. The entire Mount Riley team is always thrilled when our wines receive accolades and it’s a great reminder to all of them how important each of their efforts are within the entire winegrowing process