The nation has revealed what really goes on behind closed cellar doors in the first ever WineFriend Great New Zealand Wine Census. We spoke to WineFriend chief tasting officer and dish Drinks Editor, Yvonne Lorkin, to dive deeper into the findings.

Picture this, you’re sitting down to a glass of wine with friends, chatting away. The company is good, the food is good but the wine leaves something to be desired. You can’t quite put your finger on it but deep down you know that something’s missing. Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you spot the SodaStream. “I just had a brilliant idea,” you tell your friends. As your friends exchange curious glances with one another, you pour the wine into a SodaStream bottle and begin pumping it, once, twice, three times, “Eureka, instant bubbly!” you proudly proclaim as the liquid explodes in your face.

It may sound far-fetched to some, but according to WineFriend's Great New Zealand Wine Census, 5% of Kiwis have tried this very idea. It’s one of several ‘wine crimes’ that have been committed around the country. Other notable crimes included warming up wine in the microwave (11%), while another 51% did the opposite by cooling their wine down with ice cubes.

The Wine Census, which received 1,500 responses, was designed to reveal more about Kiwis’ behaviour regarding wine consumption. “We wanted to find out what was, I guess, making the tastebuds of the nation tick, and how confident people were at buying their wine and whether they had any consumption quirks,” says WineFriend chief tasting office Yvonne Lorkin.  

Wine crimes aside, the census also produced some surprising insights into our preferences around wine, perhaps most notably that the engine of the New Zealand wine industry, Sauvignon Blanc, is in fact not our favourite white variety. That distinction went to Chardonnay (30%). What’s more, 24% of respondents said that Sauvignon Blanc was their least favourite wine overall.

The census revealed that Kiwis like to splash out on wine, too, with 32% of people buying 4-6 bottles per month and 57% typically spending $20-$30 per bottle. Despite our willingness to spend on wine, however, Kiwis are generally not adventurous with their wine choices, with 45% saying they stick to what they like. “People like to think that they're adventurous. They like to think that they're really open-minded when it comes to trying different things, but when it comes to actually putting your money down, often we clam up a bit and we stick with our same-old same-old,” says Yvonne.

Our reluctance to venture outside of our comfort zone could be attributed to two things: one being a lack of knowledge, with only 44% of respondents saying they can tell the difference between styles, and two being the overwhelming number of choices at the bottle shop or supermarket, as 63% of respondents indicated. “It's almost like when there's too much choice, people regress and go back to their same old favorites, and that's really boring,” says Yvonne. “Then heaps of people (89%) choose a bottle just because the label looks pretty. That's huge!”

Building on that point, Yvonne also noted the 81% of people who bought wine simply because it had a shiny medal on it. Although these medals are often well-deserved, Yvonne points out that it may not be the right wine for you. “It might have just got a gold medal for being the best sweet version of that wine, when in fact you're someone that likes dry styles, but nothing on the wine tells you that it's sweet. Nothing on that medal tells you that it's been awarded for being a sweet style. All you see is, oh, it's a gold medal. Must be good. And it might not be,” she says.

At the same time, the medals should not be discounted. “To taste a gold medal wine is a great thing, if you know it's to your taste,” says Yvonne. “And if it means spending an extra five bucks, do it.”

If you are one of those people who is consistently overwhelmed by the choices on a wine list or in a store, Yvonne recommends a subscription to WineFriend or educating yourself either through a one-day wine course or reading Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide. And should you be dining out, she also recommends asking the staff for a taster. “Most of the time, they'll say yes, because Kiwis are great for buying once they feel confident,” she says. “If they've had a taste, they go, ‘Oh, actually that could be quite nice. Yep. Give us a whole glass. I'll have a whole bottle’," she adds.

Considering our apparent lack of knowledge, Yvonne, even with her encyclopaedic knowledge and years of experience in the wine industry, is non-judgmental of those who commit wine crimes. “We're a nation of innovators, aren't we? It's in our DNA to try and find fast and efficient ways of fixing a problem. But if we're going to do that, then just do it within these parameters for safety and cleanliness and taste. That's what I reckon,” she says.

Yvonne has a few wine hacks of her own that you’ll be grateful to know, including purchasing fake ice cubes, e.g., those made of stainless steel or stone for those who want to avoid watering down their wine with real ice. More importantly, if you’re purchasing a corked wine, "My expression is always, blow on the cork,” she says. “If you're taking a cork out of a bottle of wine, just before you pull it right out, check that there are no little crumbs from the cork that have fallen onto the neck of the bottle. Because if you pull the cork out without blowing those crumbs off, then they'll get sucked down into the bottle.”

Yvonne also suggests decanting wine, especially bold Chardonnays or reds, to give them a “big oomph” of oxygen that will bring them to life. And if you have an unfinished bottle of wine that you want to keep fresh for the next day, she says to put the cork back in the bottle or twist the cap as tight as you can and turn the bottle on its side: “Pop it in the fridge or put it somewhere dark so that all the liquid goes down into the neck of the bottle. And that will help prevent oxygen getting into the wine and turning it into vinegar.”

When it comes to food pairings, Yvonne also has a few rules to live by, “If you're a fan of spicy food, and you're going to cook something that's got a high chilli content in it, go for something that's aromatic and citrusy and a little bit sweeter, like a Gewürztraminer or a Pinot Gris or a Viognier,” she says. Pairing spicy food with red wine is “a car crash in your mouth,” she adds.

“But one thing that is an unlikely combination that I really love that doesn't sit with the classic red wine/red meat, white wine/white meat rule, is having tuna, whether it's cooked or whether it's rare as in a tartare or in sashimi – with Pinot Noir. Unbelievably good together.”

Don’t know your Chardonnay from your Viognier? Yvonne has plenty more nuggets of wine wisdom to share with you in each issue of dish including our regular Tasting Panel, where she and a host of other wine experts judge the very best varieties from around the country and beyond.

For a more personalised experience, a subscription to WineFriend will introduce you to a whole new world of wine, picked specifically for you by Yvonne herself. Visit winefriend.co.nz now to learn more. 

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