New Zealand’s largest winemaker, Montana, has established a technical and marketing agreement with the famous French Champagne House of Deutz to produce quality methode champenoise wines at Blenheim in the Marlborough area on the South Island of New Zealand, with local fruit. To me it’s an extraordinary relationship – a massive New Zealand concern whose prime objective appears to be the production of oceans of commercially-priced wine of average quality, leaping into bed with a small, historic specialist Champagne producer. Until you consider their finite resources in Champagne, you wonder what’s in it for Deutz. But like all the Champagne Houses, their future growth is totally restricted on their home turf. The governing body of the Champagne producers, the CIVC, allocates the tonnage of fruit available to a company as well as specifying how they make the wine. “New ventures like this can develop a brand’s name and fill areas in the market”, comments Peter Hubscher, Montana’s Production Director. “Deutz chose to work with Montana for its technical expertise. They have chosen the people with the best grapes rather than the best marketers” he says. “At Marlborough we grow grapes with excellent acidity and flavour.” In his fourteen years Peter Hubscher has been with the company, Montana has increased its annual tonnage crushed from 3,000 tonnes to 28,000 – a very serious quantity. Hubscher correctly believes that to process that amount into good drinking wine is no small challenge, perhaps more important than giving the vast bulk of his excellent Marlborough fruit the chance to reach its full quality potential in the premium end of the table wine market. You can however, excuse the excellent Montana Sauvignon Blanc from that remark. But I do find difficulty with their overall approach. Just down the road is Cloudy Bay, doing fabulous things with chardonnay, while Montana’s remains but a shadow of that wine. Yet Montana have gone for the stars with methode champenoise and sauvignon blanc. Why the inconsistency? I am yet to hear an answer I can accept. Deutz are no strangers to offshore methode champenoise. Maison Deutz is now California’s biggest-selling methode champenoise, making more than 20,000 cases each year. “There are grand expectations of the wine and some big things have been said, but we’ll be happy to do the best job possible”, Hubscher responded privately. Hubscher is a direct, straight-speaking man who by his own words is pragmatic enough not to crow about a vintage year until all his wine is safely in tank. Nevertheless, he seems quietly confident that he has a big surprise in store. One the aces up his sleeve is Montana’s new Coquard Champagne Press, quite unique in the southern hemisphere, which was installed just in time for the 1989 vintage, the second wine made under the arrangement with Deutz. Montana have spent over 1.5 million dollars in new production facilities for the Premium Cuvee, of which $230,000 went into the press alone, which is basically a high-tech derivative of the traditional square basket Champagne press. Seeing it will only be used for this limited-run sparkling wine, this is a massive investment and clearly underlines the commitment of both Montana and Deutz in this project. Coquard are a firm of engineers in Reims, Champagne, who have been building the Champagne presses for 60 years. The advancements made in the latest model allow it to automatically process eight tonnes at a time. The action of the press is so gentle that it removes all the grape’s pulp and juice without damaging the skin and releasing colour and tannin, thereby producing a much softer extract with a better acid balance than conventional presses and even the more modern air-bag presses. “The 1988 wine was made using free run juice only, with a quick drain but without the Coquard”, says Hubscher. “This year the quality was even better again. We got less juice than previously, but like the best Champagne Houses only used the ‘tete de cuvee’ and the ‘premier tailles’ (the first and second pressings) for our new Premium Cuvee. We fermented both portions separately which will allow us to blend them together at a later stage if we think it will make a better wine.” Montana’s relationship with Deutz is not a partnership or joint venture, as has been reported incorrectly throughout Australia and New Zealand. Montana will continue to pay Deutz for their expertise and for the rights to use their name on the wine label. Champagne Deutz was previously in a venture with Yalumba in the Barossa Valley, although since its dissolution it has been hard to pin either side down to a reason. This hasn’t stopped Yalumba from releasing a wine called ‘D’, of which the current vintage (1986) is by far the best yet, quite a promising wine indeed. However Hubscher did repeat some remarks made by Andrew Lallier, Deutz’ Chairman and technical director to Montana; “You are the only people who have followed my instructions to the letter.” Presumably Yalumba have something to add to that comment. The Premium Cuvee (cuvee is the word used in sparking wine parlance for ‘bin’ or ‘batch’) is made under constant supervision by French technicians from Deutz and Lallier himself shows up at least once per year. You get the feeling that whatever advice emanates from Deutz at Ay must be folowed to the letter. Even before the contract was signed Lallier had set the technique straight himself. Lallier is also no fool. Anyone who can regularly harvest pinot noir and chardonnay at a such ripe sugar levels and with almost an excessive degree of acidity knows they are onto a good thing. In fact, the fruit from Marlborough is very close in composition to that of Champagne itself. Hubscher also encounters a very Champagne-like problem, having to remove excess acid from his wine. Expect to see the first of the new wines released late this year (the cuvee from the 1988 vintage). It was not possible to taste the wine on lees during my visit, so I cannot report as to its anticipated quality, but Montana are excited about the forthcoming release of around 8,000 cases. Around half are to be targetted at you and me, the Australian market. The Premier Cuvee will retail around $17- $22 and will definitely feature the name ‘Deutz’ on the label, possibly as ‘Deutz Montana’.
