Matter of Time wines from North Canterbury

James Opie and David Collins’ new label Matter of Time, lives in a ‘new’ winery, tucked away down a quiet road in Waipara. This new project from the duo is all about experimentation and pushing boundaries. The funky labels on the bottles “are representative of Canterbury alluvial gravel rivers”. Matter of Time as a label is aiming to be putting hand-made wines onto a shelf somewhere like Glengarry at a price that makes it an appealing alternative to consumers. David describes it as “Still clean and precise but outside of what people are used to - with an edge to it”.

James describes “The vibe in the valley, with different producers and different understandings of what Waipara Pinot Noir can be, and how to make that happen. The vibe for us, is that we beg, borrowed and stole… well, we didn’t steal anything, but we leaned a lot on our friends to open this place and everyone in the valley has just bent over backwards to support us. People like Pegasus Bay helped us a lot. Dom and Huw are both good mates of ours. I worked at Greystone when I was going through University as well. There’s no arrogance here - everyone is really well connected. It’s a really giving place”.

Matter of Time Albarino Pet Nat 2024 uses fruit from the Terrace Edge vineyard. Fermented in barrel, and once it goes dry they settle it and add in some frozen juice and bottle it - so it is effectively an undisgorged Pet Nat - in the Col Fundo style. The only wine I really know that ‘tastes like grapes’ is Muscat, but this has some of that - it is quite fruity - with lime, pear and quite grape-like. Fresh, but with enough funk to give it plenty of definition and energy.

They also work with a site in Oxford - the grapes going into Matter of Time Pinot Noir Pet Nat. This has a five day Carbonic fermentation on skins, then made in the same way as the Albarino. They pick the fruit directly into the fermenter at the vineyard. The one and a half hour drive from there to the winery gets some extraction happening. As luck would have it James tells me “It’s exactly the colour we wanted it”. It has a Grenache-like carbonic fresh pop of fruit, and a softness to the juice, but with a slatey minerality.

I find people (like me) will go into a nice wine bar and just ask for “a textural white wine please”. I also do think that ‘blends’ are becoming more accepted now. It’s taken a while for consumers to get around what each of the different varietals mean to them, and are confident of ordering those, but it has taken a longer while to get across blends. Blends of white varietals in particular.

As if on cue, the Matter of Time Orange 2024 is opened and put into my glass. A very amber-orange colour indeed. The nose has lots of pink and orange floral notes in particular - citrus blossom, rose petals. Three varietals, from three separate sites, all within a stone’s throw of each other. The Gewürztraminer shows on the nose… less so to taste, which has more Gris to it. Also look for nectarine, nougat and green herbs. A fresh, saline acidity carries the palate.

Matter of Time Tracina’s Block 2023 is a field blend of riesling, chardonnay, optima, gewürztraminer, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. All the classics! The block was planted in the mid-80s when they were working out what was going to work in Waipara. Apart from the riesling - of which there is about half a hectare, it is just three rows of each. It has a nice touch of Campari to it; and a mid-palate tropical note that is fun, and probably comes from the riesling.

Matter of Time Chilled Red 2024 is a Pinot Noir and Syrah blend. The Syrah is about 20% - de-stemmed and on skins for three weeks. The Pinot comes from the site in Oxford. This has a brightness and real spice to it. A touch of cherry coke and a jubey cassis, candy-store vibe as well. I really like the wines I’ve had that use this mix, and I wish that people who have both varietals, would do one. It is a direction that the duo are going to head down. Both the orange and chilled red wines from 2024 went into keg format as well.

Look out for a selection of wines from the range on the shelves in store or online:

Matter of Time Tracina’s Block 2023 - $19.99

Matter of Time Orange 2024 - $29.99

Matter of Time Pinot Noir Pet Nat - $29.99

David Walker-Bell