Meet Unkel Wines
Interviewed by David Walker Bell from WineFolio.
New Zealand’s wine scene is getting a serious refresh, thanks to a new wave of small, independent producers popping up around the country. You’ll find their bottles on the shelves of retailers like Glengarry, but they’re also showing up on curated wine lists at restaurants and poured at wine bars for people who look beyond the mainstream.
Labels like Unkel and Luta, both coming out of the laid-back Nelson-Tasman region, are perfect examples of this shift - offering everything from low-intervention, natural-style wines to more traditional pours. I was down in Tasman earlier this year and caught up with Rob Burley, the winemaker behind both labels, to chat about what’s going on behind the scenes.
Q. What’s the background to the Luta label, and what was your personal path to here?
A. Luta is our reserve label. The name 'Luta' is derived from 'Lutum', the Latin word for clay. We farm on clay soils here in the Upper Moutere and these are the driving force behind the wines. On an aesthetic front, the St. Anne's Lace (wild carrot) that graces the labels, these are littered throughout the vineyard in the summertime so it seemed fitting.
In terms of our personal path here, after farming a season on these soils we felt it would be remiss of us not to showcase the quality and unique nature of these soils and sub-region of Nelson
Q. Can you say what defines a wine of yours, from Nelson, compared to other parts of NZ, for example?
A. I think wines from the Moutere hills sub-region here in Nelson are truly special. A combination of being coastal, cool climate, gravel threaded clay soils, high sunshine hours with cool nights provide all that is needed for high quality wines. The wines here have an amazing way of balancing power, weight, freshness, salinity and fruit intensity whilst maintaining elegance. I think the Chardonnay here is incredible.
Q. With a few new, smaller labels popping up in New Zealand – do you see a change in the landscape there – more diversity?
A. Yeah, I think it's a really exciting time for New Zealand wines. There are so many awesome, smaller, exciting labels now which is a breath of fresh air. It's also nice that we aren't just seeing these smaller labels being established in one growing region. They are littered throughout NZ's wine regions which is great for the industry in terms of showcasing the wide array of styles/diversity that different regions have to offer which only benefits New Zealand as a whole in terms of its brand.
Q. How do you approach selling your brand (and wine) as a new label - how will you get people to try a new wine?
A. I think the hardest part is getting in front of people. Once you can do that, if the wines are sound, it's about telling your story and letting the wines do the talking (once you have told the story ha!)
Q. Tell me about your interesting artwork on the labels!?
A. The extremely talented Laura O'Conner is behind these. We have worked with her to create fun labels for our blends in order to portray their light-hearted nature along with a slicker (but still fun) label for our single varietal wines. Luta, mentioned above, is also Laura which shows her versatility. I guess it's about keeping things fun but also trying to have the wines fit into their target market. Wine can often be seen as this serious, formal beverage but we're not saving lives here.
Q. Can you tell me a bit about your winemaking style?
A. Our winemaking style is minimal intervention. This term can sometimes scare people away however with everything there are varying degrees. Our goal is to make clean examples that have a sense of time and place. Our one non-negotiable, is organic farming. From there we do as least as possible to see our wines into the bottle. However we will intervene when necessary, hence the name Unkel (variation on the spelling) being less of that overbearing father figure and more like an uncle. At the end of the day, we want clean, thought provoking wines that the likes of my parents and that generation can enjoy as well as the next generation and everyone in between. The three different labels certainly help this.
Q. What is it about wine that brings you the most joy?
A. That it's delicious! I think the fact that it's always different, speaks of a time and place and can be enjoyed in so many settings with so many different people. I like most beverages and all have their time and place to be enjoyed but when a wine sings it gives you a joy that I don't get from other beverages.
Q. Is there a moment in the winemaking year where you just 'get a feeling' for what's going on / going to happen?
A. I can't say definitively but there are certainly times where you do 'get that feeling'. I think that comes more often when working with parcels year on year but for me there isn't a certain time as such. It could be tasting barrels in winter or when the wines wake up in spring. It would be romantic of me to say that I get this feeling when I'm making them during harvest but it's generally a little later in the process for me.
Q. Can you tell me a bit more about the vineyards? Soil, clones etc?
A. All of our vineyards are certified organic and are dry grown from 25-30 year old vines. We are very close to the coast and have a temperature moderating wind that picks up late morning during the growing season. As far as clones go we have Clone 15 for Chardonnay and buy some Mendoza in from a neighbouring vineyard. As far as Pinot Noir goes we have 777, 115, Clone 5, 114, Clone 6 and 10/5. We treat these separately as each clone works differently in terms of the amount of whole bunch used and the time we like to keep them on skins during fermentation.
Q. If you could make other wines, what would they be?
A. In terms of red it would be the likes of Poulsard, Grolleau, Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir among others. In terms of whites, I'm pretty happy with Chenin and Chardonnay but would always love to try things like Savagnin and Aligoté.
Q. Where do you make your wines?
A. We have a little winery shed on the 5Ha vineyard we farm. It's ideal as most of the fruit we make wine out of is from this vineyard with a couple of smaller parcels coming from neighbouring vineyards.
Q. One of the issues I see with any ongoing upward trajectory in NZ wine, is a decline in people drinking wine - particularly younger people - thoughts on that?
A. This is a tricky one... hopefully in time we get a large enough base of young people that are interested and enthused by wine. I feel that being a small producer there will always be a small group that is passionate about wine and will drink in that sphere as opposed to the larger, mass produced supermarket wine.
Q. What are your favourite wines from other people/places, and do you have any stories to tell about discovering those?
A. I have a large range of wine styles and regions that interest me but I have always loved the wines of the Loire Valley. This is the wine region Kate and I travelled to on our way to London for our OE in 2013 when we first started getting into Lo-fi wines.
Q. Plans for the future?
A. Our passion here is Chardonnay. I've always thought about making multiple single vineyard Chardonnay's that illustrate the difference in site. The problem here would be having access to enough organic sites to do this but is certainly something I want to explore.
If you want to get hold of some of the wines - Glengarry are stocking a wide range of the Unkel and Luta labels. Have a read below where I gave a quick rundown on what I thought after tasting through the latest releases. You’ll find the full-length reviews on WineFolio.
Unkel Life on Mars - a white blend (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling) that is textural, with a delicious light phenolic element, coming from time on lees. A super picnic wine for summer, which will take a chill well.
Unkel Life’s a Beach is a funky skin-fermented blend of Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay aged in old puncheons and stainless steel. Dry, with a nip of phenolics and fruit tannin. Orange peel, apricot, apple pie and sliced pear flavours sashay through the palate.
Unkel Juno Riesling has good concentration of tropical fruit flavours, but with a fresh edge of lime, grapefruit and satsuma. A line of minerality emerges deeper into the weighty palate, adding a more serious, stony edge that contrasts well with the lush juice.
Unkel Rio Pinot Gris takes this varietal beyond juice - adding a rasp of fruit tannin, baking spice and ginger flavours to the classic pear and apricot flavours by using a touch of skin-contact in the ferments. Look for a delicate balance of acidity and minerality.
Unkel Luna Sauvignon Blanc has some classic “NZ Sav” flavours of passionfruit and blackcurrant, but in a calmer expression that captures a little less ‘green’. Texture is key here, with good weight and length to the palate.
Unkel Ziggy Chardonnay - quite fresh in style – the prickly acidity leads the way, with a clean line through the palate. The texture is a mixture of oatmeal creaminess and a more chalky minerality, giving a real interest to the mouthfeel.
Unkel Venus Pinot Noir sees some whole bunch and carbonic maceration winemaking techniques - you see it in the spice and floral notes in the perfume, and the pop and crunch of red fruit as you taste. Lower tannin, but bags of fresh energy - could be your new summer red.
Luta Echoes Chardonnay Aromatic, with grapefruit, red apple, white peach and pear on the nose. Dry and buoyed by a wave of crisp acidity it has bags of tight structure into the palate. A grip of pithy peach-skin phenolic underlines the fleshy fruit.
Luta Cirrus Chardonnay Mouth-filling and zesty acidity has grip, highlighting the generous fruit. The chalky minerality underlines the acid, and there’s only a hint of oak in the background. A good smudge of tannin meets the round, mealy texture in the palate.
Luta Rising Pinot Noir shows a bright un-polished rusticity with a pulse of fresh energy running through the palate. The tannins are rounded and fine, and acidity carries things along, but it is mostly about fruit, and the finish reflects this - quite dry and with reasonable persistence.
