Meet Pete from The Hunting Lodge

A - Tell us a brief history of how The Hunting Lodge came to be. P - The story of the Hunting Lodge started well before the brand itself came to be. NZ owned by the Sutton family, Brent and Denise had family connections going back to the site’s original winemaking days in the 1970s, having shared many good times on site, watching their young children play amongst the vines. Fast forward a few decades and they heard of the estate going up for sale. A bit of nostalgia and an ambitious plan for a new brand with a great heart and an attitude to be different meant it didn’t take much convincing; they put their hat in the ring, purchased the land in 2016 and so The Hunting Lodge was borne. A - And how long have you been with The Hunting Lodge? P - From the get-go. I met the Suttons when they first purchased the site. They explained their vision for the site which included small batch premium wines with a seasonal focus around alternative styles, varieties and one-offs. It was difficult for a Winemaker to say no to this opportunity. A - The Hunting Lodge wines come from across NZ so what’s grown where and why? P - We source small parcels of fruit from the regions each varietal is synonymous with and best suited to for winegrowing. And for good reason, too. The upper North Island can be too hot and humid for many aromatics and Pinot Noir. And similarly, you can struggle to ripen Syrah in the South Island. So, for instance, our Pinot Gris and Albarino grapes come from the Awatere Valley in Marlborough where the hot days, cold nights, low rainfall and gravelly soils produce unrivalled aromatic intensity. Our Chardonnay is from the cooler, elevated terraces of Crownthorpe in Hawkes Bay where the silty loam soils give us fine acidity, minerality and punchy stonefruit and citrus characters. For our Central Otago Pinot Noir, we select fruit from two of the warmer sub-regions, Bendigo and Bannockburn, creating a more masculine style of Pinot with dark fruits, a fleshy palate and bold but refined structure. And so on… A - Wineries across Auckland often don’t get as much hype as the ‘big’ regions such as Marlborough so what would you say to that? And what makes the West Auckland region special? P - Auckland is the home to commercial winemaking in New Zealand, thanks to the Dalmation Pioneers. There is so much history here that paved the way for success in other regions. For example, the Hunting Lodge can be considered the birthplace of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc where the first vines in the country were planted some 45 years ago. Sure, Auckland has it’s challenges with humidity and rainfall, but it is also arguably one of the best Chardonnay producing regions in the country. We’re in good company in West Auckland – some great winemaking talent and terroir in both directions from The Hunting Lodge. There are no secrets (only gossip) in the Auckland winemaking industry with plenty of knowledge sharing and mentoring, all in pursuit of better wine. A - How’s the 2019 vintage shaping up? P - Excellent – across all regions. The weather was on our side in Auckland and we picked our Homeblock Chardonnay and Sauvignon at optimum maturity with exceptional balance and flavour. Drought conditions in Marlborough meant low yields but outstanding concentration and flavour as a result. A long, even ripening season in Central Otago delivered amazing tannin structure and aromatic purity in the Pinots. Again, in Hawkes Bay, a long, consistent ripening period has produced ripe, structured Merlot, Malbec and Syrah with texture and concentration. 2019 is undoubtedly a vintage to remember – watch this space. A - Are you able to take us through an overview of how your year looks? What happens when? And after the vintage is done what keeps you busy? P - It’s a long vintage for us at the Hunting Lodge, beginning in Auckland and finishing in Central Otago. We have only just pressed and barrelled down our last red batch from 2019. Now, it is time to grade and allocate all our white parcels to respective blends and begin prepping the Aromatics and Roses for bottling in a few months. We still have a few 2018 reds to finish and bottle this month. The Chardonnays and Reds will stay in barrel until early next year, but now also comes the time to review any trials we conducted this year and potentially pitch some new wines. There are plenty of marketing activities and functions going on throughout the year at The Hunting Lodge which we get involved in. Before we know it, it’s time to start thinking about the next vintage and checking in with our growers. A - What varietal are you most excited about at the moment and why? P - Albarino is an alternative white variety gaining quite a bit of traction in NZ. It has a unique flavour profile and structure – think Viognier meets Riesling with a salty twist. For a different Red offering, we produce a very small amount of Lagrein – an exciting Italian red varietal. Bright red fruits, licorice and big, warm tannins. Yum! A - Last question, if you could only drink one varietal for the rest of your life what would it be? P - Undoubtedly Chardonnay (Ask any winemaker!). Always the most fun to make and the most interesting to drink. Cheers to Pete! To find our more about The Hunting Lodge, explore their producer page here.