As Neudorf Vineyards celebrate the release of the 40th vintage of their iconic Moutere Chardonnay I can’t help reflect on how impressed I am by the way Tim and Judy Finn have allowed the business to evolve so it can prosper into the future, hopefully for the next 40 years.
I use the term ‘evolved’ because many successful businesses just keep to the same winning formula, but in the case of Neudorf, Tim and Judy recognised the need for a controlled, planned evolution rather than being reactive to market changes.
Last week I caught up with marketing and sales director Rosie Finn and Todd Stevens, Neudorf’s general manager and winemaker.
Rosie told me that Tim and Judy live on site and have taken on an oversight or board level role to guide the strategic direction of the business.
“They leave the day-to-day running of the business to Todd and me, but they’re there as sounding boards when we need some advice,” says Rosie.
“They have been doing this for more than 40 years, so they have an incredible depth of knowledge about the industry.”
Tim and Judy have always had a future focus for their business, from buying land years before it was needed to expand their vineyard plantings, to planting small research blocks to see which varieties will deliver the best wines on their land all the way to installing solar panels that provide all the power the business needs during the day.
Todd says solar power is one aspect of preparing the business for the future, producing enough power to run the whole operation.
“The overall goal is to store the power we generate in order to be fully self-sufficient. Battery technology will get better and more cost-effective allowing us to do that in the future.”
Looking to the future
A significant commitment Neudorf made several years ago was to convert to organic production rather than being a sustainable winegrowing operation.
“We’re totally organic across all 20ha of the home vineyards that include the original Home Block around the winery, the adjoining Tom’s Block and Rosie’s Block located just around the corner” says Todd. “We do buy in some fruit for our Tiritiri (to grow) range and that fruit isn’t always organic, but they are certainly sustainably grown grapes.”
Neudorf Vineyards produce some of the finest Chardonnay wines in New Zealand and the variety is the backbone of the business, however, Todd says “we recently expanded the plantings at Rosie’s Block to include more Albarino and a little more Chardonnay.
“We’ve always been known for Chardonnay, but especially for the Home Block Moutere Chardonnay (previously called Moutere Chardonnay).”
Rosie said “we think of ourselves as a chardonnay house rather than a producer of one well-known Chardonnay. Our other blocks produce some fantastic fruit and after farming it for a number of years we understand what each vineyards gives us to work with.
“That means we can identify the best parcels of fruit within a block, and even within rows, that in turn gives us the ability to make different styles of Chardonnay.”
As the winemaker Todd says they actually use very similar winemaking techniques across the range.
“We want the vineyards and natural fruit characters to shine, so it’s our job to guide the fruit through the most appropriate winemaking process to allow the finished wine to express the very best characters of the vineyards.
“Our chardonnays are 100% barrel fermented (with the exception of the Amphora Chardonnay),” he says.
“Over the years we have pulled back on the use of new oak barrels as we felt that it sat on top of the wine and as a result you saw something from France … not Upper Moutere.
“We still use some new oak but it’s at the lower levels. We want to create a wine experience that is so much more than just one vineyard, we want to express particular elements of each block in our wines.”
Becoming Iconic
A couple of years ago, the team at Neudorf restructured the portfolio of wines they produce.
“We wanted more definition around the wines we produce. Just saying ‘Moutere Chardonnay’ doesn’t differentiate the special characters of the Neudorf vineyards,” says Todd.
“There are other producers of chardonnay in the Moutere so we wanted to ensure our wines are identified with specific pieces of land, especially the three home blocks. Then we put an additional focus on the Tiritiri brand to differentiate those wines from our home block wines.”
Another reason for the planned evolution of the Neudorf business is the need to manage production as vines are either replanted or replaced with other varieties.
It takes about four to five years to get a full crop from young vines “and a lot can happen during that time, especially as we only get one chance a year to see the results of our trials,” says Todd. “
You need to have a pretty good idea of what you want to achieve in the long term.
“Changes in the vineyard take a long time so there needs to be a future-focused planting and replanting programme.”
Ensuring they continue to deliver the Neudorf Vineyards characteristics in every wine the team make doesn’t mean they have stopped trying new things to extract the best wine experience from the grapes they grow.
New Techniques
Over the last few years they have been using clay amphora (egg-shaped fermenters) that bring a different dimension to the flavours and textures of the wines. This is all part of the planned evolution of Neudorf Vineyards.
Rosie says “we can use different techniques like the amphora to add another wine style to our portfolio. These are all still Neudorf wines, we just use slightly different winemaking techniques to highlight the characters of the fruit and the land.”
She also says that during the Covid pandemic there’s been a real appreciation of how lucky the region is.
“After Covid, we have a new-found focus on customers through the cellar door, we’re producing slightly less but are focused on really high quality.”
And that tells me Neudorf Vineyards is in the right hands to guide it through the next 40 years until eight-month-old Freddy is ready to take over from Rosie, his mum.
Latest releases of Neudorf Chardonnay
Neudorf Rosie’s Block Amphora Chardonnay 2021 RRP $50
Fermented in clay amphora vessels this is a beautifully textured wine with an elegant palate weight. Ripe acidity adds freshness to the finish while a mineral character holds everything together.
Fermenting the wine in an amphora is about texture in the wine, the heat convection that occurs naturally in the amphora during fermentation keeps the yeast lees suspended in the wine, and that gives a different dynamic to the lees-to-wine contact. This wine is simply delicious with classic Neudorf characters. 4.5 stars
Neudorf Home Block Moutere Chardonnay RRP $90
I have seen the style of this wine evolve over the years as consumer tastes changed and Neudorf put more focus on expressing the vineyard characteristics of the original vineyard block, I have to say the 2021 vintage is an exceptional wine.
The 2021 vintage was very small in the region but the concentration from a smaller crop shines in this wine. The aromas are refined and elegant while the full palate weight and elegant fruit flavours are enhanced with linear acidity that carries through the palate. I always find exceptional wines difficult to describe but the underlaying power and balance of this wine creates a wine experience rather than just a nice glass of wine. 5 stars
