The Real Tale of the Walrus and the Carpenter - Schuster hits London

Danny Schuster twinkled into London recently. Danny, born and raised in Prague, of German parentage, considers himself to be a citizen of the world, travelling in his combined capacity as viticulturalist and consultant wine-maker. He is the Jackie Mason of wine, pearly wisdom mixed with crisp apercu and cheeky throwaway lines.

We call him Papa Pinot. Danny Schuster is truly the godfather of New Zealand Pinot Noir since his first vintages at Saint-Helena. Thirty years ago he planted this variety when all around were still floundering with Muller-Thurgau. This was a long-term project – to bring the vineyards to maturity in order to produce quality wines that perfectly exemplified their terroir. Viticulture was naturally organic – no chemicals used whatsoever in the vineyard. “The English people said I couldn’t plant vines here, so I did”. Danny’s recipe for great Pinot is simple: volcanic limestone clay, close planted vines, diurnal differences, organic and biodynamics, no irrigation, no filtering or fining, pigeage, minimal sulphur, subtle and responsible use of oak.

Danny was certainly a pioneer in New Zealand: “In 1972 I was making the best and the worst wines in the whole of South Island. That’s because no one else was making any wine at all. I made a Pinot, I liked Burgundy, I worked there and one gravitates towards what one knows.”

Stylistically, Danny favours simplicity and elegance. When I tasted white wines from the States, they all reminded me of Dolly Parton. Which is very nice if you like that sort of thing.” He goes on: “A wine should have a beginning, a middle and an end, persistence of flavour, harmony of parts. Wine is people, place and time – in that order.”

Danny is forever bringing in females and feminity as a metaphor for wines and winemaking. “The male attitude to wine-making is that my Pinot is bigger than your Pinot.” He also emphasise the importance of originality and terroir. “You should make wine to reflect where you come from. Bob Dylan doesn’t sound like Spice Girls. Dare to be different.” Back to the subjection of finesse: “We’re not looking for extraction; we get that naturally. I don’t want marmalade in my wines. The best bottle of wine is the one you drink. Wine is made for drinking not admiring. The wine should never get in the way of the fish. You don’t want an ingredient that takes away from the flavour of the food. I don’t put sugar on my oysters.”

Before alighting in New Zealand Danny explored the wine culture in other countries.

Pithy Dannyisms:

I went to a little island off the coast of New Zealand called Australia
They asked me: Do you have any criminal convictions?
I said: Do I need them?

I lived in 1969 – in those days we did inhale.

I like the Australians. They wear shorts with a jacket and tie, white stocks and sandals. They have very white ankles.

I like the French. They are only the nation that fought every war in 2000 years and lost them all.

You always have to be rude to the French; they respect it.

New Zealand is full of character. I knew I could make wines with character there.

China? They drink Chateau Lafite with coca cola.

The Polish pope was great, he drank wine. The current one is from Munich, he drinks beer. I’m sure his mother loves him…

They said: What is New Zealand? They grow grapes?

Sauvignon & Riesling
Sauvignon is aromatic therefore needs acid. It should be austere; strict but sisterly…

My Sauvignon has minerality rather than fruit and an extract that cleans your palate. You want it to give you a good time but not blow your head off. Wine should give you a hug and not ask you to marry them. It should make you nervous but not alarmed. Otherwise it reminds you of your mother in law - brings tears to your eyes”…

This (Riesling) is a breakfast wine; if you wake up next to someone you don’t know don’t give them a glass of wine otherwise they will never leave.

(Re sweet wines) At the end of the meal your Italian girlfriend has her head in the soup and the sommelier brings you alcoholic marmalade. You don’t want that. You need to be cleansed. Low alcohol, high acid makes things luscious.

Keith Richard

Is Keith Richard alive? Well, someone put a hundred pound note in front of him and he twitched.

He said: “Champagne is so expensive, I can’t afford to die”

And the wines?
The Petrie Vineyard Chardonnay is not to be neglected. Grown at Rakaia in mid Canterbury this has cool-climate freshness and crisp concentrated flavours. Hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed, fermented, then lees-aged for 16 months, with regular stirring, in used French barriques (Allier and Tronçais). Lemony, slightly biscuity and mineral on the nose, it’s a tight, lean, but intensely flavoured wine with considerable ageing potential. Danny likens this to a squeeze of lemon juice on your Dover sole. Not one for melonomaniacs, the archbishops of cantaloupe, that breed of wine scribes who prefer their Chardonnay fat-assed and full of “melonosity.”

It is aged for several years in bottle before release. Tight as the proverbial, it develops glorious Chablis-like aromatic of oatmeal, honey and sourdough bread.

Ruby-hued Twin Vineyards Pinot Noir from the vineyards at the bottom of the slopes, matured in seasoned French oak casks, is light in style with aromatic raspberry blossom flavours and a delicate palate of red and orange fruits. The grapes are hand harvested, 90% are destemmed and 10% added whole into open fermentation vats to enhance suppleness and aromatic quality. Warm fermentation and hand plunging for 15-20 days, is followed by ageing in Tronçais barriques for a period of ten months. 

Blended from fruit sourced both from the Omihi Hills and Hull Vineyards, the Waipara wine is fermented in small open vats with regular plunging, basket pressed and matured in small French oak barrels. After ageing in oak for 12 months, the wine is then blended and bottle aged for a further 6 months before release. The Waipara Pinot noir typically displays a deep ruby colour with rich, succulent berry fruit aromas and flavours with savoury hints. The generous, fine grain tannins and velvet-like texture add complexity to the long finish. It provides an excellent accompaniment to any generously flavoured dishes and red meats.

The Omihi Hills from steeply sloped east-west facing vineyards has the greater structure and strong earthy notes. Based on a selection of the best fruit selected from the Omihi vineyard in Waipara this wine is from unirrigated low-yielding 20+ year old vines matured 15 months in French oak barriques (30% new) and bottled without fining or filtration. Generous, sweet-fruited and savoury with deep plum, berry and spice flavours.

Some thoughts about his wines:

People say I’m lucky. They say you’re lucky to have healthy vineyards with no need to spray or do green harvesting. I have great terroir. I say luck has nothing to do with it.

This (Twin Vineyards Pinot) goes very well with sashimi.

(Re the Waipara). I like corruption on my wines. It is the flavour of autumn, of decay, a touch of danger. It is like when you invite a girl home to dinner and she asks what’s for breakfast.

I was in America once; this guy tasted my Chardonnay. He said that doesn’t taste like Chardonnay. So I took it off the label.

The Chardonnay is aged for two years on the lees and we age it for a further four years in the bottle for release. That is why I don’t have an accountant.

Once, every so often, the Carpenter smiles…

The Carpenter – what does he know about grapes (and you can’t even sue him)

I don’t measure sugar. If you are dancing with your hands around the waist of a beautiful woman do you whisper “how much do you weigh”?”

When asked why the Omihi is so expensive… I only make it when the Carpenter allows. I’ve made the Omihi (Maori word meaning hole in the sky) eight times in thirty vintages.