Brancott Winery

Brancott Winery

2 Vineyard Road, Blenheim, New Zealand

The Brancott Winery, opened in 1977, is the oldest winery in Marlborough, New Zealand. Brancott has experienced a lot of firsts, including being the only winery in the Southern Hemisphere to have a Coquard Champagne press. They were also the first winery to produce the world’s first grape tipping tanks.

Their winemaker’s philosophy is to produce intense flavored, crisp, fruit-forward wines that express the characteristics of the region. Being situated on the northern tip of the south island, the winery is very close to the Pacific Ocean. The advantage of this location is a cool climate that is ideal for grape growing. Because of the cool climate the grapes ripen at a slower pace, the result of which are grapes that are rich, crisp and exhibit intense fruit flavors.

The Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is a classic wine that represents the New Zealand style of a fruit-forward wine. It is crushed and left on the skins for a few hours to increase the flavors. The wine is then pumped into stainless steel holding tanks, cool fermented, and then bottled young to retain freshness. This wine is full of grapefruit and pineapple, which is perfect with seafood. The wine retails for $15.99.

The Brancott South Island Pinot Noir is produced with Marlborough juice, with added fruit from Otago and Waipara to add more complexity to the wine. This all adds up to a wine that has blackberry and dark cherry aromas. The Pinot Noir has a bright rich fruit flavor that is full-bodied. The wine pairs well with pasta dishes and grilled salmon, or roasted chicken. This wine retails for $12.99.

The winery’s achievements and awards are numerous, and their Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc brings in many of these accolades. “Brancott’s high-profile achievements are the result not only of inspiration, but also dedication and ongoing commitment to the development of New Zealand wine,” the winery says.

Look for these fine wines at Acme Fresh Markets, Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Heinens, Giant Eagle, Fisher’s and other fine wine retailers throughout the Greater Akron Area.

Wine Wisdom: When serving wine, start with white wine first before serving red wine. Lighter bodied wine is served before full-bodied wines. Good wine is served before great wine, and young wine is served before older wine.

/ Rick Rodger is a manager at Heidelberg Distributing Company.