Marlborough’s aromatic whites

Asking a winemaker like Kathy Lynskey about her favorite wines is a bit like asking a grandmother if she’s got any pictures of her grandkids; you’d better have lots of time on your hands. After I’d sampled her Gewürztraminer, made in a dry style, as I like it, with lovely notes of Turkish delight and lychee, she called in to the tasting room and asked Kent to bring us out more wine.

“What would you like?” he yelled back.

“Might as well bring it all out,” she said. Kathy is definitely my type of gal.

Next we tasted her Pinot Gris which had a creamy, sort of oily-mouth feel to it that made my mouth water. It had lovely aromas of ripe apple and pears.

Then I tried her signature wine, a select Sauvignon Blanc which had intense, vivid aromas of passionfruit, which surprised me since I tend to think of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs as tending to be herbal with asparagus aromas.

Kathy told me that Marlboroough has very stony soil that, coupled with the relatively cool temperatures, were perfect for growing aromatic wines.

“I think Marlborough produces the most fantastic aromatic white wines in the world,” she said, swirling the Sauvignon Blanc in her glass and then sticking her nose in it.

“You can go up and down the valley and everywhere you go you’ll find fabulous Gewürztraminer and Riesling and Pinot Gris. I’m tempted to do a Viognier myself.”

So what exactly are aromatic whites? According to wine author Ed McCarthy, they include “all wines in which aromas and flavors are the dominant characteristics; the wines’ aromas could be floral, herbal, fresh fruits, dried fruits, pepper, spice, or minerals—either singular or, more commonly, combined.”

And, he adds, they go particularly well with food—especially in summer.

“I know that lots of fine, light-bodied red wines are out there, but the foods I eat in the summer—salads, fish, seafood, and vegetables—just lend themselves to pairing with aromatic whites.”

Sounds good. But I needed a little convincing. So Kathy asked Kent if he couldn’t perhaps grill up some shrimp she had in the fridge for our lunch. Which he did. While I sampled one aromatic wine after another. Thank god David is doing the driving this afternoon.