THE HUNT FOR BIG RED
For the last four decades, intrepid Kiwi winemakers, viticulturists and vignerons have been stalking the country, soil maps in one hand and tasting glasses in the other. They’ve settled in Northland and the Bay of Islands, in Cromwell and beyond, to the edge of where you can grow grapes on the planet. They’ve followed their noses through frosts and hail, droughts, earthquakes and several lockdowns. Searching among vines and early-morning mists.
They’ve been on the hunt for a fantastic beast, spectacular and rare. It could take a lifetime, but if they catch it they might just change the world’s idea of what can be made here, on a handful of islands in the South Pacific famed for sauvignon blanc. They’re hunting for New Zealand’s “Big Red”.
On the other side of the globe, in London, a bottle of Pétrus merlot is up for sale. Bids start at £1 million. It’s a French-made red that spent a year cellared on the International Space Station, and its selection for this journey was no accident.
A bottle from this small Bordeaux vineyard can cost thousands even when it hasn’t left Earth’s orbit. Grown on a hill of ancient blue clay, Pétrus has a reputation and demand that’s soared since the late 1970s. It’s easily considered one of the world’s “Big Red” title-holders. A seriously fancy red of this kind — of age-worthy and space-worthy quality — is made to develop over decades, giving it a unique allure. Harvested from small pieces of land, the wine’s hard edges and tea-like tannins soften over time. The fruit deepens and mellows. Complexities evolve. International big reds like this don’t just have stratospheric price tags.
