Scientist wine pioneer reveals Martinborough’s secrets
By Joelle Thomson – Wine writer
A horticultural soil map, Lower Hutt wine tasting group and dry German Riesling are the stuff of legend for this region’s earliest wine pioneers, one of whom revealed his trade secrets at a talk to a wine group in Martinborough earlier this year.
That person is Derek Milne, a retired soil scientist who spoke self-deprecatingly about his journey into wine in Martinborough at Cambridge Road Winery.
The talk was packed out by winemakers and viticulturists, all eager to learn more from the man whose wine journey began at a tasting group in a rented house in Lower Hutt with fellow scientist Dr Neil McCallum (founder of Dry River Wines) and a group including Danny Schuster, the first person to make a gold medal awarded Pinot Noir in the Canterbury region.
The group met regularly, tasting and drinking many of the great wines of the world which were more affordable then. These included Bordeaux reds and high quality European aromatic wines, such as Gewurztraminer and dry Riesling, which both Milne and McCallum had fallen for when in Europe.
The now legendary soil map was not drawn specifically for wine but its stony ground planted the seeds in Milne’s mind about this region’s potential suitability for viticulture and winemaking, due to his growing interest in wine. It also led him to compare sand, silt and clay soils and he explained that drier soils are generally more favourable for grape growing.
“You can control moisture in soils by adding water but usually you cannot remove water, so the key is to find less moisture retentive soils in the first place. The original map showed images of stony soils with barely any moisture retention potential in this area, but it also showed the dreaded Wharekaka soils, which are clay rich and dense. … Continue Reading
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