THE ZEPELIN STORY

I, the co-proprietor of Zepelin, with my wife Treena, would ourselves be Zepelins, if not for a twist of history. My surname is Martin. It is also a family name, although you’d have to say it lacks the mystery and style of Zepelin.

My grandfather was Martin Zepelin. He was born in the Mecklenburg region in northeast Germany, near the town of Parchim. The Zepelins were landowners and reasonably influential – there is still a village in the area called Zepelin. (I should point out we are a ‘p’ and a clan removed from Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, of airship fame.)

As a young man, Martin set out for the new world, working as a cook on board a freighter. He landed in Australia and there fell in love. Her name was Merle Boon and she was just 18 years old. The year was 1914.

The couple went to live and work on an apple orchard in Sydney. Children appeared in rapid succession. My father, Thomas Martin Zepelin, was their second, born in 1916.

Australia, like New Zealand, was not a friendly place for anyone answering to a name as germanic as Zepelin during the years 1914-18. The Z name disappeared at this time, replaced by Martin. Hence, my father became Thomas Martin Martin!

My parents shifted to New Zealand in the 1950s. Here I grew up as Ross Martin, young Kiwi. A traditional family respect for the earth and growing things was passed on to me by my parents.

I have visited my grandfather’s land of birth. There are still Zepelins aplenty in Parchim and its surrounding villages, although the family landholdings were lost after World War Two when Mecklenburg became part of communist East Germany.

It has made me happy to be able to restore the name in this part of the world. Attaching it to a piece of land that produces something as miraculous and European as wine seems more than simply right. It feels like a perfect family reunion.

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OUR VINEYARD

The Zepelin winery and vineyard is located a kilometre out of Havelock North, on the road to Waimarama.

At its back, to the south, rises the distinctive shape of Te Mata peak. The 2.8 hectare vineyard has a slight downward tilt from south to north to maximise its exposure to the sun.

The soil in most of the vineyard consists of 30-40cm of Havelock sandy loam, under which sits a silica pan. The pan restricts root activity, which helps concentrate the crop.

The vineyard is a neighbour of a number of other leading Hawkes Bay vineyards. The area’s viticultural virtuosity received local authority recognition several years ago when it was declared the Te Mata Special Character Zone.

In the late 90's Dr. John Loughlin (see profile) established this small, boutique vineyard. True to Dr. Loughlin’s dedication to producing mainly classic Bordeaux-style wines, the vineyard is predominantly planted in cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc. He also added to these the great red variety of the Rhône Valley, Syrah.

The smaller the vineyard, the greater the opportunity to attend to detail. The Zepelin vineyard, and the low-cropping, handcrafted philosophy which governs it, means Zepelin wines are not wines of quantity, but quality. For this reason, every bottle is individually numbered.

Consultant Winemaker - Malcolm Reeves

Malcolm Reeves often jokes that it’s Cabernet Merlot Franc that flows through his veins and not the traditional claret.

For well over 30 years, Malcolm has devoted himself to New Zealand’s wine industry and there are not many aspects of the industry that he hasn’t been involved in.

From research in wine fermentation as a Food Technologist at Massey University, Malcolm has gone on to work vintages in the Hunter Valley in Australia and Napa Valley in California. He’s won a prestigious French Government sponsored ACTIM Scholarship and ran the first New Zealand university short course in wine making and analysis.

For 10 years he was co-owner of Cross Roads Winery. He’s been a wine writer for 20 (or so) years and the Fruit Wine Industry’s Chief Judge for 15 years. Malcolm is a senior lecturer at the Hawke’s Bay Eastern Institute of Technology’s Wine Science section where he teaches the Bachelor of Wine Science and Bachelor of Viticulture programmes. He’s also been a wine consultant to many New Zealand wineries including Te Mata estate and Mills Reef, and is now the consultant winemaker for Zepelin wines.

When first approached by Ross Martin of Zepelin Wines to be the consultant winemaker, Malcolm was initially hesitant because of the amount of other work he had on. However, it was Ross and Treena’s over-riding attitude towards quality being paramount and focusing on low yield but high value that swayed Malcolm.

"We have an excellent opportunity to turn out exceptional estate wines in the Bordeaux style. The Zepelin strategy to bring back crop yields has make it possible to deliver wines that can cut it on the international stage and appeal to connoisseurs who know what they like and are happy to pay for it."

So, what’s the difference between a good wine and an exceptional one? “Real estate agents use the three P’s to describe excellence” said Malcolm. “I can use the three T’s – taste, taste, taste.”

A peculiar year means a potentially great vintage.

Malcolm Reeves comments on this year’s Zepelin vingage.

Amongst Hawke’s Bay wine connoisseurs, and particularly red wine drinkers, 1998 is lauded as a vintage of exceptional quality. 2004/2005 gave every indication of being of a similar class. A hot, dry summer made up for a cooler than normal late spring providing, in the end, near optimal growing conditions. However, unseasonal rains in early autumn put a slight dampener on our expectations.

Subsequent dry weather has seen sugars rising towards desired levels and some noteworthy reds should be possible.

We won’t get the full picture until after harvest and fermentation. It’s worth pointing out that traditionally, these climatic conditions impact more on white wine varieties so I’m still extremely confident that Zepelin customers will again be rewarded with wines of a nicely weighted style and elevated berry fruit notes.