Putting on the Ritzling (NZ)

“I’ve removed the grape variety from the label and have started calling it a beverage, not a wine.” – I can’t believe I’m hearing these words from Chris Archer, who as winemaker at Alana Estate was behind some of New Zealand’s most serious wines. He’s telling me about his new project. And by the end of our conversation I’m more convinced of the merits of his radical concept that aims to get a great but underappreciated grape into more of the nation’s – and indeed the world’s – wine glasses. I have entered the land of Ritzling, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.