Hops

What is Nelson Sauvin? A New Zealand hop that smells of white wine. The variety launched in 2000, after a long breeding program by the research institute HFRI, later Hort Research and Plant & Food Research, at the Riwaka Centre near Motueka. It's a triploid, meaning it has three sets of chromosomes instead of two, and was bred from the Smoothcone variety and a male plant native to New Zealand.

The name nods to Sauvignon Blanc, the grape that the neighboring Marlborough region made famous. In the glass you'll find gooseberry, passionfruit, and a tart, green fruitiness reminiscent of a cool white wine. Its first use was in a special beer by Lion Nathan, Mac's Aromac, in mid-2000.

Riwaka arrived in 1997 from the Hop Research Centre in Motueka and brings passionfruit. Motueka smells of lime, lemon zest, and tropical fruit. Then there are varieties like Wai-iti, named after the local places and rivers. So anyone tasting hops from Nelson is also tasting a piece of the map.

The harvest falls during the Southern Hemisphere's late summer, usually February and March, when Europe is in the grip of winter. Hops contribute two different things to beer: bitterness and aroma. Bitterness comes from alpha acids, released only through long boiling; aroma comes from essential oils preserved through short boiling or dry hopping in the fermenter. Nelson varieties are considered primarily aroma hops.

One point worth noting: figures on growing area vary by source and year, so none is given here. What's certain is that the farms between Motueka and Tasman Bay have been family-run for generations, training their plants on trellis systems that look like green walls in summer.