Ben Leen is the winemaker at Amisfield winery in Central Otago but it is his side project, Alpine Wine Co. that we really wanted to talk about. Ben’s hands-on, small batch production is matched with his big energy sales skills. He’s a winemaker who loves showing his wine and that enthusiasm is contagious which is why you’ll find his wines poured at some top places like Hello Beasty or Salty Pidgin when stocks allow.

It's fair to say that if wine had its own cupid, that little archer has hit a bullseye when it comes to our Ben. He’s fallen head over heels for the romantic vision of a life spent making and enjoying wine. Those simple ideas of slowing life right down, working with the land and living a life of purpose fuelled by great cheese and delicious wine. What we love about Ben’s side project is it combines all that old world romance with a lot of new world curiosity. And he’s doing it with the whānau. Wife, Lucy, brother Josh and Josh’s wife, Kiri are all involved in Alpine Wine Co. too.

Ben is an enthusiastic, driven guy ready to share the love of it all with us. Heck, he even called one of his wines ‘head over heels’ he’s that besotted — and quite rightly. It appears he’s living the dream and if I’m honest, it was hard not fall a little more in love with this whole wine malarkey just chatting to him.

So, pour yourself a dreamy drop of something fitting for a first date and lie back on the chaise lounge. This is the not serious Ben Leen chat.

CHAT FACTS

Alpine Wine Co. Head Over Heels Rosé 2022
Alpine Wine Co. Head in the Clouds Pinot Noir 2022
antipodes water 1L, still mineral water
Rudi Bauer, winemaker and co-owner of Quartz Reef, Bendigo, Central Otago, Est. 1996
Shannon Foley, vineyard manager at Rippon, Wānaka, Central Otago, Est. 1982
Nick Paulin, Estate Manager for the Pyramid Valley vineyards, Est. 2000
Mike Winter, viticulturist at Amisfield, Gibbston, Central Otago, Est. 1988
Michael Glover, winemaker/prop at Mammoth, Marlborough and laterly Australia, Est. 2015
Ismo (Mo) Koski at Apéro Food & Wine, Auckland, Est. 2014
Craig Gasson, formerly of Lamont Wines, Central Otago, Est. 1999
Matt & James Dicey of Dicey, Bannockburn, Central Otago, Est. 2019
Duncan Forsyth of Mount Edward, Gibbston, Central Otago, Est. 1997
Lois Mills, OG of Rippon, Wānaka, Central Otago, Est. 1982
Sophie Meunier of Domaine Jean-Jacques Confuron, Est. 1926
Domaine Decelle et Fils, Est. 2008
DRC - Ben mentioned DRC stands for and is the nickname for Domaine Romanee Conti, one of the most famous and highly regarded Domaines/houses/producers in Burgundy, France. Est. 1869
Rosie Menzies, winemaker of Carrick, Bannockburn, Central Otago, Est. 1994
Kumi Matsumoto - designer responsible for the Alpine Wine Co. labels.
Pals — canned spirits based drinks, Auckland, Est. 2019
Mt Difficulty, Bannockburn, Central Otago, Est. 1992
Aurum, Bannockburn, Central Otago, Est. 1997
Ben’s bro Josh and sister-in-law, Kiri and Ben’s wife, Lucy - all partners in Alpine Wine Co.
Premier vendage — French for ‘first harvest’. Ben had a wee giggle as he referred to his time in France with his wife, Lucy as his ‘premier vendage’
Vigneron — French for wine maker / grape grower
Gamay — Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th century.
Grüner Veltliner — Grüner Veltliner German: is a white wine grape variety grown primarily in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The leaves of the grape vine are five-lobed with bunches that are long but compact, and deep green grapes.
Pinot Blanc — Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white fruit.
Montrachet — Puligny-Montrachet wine is produced in the commune of Puligny-Montrachet in Côte de Beaune of Burgundy. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée Puligny-Montrachet may be used for white wine and red with respectively Chardonnay and Pinot noir as the main grape variety. It holds a Grand Cru status, making it a wine that is considered the best and the price generally reflects that (which is why Ben almost spat out his antipodes when Pete said a customer popped an ice cube in her glass of Montrachet)
Skin Contact — Skin contact wine is essentially white wine that has turned orange because the grape juice has been allowed to stay in contact with the grape skins (macerate), from as little as a few days to as much as a year (and that is extreme even by red wine standards)
Sulphur at crush — adding sulphur at this junction of the winemaking process is sometimes done to inhibit undesirable yeasts and bacteria that may be floating around in the air particles.
Cold soak — Cold soak (or pre-ferment maceration) is a common winemaking technique that is widely used in the production of red wines. It involves holding crushed red grapes at a low temperature for a period of time prior to the start of fermentation.
Viticulturist — grape grower, vineyard manager
new world vs old world — New World wines are those wines produced outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe and the Middle East, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States (primarily California).
Yeastie Boys Beer — Earl Grey beer? Ben mentioned this and we had to look it up. It’s a beer called Gunnamatta. The brewers state: “Gunnamatta utilises judicious amounts of Earl Grey Blue Flower tea to generate an intoxicating floral and citrus aroma with the quenching dry finish of an ice tea. A truly unique new world India Pale Ale with a decidedly old world twist.” Sounds pretty yummy. Not outrageous but pretty serious alc though at 6.5%
Garage Project Beer — innovative brewers based in Wellington that seemingly led the charge for seriously cool craft beer. There were definitely others before them but these Pied Pipers brainwashed the best of us and we followed them wherever they went for a while there. They have ventured into including natural wines in their portfolio. They ain’t afraid to base jump from the gondola, y’all.
MAF / MPI — The original MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) was established by John McKenzie in 1892 with the first Minister , George Richardson, being appointed in 1889. It’s had a few iterations, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ministry of Food, Fibre and Biosecurity but the MPI we know today (Ministry of Primary Industries) was formed in 2012.