"Winemaking is a seductive and creative pursuit, simple on paper, sometimes mystical in practice, or an organic chemistry PhD's worst nightmare."
Stewart Charles Maclennan
He was hooked after the first grape harvest in Malbrough at 19, eventually finding his way to Saint Clair Family Estate, a family-owned winery with a strong passion for creating quality wines.
Most known for its Sauvignon Blanc wines, Saint Clair leans into a style that showcases selected fruits' intensity and varietal expression. Saint Clair uses wine to express the soil, climate, and viticulture behind each variety, bottling each wine within 12 months of the respected vintage.
At Saint Clair, Maclennan has found solace in the meticulous craft that balances creativity, logistics, mechanics, microbiological and agricultural inputs. His philosophy around winemaking is simple: have a clear intention of the finished product while listening and paying attention to the fruit and its capabilities.
Saint Clair has a robust culture of review and improvement. It is well known within the industry for its traditional and natural method of crushing grapes and fermenting.
"We tend to tread carefully into some new and efficient production techniques," explained Maclennan.
"Winemaking is a long game, and there are an endless number of ways to speed through some parts of the process."
Maclennan explained how speeding up the clarification process with modern techniques can be impressive on paper, but it can later affect fermentation dynamics, precursor expression, flavour profiles, and chemical stabilities.
His message: take your time with the process.
"We're trialling new things all the time, but we also ensure we don't lose sight of historical wisdom and how it came about."
As a business, Saint Clair holds several philosophies that keep its brand integrity secure throughout changing environments.
Playing close attention during the ripening period, crushing and vinifying wines in small batches and having a broad range of wines allows Saint Clair to remain attentive and selective throughout the final process.
When asked what makes Saint Clair stand out, Maclennan stated how each wine delivers a clear varietal and regional expression.
"We are known for delivering a notable balance of intensity, drinkability and accuracy," said Maclennan.
One of the most important aspects of winemaking is balancing each variable, from harvesting to crushing to bottling.
Since its inception, Saint Clair has perfected significant factors such as the harvest method, the clarification method, fermentation dynamics, lees management, blending and balancing, and bottling decisions.
Due to the relatively new New Zealand wine industry, the kinship between collaborations and companies is exceptionally high.
"We are lucky to have highly capable industry bodies both nationally and locally that work hard for the community, forging connections, seminars, and knowledge-sharing opportunities," explained Maclennan.
"Winemaking continues to be an important piece of the human story; it's as much a food as it is a drink."
For aspiring winemakers, Stewart Charles Maclennan advised them not to try shortcuts and to put in the hard work. Experience is no substitute for curiosity; the best winemakers remain curious and taste broadly.
He also recommended completing levels one and two of the WSET curriculum, a professional wine course that will help one understand the art of winemaking.
To read more grape to glass, click here.
