Sorrell Wines may be a relative new kid on the Marlborough vineyard block, but founder and winemaker Daniel Sorrell has learned from some of the very best. He takes a break from harvest to share his story with Verve.
“Harvest is a thrilling time for me as winemaker,” he says. “Thanks to all the hard work that the vineyard team have put in throughout the growing season, you get to work with amazing fruit. I love heading out to the vineyards and getting excited about what I’ll be able to create in the bottle.”
Sorrell is a smaller scale label “committed to tradition” and “minimal manipulation”, using indigenous vineyard yeast fermentations that ensure “a connection to place”. Wines, aged in French oak, are crafted from grapes grown on vineyards spread across three Marlborough sites. The historic Auntsfield, where Scotsman David Herd planted the region’s first commercial grapes in 1873, has high mineral greywacke rock and low fertility loess clay soils to sustain vines of sauvignon blanc. The Wrekin is a spectacular hillside location where fruit blooms “with concentration, varietal intensity and bright, natural acidity”, while the dense, deep clay soils and alluvial gravels of Churton, one of Marlborough’s most elevated blocks, promises wines of “compelling structure and character”.
“Working with such amazing and varied sites and showcasing the diversity of varietals across the Sorrell wine range is great,” says Daniel. “They have their own DNA and their own people and personality behind them. Hopefully, I have been able to do them justice.”
Do you have a favourite vineyard?
“No – it would be like picking between your children! I choose to work with these sites because of their uniqueness, and I want to translate them in my wines. When you line up a Sorrell portfolio tasting you’ll see the difference between sites. That’s why I do single vineyards. I want to show the pedigree of these sites and how special and different they are. It’s amazing to see how much a site can influence a varietal in a region like Marlborough, which has very distinct sub-regions. Every ferment is started from the corresponding vineyard, so every wine is truthful to its origin.”
How much is down to the soil and climate versus the skill of the winemaker?
“Good question. Wine is made in the vineyard. Without good grapes you can’t make great wine. Soil and climate are everything and the growers work hard trying to improve their soils that grow our grapes for Sorrell wines. We work in an industry that relies heavily on Mother Nature, so I believe you must do the best for the land so that it gives back to you and ensures a better place for the next generation.”
Daniel’s journey to winemaker was an unusual one. Taking a break from a near-decade-long career in corporate banking in London in his mid-20s, he headed to mainland Europe to work on luxury boats where he crewed with a French guy from Montpellier.
“We dropped in to visit his family and it happened to be harvest time which totally opened my eyes to a new culture – and the possibility of a new career. I met so many great people, hard workers passionate about their vineyards, wines, and craft. They were humble and happy and excited to share with this New Zealand boy what the wine world was about and I was hooked. I headed back to London to work in finance, but I didn’t forget that experience.”
Daniel later enrolled in a Wine & Spirit Education Trust course and returned to Aotearoa to study at the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke’s Bay.
“I’m not a natural student but studied hard and gained hands-on experience at Vidal, one of Villa Maria’s brands at the time. That practical experience confirmed that I was on the right track. Once qualified I did back-to-back vintages in France, America, and Australia, finally ending up back home in New Zealand eight years after graduating. I was fortunate to work under many talented winemakers who helped me refine my craft and better understand what I’m trying to achieve.”
“It’s humbling to take their fruit and work closely with them to achieve what I think is the best for Sorrell Wines.”
I ask Daniel how the New Zealand industry differs from overseas.
“Vine age, viticultural practices, history, tradition, culture, it’s all hugely different,” he says. “I’m so lucky to have experienced all of it over my years in this industry, and I still want more. With Sorrell Wines I’m able to pick the best from all of it, as we luckily don’t have a lot of restrictions that other places do, such as the appellation laws in France.”
What advice would you give to a young winemaker just starting out?
“It’s such an amazing industry. You get to see and experience new cultures, to visit some of the world’s most beautiful countries, meet amazing people, and have experiences you’ll remember for the rest of your life. You’re always learning, and you’ll be able to bring back fresh ideas that are going to be beneficial for the NZ wine industry. So go with open eyes and embrace all challenges and opportunities. Don’t be precious – get your hands dirty. You’ll learn something different from every vintage and maybe one day you’ll be crazy enough to start your own label.”
Getting his hands dirty is something that Daniel embraced from an early age, with many a day spent helping out on his grandparents’ farm: “My parents were hardworking middle-class people, and I spent a lot of my youth with my grandparents on the farm. I think I’ve always been a hard worker.”
Daniel had an especially close bond his late father (the Sorrell Wines logo is his family crest, which is originally from France), who passed away “before I launched my wines, but was very proud I was finally chasing my dream”.
“He was a humble man that didn’t want for much, apart from his love for travel, a good yarn, and tasty treats. He was a red wine lover. His father spent a lot of time in Australia, and passed on his affinity for port, sherry, and Australian big reds to my dad. Not what I make, but I do enjoy them.”
One of Daniel’s favourite father-son wine memories is of a birthday trip to the Amalfi Coast, to an “amazing little restaurant in Positano” where they were the only non-Italians. “By the end of the night my dad had just about met everyone in the restaurant, chatting with his broken Italian and their basic English,” recalls Daniel. “It’s one of the great memories I have of travelling with him and captures who he was.”
Any other favourite wine memories?
“Meeting Angelo Gaja was a great moment. He is one of the Barolo’s pioneers, a wine legend and someone I have huge respect for. I’d have never thought Angelo would have greeted a little Kiwi winemaker, but after the cellar tour, he was there. A fearless and wise man. Extremely kind and open to what a winemaker from the New World had to say. We tasted Gaja wines in the cellar door and then he suggested a place for lunch. Was one of the best meals I’ve had in Italy.”
But there’s nowhere quite like home, “with family, friends, and my beautiful partner”, for enjoying a glass or two of his favourite vino: “We’re in the middle of renovations, so not so much wine drinking at the moment – maybe a cold beer at the end of the day! After harvest and renovating we’ll get some lovely wines and enjoy some good meals with friends. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Daniel describes his wines as “elegant and balanced”. He loves tension in wines, a characteristic for which Marlborough is ideally – and uniquely – suited. “I’ve only released my 2021 wines – 2022 are still in-barrel – and I’m extremely happy with the quality. 2022 looks just as promising. But it will always be the first vintage that means most. It’s such a learning curve in the first year and a huge new responsibility that doesn’t compare to making wines for someone else.”
The first wine is always scary, he adds, putting yourself out there and hoping folk “understand what you’re trying to achieve”.
“Sorrell Wines has been a bit of a selfish project – one that I’ve wanted to do for years and finally built up the courage to pursue. I make wines I am proud of and so I went with my surname, as I stand behind them to make something delicious. It is also a tribute to my dad.”
Daniel is full of praise for the vignerons that so expertly work and manage the vineyards to “grow great grapes”: “It’s humbling to take their fruit and work closely with them to achieve what I think is the best for Sorrell Wines.” An exciting new project has started in 2023, but he’s sworn to secrecy for now.
“Whether it’s restoring old cars, house renovations, raising three kids or starting my own label, I’ve always got something on the go! There are never enough hours in the day. I need to keep busy, it’s just the way I’m wired.”
And with that, it’s time to return to harvest.
