A trip to France changed Ben Leen’s life in more ways than one. On the eve of the annual WINEwood Festival, Leen tells Rebecca Fox about his journey to making natural wines.
Travelling around France, Ben Leen needed to earn some money to fund the next leg of his journey.
So he and his wife took a job at a vineyard. Little did Leen know then how that experience would change his life.
“I didn’t have a strong interest in wine at that time,” he says.
But his days working in the vineyards of Beaujolais planted a seed.
“Thinking back now, the idea of sort of working on the land and that celebration and camaraderie around harvest time, which in France, they just do so well with extended family members and friends from the village. It was amazing, really.”
When it came time to come back to New Zealand after a year’s travelling, he knew he had some big decisions to make. Before the trip he had been working for the Ministry for Primary Industries.
However, that formative experience on French vineyards had him investigating becoming a winemaker. He went to Lincoln University to study viticulture and oenology.
“So it was a change from a bit of a realisation, probably after spending some time in vineyards … that I’d sort of been on the other side of the ledger where we were telling farmers how to farm from a compliance perspective, without actually really knowing the … day-to-day effort and work that goes into it. So I think that sort of played into that equation a bit, actually.”
Added to that was experiencing the hands-on, “literally getting hands dirty, the sort of back-breaking type work that was involved”.
“The other part for me, which people often sort of talk about, especially in France, is that romance of the industry. And I think that seeing it from a grape to the final product is pretty special.
“And funnily enough, it sounds weird, but it’s actually quite unique to grow the primary product and then, actually make the secondary product as well at the same place.”
Then there was history, the connection to the land and the generational aspect of farming in France and altogether it was a hard package to resist.
“And it definitely worked for me. It didn’t work on my wife. She stuck to her career. I really liked being outside working the land and then being involved in that next part of the process from the fermentation. So that really struck a chord with me.”
The pair knew they always wanted to live in Central Otago as his wife grew up in the district so they headed south after graduating and Leen got a job at Amisfield winery at Lake Hayes as a cellar hand, the traditional job for a trainee winemaker.
As Amisfield is an organic winery and vineyard, its ethos of connection to the land and stewardship rang true for Leen.
“It’s really important here and I think that led me to wanting to explore natural wines with my own sort of lens and creativity.”
So he started Alpine Wines in 2018 as a vehicle for his own wine made from grapes produced at different vineyards in Central Otago that are farmed with a commitment to the future of the land and making wines that are truly unique.
“We were just purchasing small amounts of grapes. But I’d seen and sort of experienced this movement that was … referred to as natural wine overseas.”
The term natural wine can have many different definitions and the terminology is “fraught with danger” but is generally thought of as being made from biodynamic or organic grapes using small-scale methods without adding anything or taking anything away.
“Wine is thought of as quite a natural product anyway because it’s fermented grape juice. But every step along the way, whether it’s on the farm or the winery, there are lots of tools and products available to assist in the process, whether it is growing a large crop or making sure the wines have a certain taste profile.
“We wanted to buck that trend.”
It is important to acknowledge, he says, that it is nothing new, as people have been making wines biodynamically or organically for centuries in places like France, Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe.
“I think things changed when wine sort of started becoming more like a commodity.”
While in some vineyards weedkillers are used, in organic vineyards the weeds are left to grow.
“I’m standing in the vineyard now and the wines are just surrounded by weeds and I think that looks beautiful. It shows that the soils are healthy, there’s diversity in the life in the soil.”
While it may mean the yields will be lower, it also means the grapes and therefore the wines will be much more concentrated, he says.
It is the creative opportunities of natural wine that really hooked him.
“That’s where we wanted to … make our mark and sort of make wines that were what we … refer to as, or I sort of coined, as minimal intervention for maximum flavour — that’s really our … simple philosophy at Alpine Wines.”
Leen also feels the wine industry has put a lot of barriers in place with its language that can intimidate people.
“For me the natural wine movement, I think there’s this vibe of just enjoying what wine is like, respecting or understanding that it was made with love.”
When Leen first started making these wines, there were only a handful of makers in New Zealand doing similar work but it is an area which is slowly growing.
There are biodynamic and organic vineyards in Central Otago such as Amisfield, Quartz Reef and Rippon which have been doing it for decades but due to their large size and export requirements they have to take a more technical approach.
“We need to have the certainty that when they leave the winery that they’re going to be in the same shape when someone opens it in New York City or Hong Kong or wherever it might be but the philosophies around farming and the longevity of the business are there.”
Leen, whose day job is still making wines for Amisfield, describes Alpine as his “creative outlet”. He decided to also take a different approach to labelling his wines by having a bit of fun and using inspiration from the craft beer movement. He wanted the labels to reflect the hands-off approach to the wines.
He acknowledges the term natural wines can have a negative connotation for some.
“For me, natural wine is … about expressing the sort of truest form from grapes that have been farmed with love and wines that have been made, maybe not leaning on all the technical aspects of winemaking, but … just trusting the process and being comfortable with producing a wine that has this character that might not be picture-perfect or typical of that varietal.”
They have also gone further than that using some older techniques to make the wines. His rose “Head over heels” is made in what is called a “field-blend” style in an effort to create a unique profile.
“Most roses, from Central Otago anyway, are made from pinot noir but our approach has been to make it with pinot noir, pinot gris and riesling. Part of the inspiration is way back when in places like Georgia — it was just everything picked at the same time and thrown into one vessel.
“We’re really pleased with the result, and we’ve done that for a couple of years now. And that’s hopefully, I think … part of the appeal for our wines is that it’s something different.”
They also make a pinot noir that is meant to be served chilled. It is called “Head in the clouds” which a reference to Leen being a “dreamer”.
“It’s like all these sort of things that you wouldn’t normally associate with red wine. And that’s been probably our most successful wine to date.”
They also make a riesling called “Future looks bright”, a play on the word bright used to describe acidity in winemaking.
“Also the first time I made that was during Covid. So it was a bit of an optimist view on hopefully what the future actually looked like.”
At the end of the day, while his wines may look different and taste different, all Leen wants to do is make “delicious” wines.
He called the company Alpine in reference to the mountains surrounding where he lives and also carries it on to describe the wines as “slightly off-piste”.
“They’re sort of adventurous. I think wine … should be all about the experience.”
The WINEwood festival in Queenstown is a chance for natural winemakers, many of whose operations are very small, to get together and explain to people what their wines are about, something he is “super excited” about doing.
“There’s a ton of love that goes into traditional [winemaking] because it’s a very labour-intensive process. And I think that what the industry needs is just that little understanding about what that commitment looks like and then I think the appreciation comes with that.”
TO SEE:
Alpine Wine at WINEwood Wine Festival 2025, Sherwood, Queenstown, Nov 22 • 2pm-5pm
Dining and Cooking