Sommit 2025 & what Liinaa Berry had to say about Rudi Bauer
February 11, 2025
This past weekend, we had the pleasure of welcoming a wonderful group of sommeliers from around the globe to our stunning wine region, Central Otago. It was a truly memorable experience, filled with shared passion and appreciation for the art of winemaking.
We’d like to take a moment to share a post that beautifully captures the essence of Quartz Reef Wines and the vision of Rudi Bauer. Thank you, Liinaa Berry, for your eloquent words that resonate with all of us!
Rudi Bauer: The Maestro of Purity & Precision @quartzreefwines… (imported by Mezzanine)
If there’s a winemaker who embodies the finesse of sparkling wine in New Zealand, it’s Rudi Bauer. Originally from Austria, he landed in Central Otago in the late 1980s. In 1990, while working at Rippon Vineyard, Rudi crafted the region's first sparkling base wine, marking a significant milestone in New Zealand's winemaking history. He has become a true pioneer of the region, and his sparkling wines at Quartz Reef aren’t just good—they’re electric! (And that’s coming from me who is obsessed with Champagne).🍾
His méthode traditionnelle wines hum with energy, clarity, and vibrancy capturing the pure alpine air and schist-laced soils of Bendigo in every sip. They are crystalline and expressive, layered yet effortlessly graceful. There’s complexity and texture for a new world zero dosage style, but no unnecessary doughy-ness from autolysis. They’re all about transparency and tension, with that lick of chalkiness in the finish keeping them ultra-refreshing. 🍋
With a European sensibility and a kiwi adventurous spirit, Rudi explains that it’s not without a lot of care and effort that such balance is achieved in a méthode traditionnelle that is precise, poised, and unapologetically pure. A wine that doesn’t need dressing up because it’s already wearing the perfect outfit. He describes his Rosé Saignée ‘as flamboyant with her feet firmly on the ground’. His quirkiness in describing the wines made for an educational and entertaining morning and him laying out the history of Central Otago across a beautiful brunch @fino_winebar was something quite special. 💫
I’d love to see more well made sparkling wines of this calibre on more winelists rather than mass-produced commercial champagne. It’s the kind of bottle that fits many occasions. Slow mornings & breakfast? Tick. Caviar bumps? Absolutely. Long afternoons with friends with sashimi or cheese platters? Even better. 🥂 🦪
