New Zealand Winegrower Dec-Jan 2015 by Rural News Group

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CONTENTS

ISSUE 89

20 R E GUL A R S

FEATURES

Editorial

Tessa Nicholson

NZ Winegrower Personality of the Year

From The Chair

Steve Green

The magazine, in conjunction with NZWinegrowers CEO Philip Gregan, celebrates one individual who played a major role in the wine industry in the past 12 months.

Creating a New Zealand Prosecco

Northland woman, Dr Susan Wheeler is about to remove the country’s first Prosecco vines from quarantine in January, so prepare for a new varietal in New Zealand.

What Makes a Great Cellar Door?

As we head into the festive season, cellar doors around the country are preparing themselves for the onslaught of visitors. Lee Suckling has some sound advice on how to make the experience a worthwhile one for those visitors.

In Brief

News From Around the Country

Young Guns

Marlborough

Bob’s Blog

Bob Campbell MW

Sommelier’s Corner

Cameron Douglas MS

Not on the Label

Legal Matters with Bell Gully’s Marija Batistich

Calendar

Wine Happenngs in New Zealand

Research Supplement

The latest science and research projects funded by NZ Winegrowers

COVER SHOT: Cloudy Bay Vineyard, Marlborough. PHOTO SUPPLIED BY CLOUDY BAY

What is Your Vinotype?

Joelle Thomson talks to Master of Wine Tim Hanni about why and how consumers should be more aware of their own palate, rather than listening to what experts tell them to try and like.

E D I TO R Tessa Nicholson tessa.nicholson@me.com

FROM THE EDITOR TESSA NICHOLSON

CO R R E SP O N D E NTS Auckland: Joelle Thomson joellethomson@vodafone.co.nz Gisborne: Justine Tyerman justine.tyerman@clear.net.nz Hawkes Bay: Mary Shanahan maryshanahan173@gmail.com Nelson: Neil Hodson neil@hodgson.net.nz Central Otago: Mark Orton seeingredmedia@yahoo.com

A DV E R T I SI N G Sales Manager & Upper North Island: Stephen Pollard stephenp@ruralnews.co.nz Ph: 09 913 9637 Mobile: 021 963 166 Central North Island: Ted Darley ted@ruralnews.co.nz Ph: 07 854 6292 Mobile: 021 832 505 Lower North Island: Mark Macfarlane Ph: 04 234 6239 Mobile: 021 453 914 South Island: Kaye Sutherland kayes@ruralnews.co.nz Ph: 03 376 5552 Mobile: 021 221 1994

C I R C U L AT I O N & SUBSCRIPTIONS Lorraine Rudelj lorraine@nzwine.com Ph: 09 303 3527 Fax: 09 302 2969 New Zealand Winegrowers PO Box 90 276, Auckland Mail Centre, New Zealand

PUBLISHING & P R E - P R E SS Rural News Group PO Box 331100, Takapuna, Auckland 0740 Ph: 09 307 0399 Location: Top Floor, 29 Northcroft Street, Takapuna, Auckland 0622 Publisher: Brian Hight Managing Editor: Adam Fricker Production: Dave Ferguson, Rebecca Williams

Published by Rural News Group Ltd under authority of New Zealand Winegrowers (jointly representing Wine Institute of New Zealand Inc and New Zealand Grape Growers Council Inc). Unless directly attributed, opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Rural News Group and/or its directors or management, New Zealand Winegrowers or its constituent organisations. Published every second month. One free copy is mailed to every member of the Institute, the Council, the New Zealand Society of Viticulture & Oenology and the New Zealand Vine Improvement Group, and to such other persons or organisations as directed by the owners, with provision for additional copies and other recipients to be on a subscription basis.

ISSN 1174-5223

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TIME TO CELEBRATE

he International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration is only 14 months away, with the date set for early February 2016. For the first time New Zealand will take centre stage alongside its flagship variety, and show the world just why it is such a classic. As one of the committee members mentioned recently, “Sauvignon Blanc can cop a lot at times”, with most of it being totally undeserving. Winemaker Brian Bicknell says the International Celebration will provide the perfect opportunity to show how the variety is not just a trend. Instead Sauvignon Blanc is a wine that clearly shows its terroir, it ages well, is versatile, and produces wines that are great matches for a wide range of food styles. What is there not to like? That was never more apparent than in a recent article released by the drinks business, in the UK. In their Global Masters Series, focusing on Sauvignon Blanc, a group of Masters of Wine and senior wine buyers, tasted their way through 150 wines, from 17 different countries. New Zealand wines took out a large number of the medals awarded, but it was the Masters comments about our wines that really stood out. They acknowledged the significant impact that New Zealand has had on Sauvignon Blanc. “New Zealand has been so successful, it’s shaped the market,” said Clive Barlow MW, director of merchant and consultancy business Press Wine Services. “New Zealand has raised the profile of the variety. It made people realize there’s more out there and maybe helped to break that Pinot Grigio stranglehold.” He continued; “New Zealand has moved people towards a grape that they might not otherwise have tried”. It is a pleasure to read an expert in his field, acknowledge the importance of New

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Just a shame some people here at home can’t be quite as generous. Hopefully by the time the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration kicks off, those naysayers will be prepared to accept just how much this variety has done for the New Zealand wine industry and the esteem it is held in, throughout the world On a completely different note, it is that time of the year when NZ Winegrower takes a close look at what has happened in the past 12 months and who or what has stood out as an industry-changer. The NZ Winegrower Personality of the Year is our chance to acknowledge that individual, couple or product that made the impact. Sometimes it is easy, an outstanding contribution comes to mind instantly. I think of Jeanette and Kim Goldwater, who were our Personalities of the Year back in 2011. The gifting of their renowned Waiheke Island vineyard and winery to the University of Auckland Wine Science Department, was such a philanthropic gift, it deserved far more credit than we could ever give, with the Personality of the Year title. Other winners since the recognition was established by former Editor Terry Dunleavy include; Sir George Fistonich, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc growers, James and Annie Millton, Dr Mike Trought, young viticulturists, Stuart Smith and even – Oyster Bay’s Sauvignon Blanc, awarded the title in 2008 after its unprecedented attack on world markets. This year we again acknowledge an individual, for his foresight a few years back. To find out who and why, turn to page 8. As 2014 ends, and 2015 looms, I wish everyone in the industry good luck for the coming busy weeks. May your holiday period be one of sunshine, warmth and good cheer. ■

FROM THE CHAIR STEVE GREEN

WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR NEW ZEALAND WINE?

ard to believe it isn’t it, but Vintage 2015 is only a matter of four or so months away. We are all only just starting to sell the very early wines from the current vintage and the next one is just around the corner! The sales challenge from Vintage 2014 is significant as we all know. With the harvest 29% larger than 2013 the need to lift sales is obvious. For the four months to the end of October exports are up 12% in volume, a good start to the export year, but clearly an even stronger performance is needed in coming months. While marketing and sales teams are revving up to meet this year’s sales targets, back in the vineyards thoughts are clearly focussed on what 2015 has in store. In our agriculturally-based industry there is always great uncertainty when contemplating the outlook for the season. Spring frosts (of which there have been more than a few in recent weeks), a cool flowering, the carbohydrate status of the vines, a dry, cool, hot or wet season, all these create uncertainty around the vintage, its size and its quality. Of course as growers and wineries we do our very best to bend mother nature to our will. We monitor the weather, assess nutrient status, we tend the vines closely, shoot and crop thin, spray, fertilise and

irrigate, leaf pluck and lift, through spring, summer and into autumn. All that work comes to something or nothing at vintage when we work out whether nature has been compliant; whether we have produced the desired quality and volume of grapes that each of us aimed for. Blood, sweat and tears, year after year. And on the back of vision, dedication and sheer hard slog, New Zealand wine’s international reputation has

New Zealand average price is a whopping £2.00 above the UK average. The high average price for New Zealand wine underpins every aspect of the New Zealand wine industry as we know it. 35,000 ha of grapes, 250+ million litres of sales, $1.3 billion of exports, land and grape prices, bank and investor confidence in the sector, all depend on that high average price. That means they depend directly on the

The threats to our reputation and our success are many. It is clear though that the biggest threats come from ourselves, not from outside the industry. That was the number one lesson from 2008 – 2010 years.

been built. In a generation we have gone from nowhere to somewhere on the world stage. From exports of zero in the early 1980s to $1.3 billion today, with our eyes firmly focussed on $2 billion by 2020 or thereabouts. New Zealand’s reputation for quality wine was identified in the 2011 PWC report as the reason consumers around the world are prepared, on average, to pay more for our wines than wines from other countries. In the UK at the moment, that reputation is the reason the New Zealand average price is £7.34 per bottle, 90 pence higher than any other country; the reason the

industry’s reputation for quality. So as individual grape growers and wineries our relationship with the New Zealand wine reputation is a mutually symbiotic one – we both depend on it and we contribute to it. Going into vintage 2015 that suggests that not only should each of us be setting our own individual goals for the season, but we should also be considering how each of us can add to New Zealand’s quality reputation. If all of us add to the positive reputation then we will all benefit. And as colleagues and peers, we should all be

asking each other ‘What are you doing this year to contribute to the reputation of New Zealand wine?’ This symbiotic relationship is one of the key reasons we all care so deeply. It is the primary purpose for the very existence of New Zealand Winegrowers. It is the reason that growers and wineries get so upset when there are threats to that reputation. The threats to our reputation and our success are many. It is clear though that the biggest threats come from ourselves, not from outside the industry. That was the number one lesson from 2008 – 2010 years. At least some of us forgot about investing in our reputation and sought only to exploit it in the short term. The New Zealand wine reputation suffered and we all paid a price as a result. Vintage 2015 represents another opportunity to add to the reputation of New Zealand wine. Add to it and we will all have the opportunity to benefit from it in the future. Exploit it … and what will be left? To paraphrase JFK … ‘Ask not what New Zealand wine can do for you – ask what you can do for New Zealand wine.’ Best wishes for the coming festive season. And as a New Year’s resolution … resolve to protect and add to the reputation of New Zealand wine in 2015. Cheers Steve Green ■

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 5

IN BRIEF

Vine Nursery New Zealand Sell Certified Plants In the last issue of NZ Winegrower, we ran a story regarding certified standards for grape vines and how vital it was for all those purchasing vines, to ensure they were buying only those that met

AssureQuality Grafted Grapevine Standards (GGS). The reason being, that only these certified vines can guarantee you the peace of mind of being true to varietal, meet vine physical

specifications, have associated management systems and are free of LeafRoll Associated Virus 3. The story also mentioned there were only five companies that produce and sell certified vines. That was

incorrect. There are in fact six companies. We did not include Vine Nursery New Zealand in the list, which we apologise for. Vine Nursery New Zealand can be contacted at vnnz@xtra. co.nz

NATIONAL Matua Wines and International Cricket A partnership between Matua and the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been announced for next year’s World Cup, which is being co-hosted by New Zealand. Chief winemaker Nikolai St George admits he is a bit of a cricket fan and saw the opportunity to be involved in the World Cup as a brilliant world’s most watched sporting events is opportunity for the company. truly exciting and for Matua to be a part of “For New Zealand to co-host one of the it offers an unprecedented opportunity to

get some of New Zealand’s most awarded wines in front of a local and global audience.”

Fine Wine Stores On The Rise

EU Coup for Organic Wines

For the past decade, supermarket chains appear to have had a stranglehold on wine sales throughout the country. But one liquor retailer is fighting back and opening more stores to meet demand for fine wine sales. LK have just opened their 39th store, Stonefields, in the new suburb of the same name that has been developed at Auckland’s former Mt Wellington quarry. The latest store opening, follows the retail Watch Statistics that showed a growth of 4.1 per cent in sales from Liquor Stores to $175.3 million for the July 2014 quarter, compared with July 2013.

New Zealand’s organic wine industry has scored a major export victory with the announcement that the European Commission (EC) has agreed to recognise New Zealand’s organic wine production methods as equivalent to its own. This comes after two years of collaboration between Ministry of Primary Industries and New Zealand Winegrowers, who seeing the importance of organic wine in New Zealand’s future began a concerted effort to ensure New Zealand access to the important European market. “In the past, in order for a certified organic and biodynamic producer to service an international market, there were a lot of extra time and compliance costs that took away quite a lot of margin, so in some instances it was better to go to market removing any mention of organic certification” said James Millton of Millton Vineyards and Organic Winegrowers NZ. Access to the European Union market for exports of New Zealand organic wine can continue after 1 July next year, when the current EC system enabling imports of organic wine will end.

AUCKLAND Preparing for A Century A facelift after 100 years might sound a little optimistic to some but the Babich family is planning to give its cellar door just that. The home of Babich Wines in west Auckland is a building that is not quite as old as the family’s winemaking history; which will

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turn 100 in 1916. The family is now planning to celebrate its centennial in two years’ time with a range of limited release wines and Babich-hosted events in major cities around the world – as well as its revamped cellar door in

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

Henderson Valley. “The New Zealand wine industry is often thought of as young, so to be talking about 100 years of experience is significant,” says John Lang, Babich sales and marketing manager.

HAWKE’S BAY

WAIRARAPA

Going Native

Coveted Trophy

A bank of native planting is being developed to complement Esk Valley Estate’s famous terraced vineyard and stabilise and beautify the south-facing hillside behind the historic Hawke’s Bay winery. Seven years ago the steep slope alongside the approach driveway was cleared of scrubby and invasive robinia, blackberry and gorse and some two hectares are now being replanted in natives to help protect the buildings from slippages. Englishman Robert Bird developed the site as the Glenvale winery and cellars in 1933. The property was purchased by George Fistonich in the 1980s and the original concrete fermentation vats are still used in the winemaking operation.

Congratulations to Lansdowne Estate’s Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2010, which won the coveted Bouchard Finlayson Trophy for Pinot Noir at the recent International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC). The IWSC attracts thousands of wines, meaning any accolade such as this is a feather in the cap of the producer. New Zealand did extremely well at the competition. Of this year’s record-breaking number of entries from New Zealand, almost 90% received an award. This was the second highest rate for any country in the competition, whose overall average was 81.5% of wines receiving an award.

Defining Pinot Gris Another Champion Villa Maria’s Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2013 was the Champion Wine of Show at the Hawke’s Bay A & P Bayleys Wine Awards, celebrated with the best-attended dinner in the event’s 14-year history. Some 480 guests, including winemakers, sponsors and industry figures, filled a marquee erected in Hastings’ Waikoko Gardens for a formal dinner prepared by top local chefs and EIT culinary students. The awards are New Zealand’s oldest regional wine competition. Wines entered must be made from at least 85 percent Hawke’s Bay-grown grapes.

MARLBOROUGH The Most Sustainable Large Business Marlborough’s Yealands Estate Wines has been named as the Overall Large Business winner at the Fairfax Sustainable 60 Awards. The company also claimed the top prize in the environment category, as recognition for its range of innovative solutions to common industry issues. Competition judges referred to the organization as one going from strength to strength, which had established itself as a creative and ambitious innovator on a range of environmental issues.

Martinborough winemaker Simon Groves has labelled three newly released 2013 Martinborough Pinot Gris by their style in order to give wine drinkers a chance to determine which one best suits their mood, their food and their own drinking style. The three Te Muna Valley Pinot Gris have clearly defined differences in taste, ranging from Italian style (bone dry and refreshing with white nut and oatmeal like flavours); ‘James Pinot Gris’ (luscious and Alsatian-like in style, channeling France’s off dry Alsatian Pinot Gris) and ‘Autumn Harvest’ Pinot Gris. As the name implies, the third wine is made from late harvested grapes, tastes like clover honey and apricots, and is medium bodied.

CENTRAL OTAGO Major Win For Central Otago Riesling A Central Otago Riesling has scooped two top awards at the prestigious UK-based International Wine & Spirits Competition. Two Sisters Vineyard Central Otago Riesling 2009 was awarded both The Single Vineyard White Trophy and The Jancis Robinson Trophy for Riesling. “Having a New Zealand Riesling win two major trophies provides international recognition that the quality of wines being made from the variety in the country is truly world class,” commented New Zealand wine writer, Jo Burzynska, who was in the UK to judge the New Zealand classes at this year’s competition. It is not the first major accolade for Two Sisters Riesling. The 2007 wine picked up the London International Wine Fair Trophy for Single Vineyard White back in 2011.

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 7

NZW NEWS

NEW ZEALAND WINEGROWER PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR TESSA NICHOLSON

hen Philip Gregan and myself sat down to discuss who or what should be the recipient of this year’s New Zealand Winegrower Personality of the Year, he was quick to point out the back story behind vintage 2014 – mechanical thinning. “We all know the story of vintage 2014. A benign growing season led to a crop larger than anticipated. In response there was an unprecedented level of crop thinning including the widespread use of mechanical thinning for the first time in New Zealand. So personally I believe those involved in the mechanical thinning trials are the real personalities of the year.” And one name that came to mind, was the individual who persevered and led the push to undertake mechanical thinning trials here in New Zealand – Dominic Pecchenino. So meet our Personality of the Year, Marlborough based viticulture consultant, Dominic Pecchenino (right). Californian born, Pecchenino has been in New Zealand since 1994, (with a short stint back to America in the late 90s.) With a masters degree in Plant Science and Viticulture he came out to this part of the world as the Matador Estate Vineyard Manager. That role saw him also working closely with viticulturists in Australia, via a relationship with Pecador Estate (Langhorne, Sth Australia), where he was a consultant. His experience of overseas

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technology has been a major advantage when it comes to looking at the New Zealand viticulturual scene. There were technical aspects being undertaken in both America and Australia, that he thought could be taken on board over here. One of those was the possibility of mechanical thinning, which had been undertaken successfully in Australia. In 2006 Pecchenino told me; “I have been pushing for some time to research the possibility of mechanical thinning in New Zealand. It worked so well in Australia and I couldn’t see why it wouldn’t be the same over here. As grow-

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

ers we need to have the ability to use if confidently, especially given how much of a problem labour is in places like Marlborough.” At the time he was a member of the NZW board, (he still is and is the Chair of the Research Committee), and suggested that they bring over Dr Mark Kristic, from the Australian Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation. Kristic confirmed that there was no reason mechanical thinning wouldn’t be as successful here as it is in Australia, but he did recommend that a trial be undertaken to iron out any varietal issues. Pecchenino suggested that

Plant and Food put together a proposal to the board, to gain funds for a two-year trial, which was successful. Current head of Research for NZW, Simon Hooker says he remembers the concerns that were raised prior to the trial. “We wanted to monitor the level of botrytis within the thinned vines, because given the vines were being shaken, we were concerned that it could be a bit of a disaster. While Spain and Australia had never had any issues, we realised that they were also very different climates, much drier and less susceptible to botrytis.” What happened, defied all belief

Hooker says. “We couldn’t believe the botrytis results, there was less in the mechanically thinned blocks than there was in the controls. So we decided that we needed to follow those trials up in the second year and we got the same results.” The Research Committee then suggested that Plant and Food apply for extra funding from the Sustainable Farming Fund , which resulted in the trials being continued for a further three years, ending only in June this year. And what a year to end on. The yields were high, especially in Marlborough and growers were faced with having to remove crop in the most economic and sustainable way. Mechanical thinning came to the fore, and whereas the previous year’s trials had involved tens of hectares, in 2014 that rose to close to 2,500 hectares in Marlborough

alone. Sauvignon Blanc was the varietal where it was used predominantly, although Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Riesling were also mechanically thinned, providing the research team with an abundance of information. The initial results showing it aided in lowering botrytis risk has continued and as a consequence, growers now have a new, sustainable and easy way to not only control yield, but also manage botrytis. Whether any of this research would have been undertaken without the single-minded attitude of Pecchenino is uncertain. Hooker says it is hard to imagine how the 2014 vintage would have gone, if manual thinning was the only option left for growers.

“What would the industry have done last vintage,” he said. “Would there have been enough labour to take the crop back? As for the research showing the Botrytis control, that has been extremely interesting. It’s real and mechanical thinning is now another tool in the toolbox for growers. It is a sustainable botrytis management, that even if the crop levels don’t need controlling, can still be used to get rid of trash and the potential of botrytis outbreaks.” Hooker says Pecchinino’s

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vision came from his overseas experience. “He had a real vision that came through those experiences. He also had the expertise that drove the research. And as the Chair of the Research Committee, he brings a great balance of governance and practical experience.” Pecchenino has played a major role not only as a member of the NZW Board, but also at a local level, being a board member of Wine Marlborough and the Chair of the Board for three years. He is often called on for his practical skills and international experience. And while he may downplay his role in the overall results from the mechanical thinning trials, he well deserves the title of Personality of the Year for his drive to ensure it came to fruition in New Zealand. There are a number of other people who also deserve to be mentioned within this story – they are the research team who undertook the trials over the past five years. They are; Simon Hooker, Mark Allen, Mike Trought and Dion Mundy. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 9

WINE NEWS

CREATING A NZ PROSECCO TESSA NICHOLSON

rosecco is one of the fastest growing wine styles in the world and in many markets this sparkling variety is challenging Champagne. In the next few years, thanks to one woman, New Zealand could be producing its own unique Prosecco. You may well think that will be an impossibility, because the name Prosecco is protected and can only be used by producers within a designated area of northern Italy. While that is true for any wine imported into the EU, a WTO ruling in 2013, has deemed Australia (and now New Zealand) can produce Prosecco, although they have to rename the ensuing

wine Glera if they wish to export to the EU. Dr Susan Wheeler, a viticultural scientist with her own horticulture consultancy has spent the past four years working on importing Prosecco grapes into New Zealand. Her hard work is about to pay off in January, when the first vines will be released from MPI quarantine. The clonal material came directly from Australia, where Prosecco has been planted in increasing numbers since the early 90s. But as she says, the story of the grape in that country goes back much further. “It was first imported into Australia by an Italian immigrant

just after the second World War,” Wheeler explains. “Nobody actually planted it though and basically it sat in his backyard in Adelaide. In the 90s when others in the industry realised it was there in Australia, they started planting it. The researchers did DNA testing on the vines and verified that it was in fact true Prosecco. When the Italians realised that, they decided they would send over some of the new clonal varieties to be sold in a commercial vineyard to ensure they got royalties.” Between the early 90s and late 2000’s, the worldwide popularity of Prosecco soared, far more than had ever been predicted. Which led the Italians to try to Once Susan had imported the clonal material, MPI’s quarantine service took over.

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

retrospectively change the name of the grape, to allow the style of wine to become protected. The Winemaker’s Federation of Australia claimed that was not appropriate, given the grape is and always has been known as Prosecco. Their case to the WTO in 2013, was successful, with the finding claiming that the term Prosecco was that of a variety that had been used in Australia since it first arrived, and that it was the “only name that Australian producers were legally permitted to use in respect of the relevant grape variety”. That legal bid by the Australians has ensured that Wheeler’s efforts to produce Prosecco vines, under the legal name, is guaranteed. She did however seek and gained permission from the Italian authorities to import Prosecco clonal material via Australia. But why Prosecco? “For some reason I have always liked it. It’s low alcohol and quite festive. We lived with a lot of Italian immigrants and they would always have it around and it was the one variety that I kept thinking – ‘why isn’t that here in New Zealand?’” Once she had the permission from the Italians, and clonal material from Australia, back in 2013, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), responsible for the quarantine process, took over. “It comes in as a dormant stick and MPI take it from there. They have been responsible for generating multiple plants, which

are all on their own rootstock at this stage. They are about to be grafted onto approved rootstock that has come from Geoff Thorpe at Riversun Nurseries. In some ways it has been a bit abstract for me, as I don’t have any actual plants in my hand. The closest I get, is when I go down to MPI and admire them in the quarantine glass house, which makes me feel like a proud mother, viewing her child through the nursery window.” Once those plants are cleared from quarantine in January, Wheeler will end up with a handful of vines, which she will then need to generate into plant material.” She already has one grower in Gisborne really keen to plant the first vines available and a number of others around the country have expressed interest. “It will be interesting to see how many parties are keen,” she

says. “It is an easy variety to grow, although it is a heavy cropper. It has an early bud burst, so that may be a concern in certain New Zealand conditions. The other thing is that it’s prone to mildew, because the bunches are so big. But on saying that, the clonal variety we have is less susceptible than the old Prosecco planted in the early days.” While there is bound to be a bit of trial and error before the perfect sites are discovered, Wheeler is in no doubt of the likely success of the wines. “You can make it in a number of different styles, so it’s interesting to work with. Also it’s popularity is growing; people are starting to seek it out. The novelty of being able to make it in New Zealand is kind of cool.” For more information on the Prosecco vines, contact Susan at susanfwheeler@gmail.com ■

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QUARANTINE NEWS

IMPORTING NEW VARIETIES T

he ability for private growers to import new grape varieties into New Zealand has opened up in recent years, with the expansion of quarantine facilities operated by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). It is 14 years since the government closed down what were MAF level 3 quarantine facilities, leaving a major gap in the ever growing wine industry in New Zealand. Riversun Nursery Ltd stepped into that gap, creating their own facilities and importing dozens of new clones to satisfy the growing market. But in 2007 MPI, with government backing, agreed to provide post-entry quarantine (PEQ) space, opening the way for individuals like Susan Wheeler to bring in a new grape variety, via a well organised and safe environment. Given the wine industry is now the country’s 7th largest export earner, it is considered a high value crop. That means every vine brought into the country has to be tested for a wide range of exotic

pests and diseases, before they can be allowed out into the vineyard. There are three levels of PEQ, with level three being the highest. This is the level vines are normally held in, for anything up to 24 months. “Level three is high security, ” says Lisa Ward MPI’s Manager of Virology and PEQ. “Our facility provides quarantine space for a range of primary industry crops, such as grapes.” In terms of the importation process that a potential importer has to go through, Ward says it is carefully detailed in the MPI website. Firstly the grower needs to obtain an import permit. Then they also need to organise and book a space at a quarantine facility, such as the MPI one in Auckland. Grapevine material can be brought in in one of two ways, as dormant cuttings (bud sticks) or as plant tissue cultures. Once the material arrives the MPI staff take over. “Inspection of the material is undertaken by the glasshouse

The MPI quarantine glass house based in Auckland.

supervisor twice weekly during active growth and around every two months by an MPI Containment Inspector,” Ward says. “We are looking for any signs of pest or disease. If there are symptoms on any of the plants, a sample is collected and sent to the MPI accredited laboratory where we will do general diagnostic tests to see what is causing those symptoms. If a pest or disease is found that isn’t currently known to be in New Zealand, a decision needs to be made as to whether the material can be treated or whether it needs to be destroyed.” On top of those regular inspections, looking for disease signs in a number of forms, Ward says the plant will also undergo specific testing as part of the import requirements. “That will happen regardless of whether there are symptoms or not. It is a suite of tests for all pests

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and diseases that we are worried about and want to keep out.” One of those, is Xylella fastidiosa, better known to the industry as Pierce’s Disease. T h i s e x te n s i v e te s t i n g continues throughout the quarantine period, for grapes that can be for up to two years. However MPI do have approved off shore facilities which can undertake some of those tests prior to the plants arriving in New Zealand. Ward says in a recent case, a private grower imported vines, which underwent the offshore testing, and therefore only required nine months in level 2 quarantine here in New Zealand. If you would like any further information regarding the importation rules and the quarantine requirements, visit the MPI website at. http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/ regs/imports/plants/nursery ■

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MARKETING NEWS

CRACKING THE CHINESE WINE MARKET A M A N D A G R I F F I T H S A N D J O H N H A C K E T T, A J P A R K

he Chinese wine industry has been in the spotlight over the last 12 months with talk of plummeting sales amid President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft crackdown. But China still remains an important market for New Zealand wine producers. If you are already exporting your wine to China or are intending to do so, devising a brand strategy is crucial. In this two-part series, we look at how to best protect your key brand asset – your trade mark – and pitfalls to be aware of, like

counterfeit wine.

Don’t be a victim of trade mark squatters Laws providing for the protection and enforcement of trade marks are relatively new in China – but there are some key differences between the laws in China and those that apply in New Zealand. In China, the first person to register a trade mark is recognised as the rightful owner. This is called the ‘first to file’ rule. This rule is different to common law

countries, like New Zealand and Australia, which recognise the first person to use the mark or the first person to register the mark instead. The difficulty with the first to file rule is that it makes trade mark squatting a legal activity. There are countless examples of both local and global brands (Air Jordan, Burberry and Tesla, to name a few) that have been lost to squatters in China. Not only has this created a cottage industry for opportunists, but it leaves businesses with little

choice but to buy back their own trade mark at an exorbitant price or relaunch under another brand in China. Unfortunately, New Zealand wine producers are not immune to this practice. Last year, a Hawke’s Bay wine producer was surprised to learn that its trade mark had been registered by an unknown third party in China. The registered trade mark was identical to the producer’s own mark, right down to the stylisation of the words. The wine producer is now

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

involved in protracted and expensive legal proceedings to try and claw back its own mark. The best form of protection is to beat the squatters at their own game and get in first and file an application to register your trade mark. This should be high on any action plan, whether breaking into the Chinese market is a short or long-term goal. It’s a lot cheaper to file a trade mark application than to try and negotiate with or litigate against a squatter down the track.

Consider Chinese names and characters For Chinese consumers, the Chinese name and associated characters of a wine are more important that the English version – even if your English mark is well-known. When protecting your trade mark in China, it is important to file applications for all versions of the mark, including

the English version, a Chinese version, and also a version in Chinese characters. It is a lesson that is being learnt the hard way by Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of the Penfolds brand. Treasury Wine Estates had

nese registration for Ben Fu. The ongoing court case has seen sales of Penfolds wine drop in China, as suppliers are scared that they could be liable to pay damages to the squatter for any wine they sell. Even if Treasury Wine Estates is

China still remains an important market for New Zealand wine producers. If you are already exporting your wine to China or are intending to do so, devising a brand strategy is crucial. selected the Chinese version of its name Ben Fu, which means ‘chasing prosperity/wealth’. But, they failed to register the mark Ben Fu in China. For the past three years, Treasury Wine Estates has been embroiled in litigation with a notorious trade mark squatter, Li Daozhi, who runs a Chinese wine company and owns the Chi-

successful in its case against the squatter, there could be long-term damage to the Penfolds brand in China. To avoid this situation, choose and register a Chinese name as well as the Chinese characters for your wine. You can do this by selecting a direct translation of your English name or a translitera-

tion of your English name. Or, you can create your own Chinese mark if a translation or transliteration is not appropriate. Whatever you choose, you want a Chinese mark that conveys a positive meaning and reflects your brands values.

Planning and being proactive is key Entering the Chinese market can be a daunting task for New Zealand wine producers. But working with your Chinese distributors and IP advisors to plan a brand strategy will enable you to confidently and successfully market your wine in China. In the next issue, we will look at the problem of counterfeit wines in China. ■ Amanda Griffiths, Senior Associate, AJ Park, amanda.griffiths@ ajpark.com John Hackett, Partner, AJ Park, john.hackett@ajpark.com

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 17

WINE NEWS

6 NATIONS WINE COMPETITION BOB CAMPBELL MW

his competition began 12 years ago, although it was then called the “TriNations Wine Competition” with wines from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Chile and Argentina were added to the list a few years ago with the US joining last year. Australia has earned “Nation of the Show” status nine times. This year it was New Zealand’s turn, the third time in 12 years this country has taken the top title. Entry is by invitation only. Each country has a representative judge who also chooses the wines that he would like to enter. There are seventeen classes. Each country can enter up to 10 wines in each class with a maximum of 100 wines in total.

Entry selection is strategic. I choose the New Zealand wines by focusing on classes where we have a high performance potential, such as Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, and avoiding classes where we have less chance of success, such as the non-aromatic white class which tends to be dominated by Australian Semillon and the Malbec class which is owned by Argentina. It is interesting to note that while I would have expected Chile to win the Merlot and Carménère class New Zealand won the class last year with just five entries. I also study the past results before compiling my selection “wish list” in order to identify any possible judging bias. With judges spanning six countries it is hard to find any evidence of style pref-

The 6 Nation Judges.

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

erence. Vintage sparkling wines seem more likely to earn higher points than non-vintage wines but that could simply indicate that vintage sparklers are of slightly superior quality. The judges do seem to favour drier Riesling styles so I tend to avoid the sweeter examples. Judging takes place in Sydney. Wines are tasted blind by class with up to 60 wines in each. Each judge selects his top 15 wines (the number varies depending on class size) and ranks them in order of preference. Our scores are entered into a computer which calculates the winning wine and runner-up in each class and the country winner in each class. The judges, after discussion, then award double-gold and gold status to the top flight of wines in each class. In theory we should have 600 entries to judge in three days, a manageable load given the “toptier” judging method. In practice the number of entries are always slightly less. The 6 Nations Wine Competition is my favourite wine show for a number of reasons. The average wine quality must surely be higher than any other wine competition in the world, it is a great chance to taste top-flight wines that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to review and I enjoy the camaraderie that has developed within the judging team. If the process is a pleasure the result tends to be more reliable. In addition to being awarded “Nation of Show”, New Zealand won the following trophies:

Winning wine of the 6 Nations – Dog Point Pinot Noir 2012.

• Wine of Show (Dog Point 2012 Pinot Noir won jointly with Silverthorn “The Green Man” Blanc de Blancs from South Africa) • Red Wine of Show – Dog Point 2012 Pinot Noir, Marlborough • Trophy for top Aromatic wine – Waimea Estates 2013 Gewurztraminer • Chardonnay Trophy – Villa Maria 2012 Single Vineyard Keltern Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay • Pinot Noir Trophy – Dog Point 2012 Pinot Noir, Marlborough • Dessert Wine Trophy – Giesen Wines 2013 The Brothers Late Harvest Riesling New Zealand also won the following classes by amassing a higher number of points than all other countries: • Sparkling wine • Aromatic wines • Sauvignon Blanc (top wine was Tokara, a South African producer) • Pinot Noir • Dessert wine ■

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REGIONS CENTRAL OTAGO

RIPPON: A COMING OF AGE The extended Rippon family, (from left) Blair Walter, Dean Shaw, Rudi Bauer, Matt Dicey, Lois Mills, Russell Lake, Duncan Forsyth. Photo Mickey Ross.

MARK ORTON

itting down to talk with Nick Mills, you could empathise with him if his eyes glazed over at the thought of sharing his family history for the umpteenth time...but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bristling with enthusiasm having just hosted a very special series of events where Rippon celebrated 100 years of farming and 30 years of wine making, Mills’ eyes lit up when given the chance to talk about family, the land, and the years of growing up with soil in his veins. When his late father Rolfe and mother Lois first experimented with grape vines in 1975, it was hardly a fly by night folly. From a young age, Rolfe had always had an inquisitive nature and was forever trying to figure out the potential of this unique landscape. Wine was not foreign to him, and when

20 //

returning via Portugal after the War, he noticed schist in the soil. An idea for what was once an isolated high country station, took hold. In those formative days, there was much trial and experimentation to work out which varieties grew best and where. With pretty much every clonal material available for Pinot Noir planted somewhere on the vineyard, the initial philosophy was to get it populated first and then figure out what the best performers were and use that information to structure the next parcel of land. Thus began a 20-year process of selection. “There was no specter of financial gain from farming in this fashion, so much so that there was a government warning against doing it,” says Mills. “With a certain amount of desperation, yet a determination to

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

succeed, certain parcels of the land were sold off until they arrived at the 15 hectares that forms the vineyard we have today. With no more land to sell, this was a business that simply had to survive, there was no other option.” Before coming back to the land, Mills did experiment with other interests. From undergrad Philosophy to following his dream of being an Olympic skier, he always knew that the land, wine and Wanaka was “where I could belong”. After a career ending knee injury scuppered the ski dream, Mills spent four years in France before returning to Wanaka and taking over the vineyard in 2002. Fast forward to the Sunday morning of Labour Weekend, and 42 very lucky guests were treated to a vertical tasting of 20 Rippon wines. “It was a great opportunity to see where we had come from. It was an event that had been touched upon in the international context at certain promotional events, but there was a real need to do it for ourselves, a chance to invite special friends from the industry to share in our journey.” From a local doctor who had been buying their wine from the

very beginning to a selection of Central Otago wine alumni, five of whom had worked as winemakers at Rippon, Mills describes the occasion as very emotional. John Saker who was present, likened the experience of tasting the old bottles to super 8 home movies, “It’s a way to remember summers past, in each bottle flickers a ghostly remnant of fruit that grew and ripened under conditions that only happened, exactly that way, that year.” “When we looked through the 20-odd years of wines, you got the sense that they’re not made through stress, they don’t have the same sort of diurnal range as the rest of Central Otago,” Mills said. “We don’t have the same highs and lows, we don’t have the same intensity and density and fruit mass and volume.” Indeed, it was the opening of a 1990 Pinot Noir that had Blair Walter (Felton Road) reminiscing: “The 1990 Rippon Pinot Noir was so pivotal for me that I can still very distinctly remember drinking it, 22 years later. I was working in Oregon and Rippon winemaker Rudi Bauer came to visit and left me a bottle. The wine was stunning and amongst the Oregon

Pinot Noirs I was mostly drinking, it had a vibrancy and depth of fruit that was extremely impressive. Little did I know that four years later I would work vintage at Rippon and then forever after in Central Otago.” While much of the weekend was about celebrating the past, Mills is very focused on the future. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, Rippon today is all about

staying functional and that means realising the wealth of their land. This has lead to the development of additional assets, most notably the impressive rammed earth tasting hall. But even with a building that is perfect for hosting music, art and theatre, which it is being used for, the structure is still one element in a bigger vision that will include a gravity fed winery.

But, rather than build the winery first and as he points out; “Make no extra money off 15 hectares of bio-dynamically grown grapes and go broke and get thrown off the property”, the hall was built first to generate an additional revenue stream. “Things are starting to make sense of themselves now. We have just employed a commercial manager for the winery so we are

ready to embark on the next chapter. This celebration allowed our whole team and not just my family, to stand back and have a look at what we have become, see how other people see us and what we mean to them. We saw the occasion as marking more than just a milestone of winemaking it was about giving ourselves a pat on the back.” ■ seeingredmedia@yahoo.com

The early pioneers, Rudi Bauer (left) Lois and Rolfe Mills.

NEW WINEGROWER CONTRIBUTOR Meet Mark Orton, who is the new writer for NZ Winegrower magazine, based in Central Otago. I like to say that I live in Clyde, Central Otago, but the reality can be a wee bit different. As a freelance directorcameraman-writer and general jack-of-all-trades, I often have to travel so that I can afford to live in the best part of New Zealand. Yes, I am biased. In the last couple of years I have filmed a show on search and rescue in New Zealand, got up close and personal with the urban poor in Manila’s slums, and more recently have been getting dressed as a panda to work in deepest parts of Sichuan province, China. Though, with all the travel and work variety, wine (and craft beer) is never far from my mind, or palate for that matter. I am lucky enough to have met many of the great characters synonymous with Central Otago Wine, and tasted many fine wines. Given my passion for the area, I am really looking forward to writing for NZ Winegrower. ■

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 21

REGIONS MARLBOROUGH

30 VINTAGES CREATES AN ICON TESSA NICHOLSON

ack in 1985, a young Kevin Judd issued winemaking instructions for the first Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc over the phone. The wine, made from Marlborough fruit was produced in Gisborne, Kevin was based in Auckland. How things have changed. Now 30 vintages later, the name Cloudy Bay is synonymous with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The company has lept from “new kid on the block” status to become an iconic producer. That it happened in three decades says a lot for the ground work laid back in the mid 80s, says current winemaker Nick Blampied-Lane. “I think the world was ready for a new style of wine from the new world at that time. And I think David Hohnen (founder) did a very good job of making great wine consistently. And I think the label helped also, it is very captivating.” Hohnen’s decision not to test his new wine on the domestic market was also a bonus for helping to make Cloudy Bay a world-wide sensation. “The strategy of David to imme-

22 //

diately export the wine to Australia and the UK was critical to getting it recognised from such an early stage,” Nick says. Many believe it was brilliant marketing to release such tiny parcels of the wine into the market, thereby creating a demand outweighing supply situation. Although in fairness, there wasn’t a great deal of wine available in those early days. In 1985, only 200 tonnes of grapes were crushed. “You can’t control that sort of thing (demand),” Nick says. “But it’s partly to do with exporting, getting it out there and selling it to a whole bunch of different people. Ultimately that was advantageous to the brand.” While there have been inevitable changes over 30 vintages, some things have stayed the same, regardless of time. The label for one, is instantly recognisable. The quality of the wine places it in the most lauded category (despite not entering wine shows) and the team making the wines has been also consistant. Nick says in 30 years there have only been two eras. The

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

Nick Blampied-Lane.

first 20 years, which belonged to winemakers Kevin, James Healy and Eveline Fraser, and the last 10 or so have seen Nick and senior winemaker Tim Heath at the helm. There are very few companies in New Zealand who can claim such consistency. What has changed though is the size and ownership of the company. (Admittedly, most of that growth took part in the first 20 years). Whereas the first wines had to be made with fruit sourced from Corbans who were based just down the road from Cloudy

Bay, these days the company has 19 growers supplying them, plus five of their own vineyards. The majority of the Sauvignon Blanc fruit is taken from Rapaura, Brancott and central Wairau Valley areas. A miniscule amount comes out of the Awatere – unlike many other companies of a similar size who have expanded into the more southern sub-region. “When defining our style and our qualities in the wider sense of the term,”Nick says, “we find what we are looking for in this area.”

The change of ownership began in 1990, when Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (part of the MoetHennessy Louis Vuitton group) purchased a majority interest in Cape Mentelle and therefore Cloudy Bay. They took full control in 2001. Looking forward to the next 30 years, Nick has absolutely no fear that the world will fall out of love with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. “No I don’t. There is something incredibly seductive about the aroma of Sauvignon Blanc. There is almost a sub concious attraction to it, to those smells of passionfruit, tomato leaf and grapefruit. What I think the challenge is for us here in Marlborough, is to start introducing more weight and texture into our Sauvignon, while still retaining that very pure, seductive aromatic compound.” ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

A DECADE ON FOR DOG POINT Meanwhile two of the Cloudy Bay stalwarts who went out on their own 10 years ago, have just celebrated the first decade of their own label. James Healy and Ivan Sutherland established Dog Point wines back in 2002, making the first two vintages at the Cloudy Bay winery. In 2004, they moved into their own premises, where they could have total control from vine to bottle. Production has steadily grown in the past 10 years, as has the reputation of the young wine company. However the varietal range has remained the same, with Dog Point concentrating only on Sauvignon Blanc (two styles), Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. For the past month, Sutherland and Healy have been celebrating their first decade with virtual wine tastings taking place around the world.

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 23

WINE AWARDS

PERFECT 2013 VINTAGE SHINES The Air New Zealand Wine Awards are now over, the best wines acknowledged and the medals and trophies handed out. As Chair of Judges, Michael Brajkovich MW, acknowledges in his report, the quality across a wide range of varietals was a highlight.

stated last year that 2013 was a very good grapegrowing season across the country, and very clearly the effects of this vintage continue to be seen in this year’s results, particularly with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. 2014 had some challenges in many regions, but the quality of the best wines is still as good as ever, showing the signs of well managed vineyards and good winemaking. Sauvignon Blanc wines from 2014 have some excellent examples, with the best showing complexity of fruit characters and an absence of green flavours. The 2013 vintage wines still shine with another year of bottle age, retaining the weight, texture, length and balance that marked them from the beginning. Once again, the best examples show a balance between very ripe and slightly edgy mineral characters which give these wines both depth and vibrancy. Chardonnay is very strong indeed, particularly from 2013, but the success of some older vintage wines certainly shows the ageing capability of this superior grape variety. Among the best wines are a wide range of styles and regions, and show what can be achieved with Chardonnay when the grapes are ripened correctly for the region concerned, and the use of oak is carefully balanced with the other components of the wine. Pinot Gris has enjoyed a sig-

24 //

nificant lift in quality compared to previous years, and is clearly a variety on the rise in New Zealand. The best wines have rich, luscious characters that do not rely solely on sugar to give texture and length. In the dry styles the best Riesling wines show elegance and purity with beautiful aromatic, minerality and flavour persistence. The medium wines were generally outstanding with great fruit aromas, flavours and acidity balanced carefully by sugar sweetness. Gewürztraminer was a variable class with some great pungent fruit aromas and palate richness among the best wines, but with too many examples lacking in fruit weight and texture. It was very encouraging to see such good examples of Albariño, Arneis and Grüner Veltliner in the other white varieties section as the number of wines exhibited has risen and the competition has become keener. The Sparkling Wine category had a very large number of entries, and the standard was very high. The Gold Medal wines show the complexity and finesse that is required for recognition at this level. Pinot Noir is once more the most successful varietal class in the competition with 27 Gold Medals. This is an outstanding group of red wines, particularly from the 2013 vintage but also in

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

the more aged categories. There is diversity of style ranging from strongly coloured, robust wines with richness and tannin, through to more fresh, elegant and silky wines. The best wines exhibit layered complexity and palate length, always with tannin and acid in harmony with the fruit and oak characteristics. With the class of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and their Blends, the 2013 vintage is certainly showing its quality. The Cabernet Sauvignon component seems to shine through in particular with ripe cassis fruit, rich tannins and flavour complexity, but also with the Merlot and Malbec having a significant impact on the blends.

Syrah provided a quality class of wine displaying a diversity of styles from fresh, vibrant peppery and herbal to full-bodied rich and ripe black fruit styles with significant oak impact and earthy tannins. It should be noted that the judges are now being much more critical of oak characters that are too dominant and out of balance with the other components of the wine. The Sweet White Wine class this year was wonderful, with a number of varieties showing beautifully ripe concentrated fruit characters, often augmented with botrytis cinerea noble rot, and made into a diverse range of styles. ■

AIR NEW ZEALAND WINE AWARDS 2014 TROPHY WINNERS ■ Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show

■ Bite Magazine Champion Sweet White Wine

Vidal Legacy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2013

■ O-I New Zealand Reserve Wine of the Show

Villa Maria Single Vineyard Southern Clays Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012

■ JF Hillebrand New Zealand Ltd Champion Pinot Noir

Villa Maria Single Vineyard Southern Clays Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012

■ Label and Litho Limited Champion Sauvignon Blanc

Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014

■ Rabobank New Zealand Limited Champion Chardonnay

Vidal Legacy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2013

■ BDO New Zealand Limited Champion Other White Styles and Rosé

Premium Pinot Noir 2013

Falconhead Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2013

Giesen The Brothers Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Marlborough

■ Coast FM Champion Merlot, Cabernet and Blends

Church Road McDonald Series Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2012

Sea Level Nelson Pinot Gris 2014

Spy Valley Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2013

■ Liquorland Champion Open Red Wine

Saint Clair Marlborough

Forrest The Doctors Marlborough Riesling 2014

■ Plant & Food Research Champion Riesling

Forrest The Doctors Marlborough Riesling 2014

Tohu Rewa Marlborough Méthode Traditionnelle Blanc de Blanc 2011

■ Business World Travel Champion Exhibition Red Wine

■ ICIB Gold Medal Insurance Champion Gewürztraminer

■ Wineworks Champion Sparkling Wine

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 25

WINE JUDGE

JUDGE IMPRESSED WITH FINESSE TESSA NICHOLSON

he stylistic finesse of New Zealand wines has impressed one of the guest judges at this year’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards. Sebastian Braun, wine buyer from Sweden’s retail monopoly board Systembolaget was one of two international judges involved this year. Sweden has been identified by NZW and NZTE as having potential to grow dramatically as an export market in the coming years, and is already living up to that potential. Braun says in five years, New Zealand’s market share in Sweden has grown three fold. A lot of that he puts down to the large 2008 vintage, that led to producers looking for new markets outside the tradition UK, Australia and American ones. “From not receiving many offers, we suddenly received a lot,” he said. “We have seen the market share grow from 0.4 per cent to 1.2. It is still very limited, but three fold in five years is very good.” While Sauvignon Blanc was pushing sales, Braun said there are other varieties that would easily fit into the Swedish market. “Stylistically New Zealand is on the right path with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. And there is great potential for Syrah. I think we will see more of that in the future.” W h i l e B ra u n w a s v e r y impressed with the Pinot Gris coming out of New Zealand, he said it was a very hard sell in Sweden. However, Riesling is a variety the Swedes love.

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“Riesling works quite well and we have a strong following for it.” Sweden is a market that has adopted wine only in the past few decades, according to Braun. “It exploded in the 1990s and is still growing. It appears to be taking market share from spirits and beer. Initially we used to drink far more red wine (than white) but now there is a 60 – 40 mix. (Red

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

over white).” He said there are also two very defined categories within wine. One is the sweeter “juicier” styles from Italy, made with partially dried grapes. The other category, which is where Braun feels New Zealand fits perfectly, is the premium wines, which are classic, drier with very subtle oak. This is an area where people are prepared

to pay more, if they know they are getting higher quality. “There is a lot happening in New Zealand,” he said. “It is creative and offers new products, categories and size all the time. As opposed to Australia and Chile, New Zealand is very dynamic.” While Sweden’s monopoly system may seem difficult to manoeuvre for many producers, Braun says it is a transparent system that works well, so long as you have a good relationship with your importer. (Systembolaget does not have an importer’s licence – meaning you need to work with one yourself). He said apart from launches of small parcels of exclusive wines, such as say the top New Zealand Chardonnays or Pinots, Systembolaget buys in a fixed volume. “There are different distribution levels, so you can be listed in all 240 shops across Sweden, or maybe just in say 20 stores. “You go through a tender system which means that we send out an offer for say a Sauvignon Blanc in a particular price category, from a specific region and with a certain amount of wine required. If you win the tender, you will have a guaranteed listing of six months, but which could be a long lasting listing. We have a few wines which we have been selling for 20 years now.” And if you have already woven your way around monopolies in other countries, Braun says you will not find Sweden in the least bit difficult. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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YOUNG GUNS MARLBOROUGH How long have you worked in Marlborough? Two years What Brought You To Marlborough? I was ready to start practicing what I was learning – a job opportunity in Marlborough offered me that. While I love Hawke’s Bay (where I was studying) I knew that Marlborough would be a part of my career at some stage and I have never regretted the move down. What Do You Enjoy Most About Your Job? The variety, and the outdoors. Sometimes I forget that I am actually working when I’m out in the field What Do You Enjoy Most About Marlborough? Everything! Marlborough is one of the most picturesque places I have been, and it definitely has to be one of the best outdoor offices! When You’re Not Making Wine Or Growing Grapes? I really like to be busy… I am involved in Girl Guides, a couple of social sports teams and am heading to Africa on a volunteer programme at the end of this year. It Sucks When…. I get clotheslined by spider webs, mid row! Your Favourite Wine? Depends on the weather. Which Wine Region Excites You Most Right Now? Marlborough! There seems to be so many cool things happening here at the moment and I am excited to be a part of it all. I do have a long list of places I would like to visit though. Future Aspirations? I don’t have a clear idea of where I would like to be in the future, but I hope that a number of overseas vintages carve the path to it. Whitehead Estate – watch this space! ■

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JAIMEE WHITEHEAD 25 TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR, T R E A S U R Y W I N E E S TAT E

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

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JOSH HAMMOND AGE - 28 PRODUCTION WINEMAKER, V I L L A M A R I A E S TAT E

How Long Have You Worked In Marlborough?

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Two years with Villa Maria, and on and off in family vineyards from a young age. What Brought You To Marlborough? Growing up in Marlborough I was eager to leave and explore areas further abroad. After some time away and realising that Marlborough was a pretty cool place, moving home to be part of the wine industry was an exciting prospect. Where Have You Travelled In Wine To Get Here?

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Originally studied law and chemistry at Otago University. Realising this wasn’t the career for me I travelled, gaining experience in the industry by completing vintages on the Central Coast in California and Burgundy in France. Following this was further study at Lincoln University and then back to Marlborough to take up an Assistant Winemaking job for Villa.

There’s no wind and all you want to do is go sailing. Your Favourite Wine? Chardonnay from Chassange Montrachet. Which Wine Region Excites You Most Right Now? Marlborough and its potential for growth in recognition of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and sparkling wines. Future Aspirations ? Start my own label, making wines from our family vineyards. ■

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 29

How Long Have You Worked In Marlborough? 4 months

MARIO DUSSURGET AGE 28 CELLAR DOOR SUPERVISOR A T C L O U D Y B AY V I N E YA R D S

What Brought You To Marlborough? I was looking for a combination of several things: - To work in an English speaking country - Finding a place with a better quality of life than Paris (France) - Work for winery with a high level of exigency Marlborough and Cloudy Bay was the perfect combo Where Have You Travelled In Wine To Get Here? Mainly all around France so far but I would like to have experiences in Italy, California and Argentina. What Do You Enjoy Most About Your Job? The creation factor and I never stop learning. What Do You Enjoy Most About Marlborough? Being able to gather oysters and clams myself in the wild in a very quiet atmosphere. When You’re Not Selling Wine? I love sharing good bottles and cooking for my friends and family. It Sucks When…. When I can’t appreciate my environment anymore…then I have to move. Your Favourite Wine? Depends on my mood, the hour of the day, the weather and the person who shares the bottle with me. However my favourite wine will be a Magnum. If I have to remember my most unforgettable wine experience, it was a Chateau Beychevelle 1945, Saint-Julien, opened with friends two years ago. Which Wine Region Excites You Most Right Now? Marlborough, I still have a lot to taste before being jaded Future Aspirations? Own an Estate. ■

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

I’ve worked at Sugar Loaf for almost two years, 2015 will be my third harvest there. What Brought You To Marlborough?

the ranges and the hills surrounding Blenheim. I never tire of the view from the catwalk at the winery and it’s awesome that the walks up in these mountains are just at your fingertips.

I originally came to Marlborough because I wanted an international harvest experience. Marlborough hosts a wonderful cultural scene during vintage and it’s well known to be an exciting time.

When You’re Not Making Wine?

Where Have You Traveled In Wine To Get Here?

It’s not Christmas.

I have traveled from California, to here in New Zealand, and onto Germany in the last three years.

Riesling

What Do You Enjoy Most About Your Job? I enjoy the room for growth in my job. I am new to the responsibilities and decisions of an assistant winemaker and am finding the more I learn, the less I know. What Do You Enjoy Most About Marlborough? I love the beauty in the area, with

I enjoy hiking, yoga, playing guitar, cooking without recipes, and visiting with friends and family. Oh and brewing beer. It Sucks When.. Your Favorite Wine? Which Wine Region Excites You Most Right Now? The Mosel in Germany Future Aspirations? After next vintage in Marlborough, I would like to take a few months to travel and then continue on to do more harvests. I am hoping to make my way to Italy, South Africa, France and Australia, and anywhere else my adventure in wine takes me. ■

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BOB’S BLOG BOB CAMPBELL MW

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN Anyone interested in New Zealand’s early wine history should log on to http://marsdenarchive.otago. ac.nz/ a website that has been “mining” 599 letters and journals on or by Samuel Marsden covering the period from 1814 to 1823 when he established the Church Missionary Society in the Bay of Islands and planted the first grapevines in

this country. The original letters and journals are on the website together with their translation in digital format which allows a search by key words. I searched by “vines” and uncovered the following journal entry: “Sept. 25, 1819— This morning we examined more particularly the ground in the neighbourhood, and set the Natives to clear and burn off the brushwood, &c. where it is intended that the town shall stand, and the gardens laid out. We had a small spot of land cleared and broken up, in which I planted about 100 Grape Vines, of different kinds, brought from Port” We now have the exact time (on a Saturday) when vines were first planted. In another five years it will be the 200th anniversary of our wine industry. Worth celebrating?

WINE JUDGING Most days I start tasting wine at around 7am and spend 2-3 hours tasting up to 24 samples. I frequently attend wine tastings in the afternoon, which increases the tally. I try to restrict wine judging to three favourite events each year: The Six Nations Wine Chal-

lenge in Sydney, the Decanter World Wine Awards in London and New Zealand International Wine Show – also known as “Kingsley’s Show”. While each show is in a different country and each operates to different sets of rules they share one common denomi-

nator. New Zealand wines are tasted alongside wines of other countries. So how do we rate? Fairly well is the answer. New Zealand won the Six Nations, we won two international trophies (best dry aromatic white and best Pinot Noir – both under

£15) and an inordinate heap of gold medals in London and more than held our own at the New Zealand International while managing to win the trophy for top Syrah against a very strong field of Aussie wines. It just gets better and better.

WHAT’S YOUR VINOTYPE?

NZ RISES UP THE RANKS

I attended a fascinating lecture by US wine expert Tim Hanni MW. A Vinotype is defined as a combination of physiological factors (for example the number of taste buds on your tongue) that determine your general level of sensory sensitivity and psychological factors that affect your preferences over time (learning, life experiences combined with cultural social and peer element of fashion and propriety). Hanni identified four distinct groups of vinotypes. I am a moderately tolerant vinotype while my wife, Marion, is a hypersensitive vinotype. That explains why Marion can’t tolerate any wine that is even slightly sweet and I enjoy almost anything. If you want to know more I suggest you buy Hanni’s book “Why you like the wines you like”. It’s available on his website www.timhanni.com

While on the subject of our place in the world I noted that a recent release by the OIV placed New Zealand as the world’s 13th largest wine producer up two places from 2013 thanks to a bountiful vintage that allowed us to overtake Greece and Brazil. France moved into first place after an absence of two years with Italy second and Spain third. Australia is ranked sixth although it may soon be overtaken by China in seventh place and closing fast. The world produced 271 million hectolitres in 2014 and consumed just 243m hl. Don’t panic, the difference is mopped up in brandy, vermouth and vinegar production.

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

DOG POINT BARES ALL A vertical tasting of sequential vintages is like an archaeological dig. It exposes changes in winemaking philosophy, vintage variations and reveals how a wine responds to bottle age. When Ivan and James at Dog Point decided to celebrate a decade of winemaking by opening every wine they have made I

accepted their invitation in a flash. In my experience wineries offering vertical tastings tend to censor the line-up by excluding lesser vintages. Those that boldly open everything deserve bonus marks. I recall visiting Chateau Haut Brion in Bordeaux where I was offered seven wines that they

GRANGE 2010 Each year Penfolds offers a prestige tasting of their finest wines. I can’t remember when I rated Grange at the head of the field. I’ve nothing against Grange, it’s just that I generally prefer St Henri or RWT and occasionally Bin 707. This year the 2010 vintage of Grange was clearly the best wine in the race. It’s one of the very few wines I’ve ever awarded 100 points.

claimed were from the seven worst vintages in the past 50 years. All except the 1977 wine were very good. Then they offered another seven wines, this time from the best vintages in the past 50 years. They were all sublime. To appreciate the very good we need to taste it alongside the ordinary.

RIGHT BANK BORDEAUX OI-NZ generously sponsored a tasting and dinner for its winemaker customers in Hawke’s Bay. I was given the task of assembling a tasting of 12 wines around the theme “Merlot dominant blends”. I chose 12 wines from the right bank of Bordeaux – all Merlot dominant with one wine, Clos Cantenac St Emilion Grand Cru 2011, 100% Merlot. There were three flights with four wines in each from

the vintages 2011, 2010 and 2009. Each flight had wines from Saint Emilion and Pomerol as well as wines from the outlying lesser Bordeaux appellations. The wines were remarkably fault free and of relatively high quality. Top vintage was 2009 with 2010 close behind. My favourite wine was Chateau d’Aiguilhe Cotes de Castillon 2009, an excellent buy for around $60 from Maison Vauron in Auckland. ■

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 33

CELEBRATING SAUVIGNON

A DOUBLE CELEBRATION TESSA NICHOLSON

he upcoming International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration in February 2016, will be special in more ways than one to one Marlborough producer. The event will also mark the 30th anniversary of the region’s entry onto the world stage. It was back in 1986 that Hunter’s Fumé Blanc made history by first being accepted to take part in the Sunday Times Vintage Wine Festival in London and then going on to win both the judges accolades and the favourite wine of the show as judged by 6000 members of the Sunday Times Wine Club. The 1985 Fumé Blanc was one of three Hunter’s wines entered into the show. The other two were a Chardonnay and an unoaked Sauvignon Blanc. They were among 350 wines pre selected by the organiser, Tony Laithwaite. Even getting into the competition was a massive feat – but to take out the gold medal for best non Chardonnay full dry white wine of the show and be judged

favourite wine of the show was something not even super enthusiastic Ernie Hunter could have dreamed of. It was the very first international acclamation of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, with many more to come in the decades following. The synergy of the upcoming celebration of this variety, to be held in Marlborough in February 2016, 30 years after her husband Ernie’s great win, is not lost on Hunter’s owner, Jane Hunter. “It is quite special that after all these years, we are finally celebrating our number one style of wine. And it is on the cards that we will also be planning something special for the 30th anniversary of our win in London, where it all began.” While the unoaked Sauvignon Blanc gained a gold medal at that 1986 competition, Hunter says it was the Fumé that stood out, something she is not surprised about. “Back then our Sauvignons

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

were very green, grassy and quite acidic. Mainly because we didn’t do any leaf plucking or trimming or any of the management techniques we do now to get riper characters. I think the oak aged Sauvignon mellowed the wine out a bit and it was probably a much more acceptable style for the British judging panel and consumers. They were used to drinking that style from France. I think the unoaked Sauvignon was probably too aggressive for them at the time. While it did gain a gold medal, it certainly didn’t get the acclaim that the Fumé Blanc did.” Many of the judges who were involved in that competition in 1986 have gone on to be major players in the world of wine since, including Oz Clarke, Serena Sutcliffe MW and Hugh Johnson. Each one has played a part in the recognition of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with all remembering their first taste of what has become New Zealand’s flagship variety. As for the International Sauvi-

The wine that began it all – Hunter’s 1985 Fumé Blanc.

gnon Blanc Celebration, Hunter says it is an extremely important event for New Zealand’s wine industry. “I think people have become a bit blasé about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so it’s important to bring a focus back on to it and reiterate why it is so different and so unique. We have a style that is well recognised and no one seems to be able to emulate. It is unique to our regions and our climate. That has developed in the past 30 years.” ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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CELLAR DOOR

WHAT MAKES A GREAT CELLAR DOOR? LEE SUCKLING

ellar door season is in full swing, and the summer season brings wine tasters into the regions in hordes. Now is a better time than ever to take advice from expert operators on facilitating the ideal cellar door experience, and bring it to your own cellar door. Research from a cellar door study by University of South Australia’s school of marketing in 2014 confirmed the nature and extent of the cellar door visitors’ buying behaviour at the cellar door affected the likelihood of them buying the brand in future. The study found visitors to wine

regions stay in the area for very short periods – 37.8 percent are only on day trips. For the 47.1 percent who did stay in the region, the mean stay was 2.78 nights. This creates a very narrow opportunity for each winery visited to make an impression. Furthermore, 59 percent of people made the decision to visit a cellar door less than 24 hours prior. “The first-time versus repeat visitor dynamic is one of the most important in wine tourism,” the study found. “Converting firsttime to repeat visitors who are highly involved with the brand should therefore be one of the

Valley Neale – providing a “unique” tasting experince at Brightwater Vineyards’ cellar door.

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

most important objectives of the winery’s wine tourism strategy.” Every cellar door visitor must leave knowing where your wine can be purchased, the study advised. “People who visit the cellar present a unique (perhaps even once-off ) opportunity for staff to ensure that they know exactly where the winery’s wines are obtainable from, at a nearest point to their permanent place of residence.” Cellar doors shouldn’t be about selling on the spot, says Valley Neale of Brightwater Vineyards in Upper Moutere. Brightwater

gained a 100 percent rating in the 2013 Nelson Cellar Door Customer Experience Competition, run by the Nelson Winegrowers Association. “The goal of cellar doors should be creating an experience around your wine, so whenever someone sees it elsewhere in the future they’ll buy it because they remember their last experience.” In the lead up to Labour Day each year, the Hawke’s Bay also

runs a cellar door competition, organised as part of the Hawke’s Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards. Event organiser Hillary Riches believes a good cellar door requires good people at the helm. “It’s not about cellar doors having a great garden, or the best looking building, it’s about the people inside the cellar door and how helpful they are,” she says. 2013 winner of the Hawke’s Bay cellar door competition was Selini Estate. “Our cellar door model is based around making everybody who comes in feel like family,” says Anne Boulstead, Sileni’s retail manager. “We learn where they’re from, what they do, and importantly, what their tastes are. Every person needs to be made to feel special, and that means acknowledging each of them when they walk through the door, no matter

how busy you are.” Announced on 21 October was the 2014 winner, Junction Wines. Judges said that integral to the winning experience was how welcoming their cellar door is, and how well those on the door knew their wines. “We keep the wine knowledge humorous and adapt it based on who the visitor is,” says Jo Ashworth of Junction Wines. “We don’t go into PH levels or anything... unless of course somebody asks!” A non-judgemental approach to visitors is essential in running a successful cellar door. “I ask people if the wine is either ‘yummy’ or ‘yucky’ to them, and don’t mind either way because its about their personal tastes,” says Ashworth. Brightwater’s Valley Neale adds: “Many people are afraid to admit at a cellar door that they

only like sweet wines. It is important to ask if your wines are to their taste, and accept if they’re not.” It is advised not to tell a customer, ‘you’ll like this one’, Neale says, as a cellar door operator should not make assumptions. “Let them taste for themselves, don’t use any technical wine jargon to intimidate them, and take their feedback on board.” Knowing your own wines, however, is not all that makes an ideal cellar door experience. Both Nelson and Hawke’s Bay competitions test cellar door operators on their knowledge of other wineries, other hospitality options, and features in their region. “Extremely important in the cellar door experience is recommending other wineries close by,” says Selini’s Anne Boulstead. “I keep maps to give to people with all the other wineries marked out on them, so they get a real taste of the whole region.” Valley Neale says knowing her region well was a contributor to Brightwater’s 100 percent cellar door rating. “Our philosophy is creating a holistic experience of Nelson,” she says. “I have copies of menus from many restaurants to recommend, and I offer to make lunch or dinner bookings for people. You need to be able to answer all questions about your region – where to go for the best things in the area – as you’re not

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just representing yourself at your cellar door.” Staffing, thus, is integral in creating a successful cellar door experience. Junction Wines’s cellar door is operated only by the owners Jo and John Ashworth, and their son Leith, the winemaker. They believe the best cellar door experiences come from having owners and winemakers providing the tasting experience. Brightwater, too, doesn’t have any temporary or transient staff on its cellar door; just the winery owners or the winemaker. “The best cellar door hosts are those who can explain the vintage and the process of winemaking because they were there, and they’re speaking from their own passion and experience,” Valley Neale explains. “If you’ve got someone at your cellar door who isn’t passionate, the customer can feel it.” Uniformly, all cellar door operators believe being a “people person” is essential in creating a good cellar door experience. “As with all retail, a cellar door requires people to be at their best at all times, no matter their mood,” says Hillary Riches. “You’ve got to take an exceptional liking to customers!” adds Selini’s Anne Boulstead. “If you’re feeling comfortable and at ease, they’ll feel the same.” ■ lee.suckling@gmail.com

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TASTING NEWS

WHAT IS YOUR “VINOTYPE”?

hat is a Vinotype? Joelle Thomson asks the founder of this system of categorizing the human palate, Master of Wine Tim Hanni “The call to action for the wine industry is that it needs to educate people more but my contention is that we just need to understand the market more,” said Master of Wine Tim Hanni on his visit to New Zealand in September this year. The self-described recovering alcoholic is a former chef who gained his MW qualification in 1990, but has not consumed alcohol for the past 21 years. He writes about and teaches tasting techniques, making his living from wine. But he says that he doesn’t miss consuming it one iota. “I’ve been there and had the legendary wines. I am genetically predisposed to not know when to stop so when I married the woman of my dreams, I was determined that relationship was not going to end up like all my other relationships. I’m still married to her, and it’s no accident that I’ve been married 21 years and haven’t had a drink in all that time. I don’t miss it.” Hanni visited New Zealand in September this year to host his self-devised “Vinotype” seminars at the New Zealand School of Food & Wine at the Viaduct in downtown Auckland. School founder Celia Hay who earlier this year launched a new textbook about New Zealand wine for her school, incorporated Hanni’s “Vinotype” survey into the back of it to give her students a sense of discovery about their own palates. She found his Vinotype questionnaire so fascinating that she subsequently invited him to New Zealand to present at her first wine and food week at the school. Hanni explained that he believes people fall into four flavour profiles, which reveal the types of wines they are most likely to enjoy. He has broken down these types into

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what he describes as “Vinotypes” and has devised an assessment called “What’s Your Vinotype?” as a tool to encourage wine lovers to step outside of their com-

fort zones and experiment with new wines. One of his main contentions is that wine should be matched to the wine drinker; not to the dinner food. “The question is not whether Pinot Noir goes with tomato but whether Pinot Noir goes with you,” he says. “Over time if we can help people understand their own personal tastes, it’s a lot healthier than us telling them what they should like.” Hanni also introduced the concept of the fifth flavour; umami. While this concept may sound less straight-

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

forward than the classic four – sweet, sour, salt and bitter – it is relatively easy to understand, he says. “Lemon juice on top of things that are traditionally regarded as savoury, such as tomato, can really change the entire flavour profile of a dish. That’s the umami flavour,” he explains. Hanni says he sat and failed his Master of Wine examination in 1989. “I failed it heroically, but I thought I had enough of the technical knowledge and expertise to pass it so I signed up for a writing seminar and then passed.” He says he has always felt that the wine industry has had many collective delusions, which he wants to debunk in both his seminars and in his book, Why You Like the Wines You Like, which contains the Vinotype test. “We’ve got to get rid of this fallacy that sweet wines are only for beginners. They are for whoever likes them. It is the hyper sensitive types who most like unoaked Chardonnay and like Rieslings. They tend to talk dry, drink sweet. On the other hand, sensitive types can’t make up their minds and tolerant types are the most likely to drink red.” He also believes that wine and food matching has gotten out of hand. “The old school idea that little food goes with little wine and big food with big wine is not accurate,” he says. “People who add salt without tasting their food tend to use it to suppress bitterness. There are correlations between our behavior and the type that we are: sweet, hypersensitive, sensitive and tolerant.” The take home message that Hanni wants to give the wine industry is this: “We need to re-educate ourselves. That’s my mission and my message to the wine industry: provide wine lovers with the wines they love.” ■ joellethomson@vodafone.co.nz

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REGIONS HAWKE’S BAY

NEW CHAIR FEELS LUCKY MARY SHANAHAN

s chairman of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association for the next two years, Gordon Russell expects to preside over some of the sub-region’s most significant developments. Russell feels he’s “lucked in” in terms of promoting Gimblett Gravels’ wines from the 2013 and 2014 vintages – outstanding backto-back years for the Hawke’s Bay region. The association is also planning a new major event but, as it’s still to be confirmed, he isn’t giving away any details just yet. However, he does say that it won’t be a wine festival and it will be an annual event. Even more momentous will be the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District going public with its success in the battle against leafroll virus, which has decimated vineyards across its 800 hectares. As a measure of the problem, Villa Maria, with an interest in more than 140 hectares of the sub-region’s plantings, pulled out 35,000 vines. New Zealand Winegrowers has helped fund the five-year project aimed at beating the disease. By adopting a collective approach and working closely with a team of Plant and Food Research scientists, the association is now close to effectively eliminating leafroll virus from its members’ vineyards. And Villa Maria, for one, is confident enough to have started replanting. Recognising the marketing potential of this achievement, the association plans to trumpet

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the success as one of global significance. “I do honestly believe that what we have achieved as a group has never been achieved anywhere else in the world,” says Russell, who points out that while it’s been a time-consuming and costly exercise, doing it properly means that Gimblett Gravels will ultimately develop into a region of healthy old vines. “It puts us in a pretty good position I think.” Senior winemaker at Esk Valley Estate, Russell is aware he’s taking on a heavy workload in his voluntary role as chairman. He’s been involved with the association from its beginnings in 2001, when a dozen wine companies got behind the initiative and invited media, including foreign press, to a launch hosted in Hawke’s Bay. There are now 23 members – all of the sub-region’s landowners bar one. Russell feels there’s strength in belonging to a grouping based on soil. “You’re either in or out. It’s very defined, it’s a soil map, it’s a boundary, and you’re in it or out of it. There’s no discretionary take on it and I think that’s good.” The former Omahu channel of the Ngaruroro River was once regarded as little more than wasteland. The first grapes were planted in 1981 – Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Ten years later, there were still only 20 hectares in vineyard. However, by 1997, that had increased to more than 200 hectares and a further 400

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

hectares has been planted since 1998. Ninety percent of Gimblett Gravels is in red grapes – 35 percent Merlot, 20 percent Syrah, 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, seven percent Malbec, four percent Cabernet Franc and nine percent in other red varieties such as Grenache, Montepulciano and Tempranillo. “I think when people think of Gimblett Gravels they think of full-bodied reds including Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet and so forth. And I think we have sold that

message.” Russell also thinks the district can grow fantastic white wines including Esk Valley Estate’s own Verdelho. “There’s a signature of Gimblett Gravel white wines that I really like. It’s generally low pH and it gives the wines a real nice backbone which seems contrary to what you think in terms of it being a warmer sub-region of New Zealand.” Chardonnay, Viognier and aromatics such as Arneis, Riesling and Gewurztraminer make up the 10

percent of the sub-region planted bers, master classes have created in white varieties. traction in Hong Kong and London Looking back over the last and tastings include a recent event decade, Russell believes the focusing on 2013 releases staged in association has notched up some an upmarket Auckland wine shop. good gains in moving towards its “It was very much about the ultimate goal, which is to make Gimblett Gravels rather than Gimblett Gravels famous and to about individual members,” Russee that reflected in the price of sell says of the Caro’s tasting. “It just sort of stood out to me more its wines and land values. this time.” Field daysTCare held –for mem217 2E7-01 Winery HPL, 180 x 120mm + 3mm Bleed, CMYK

Agreeing there are considerable soil variations within the district, with deep pockets of silt in areas that were once backwaters and others made up of almost pure gravel, he says that reflects the braided streams that can be seen further upriver. “But I think it all, in terms of drainage, warmth of soils and so forth, I mean that’s pretty

uniform.” It would be an interesting future exercise, he believes, to map the soil variations in greater detail. “I’ve been drinking the wines for 20 years now,” he says of those coming off the Gimblett Gravels, “and I’m only starting to get my head around some of our vineyards.” ■ maryshanahan173@gmail.com

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SOMMELIER’S CORNER CAMERON DOUGLAS MS

A BUBBLY CHRISTMAS

hristmas! Our thoughts are on sparkling wine, and exciting offers come at us from all directions – retail, distributors, (e)mailboxes and magazines. Price points are sharpened up and our choice of brand and type is extensive. Excitingly, there is an increase in grower Champagnes appearing in the New Zealand marketplace, further widening the selection. Our locally produced sparkling wine should be taken into serious consideration. There has been a significant increase in quality and high quality selections over the past several years, providing us with exciting, interesting, and often well-priced options. Your Christmas Day choices should be well considered, with selection based on what will be served for breakfast/brunch/ lunch and dinner. We are ideally placed climatically in New Zealand to serve crisp delicious bubbles throughout the Silly Season.

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When Christmas morning arrives, it’s likely to be the culmination of a crazy time perhaps not much sleep the night before - time to swap the cup of tea for something festive to ease you into the controlled chaos of the day ahead. The Sparkling wine is likely to

temperature swings in the palate are confusing. On Christmas morning in our home we have oven toasted fresh croissants filled with ham and cheese or smoked salmon and cheese and champagne. The bubbly is always a fullbodied, richly flavoured and

Some folk like to open a sweeter style sparkling at Xmas and this can often be the right move - all the sugar and CO2 mixed with the savoury flavours of brunch/lunch create a zingy contrast on the palate.

come from your fridge at around 4-6° Celsius which is pretty cold - if served at that temperature it will only show off how crisp and bubbly the wine is, with little or no flavour attributes. Be sure to have cold or cool food to accompany it - slices of melon or fresh strawberries – cool likes cool when food and wine are together. Warm food and very cold sparkling wine may not work as well as you might think –

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

toasty wine so that it perfectly matches those attributes in the food. I open it from the fridge at 4°C, but let it gain just enough warmth to bring it a little closer to the food’s temperature. The crisp crunch of the croissant is matched with the crunchy acidity in the wine and the acidity also contrasts beautifully with the richness of the cheese (& ham/salmon). A fuller bodied wine will sit happily with food

that is quite intense and filling, so a bubbly with lots of yeast autolysis and developed flavour can be just the ticket on the morning of what will likely be a long day. Some folk like to open a sweeter style sparkling at Xmas and this can often be the right move - all the sugar and CO2 mixed with the savoury flavours of brunch/lunch create a zingy contrast on the palate. This is one time when fridge-cold wine makes perfect sense because the sugar in the sweeter wine seems less apparent when it’s served very chilled. The sweeter style wine is usually lower in alcohol, so those who want to keep a clear head can do so, and those who need to drive can also remain within the new BAC rules. Sweeter bubbly may also have more weight/body, so not only match the fuller foods of Xmas, but also seem a more natural match with our New Zealand tradition of Pavlova and cream topped with strawberries or kiwifruit slices. ■

LOOKING BACK

FROM COLD DUCK TO ALBARINO Over the past few issues Peter Saunders has looked at the history of the New Zealand wine industry, decade by decade. This month, he takes a closer look at where we currently sit and what the future holds. Albarino one of the many new varietals making their mark in New Zealand.

ive years of good fortune, built up by five decades of enthusiasm, consolidation and experimentation make a happy chapter in New Zealand’s wine story. It’s true that not every winemaker is making a fortune or even selling profitably every litre they make, but as a country, New Zealand’s wine industry is doing better than most. As the Delegat Group and Villa Maria plan new wineries in Hawkes Bay, there are riots over issues in Champagne. Bordeaux struggles to survive at the prestigious level it once enjoyed. Australia leaves vines unpicked because in several areas, they won’t make wine cheaply enough. Yet statistically, little New Zealand continues to enjoy great bounty, tough though it is to massage markets when the dollar

makes prices so difficult. Still an increase of 30 per cent in export volume tells its own story about the past five years. And it has not stopped. Mother Nature has been kind of course. When once it was hard to convince a wine maker that Siebel 5455 should be replaced by Merlot with a fifth of the yield, Pinot

Noir now shines brightly at five tonnes per hectare. The wine market likes quality and in New Zealand volumes, is happy to pay for it. I recall addressing a winemakers’ meeting in Nelson a decade ago and being extensively questioned as to what variety should we be planting now for the next boom, the next fashion. After all, we had done Chardonnay well and truly, Pinot Gris had been successful to the point of declining Chardonnay sales, so what was next? What John Hancock proved with Syrah in Hawkes Bay is that with care and management we can grow almost anything in New Zealand. Yes, Syrah yields are lower to get them ripe but for a variety written off as being too ‘hot climate’ for New Zealand’s

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 43

conditions, there proved to be a highly successful variety waiting for the brave. Gruner Veltliner, Viognier, Verdelho started to give us fine alternatives. Albarino was discovered as a success story, Sauvignon Gris, Tempranillo. The list seems endless and some will of course work better than others. Meanwhile, Sauvignon Blanc drives the engine, the Hawke’s Bay red blends show finesse to reward those who give them tender loving care and we become a multivarietal country where there are few failures. Even Muller Thurgau could come back into sights if we accept a sensible yield to allow its flavours to come out rather than equal the volume per hectare of Baco 22a in the 1960s. Despite all the opportunities, these have been five tough years for New Zealand wineries and marketing people. Global financial difficulties and increased competition have not daunted the New Zealand ability to produce and sell good clean and expressive wine. But it has been hard work. For some of us, it does not seem far back when one winemaker took court action against another for saying ‘he makes wine taste like Coca Cola’. Perhaps Cold Duck

did in the 1970s, but look where we have come since then. Even our tastes have changed as wine drinkers. Expressive, freshly clean, aromatic whites with some class have been joined by complex, rich reds from an expanding range of varieties and blends. Both genders of winemakers bring expression from all over the world, including New Zealand universities and polytechnics. Few winemakers employed in New Zealand today have not done vintages in Europe or America, probably both. It’s a giant step in 50 years when dad started each day by firing up the ‘still’. Investment also has come from around the world. Who would have thought a Portuguese company would buy a New Zealand winery? Californians, Germans, British, Australians have The new all provided capital brand of and distribution. The Wine Portfolio Many have brought Ltd, Everet their families to - coming off the live here. Others same commute to New vineyards Z e a l a n d w h i l e as did Morton maintaining other Estate businesses else- now a sold brand. where. Bulk wine and buyers-own-

brands have come under fire since 2010. Perhaps they needed scrutiny, perhaps in some cases they were a last-resort for some growers and wineries struggling to make ends meet. My own experience with such wines is that they are not all ‘fails’. Indeed, many provide excellent drinking at a very good price, whether bought through the supermarkets or through an on-line outlet. A lot are also exported. It is the small minority which take over-yielded fruit and sell a thin

An image of the state of the art Hawke’s Bay winery planned by Delegat’s.

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

wine which risk harming the good built up by others and the local terroir. ‘These guys stop the rest of us making a buck’ one winemaker quietly said to me, and he wasn’t talking about holidays in the Bahamas, but a good living for his family and staff. What has been an interesting development in the last five years has been the sale of brands, without necessarily the vineyards which established the quality which made the brand saleable. We watched first as several brands were sold in Australia, spirit brands in Europe. Now the brand is a commodity in itself, with a value of course, but also saleable. Pernod Ricard sold off a bunch of brands and latterly Morton Estate (now trading as The Wine Portfolio Ltd) has sold its signature brand to be replaced by new brands from mostly the same vineyards. So when we look at the wine in New Zealand 2015, we see a vibrantly active industry, expanding, drawing both investors, wine graduates and consumers, the latter group expanding as discoveries are made of clean varietal statements. We cannot overlook the people who have put this industry in a positive and growth track. Too many to mention – perhaps. Think of the vision and contribution of Mate Selak, Mate Brajkovich, Alex Corban, Terry Dunleavy, Larry McKenna, John Buck – the list is endless. They all deserve to be appreciated and celebrated. Did they sense Albarino and exports of $1.3 billion in 2014? Unlikely, and the beauty of their contribution is that the Albarino chapter is not the last by any means. ■

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SCIENCE PROFILE

THE SCIENCE OF WINE – VAUGHN BELL The battle against Leafroll virus and mealy bug vectors has been lucky in having one Hawke’s Bay scientist on its side. This month Mary Shanahan talks to that man – Vaughn Bell from Plant and Food.

imblett Gravels has a great story to tell about its battle against leafroll virus, says Vaughn Bell, the scientist who could fairly be described as a military strategist in a campaign that is successfully

46 //

targeting the virus and its mealybug vectors. Five years into a six-year study, the Plant & Food Research scientist is upbeat about progress being made in reducing the incidence of leafroll virus in his study blocks in

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

the Gimblett Gravels winegrowing subregion. The study is showing the virus can be managed by removing (rogueing) infected vines and their roots which might otherwise provide a virus reservoir for mealybugs to acquire and spread the virus to neighbouring vines. “My sense,” Bell says of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, “is they’ve actually got a really positive story that needs to be told.” Without identifying vineyards involved in the study, the message is getting out there. Results are being converted into recommendations relayed on to the industry through New Zealand Winegrowers’ various communication channels. Bell is taken with the people he’s met in the wine industry. “I’m very impressed by the trust they’ve shown in me and others and the fact that they’ve given us access to their vineyards to undertake this research over so many years.” New Zealand, he says, picked up on the trail-blazing work of Professor Gerhard Pietersen who began working with Andre van Rensburg, winemaker at South Africa’s Vergelegen Estate, in 2000 in rogueing infected vines in young blocks with a low incidence of the disease (less than 2.5 percent) and in newly replanted blocks where

100 percent of the old vines had been removed because of widespread virus infections. Bell says much of this work remains confined to Vergelegen Estate – “to my knowledge, there’s nothing in the world that compares with the breadth and scale of the Gimblett Gravels virus project.” Working as a scientist has been a career swerve for Bell, who entered the banking industry as a school-leaver at the end of 1991. After 17 years, with the bank about to embark on its fourth restructure in eight years, he opted to take redundancy and retrain. Studying for his Bachelor of Science, he stumbled upon entomology. “Majoring in botany, it wasn’t until I got to the third year doing a paper on applied insect ecology that the lecturer started talking about biological control, a natural process of regulating pest insects that I’d never heard of.” Bell progressed to a Master of Science and, after graduating, joined HortResearch, now Plant and Food Research. Eight months later, at the start of 2005, he began working with a number of Gimblett Gravels wineries on a study using a synthetic sex pheromone to track the obscure mealy buy – an opportunity to learn about one of the vectors of leafroll virus Before 2005, when a New Zealand Winegrowers’ survey showed a dearth of industry knowledge on the leafroll virus, work on mealy bugs in vineyards had been sporadic. “There was a little bit of

work coming out of South Africa through plant virologist Professor Gerhard Pietersen, but most of his work was on leafroll virus management and at the time it was either unpublished or limited to local technical journals.” Pietersen and the late Dr Rod Bonfiglioli, a member of the NZWG research committee, discussed the virus at a conference in South Africa in 2006. As a result, Bonfiglioli became concerned that remnant roots could be reservoirs for the virus in New Zealand vineyards. If mealybugs were feeding on these roots and then dispersing to newly planted grapevines, he believed there was potential for the virus to be transmitted to healthy vines. At Bonfiglioli’s urging, Bell began research into remnant vine roots in 2007. Asked if he would consider an applied study on the management of the virus for his PhD, he accepted, seeing it as a project that suited him well. “I’m not interested in the scientific modelling type scenarios or in doing research for the sake of research. I get far more enjoyment out of doing something that will hopefully identify practical cost-effective solutions to a real problem.” Starting in November 2009, Bell focused on vineyard blocks where, at the start of the cofunded NZWG, Sustainable Farming Fund and Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association project, virus incidence ranged from four to 24 percent. The study followed the patterns of virus spread of mealy bug and mealybug populations in blocks planted in red varieties such as Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. By 2014, results showed that 90 percent of new infections were occurring among vines in close proximity to an infected vine rogued one or more years previ-

ously, so it seemed the mealybugs weren’t travelling far. This identified the need to rogue infected vines and remove as much of the remnant root material as possible. “It’s a big ask for growers to remove vine roots, particularly for old vines with a deep root system. In reality though, we believe most of the roots that should be targeted for removal are in the first 200-300mm of the soil surface because that’s where we typically find subterranean populations of citrophilus mealy bug.” At the end of 2014, the virus incidence in six blocks was less than one percent and “one percent was the target threshold we were aiming for at the start of this project.” Bell has also spent a lot of time monitoring mealybug populations in the study blocks’ vine canopies. While problems still exist with vector management on some blocks, he believes that the success of the virus elimination project has probably averted a leafroll virus epidemic in many vineyard blocks. “They’ve done a tremendous job,” he says of growers, vineyard managers and staff taking part in the research. “I actually would go so far as to say they’ve very nearly beaten the leafroll virus in blocks planted in red variety cul-

tivars. In the Gimblett Gravels, it’s been an area-wide initiative and quite apart from their wines that result sets them apart on the world stage.” Since 2012, the fight against leafroll virus and mealybugs has widened to include vineyards in Marlborough. “People in Marlborough are starting to act, particularly in their Pinot Noir blocks where they can see the infected vines through the foliar symptoms. Importantly, some owners are starting to rogue infected vines.” Bell recently returned from South Africa, where he was invited by Pietersen to present New Zealand results and experiences of leafroll virus to industry stakeholders. “There’s a perception in South Africa that this virus management work is the preserve of large multinationals with lots of cash behind them, and some view this as a major barrier to the widespread adoption of virus management initiatives. “In New Zealand, however, the sector has shown that while there are some large companies that are acting, there are as many if not more small family-based operations doing this and achieving good virus control.”

When the virus elimination project winds up, Bell will join a new research team undertaking a seven-year Vineyard Profitability and Longevity project, jointly funded by NZWG and Government. He will focus on ground cover under-vine management and the possibility that this habitat, if left undisturbed, might be an important sink for mealy bug populations, attracting them and retaining them in an off-grapevine environment so they neither acquire nor transmit leafroll virus. “I think the biology, the science behind it, is great,” Bell says of his research work. “I love that aspect of it, but I particularly enjoy interacting with the growers, the people on the ground. I’ve really warmed to them and to the issues they face.” Bell appreciates the work being done by Ruby Andrew, who provides communications services to NZWG’s research arm, and the virus management team. Also on his thank-you list are NZWG general manager research Dr Simon Hooker, virus management project manager Nick Hoskins, viticulturist Caine Thompson, growers involved in the research and Plant & Food Research colleagues. ■ maryshanahan173@gmail.com

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 47

REGIONS MARLBOROUGH

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS F

rom humble beginnings in 1994, Marlborough’s Whitehaven Wine Company this year celebrates its “coming of age” with its 21st vintage, at the same time moving into new facilities. The new company headquarters and barrel hall replace the old buildings which have housed the wine company since its early days. “We have grown steadily over the 21 years but I hope these wonderful new facilities will be the ‘home of Whitehaven’ for many years to come,” says Whitehaven

founding partner Sue White. They’re a big step up from the temporary facilities at the win-

ery’s Paul’s Road site where the staff have been accommodated for the last 12 years in conditions

described as ‘rustic at best”. They were in fact a former apple packing house, re-jigged to fit the winery’s

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demands. Sue and her late husband Greg literally placed partitions up within the packhouse, creating offices for the growing number of staff. At the beginning, it wasn’t all about Sauvignon Blanc for Whitehaven – that was to come in the future. Their first vintage was just 50 tonnes - of Riesling. These days the new winery is capable of processing 7,500 tonnes – with the majority being exported. It was 2003 when the tide began to turn for the company. Their Sauvignon Blanc was judged best Sauvignon Blanc at the San Francisco International Wine Challenge and helped secure a distribution deal with J&E Gallo, the US owned family wine company. That partnership has helped Whitehaven become one of the mostly widely distributed and fastest growing ultra-premium New Zealand wine brands in the US and

Canada. In 2008, Sauvignon Blanc made it into the ‘US Top 100’, an annual report published in the US Restaurant Wine Magazine which analyses annual wine consumption for the US hospitality and wine industries – and it was Whitehaven’s Sauvignon Blanc that made the list. By 2010, the US Wine and Spirits magazine had declared White-

haven the favourite New Zealand wine being poured for American consumers; its Sauvignon Blanc ranked third amongst the topselling Sauvignon Blanc available in American restaurants. In 21 years, the company has expanded from its origins as a boutique winery producing 500 cases, moving out to the Paul’s Road site in 2001 where a 2500-

tonne winery was built in time for the 2002 harvest and further expanded to 5000 tonne in time for the 2007 vintage. With the new facilities, they will produce up to 7500 tonnes. “As a company we are confident of the opportunities that are still out there for premium quality wine and we are optimistic about the future long- term sustainability of the Marlborough wine industry,” White says. “The hard work which so many companies have done to achieve and maintain production of premium quality wine is key to Marlborough – and New Zealand – preserving its reputation in the marketplace and we are committed to continuing that focus on quality.” Being family owned and only sourcing Marlborough fruit, are two important elements in the success of the company she says. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 49

SWNZ UPDATE

THE VALUE OF BENCHMARKING: EMPOWERING MEMBERS ANDREW BARBER THE AGRIBUSINESS GROUP

ustainable Winegrowing New Zealand has developed individualised benchmarking reports that empower its members to better understand their performance and drive change as part of a process of continual improvement. The use of benchmarking to improve efficiency (and verify the industry’s environmental credentials for consumers, regulators and policy makers) is essential if New Zealand Wine is to remain a world leader. Improved performance by individual viticulturists and wine makers can best be incentivised by comparing energy, water and agrichemical use between vineyards and wineries that are tightly matched for operation size, variety, region, climate, and soil type. Partnering with The New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard we have taken a whole enterprise approach to monitoring performance, because the individually owned and operated vineyard or winery is considered to be the key site of action for sustainability. This production enterprise focus moves from driving change down through the industry, to bottom up; where it is grounded in the practical realities of making outstanding New

50 //

Zealand wine in a sustainable way. Sustainability was a central theme at the Romeo Bragato conference this year. Fabian Yukich talked about losing our competitive edge if we simply keep on doing what we’ve been doing. He said that New Zealand is simply too small to be anything other than world Empowering Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand members to make informed decisions, by providing them with benchmarking reports to better understand their performance and linking this to tools for improvement, helps keep New Zealand Wine out in front. Speaking recently with Braden from Borthwick Winery, he shared how being able see that within their winery size category they had above average water use, put some impetus into getting the system sorted. Consequently they drove water use down from over 5 to around 3 L/Lwine. They did this through a range of measures including a new filter system, recycling clean water, high pressure low flow nozzles, but possibly the biggest impact was from being more conscious of water use and simply try-

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

ing to use less. Braden pointed out however that the reality check is acknowledging that one of their biggest issues is fluctuations in crop loads. This highlights that rather than getting hung up on a single season’s result the two key benefits from benchmarking is its

ability to turn the spotlight onto an issue and to track progress over several years. The development of a webbased sustainability learning tool for the wine industry, has initially focused on three resource use inputs; energy, water and agrichemicals. These were chosen as a comprehensive set of data already existed, allowing for

early adoption and lessons to be learned based on actual grower and winery performance. Feeding this information back to individual members in a meaningful way was essential to achieve the industry’s sustainability goals, and enhance the value of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand to it members. Historically, various national reports have been prepared that some companies have benchmarked their own performance against. We have flipped this on its head by generating 1950 individualised vineyard water use reports, 13,600 agrichemical reports (8 reports per vineyard) and 360 winery reports benchmarking energy and water use. These reports have then formed the basis to aggregate up to national level reports. By now I am hoping that most will have seen at least some of the individualised reporting that is being created from the annual Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Scorecards and electronic spray diaries. One page winery energy and water use reports, and vineyard water use have been

emailed to members for the past few years. This year agrichemical use reports have been developed, with the 2012/13 season currently being sent out. The introduction of WiSE has allowed us to analyse the data in a timelier manner, so expect to see the 2013/14 benchmarking reports shortly. Ultimately we expect to deliver in-season reporting that will take the benchmarking from providing a useful end of season review to a point where they feed into the decisions that need to be made throughout the season. To date individualised reports are sent out predominantly as a single page pdf attached to an email. The recently launched WiSE (Wine industry Sustainability Engine), will provide real time reporting. While all of the current reports are based on a complete season, in-season reporting is being investigated for water and agrichemical use. Ultimately these reports will be overlaid with soil and climate data, and disease prediction models. To ensure relevance and engagement, benchmarking is tuned using vineyard regional data and winery size bands. Even within these tuned benchmarks there are opportunities for further refinement to make fair and sensible comparisons. If there is the perception that the playing field isn’t level, then results and potential learnings can be too easily dismissed as irrelevant. To deliver relevant benchmarks in an engaging way a number of techniques are used, including the use of infographics to add interest and make the information easily digested. The shift in members’ perception of the scorecard from being a compliance requirement to a management and reporting tool can be seen in the increased participa-

tion rate of voluntary scorecard questions. Vineyards reporting fuel and electricity use lifted from 40% to 51% between 2010/11 and 2012/13. Irrigation reporting went from 79% to 89%, and winery energy use reporting went

est focus recently. It is an area that all vineyards pour a considerable amount of effort into and one that environmental groups and consumers alike frequently raise as issues. Eight individualised reports have been prepared that have different themes includ-

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ing the number of herbicide, fungicide or insecticide applications, the quantity of sulphur applied, the timing of powdery mildew applications, water rates, and the impact of row spacing.

While it is important to understand the overall industry picture in terms of resource use performance, this often does not drive change. Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand is delivering individualised vineyard and winery reports that display and track their performance against tuned regional and operation sized benchmarks. These short infographic-based reports flag issues, and connect Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand members to learning and management resources.

Winery Energy Use

Acknowledgements

While questions remain over vineyard energy and water use benchmarks, these are key performance indicators for wineries. Fortunately the results are considerably more robust. There is a

The New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard Project is funded by NZ’s Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment as well as several New Zealand Primary Industry groups. ■

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from 78% to 87% participation over the same period.

Vineyard Energy, Water and Agrichemical Use The reports continue to evolve. There have been problems with collecting comparable vineyard energy use; consequently these reports have been put on hold while we work this problem out. Likewise we hope to further tune the irrigation use reports to reflect different soil types within a region. It is the agrichemical use reports which have had the great-

Like energy, average water use per litre of wine decreases with winery size. However there is an enormous amount of variation. This either represents good opportunities for savings, or the need for improved monitoring systems. Read about Borthwick Winery’s experience above. Like the energy reports, wineries see their performance against same size winery benchmarks and the distribution of performances against their current and previous results. Links are provided to various learning resources.

Conclusions

40%

20%

clear correlation between energy use and winery size. Consequently benchmarks are prepared for four winery size bands. As the dashboard reports are aimed specifically at the operators, the most critical component is answering the question of “how does this affect me?” Where flags are raised, members are directed to further learning resources, from factsheets to workshop video presentations.

10 - 14

15 - 19

20 - 24 Column with 25 - 29 red >= 30 that your vine outline represents the bracket yard average falls into

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 51

REGIONS NELSON

The stunning view of the Tasman, from the Kina Cliffs vineyard.

A FAMILY AFFAIR NEIL HODGSON

hy did you decide to plant grapes and create your own label? That must be the most asked question owners of small wineries face. Inevitably, the answer will have two or three themes. Either ‘we owned some land and didn’t know what to do with it’, ‘we grew up in a rural environment and always wanted to grow something’ or ‘we love wine and wanted to create our own’. For Alistair and Julie Ashcroft the reasons for starting Kina Cliffs Wines was a combination of all three things. They bought their block of land on Cliff Road at Kina ( just west of Nelson), overlooking the remarkable Tasman Bay in 2000. There were no long term plans, other than a desire to one day live in a more rural environment rather than a city. At the time, software developer Alistair had a one-year contract in Zurich, where ironically they met their Kina Peninsula neighbour for the first time. (They had to travel to the other side of the world to meet him – that’s more

52 //

than a little ironic). Renat Nussbaumer who spends much of the year in his Swiss homeland also owns an adjoining vineyard at Kina and it was him who suggested over a bottle of wine, that maybe the Ashcrofts might like to plant some grapes. The gently sloping 3.5 hectare property would be ideal for vines he said. The soils are clay with gravels running through so it retains moisture while the gentle slope helps excess water drain away. Being on the coast a nice gentle coastal breeze drops in around 11am each day which would help keep the vines dry and prevent frost damage. And given the slope is north-facing means it gets plenty of Nelson sunshine. The idea of planting vines smouldered away for a while, until Julie began thinking of a career change. With a background in human resource management, she was working primarily in employment law. It was an area of the sector she didn’t really enjoy and she had a yearning to move into a job that had more of an outdoor focus.

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

An advertisement for a viticulture course at Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) caught her attention and she decided to enroll. At that stage it was more a case of gaining some knowledge, before making a financial commitment to turning their property into a vineyard. Julie is no stranger to the world of horticulture, having grown up on a kiwifruit orchard. But wine – that was a different story. Although she admits that at the time, (2003) the Nelson wine industry was going through a growth phase, and appeared to be economically viable, a major attraction for her. While the NMIT course provided her with the technical knowhow, it was very much a family affair when it came to setting up the vineyard. Julie’s parents had removed their kiwifruit orchard some years earlier, but had held on to a range of equipment, such as a tractor, posts, and irrigation pipe. With a waste not, want not attitude, the equipment was put to good use in the establishment of Kina Cliffs,

cutting down the set up costs significantly. Alastair’s family, Southland sheep farmers, were also on hand to help, travelling north regularly to help drive posts, run wires and even plant vines. Having been involved in the pleasures of fencing as a youngster on the farm,

Alastair was not let off lightly during this period. It was a far cry from his day job of software development, that had seen him working throughout the world developing trading systems for a

then along came 2008 – and all of a sudden there was an over supply. The Ashcrofts had always intended to make their own wine but maybe not quite so early. It was the over supply situation that

While the NMIT course provided her with the technical know-how, it was very much a family affair when it came to setting up the vineyard.

bank. (He still works in software development, but these days he does it from an office overlooking the vines.) So far so good, the vines had been planted, the set up costs had been lowered thanks to family and the Ashcrofts were in the waiting game, as the vines took over. Within a year of planting however, Julie discovered she was pregnant with twins. That put an end to working 24/7 in the vineyard, and meant the couple had to employ a contractor to take over. During the first few years the fruit was sold under contract, but

motivated them to take control from ground to bottle, and the Kina Cliffs label was born. It is very much a hands-on operation, being small enough that the Ashcrofts can manage it themselves. They make just enough wine to sell in the Nelson region through restaurants, wine shops and at their cellar door outlet, which adjoins their home. In essence they are the classic Nelson producers, family owned and operated, and making the most of their special slice of paradise. ■ neil@hodgson.net.nz

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 53

EDUCATION NEWS

MARLBOROUGH TO GET DEGREE COURSE TESSA NICHOLSON

arlborough is about to get its first ever degree course aimed specifically at the wine indus-

current Diploma in Viticulture and have skills in both the vineyard and Wine Production split into two– the winery. Having a Viticulture and Winone in horticulture/viticulture and one in wine-making. It’s unlikely emaking degree set in the heart of try. students would be able to pathway the country’s largest wine region After 23 years of offering into Lincoln University’s Bach- makes perfect sense. On hand viticulture and wine education, elor of Viticulture and Oenology is the infrastructure students Nelson Marlborough Institute of degree as is currently happening require to expand their knowledge base, in both the field and Technology (NMIT) will provide – hence the need for the change. Given the government has set the winery. the Bachelor of Viticulture and Winemaking degree beginning in an ambitious target of doubling Practical experience will conFebruary 2015. (Subject to final our primary sector exports by stitute a large part of the course, 2025, there is a strong need for with key regional stakeholders confirmation from NZQA). The change was prompted by more training to provide the ade- available to ensure that NMIT a nationwide review of qualifica- quate workforce. Within the wine has a pool of experts on hand to NZ_ViniQuip 180x120mm_FINAL.FH11 Thu Nov 20 07:05:05 2014 Page 1 tions which is likely to see NMIT’s industry, that workforce needs to draw from. C

Composite 54 // NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

CY CMY

NMIT are pitching the new degree at not only new entrants, but also those who are currently employed within the industry, and wanting to up skill. There is also a significant opportunity to attract international students, given the reputation Marlborough has gained as a wine-producing region. The degree is due to begin in February 2015, and is expected to attract 25 full time students. The degree will also be available online for those currently employed in the industry.■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

REGIONS MARLBOROUGH

A LIFETIME IN THE VINES TESSA NICHOLSON

van Sutherland, co-owner of Dog Point Wines in Marlborough, has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the board of Wine Marlborough. Sutherland who was one of the early contract grape growers in the region, has been involved in the wine industry for more than 35 years. While his career began in farm valuation and consultancy, Sutherland and his wife Margaret planted their first vineyard in 1979. The more he learned about the industry, the more other farmers came

to him for consultancy advice, as they looked to diversify. In 1985 he was brought in by David Hohnen to help establish Cloudy Bay, providing advice on the development of vineyards around the winery and helping the fledgling company to source growers. It wasn’t long before Hohnen realised that Sutherland could offer a lot more to Cloudy Bay if he was employed on a full time basis. For the next 18 years, Sutherland was the viticulturist for the company. Twelve years ago, Sutherland joined winemaker James Healy (also of Cloudy Bay

fame) to establish their own wine label, Dog Point. Over the 35 years, Sutherland has played a major role in the industry organisation, initially

with the Grape Growers Association and latterly as a board member of Wine Marlborough. He retired from the board earlier this year. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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MINO ALC •A

REGIONS HAWKE’S BAY

AUCTION RAISES $100,000 O

ver $100,000 will be donated to Cranford Hospice thanks to some spirited bidding at last November’s Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Charity Fine Wine Auction. It was the special lots of 2013 wines that had the audience reaching for their wallets, although the highest price paid on the night was for a landscape painting by artist Freeman White, which raised $8,200. It was only just ahead of the $8,100 paid for a 225 litre barrique from the Bridge Pa Triangle area.

The Freeman White landscape painting that raised $8200 for Cranford Hospice. Photo robincranford.co.nz

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another money raiser, with the buyer paying $5000 for a quarter barrique. The 2013 wine was made from a selection of three separate Cabernet Sauvignon plantings from Eighteen92, one of New Zea-

land’s oldest vineyards and aged in barrel for eighteen months. Cranford Hospice general manager Helen Blaxland says it was great to see the Hawke’s Bay community, including many businesses, give so generously to the afternoon, and the proceeds will help the organisation continue to be able to assist local families by providing free end of life care. The auction is in its 23rd year, and proceeds from the fundraiser have pushed the total the charity wine auction has raised beyond $2.5m for Cranford Hospice. ■

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INDUSTRY NEWS

This Sauvignon Blanc leaf was laboratory tested and found to be free of Leafroll 3 Virus, despite showing typical symptoms.

“And the clear winner in the Botrytis control category is…”

SPORTS AND SPOTS FOR SURVEY A

ssessing the level of virus infection across New Zealand vineyards is the subject of Arnaud Blouin’s doctoral research – and he’s looking for industry participation during the run-up to vintage 2015. Blouin, a senior staff member at Plant & Food Research Ltd in Auckland, is conducting a survey of grapevine viruses already present in the country as part of his studies at the University of Auckland. He also hopes that growers and viticulturists will contact him if they spot unusual symptoms in the vineyard during the period from late January to April. Symptoms of interest include: • Leaf distortion, leaf spots, leaf scorch or unusual leaf colouration (early yellowing or reddening, for example) • Extremely low vigour • Unusual branching or uneven wood maturation on canes • Early leaf drop • Graft incompatibility symptoms ‘The symptoms may be an indication of infection from one or more grapevine viruses, which can be identified using laboratory diagnostics,’ observes Blouin. ‘Some viruses might be harmless but the goal of my survey is to learn as much as possible about their presence and impact – and growers can help with that.’ Blouin is the current recipient of New Zealand Winegrowers’ Rod Bonfiglioli Scholarship, and he is working closely with team members from the Virus Elimination Project to stop the spread of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 in New Zealand vineyards. He can be contacted by email at Arnaud.Blouin@plantandfood.co.nz ■

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HR AND THE WINE INDUSTRY PADDY BATTERSBY

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS - A CHORE OR A REWARDING EXPERIENCE?

anagers tend to hate the exercise and employees quite often can’t see any benefit (it’s often seen as a one way tool for management use). Yes, the dreaded performance appraisal. For most, the one on one performance review is the most stressful work dialogue they will engage in all year. It’s known to be the same old conversation – say some positive things about what the employee is good at, the same negative things about what they are not good at, jot these down, get the form signed, put it in the employee’s file and say thank goodness that’s out of the way. The result (if you can call it a result) is a blurred message that leaves even your good employees feeling disappointed. But if the right approach is taken, performance appraisals are a wonderful opportunity to reinforce solid performers and redirect poor ones.

So what is performance management? International HR experts and authors Wiess and Hartle define performance management as “A process for establishing a shared understanding about what is to be achieved, and how it is to be achieved, and an approach to managing people that increases the probability of achieving success”. Their view is that it is a process and not just about a set of forms or the annual appraisal review. It is about the day to day actions and behaviours people

58 //

use to improve performance in themselves and others. To improve performance, individuals need to have a shared understanding about what performance (and success) in their jobs looks like. It can be a list of tasks, goals, results or a set of behaviours (development plan). These need to be clearly set out so people know what they are working towards. The best approach to managing performance is about how individuals and teams work together and support each other to achieve shared goals. It puts responsibility on managers to coach and train their staff. Increasing the probability of achieving success is the major outcome of performance management. It is about achieving goals and wins for the individuals and the company. By providing a process that delivers clarity, support, feedback and recognition to all employees, management will see a significant performance improvement to the company’s benefit. Using the old saying “what gets measured gets done”, it doesn’t mean working harder. It

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

means getting more value from the work that is already being done. Performance management is a process, not an annual chore or event. It should function as a continuous cycle i.e. putting the development plan into action as part of the day to day work and providing guidance and feedback. The annual review should be a formal evaluation of performance over the period, covering achievements, progress and revising the performance development plan. And so the cycle begins again. The appraisal process revolves around things that an employee requires from his/her manager: Tell me what you want me to do (Position description, development and improvement plan) Tell me how well I have done it (Feedback) Help me to overcome defects (Training) Reward me for outstanding performance (Wage increase, recognition) For an appraisal to be effective, the emphasis is on two way conversation discussing the skills and abilities demonstrated

on the job and the objectives set at the previous session a year (or 6 months) ago. The aim is to build strengths, overcome weaknesses and set new objectives. Setting objectives gives you tangible data to review during the appraisal process. Focus on what employees are doing that is effective, what they are doing that is not working and what actions are required to improve these areas. Be careful not to use generalizations such as ‘you need to be more proactive’ or ‘your attitude is an issue’. Be specific, give examples and focus on behaviours. Many review forms have an employee rating scale - the emphasis should not be on scoring, but on performance improvement rather than whether Billy should get a 3 or 4 out of 5 for knowledge of a specific job characteristic. Don’t get bogged down in the detail. And never ask your employees to rate themselves. This is a time for feedback from their manager, not an employee’s selfassessment (which can just lead to trouble and dischord if the manager’s view is different). So how about taking the performance reviews out of the “too hard basket” and using them to grow both your business and your employees? It can be a rewarding experience for employers and employees. And, if you can build a great team, they can build your business. ■ Paddy Battersby, Battersby HR Consulting, Phone 09 838 6338, Email paddy@battersbyhr.com

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REGIONS WAIRAPA

GROWING WAIRARAPA’S WINE BUSINESS JOELLE THOMSON

orthern Wairarapa winery owner Alistair Scott was elected into Parliament in September this year and says he wants to grow businesses in the region. The 49-year-old describes himself as one of the youngsters in Parliament in his new role, which sees him sit next to fellow vigneron and former Chair of the NZW Board, Stuart Smith, in the House of Representatives. Scott grew up in the Wairarapa and has spent the past 10 to 15 years on economic development

agencies there. He has been on the board of the Wairarapa Regional Irrigation Trust; the region’s Chamber of Commerce and also

I put my hat in the ring to be the Wairarapa MP,” Scott says, “and that was in April this year, so I have campaigned hard ever since.”

“I would like to see more independent directors on the governance body of New Zealand Winegrowers.” been on the board of Massey University. He has also been a director of Transpower for the past decade. “I decided to take my involvement in local politics to the next level; to central government when

The new appointment means that he now spends more time living in Wellington and less at Matahiwi Estate; the Wairarapa winery that he began in 2000 when he first planted the vineyard. His

winery was constructed in 2003, just in time for his winemaker Jane Cooper to make his wines. Like Scott, she was also born and bred in the Wairarapa and she has been working for him since they met in 2002. Cooper also has a wine brand of her own. Scott says he wants to use his new role in Parliament to enable new international markets to be found for New Zealand wine. “From my point of view, it’s about encouraging people to market their product rather than just make it. If we can create a demand

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

in China of one bottle of our wine per town, then all our New Zealand wine is gone. We don’t make much of it, so we need to promote that clean, green, premium and safe product to the Chinese and Koreans. “Even the Americans don’t really know much about New Zealand wine, so there is enormous potential there too.” Scott is also keen to improve the train network between Wellington and the Wairarapa to attract more people over the Rimutaka Ranges into the region. “It’s a marketing thing; letting Wellingtonians know that the Wairarapa is right on their doorstep and that wine and food are a very important part of that story.” He says that Grow Wellington and Tourism Wairarapa are both on his hit list, as is Wellington City Council. He sees strong potential for collaboration between all three bodies, which could work more closely to encour-

age growth in the Wairarapa region, which, in turn, will help wine companies there. “I think that Wellington City Council should be collaborating with our council in the Wairarapa to promote the area. We can get more Wellingtonians over the hill; whether to live and bring their internet-based businesses or to commute. It all helps to build the population and people who sell stuff, including wine, in the Wairarapa.” In terms of how to grow New Zealand wine markets overseas, Scott wants to encourage non-wine industry leaders to play a part. “I would like to see more independent directors on the governance body of New Zealand Winegrowers. I would like to see a Fonterra director and a Federated Farmers person sitting on our board. Add an IT and software marketing guru on our board too and that’s how we’d get some of that input that’s not there at the moment.” ■ joellethomson@vodafone.co.nz

WE HAVE MATCHED A FINE SELECTION OF LEGAL EXPERTS TO COMPLEMENT YOUR BUSINESS. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Marija Batistich PUBLIC LAW Simon Watt HEALTH & SAFETY Tim Clarke FOOD STANDARDS Kristin Bradley CORPORATE STRUCTURE Gavin Macdonald To access the full breadth of our team, please contact Marija Batistich in the first instance on 09 916 8809 or email marija.batistich@bellgully.com W W W. B E L L G U L LY. C O M

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 61

REGIONS GISBORNE

SUN SHINES ON GISBORNE FESTIVAL JUSTINE TYERMAN

isborne’s Labour Weekend Wine and Food Festival has seen many incarnations since its inception in 1997 – bussing around individual vineyards, single venues and a mixture of both. Festival steering committee chairwoman and marketing manager for Tourism Eastland Kerry Taggart said their research showed the market preferred the festival to be in one space, avoiding the potential chaos of a bus system.

So this year the event was held at a new central location at Awapuni Stadium, close to the city and adjacent to Midway Beach. “Awapuni Stadium ticked all the boxes on paper and proved to be a stunning venue on the day. It was easy to use, flexible and so

simple to transform into a beautiful, informal festival site,” said Kerry. Gisborne Winegrowers’ president Al Knight said the festival was a fabulous day all round. “The weather turned it on which attracted the numbers

festival organisers had hoped for. Wines sales were above expectation and interest in the new varieties such as Arneis, Albarino and Viognier was pleasing. Wine education workshops were well received with enthusiastic winemakers and viticulturists enjoying the challenge of teaching new wine learners. The day, in fact the whole weekend, was a great success for long-time festival participants TW Wines. Paul Tietjen and Geordie

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Witters said the new Awapuni Stadium venue was handy to town and worked well. “It was encouraging to see a good number from out of town with groups from Wellington, Auckland, Whakatane, Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay, Tauranga and Waikato.” “It was good to see more emphasis back on wine and food matching rather than just the consuming of wine,” said Geordie. Colourful characters on the Gisborne winegrowing scene who have participated at the all festivals since 1999, Paul and Geordie always come up with a gimmick. This year it was “tats and hats” which kept two obliging young male “tattoo artists” busy all day applying temporary spray-on TW tattoos to mainly young female clientele. Maximising the marketing opportunity provided by the festival, TW Wines hosted a group of 12 Wellington restaurateurs for the long weekend, winners of a competition to sell the most cases of TW wines. “When they arrived, we took them on a tour of the vineyard and then up to the top of the Golden

Slope at sunset. Stephen Morris from Avida Restaurant in Wellington said it was great to see the vineyards and to put the wine into a context – people and place. “It is good to understand how the vineyards - and in turn the wines - are managed and it reinforces their place as a premium Gisborne product,” he said. Rosemary Patterson, maître d’ from Wellington’s CoCo at the Roxy said the festival was “a treat of a day”. “It showcased the best wine and food that Gisborne has to offer and made it easy for people to taste the wines of the region in one location. It was a refreshingly down-to-earth festival that promoted the diversity and quality of Gisborne vineyards.” Rosemary’s personal highlight was attending a Chardonnay wine appreciation workshop, one of four included in the ticket price. “I’m enormously grateful to have heard an expert in the field, James Cook from Indevin, break down the aromas and tastes of six different Chardonnays in a way that was relatable to all tiers of wine drinkers.” ■ justine.tyerman@clear.net.nz

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INDUSTRY NEWS

APEX – NEW BOTRYTIS FUNGICIDE T

his season Zelam is set to launch a new product onto the market for the control of Botrytis and Downy Mildew in wine grapes. Apex is a combination of two active ingredients; pyrimethanil and fluazinam. Both of these actives have a great track record of disease control in stand-alone forms but until now have not been formulated together into one convenient product. The pyrimethanil component is systemic, so is able to penetrate into the bunch and flower parts to stop Botrytis development at its source. Fluazinam is a contact protectant with multi-site activity.

One of the key benefits of this mixture is for disease resistance management. In recent years in New Zealand, we have started to see the effectiveness of some products diminish. This is due to an increased tolerance of the pathogen population to the active ingredients they have been exposed too. Pyrimethanil is from the anilinopyrimidine (AP) group of fungicides. AP fungicides have been documented overseas as becoming less effective against Botrytis with overuse. In order to maintain the longevity of this group of chemistry, the industry comply with some guidelines

on its use. One of the key directives is that AP chemistry should always be used in conjunction with another effective fungicide. Since Apex also contains fluazinam as part of the formulation, it has a built-in and industry compliant resistance management solution in one product thus, eliminating the need for tank mixing. Apex now also features in the updated version of the Zelam Grape Spray Calculator App, which was launched last year for the key Botrytis products including Nexus and Pinnacle. The Zelam Grape Spray Calculator App allows users to easily work out the

correct per hectare rate of product for their particular vineyard, eliminating under or over dosing. ■ Apex – suitable for Botrytis and Downy Mildew.

NOW READ IT ONLINE GENERAL NEWS PEOPLE PROFILES OPINION REGIONAL UPDATES AND MUCH MORE...

ONLINE www.nzwinegrower.co.nz 64 //

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

Reading the magazine online has never been easier.

REGIONS HAWKE’S BAY

TRIANGLE FESTIVAL MARY SHANAHAN

awke’s Bay’s Bridge Pa Triangle Wine District is staging its first-ever wine festival, an event aimed at promoting the subregion’s cellar doors and wines. The eight wineries taking part in the one-day Bridge Pa Wine Festival being held on 24 January are Abbey Cellars, Alpha Domus, Ash Ridge, Ngatarawa Wines, Paritua Vineyards, Triangle Cellars, Salvare and Sileni Estates. Chris Wilcock says the event, modelled on the discontinued Harvest Hawke’s Bay, will offer hop on-hop off buses, transfers to Napier and Hastings, live music,

gourmet food and wine tastings. Covering 2000 hectares, the Bridge Pa Triangle Wine District was launched just over two years ago by a grouping of 11 wineries and seven individual grape growers keen to promote the area as a premium winegrowing subregion. Wilcock points out that the major trophy winners in the 2014 Hawke’s Bay A & P Bayleys Wine Awards were all Bridge Pa Triangle wines. The district, west of Hastings, encompasses Hawke’s Bay’s largest concentration of vineyards. Growing a wide range of varieties

that include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Semillon, Viognier, Malbec, Riesling and Albarino, it is a popular wine tourism destination. “We felt the festival was something we could do as a small area

where those taking part didn’t have to far to travel to get from one cellar door to another. From our point of view, we are doing this to showcase the Bridge Pa area as a developing appellation.” A limited number of tickets will be offered for the inaugural festival. “We want it to be a sell-out event and for it to be heavily supported within Hawke’s Bay. If it brings people in from outside the region that’s good, but we are putting it on predominantly for the locals.” ■ maryshanahan173@gmail.com

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 65

BUSINESS NEWS

SUCCESSION PLANNING TESSA NICHOLSON

ne of the most concerning issues facing winery and vineyard owners in New Zealand, is that of succession. How do you go about passing the baton to the next generation, or create an exit strategy that satisfies everyone? It is understandable why this issue is rearing its head now in the wine industry, given the majority of those owning the assets are baby boomers, in the over 55 age group. Many have come through the ranks, developing a vineyard and planting the original grapes, or building a winery and brand. Now they are looking ahead to the future – unsure how to extricate themselves from the business they have built up. While there is no all encompassing, one fit all solution to succession planning, Richard Longman, a partner in Pricewaterhouse Coopers says there are a few areas that need to be considered well in advance.

A Sustainable Business Sustainability and succession tend to go hand in hand, Longman says. The business you are planning to hand over or exit needs to be sustainably viable – and the owner needs to have a realistic perspective on that sustainability. “This can be a difficult one as people generally over estimate the value, which could cause issues in the future,” he says. “If you are thinking about handing your business down the family line, you need to have an open and honest

66 //

Succession can be like a new dawn, if you do it right. Photo Palliser Estate, supplied by NZW.

discussion on what the values are, otherwise you may be missing out on opportunities. For example you have a wine company and the market value might be $10 million, but if you hold the view that it’s worth $15 million and someone comes in offering 10, 11 or 12 million and you turn it down under the false impression it is worth more, you may regret it later.” If selling to a third party, ensure you make it attractive to the buyer. “Do you have supply arrangements locked in?,” Longman says. “Do you have customer contracts and positions locked in as well? How much certainty can you give to a purchaser that your business is sustainable. A lack of planning can severely impact on the value achieved.”

Understand Your Objectives Are the stakeholders aware of what you are planning to do? Have you had those crucial conversations with family members? Are

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

your objectives realistic? Longman says it sometimes helps to have a sounding board, or confidant to bounce ideas off, specifically someone who will tell you honestly. Does the person you are seeking to hand over to have the skills, experience and appetite to take the business on, and do they actually want to?

Planning and Preparation Well before you leave the business, or hand it on, you need to lay some ground work with all those you deal with, Longman says. “Are there supply relationships that need to be nurtured or are there customer relationships that need to be transferred? If someone is going to come into the business, how is the market going to take to that person? You don’t want to be doing this in a three or six month period.”

Sources of Capital

Longman says it is important to keep the banks up to date on any exit or succession strategy. They also can offer advice on the pitfalls to avoid and how to make the transition a smooth one. “I really encourage people who are looking forward to exiting or bringing in family, to have that honest discussion with the bank. They do like to be involved and they can look to the future.” In terms of whether or not you are leaving money in the business, he says, think long and hard about what it will mean for you in your retirement and how it will impact on the wider family. “Vendor finance may be something that has to happen to facilitate the transfer, because by and large wine companies and vineyards are valuable assets.” All in all, Longman says the most important thing is to plan, well in advance. “Fail to plan and you plan to fail.”■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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NOT ON THE LABEL LEGAL MATTERS WITH MARIJA BATISTICH SENIOR ASSOCIATE AND CHARLOTTE FORSTER, SOLICITOR, BOTH AT BELL GULLY

AN UPDATE ON CHANGES TO ALCOHOL LAWS BEFORE FESTIVITIES BEGIN

tarting from 1 December 2014, breath alcohol limits for drivers over 20 are set to lower from 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, to 250 micrograms. In conjunction with the Health Promotion Agency’s new campaign “Not Beersies” and the establishment of a Ministerial Forum on Alcohol Advertising (which is currently investigating whether further changes to alcohol advertising laws are needed), these changes are a reminder that the legal landscape applying

to the sale and supply of alcohol is a changing one. Restrictions on sellers and suppliers of alcoholic products are becoming more significant. Wine sellers, in anticipating an increase in business during the festive season, should keep in mind their obligations under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (the Act) – in particular, those restrictions which restrict the ways by which sellers may advertise their products to Christmas shoppers. It is a timely reminder with

the festive season almost upon us that since 18 December 2013, it has been an offence under the Act to promote alcohol irresponsibly. “Irresponsible promotion” is a broad-ranging term, and covers a wide array of promotion types. One area in which retailers ought to exercise caution is in the advertisement of any special offers relating to alcohol products, particularly outside of licensed premises. The Act provides it is an offence to undertake any

promotion outside of a licensed premise that is likely to make people believe that a discount of 25% or more is available on any alcoholic product. “Outside of a licensed” premise does not merely refer to the physical space outside of a premise – it also encompasses any manner of email, print, broadcast or social media advertising. A number of common advertising mechanisms are restricted by this provision. It is also an offence outside a licensed premise to undertake

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

any promotion that involves giving away free products or services to customers, upon their purchase of an alcoholic product. This restricts promotions that might award customers free wine glasses or cooler bags upon purchase of a bottle. Inside licensed premises such promotions may occur, provided the offer only relates to the buying of alcohol on those premises. Within licensed premises, the restrictions are less significant – sellers may advertise discounts of up to 50%, as long as these advertisements cannot be “seen or heard” from outside the premises. However, despite the higher discount threshold, many promotional methods are still restricted. For instance, a “buy one get one free” offer will fall foul of the Act, as will an offer to provide a “free” glass or bot-

tle of wine upon purchase of a meal, for example. The exception to this discount rule is free sampling – sellers may promote or advertise the complimentary sampling of alcohol on premises for which an off-licence is held. Certain types of promotion are disallowed no matter what the location. Any promotion that is likely to encourage young people to consume to an excessive extent is prohibited. Similarly, promotions where the alcohol must be purchased to enable entry are an offence under the Act. Sellers should be careful too that they do not fall foul of the more general offences under the Act. It is an offence to do anything that encourages people, or is likely to encourage people, to consume alcohol to an excessive extent.

In a recent decision by the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority - KR Entertainment Ltd and GS Entertainment Ltd1 - it was noted that this offence might have a wide-ranging impact2 . In this regard promotions of alcohol encouraging patrons to remain in the private rooms for long periods; the practice of making incentive payments resulting from alcohol sales to staff and contracted workers in the premises; the selling of alcohol by the bottle when smaller measures in glasses will suffice; …are all matters arising from this case that concern the Authority and should concern the reporting agencies. The reality is that under the new 2012 Act licences are not only more difficult to get and to have renewed; they are easier to lose.

As such, sellers and suppliers of alcohol should consider their advertising campaigns cautiously, in the lead up to Christmas. The penalties for “irresponsible promotion” are significant, and can result in fines of up to $10,000 or the loss of a licence for 7 days. A punitive “three strikes” penalty will apply to repeat offenders – licensees or managers who offend against the Act three times within three years are liable to have their licenses cancelled. Anyone with any queries as to the application of the legislation to a potential promotion or advertising strategy should obtain legal advice. ■ 1 An Application by KR Entertainment Ltd and GS Entertainment Ltd [2014] NZARLA PH 167 and 168. 2 At [45].

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 69

BOOK REVIEWS Passion Pinot & Savvy, New Zealand Women Winemakers by Kirsten Rødsgaard-Mathiesen MAD FROG PRODUCTIONS AND EBOOK. $34.95 AND $10, GST EXCL.

REVIEWED BY TESSA NICHOLSON.

ixteen female winemakers, based throughout New Zealand, share their stories and their views on the wine industry in this easy to pick up book. While the early chapters provide a bio of each of the winemakers, the rest is made up of questions and answers on a wide range of topics. Given the language of wine can be quite intimidating if you are not used to it, Kirsten has done her utmost to explain it in layman’s terms, and provided a rounded appendix to explain those that

may confuse. The individual stories are for me the highlight of the book. Each of the 16 women has emerged from a completely different background. Some are New Zealand born, some come from overseas. Some decided early on to involve themselves in wine, many others came to this profession via some other career. But all have no regrets about the job they are doing and each has a passion that is palpable by reading their story. While the Q&A chapters allow more of the personality of each

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arry Johns and his wife first planted their small Waipara vineyard in 1994, supplying local wineries with fruit from 1997. While seeing others make the most of the fruit he had labored over, Johns decided he would very much like to produce something himself. In 2012, with the help of Matt Donaldson from Pegasus Bay, that dream became a reality. The diarised account of that adventure is detailed in this book. From hand selecting the Pinot Noir vines, then the individual bunches, through to fermentation, barrels, tastings, bottling and even the selection of closure is laid out for the reader to peruse. This is a small book, very much a personalized account – but still an interesting, easy read. It provides an insight into what goes in to producing a wine of quality. And the wine obviously is of quality. Only 275 bottles were produced and Winegrower’s Bob Campbell MW rated the wine as 95/100.

70 //

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

woman to shine through, via their answers, it was for me a little repetitive. There are after all only so many ways to answer a question such as what makes a good winemaker – or is this industry male dominated? 16 women, 16 answers and many were saying similar things, albeit with differing language. Regardless of that, it is a book that is easy to pick up, read a

couple of chapters and put down again, so perfect for the upcoming holiday season. And it is a fascianting snapshot of New Zealand wine as at this stage in its history, from a female’s perspective. (That does not mean men will not find this interesting.)

COUNTRY

EVENT

CITY

EVENT DATE

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

Asia

New Zealand Wine Fair

Shanghai

Tue 19 May 15

Fri 30 Jan 15

New Zealand Wine Fair

Beijing

Thu 21 May 15

Fri 30 Jan 15

New Zealand Wine Fair

Guangzhou

Tue 26 May

Fri 30 Jan 15

New Zealand Wine Fair

Hong Kong

Thu 28 May

Fri 30 Jan 15

Taste

Sydney

12-15 Mar 15

First come, first served

Taste

Perth

1-3 May 15

First come, first served

New Zealand in a Glass

Montreal

Tue 5 May 15

Late registrations being accepted

New Zealand in a Glass

Toronto

Thu 7 May 15

Late registrations being accepted

New Zealand in a Glass

Halifax

Tue 12 May 15

Late registrations being accepted

New Zealand in a Glass

Vancouver

Thu 14 May 15

Late registrations being accepted

Bottlenotes

San Francisco

Fri 27 Feb 15

Fri 16 jan 15

Bottlenotes

Miami

Wed 11 Mar 15

Fri 16 Jan 15

Bottlenotes

Washington DC

Fri 27 Mar 15

Fri 16 Jan 15

New Zealand Wine Tasting

Las Vegas - TBC Mar 15 -TBC

Fri 16 Jan 15

New Zealand Wine Fair

San Francisco

Mon 27 Apr 15

Fri 30 Jan 15

New Zealand Wine Fair

New York

Thu 30 Apr 15

Fri 30 Jan 15

Australia

Canada

USA

To register for these events log on to nzwine.com/members then click on NZ Wine Marketing. You can also contact the New Zealand Winegrowers Global Events Team on events@nzwine.com or (09) 306 5643.

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 71

CALENDAR DECEMBER

MARCH

6: The Christchurch/South Island Wine and Food Festival - Christchurch

JANUARY

7: Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival 2015 – Gladstone Vineyard – Wairarapa

12 – 16:

3: Cromwell Wine and Food Festival – Cromwell, Central Otago

– Waiheke Island

14:

4: Clash Of The Titans Concert At Waipara Hills Featuring; Dragon, The Exponents and The Feelers. – Waipara Hills, North Canterbury.

West Coast Wild Foods Festival – Hokitika

21: Gibbston Wine and Food Festival 2015

24:

- Queenstown

Bridge Pa Triangle Wine District Wine Festival – Hawke’s Bay

29 – 31: Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration 2015

FEBRUARY 14: Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

28: Waipara Hills Winery Tour – Waipara Hills Cellar Door - Waipara

28: Dog Point/Logan Brown Classic Kiwi Picnic – Dog Point Vineyard – Marlborough

72 //

Waiheke Vintage Festival

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

STATISTICS

MAJOR NZ VINEYARD AREAS PRODUCING HECTARES

PRINCIPAL EXPORT MARKETS

Region

2014

2016 (forecast)

% of Total

Marlborough

22.903.1

23,287.3

64.9

Hawkes Bay

4815.7

4895.4

13.6

Otago

1979.2

2012.3

5.6

Gisborne

1602.4

1615.9

4.5

Waipara

1266.4

1272.0

3.5

Wairarapa / Wellington

996.7

1008.5

2.8

Nelson

1114.7

1152.1

3.2

Auckland / Northland

416

374.1

Cantebury

195.8

206.7

Waikato / Bay of Plenty

22.3

National Total

35,313

35,894.4

Exports for the year to date to the end of July 2014 (Moving Annual Total)

Country

Litres (m)

$ FOB

Average $/L 2014

Average $/L 2013

54,323

331,305

5.90

USA

50,244

330,004

6.57

6.71

Australia

53,928

370,787

6.88

7.45

8157

81,228

9.96

10.63

0.6 0.1

MAJOR VARIETIES IN MAJOR AREAS

Canada

New Zealand’s total producing vineyard will increase by only 0.5% over the next 2 years. This table shows the variation for major varieties (in Ha), with % change and percentage of total in 2012.

Netherlands

4865

32,356

6.65

6.79

Denmark

0.997

7146

7.16

7.56

Ireland

2098

15,324

7.30

7.31

1121

12,307

10.98

11.92

Germany

2655

14,055

5.29

5.67

China

1750

23,565

13.46

12.30

Hong Kong

1373

17,054

12.42

13.20

Singapore

1583

21,023

13.28

12.96

Finland

0.262

2292

8.72

8.68

Norway

0.364

2978

8.16

7.66

Sweden

1.606

13,209

8.22

8.39

Others

6136

56,945

9.28

9.68

191,469,414

1,331,584,017

6..95

7.19

Variety

2014

% producing area

2016 forecast

Sauvignon Blanc

20,027

56.9

20,260

Pinot Noir

5569

15.6

5734.5

Chardonnay

3211

9.1

3247.0

Pinot Gris

2412

6.8

2448.8

Merlot

1256

3.6

1288.5

Riesling

787

2.2

791.7

Syrah

423

1.2

430.1

Gewurztraminer

332

0.9

332.7

Cabernet Sauv

297

0.9

314.9

Malbec

142

0.4

144.5

Cabernet Franc

118

0.3

118.1

All other varieties

545

1.6

Total

35,313

625.0 35,894.4

PRODUCING AREA IN HECTARES BY SIZE - NUMBER OF VINEYARDS Region

0-5

5.01-10

10.01-20

20.01-50

50.01 & over

Aklnd / Nthlnd

Canterbury

Gisborne

Hawkes Bay

Regional Total

109

102

266

203

315

214

182

101

1015

Nelson

118

Otago

100

215

—

65 118

Marlborough

Waikato / BoP Waipara Wairarapa / Wgtn National

Japan

691

578

372

268

145

TOTAL

2054

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT Information and Updates on NZ Winegrowers Research Programmes. Editor: Dr Simon Hooker, General Manager Research and Innovation

A regular feature at the back of each issue of WineGrower to inform industry people about research projects being undertaken for their benefit. Newly approved projects (when available) are briefly summarised in the first section ‘Introducing New Projects’. Longer reports in the section headed ‘Progress Reports’, will describe what has been achieved so far. Scientists in charge of each project have been asked to make these reports reader-friendly rather than to follow the usual format of scientific papers. When completed, each project will be reported in full detail, with references, on the website: www.nzwine.com/members/research

LIST OF PROJECTS Quality Wine Styles for Existing and Developing Markets The pathway of volatile sulphur compounds in wine yeast The Bragato Trust and NZW Scholarship University of Auckland (Dr Bruno Fedrizzi - student Matias Kinzurk) Preliminary investigation of factors responsible for variability in tartaric acid additions to Pinot noir Lincoln University (Roland Harrison) Influence of juice pH on thiol production Plant and Food Research (Claire Grose) Identification of natural genetic variation in grapevine contributing to pathogen resistance Lincoln University (Chris Winefield) The pathway of volatile sulphur compounds in wine yeast The Bragato Trust and NZW Scholarship University of Auckland (Dr Bruno Fedrizzi - student Matias Kinzurk)

Pests and Disease Virus diversity in New Zealand grapevines: sequence, ecology and impact – The Rod Bonfiglioli Scholarship Plant and Food Research (Dr Robin MacDiarmid - student Arnaud Blouin) Sustaining vineyards through practical management of grapevine trunk diseases South Australian Research & Development Institute (Mark Sosnowski) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund Implementation of Virus Elimination Strategy Various (Nick Hoskins – Project Manager) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund

Organic Focus Vineyard Project Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (Rebecca Reider) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund

Effects of undervine vegetation management on grape quality, vine performance, grape composition, and soil properties Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) (Mark Krasnow)

Cost Reduction/Increased Profitability Reduced berry size and Botrytis tolerance through trauma to the vine Plant and Food Research (Mike Trought)

Sector weather data licence & tools HortPlus (NZ) Ltd. Developing Powdery Mildew Best Practise in New Zealand Vineyards Lewis Wright Valuation & Consultancy Ltd (Trevor Lupton)

Lifestyle Wine (PGP) University of Auckland and Plant and Food Research (Various) Jointly funded by NZW and MPI Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) fund.

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Sustainability/Organics

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

Other Grapevine growth stage monitoring for prediction of key phenological events Plant and Food Research (Rob Agnew) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund

PROGRESS REPORTS

Practical management of grapevine trunk diseases Mark Sosnowski1 and Dion Mundy2 South Australian Research & Development Institute The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited

mark.sosnowski@sa.gov.au 13-100 Eutypa and botryosphaeria dieback, caused by fungal species of the Diatrypaceae and Botryosphaeriaceae families, infect vines through pruning wounds, colonise woody tissue and cause dieback of cordons and trunks, with cankers observed as dark wedge-shaped tissue in cross-section. These trunk diseases can kill vines and have a major economic impact in wine regions worldwide. In New Zealand, they are becoming prevalent and threaten the sustainability of the $1.9 billion wine industry, which is heavily reliant on the highly susceptible variety Sauvignon Blanc. Management of trunk diseases is based on removing infected wood material and preventing infection through pruning wounds. Protective treatments are currently limited to paints and pastes which must be applied by hand. A New Zealand Winegrowers project led by the South Australian Research &

Recycle sprayer in action.

Mark Sosnowski detailing the trial protocols to the audience.

Development Institute in collaboration with Plant & Food Research is adopting and developing efficient methods of protecting pruning wounds in New Zealand to prevent the significant losses experienced in other countries. The project has entered its second year, and has seen the har-

vest of samples from four field trials established in 2013. With the aim of generating data for registration of wound treatment fungicides, cane-pruned Sauvignon Blanc vines in Marlborough were treated with a number of different rates of Folicur® (tebuconazole), Chief® (carbendazim), Gem® (flu-

azinam), Dithane™ (mancozeb) or Megastar™ (flusilazole), applied by hand using a paint brush. Treatments were chosen based on efficacy from literature and commitment from manufacturers to the registration process. In addition, a number of different types of tractor-driven sprayers, including air-shear, tangential, recycle and modified weed sprayers were used to apply Chief®, one of the most effective fungicides according to literature, to spur-pruned Cabernet Sauvignon vines in Hawke’s Bay and cane-pruned Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough. To determine the effects of pruning time on susceptibility of pruning wounds and fungicide efficacy, Sauvignon Blanc vines were cane-pruned in early, mid- or late winter (2013) and were either untreated or treated by hand with a paint brush with Chief®. To ensure adequate infection to establish efficacy, wounds in all trials were inocu-

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 75

lated with fungal spores of Eutypa lata (Eutypa dieback) and Neofusicoccum luteum (Botryosphaeria dieback) following treatment. In June and July 2014, canes (10 cm from pruned ends) were removed and laboratory assessment is currently underway to determine efficacy of treatments compared with untreated controls. Preliminary results will be available in late 2014. All field trials were re-established in August 2014. Field day demonstrations were held during August 2014 in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough. Industry personnel were provided with details on the experimental protocols being used to evaluate spray application of pruning wound treatments. They witnessed a number of different sprayers applying fungicide at different water output rates and the variation in spray coverage as shown by water sensitive cards positioned strategically in the pruning wound zone. Interaction between industry observers and

Spray coverage indicated on water sensitive paper.

researchers provided the opportunity for discussion on different aspects of trunk disease management. Further experiments using pruning wound treatments at varying disease pressures are being conducted in the laboratory, using a detached cane assay. These trials include non-fungicide alternatives and provide supporting data for fungicides being evaluated in the field, including information on the critical timing of fungicide

application. This research will deliver recommendations for practical application of a range of pruning wound treatments using tractordriven sprayers. Economic analysis will provide decision support for growers and encourage adoption of practices for the benefit of the wine industry. The project is also building scientific and technical capability in New Zealand for grapevine trunk disease management.

Acknowledgements This project was made possible by funding from New Zealand Winegrowers and the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF 13-071). We thank Villa Maria and Pernod-Ricard NZ for providing vines and technical assistance, along with the various agrochemical companies that have committed to the outcomes of registering products for control of trunk diseases.

Developing powdery mildew best practise in New Zealand vineyards Trevor Lupton (Lewis Wright Valuation & Consultancy Ltd) and Peter Melville (Eurofins Agroscience Services Ltd) 14-101 Growers have found powdery mildew more difficult to manage during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. There have been instances of crop rejection and requirements to prune infected bunches prior to harvest. Possible causes are: Identification of chasmothecia (the sexual stage of powdery mildew) for the first time in New Zealand during summer of 2013-14. Indications that powdery mildew may be losing sensitivity to DMI fungicides. Sprayer coverage, spray inter-

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val, fungicide choice. The first two possible causes may be linked. Chasmothecia are likely to result in a more genetically diverse powdery mildew population. This is likely to result in more rapid development of fungicide resistance amongst single site fungicides. Powdery mildew requires a high level of control with wineries rejecting grapes with around 5% crop infection due to off flavours which result in wine. NZ Winegrowers has started the process of developing powdery

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

mildew best practise through publication of the factsheet Managing Powdery Mildew (NZPM100 – Powdery Mildew) and Grape Days presentations over the past two years. It is important that best practice should achieve a high level of powdery mildew control while maintaining sustainable fungicide use into the future. NZ Winegrowers is also funding research during the 2014-15 season to improve understanding on of powdery mildew management. Research focuses on prevention of:

early spring infections and infection of bunches Trials are being conducted in Gisborne and Marlborough. These will evaluate six fungicide options for control from bud burst to flowering, and eleven fungicide options from flowering to pre bunch closure. Results will be available through NZ Winegrower Research Supplement, Grape Days in June 2015 and revised versions of the Managing Powdery Mildew (NZPM100 – Powdery Mildew) Factsheet.

Grapevine growth stage monitoring for prediction of key phenological events Agnew R, Raw V, Bishell R, Sorensen I, Wood P, Marshall R, Martin D, Stanley, Gandell M, Parker T, Parker A Corresponding author rob.agnew@plantandfood.co.nz 14 100 In the New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) e-newsletter in May, it was reported that the NZW research programme had received approval for a Sustainable Farming Fund grant provided by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to support the transformation of the successful Marlborough VineFacts™ Newsletter from a regional to a national service, while also extending the focus from monitoring phenology of Sauvignon Blanc to other major grape varieties. Six

existing blocks of Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough that have been monitored since 2005, in association with the Marlborough Research Centre (MRC), are being incorporated as part of this project. An additional twenty new vineyard blocks in five regions have been selected in consultation with viticulturists in each region. These five regions were chosen to comprise 90% of the New Zealand vineyard area. The five major grape varieties chosen comprise over 90% of New Zealand’s varietal

mix. Vineyards of the same variety within the same region have been selected in geographically distinct sub-regions to compare the phenologies under differing temperature conditions (Table 1). Phenology of the vines will be monitored at specific times on these blocks over the next three seasons i.e. over the duration of budburst in September-October, over flowering during NovemberDecember, and during maturity development from véraison to harvest.

Table 1. Five main New Zealand winegrowing regions and the grape varieties and numbers of blocks chosen in each region as part of this Grapevine growth stage monitoring study for prediction of key phenological events.

Region

Variety

Area Ha

% Of Regional Total

Number of Blocks to Monitory by Region

Gisborne

Chardonnay

804

49.7

Hawke’s Bay

Merlot

1036

21.4

Sauvignon Blanc

1015

21.0

Chardonnay

994

20.5

Pinot Gris

497

10.3

17,648

78.1

6 (existing with MRC Trust)

Pinot Noir

2367

10.5

Chardonnay

1029

4.6

Pinot Gris

951

4.2

Sauvignon Blanc

307

29.6

Pinot Noir

267

25.8

Central Otago Pinot Noir

1366

76.5

Marlborough

Waipara

Sauvignon Blanc

Weekly budburst assessments have been completed in all five regions in September and October 2014. Data from the five regions have been summarized by variety and region. Figure 1 is an example of the comparisons that are being made at this early stage. Figure 1 plots the budburst progression on the seven Pinot Noir blocks that are being monitored (two in Marlborough, one in North Canterbury (Waipara) and four in Central Otago). Anecdotal evidence from talking to viticulturists is that budburst of any particular grape variety would always begin considerably earlier the further north you go in New Zealand. We expected that budburst of Pinot Noir would be earlier in Marlborough than in North Canterbury (Waipara), which in turn would be earlier than in Central Otago. It was somewhat surprising to find that the early budburst progression of the Pinot Noir block in Waipara was ahead of that in the two blocks in Marlborough. Figure 1 indicates that the budburst of the Pinot Noir in Central Otago was only just beginning as budburst in Marlborough and Waipara was finishing. However, the speed of budburst progression in Central Otago was more rapid than in Marlborough or Waipara. Although the project is only just beginning, we already have a preliminary picture of the timing of budburst for the varieties in 2014. Collection of phenology data

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 77

throughout the growing season will allow comparisons of phenological timing both within and between the winegrowing regions. Reporting these data through the VineFacts™ Newsletter will allow vineyard and winery managers to respond by adjusting management decisions throughout the growing season.

Figure 1: Percentage budburst of Pinot Noir in Marlborough, North Canterbury (Waipara) and Central Otago.

Sensitivity of grape berry yeasts to fungicides Pia Auri Rheinländer, Michelle Vergara, Jonathan Rees-George The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd pia.rheinlander@plantandfood.co.nz Fungicide sensitivity to Switch and captan was compared among four fermentative and five non-fermentative yeast species. With the exception of one fermentative species, all tested yeasts exhibited low

to moderate sensitivity to Switch. The recommended spray application of Switch before 80% pre capfall may therefore be assumed to have no detrimental effects on the natural yeast community on grape

berries. In contrast, captan greatly inhibited growth of all tested yeast species. This finding suggests that repetitive use of captan may eliminate or greatly reduce the natural yeast microflora on grape bunches.

Although targeting fungal pathogens, applying fungicides to grapevines may equally affect the benign fungal microflora, including beneficial fungi. It is generally assumed that the fun-

ascomycetous yeasats

basidiomycetous yeats

SPECIES

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Cyrptoccocus carnescens (Verona & Luchetti) Takash., Sugita, Shonda & Nakase Chryptoccous heimaeyensis Vishniac Cryptoccus magnus (Lodder & Kreger) Baptist & Kurtzman Rhodotorula glutinis (Fresenius) Harrison Sporobolomyces roseus Kluyver & van Neil Candida zemplinina Sipiczki Hanseniaspora uvarum Berkh Pichia sporocuriosa Péter, Tornai-Lehoczki, Dlauchy & Vitányi Saccharomyces cerevisiae Meyen ex E.C. Hansen

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

Table 1. The fungicide sensitivity to Switch® and captan was compared among five nonfermentative basidiomycetous yeast species and four fermentative ascomycetous species.

gal microflora on a fruit surface, such as the grape berry, are immediately eradicated or considerably reduced following the application of a fungicide (if applied according to label specifications and the fungal microflora have not developed resistance). However, fungicide sensitivity can vary greatly because of differences in physiology among species and strains. Also, fungicides targeted at controlling a specific pathogen (e.g. Switch® for Botrytis cinerea control) may eliminate or reduce other species with antagonistic activity, thus inadvertently creating favourable conditions for the target pathogen. The importance of the existing fungal microflora in mediating disease development in vineyards is poorly understood, particularly the impacts of fungicides on the interactions between beneficial fungi and pathogens. Lack of such knowledge may be limiting the effectiveness of currently used chemical control strategies. Our research investigates the sensitivity of the fungal microflora on grape berries to various

Figure 1. Inhibition of growth for three ascomycetous (fermentative) yeasts on potato dextrose agar amended with increasing concentrations of Switch®. Values are mean inhibition for 20 colonies per isolate ± standard error (SE) and the lines are fitted curves. At maximum product concentration, the mean maximum inhibition reached 25-30%.

fungicides. Here we report preliminary results on the sensitivity of selected yeasts to Switch® and captan, which are commonly used in New Zealand for Botrytis disease control.

Measurements of

sensitivity of yeasts Yeasts are the dominant group of fungi on the grape berry surface, often present in numbers 100 times higher than most filamentous fungi. Yeasts are grouped by taxonomists into basidiomycet-

ous or ascomycetous yeasts. The majority of basidiomycetous yeasts, such as species of Cryptococcus and the pink-coloured Rhodotorula, are non-fermentative and are typically the most abundant yeasts on grape berries in the vineyard. Fermentative yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia sporocuriosa are examples of ascomycetous yeasts. We compared fungicide sensitivity among yeast species by measuring their growth rate on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates amended with Switch or captan at concentrations of 0, 1, 10, 100, 500 and 1000 ppm (i.e. µg fungicide/ mL). Switch is a combination fungicide with two active ingredients, Figure 2. Typical growth inhibition of yeasts on potato dextrose agar amended with increasing concentrations of captan, using Hanseniaspora uvarum Berkh. as an example. Values are mean inhibition of growth for 20 colonies per concentration ± standard error (SE). Growth was inhibited by 100% at concentrations of 100 ppm and above, and EC50 values ranged from 22 to 37 ppm among all tested species.

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 79

fludioxonil and cyprodinil. The label application rate of Switch in vineyards is equivalent to concentrations of 300 ppm cyprodinil and 200 ppm fludioxonil. For captan (Captan 600 Flo) the application concentration is 960 ppm. Based on the growth response curves, EC50 values (the concentration required to reduce radial growth by 50%) were calculated for each species. Five basidiomycetous nonfermentative were compared with four ascomycetous yeast species involved in the fermentation process (Table 1). All species were isolated from grape berries, except for S. cerevisiae, which was isolated from grape juice because this species generally is found only on very ripe or damaged berries. (See Table 1.)

Sensitivity to Switch The ascomycetous yeasts, H. uvarum, P. sporocuriosa and S. cerevisiae, exhibited low sensitivity to Switch (Figure 1), with a mean inhibition of growth of 25-30% at the highest concentration (1000 ppm). However, the fourth

ascomycetous yeast, C. zemplinina, was completely inhibited by Switch, showing no growth at a concentration of 1 ppm. This species is characteristic of fermentation of botrytised grape musts. The pink-coloured basidiomycetous yeasts, R . glutinis and S. roseus, showed low sensitivity to Switch, with growth inhibition ranging from 14 to 32% at 1000 ppm. The three species of Cryptococcus were moderately sensitive to this fungicide, with growth rates reduced by 75% at concentrations of 100 ppm and above. (See Figure 1). In Switch, the fludioxonil component induces swelling, abnormal branching and cell bursting and thereby inhibits spore germination and germ tube elongation as well as mycelial growth. The other active ingredient of Switch, cyprodinil, inhibits germ-tube elongation and initial mycelial growth. Note that the sensitivity results for Switch presented here are for the product (the combined active ingredients) and not for the

Nautilus Estate Marlborough. Photo supplied by NZW

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NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

individual components. With the exception of C. zemplinina, both the ascomycetous and basidiomycetous yeasts generally appeared to exhibit low to moderate sensitivity to Switch. The recommended spray application of this fungicide before 80% pre cap-fall (New Zealand Winegrowers vineyard spray schedule 2013/2014) may therefore be assumed to have minimal effects on the natural yeast community. This was further supported by field trials, where no reduction in yeast populations could be detected on grape berries following the spray application of Switch.

tive action that works by inhibiting respiration of numerous species of fungi. (See Figure 2.) Considering that captan, according to label specifications, can be applied every fortnight, this fungicide can be expected to affect the microflora of yeasts on grape bunches significantly. Some basidiomycetous yeasts (e.g. species of Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula) have been shown to exhibit antagonistic effects against B. cinerea and repeated applications of captan may thus decrease the numbers of such beneficial yeasts. Similarly, wild fermentative yeast populations on grape berries are likely to be reduced considerably.

Sensitivity to captan

Acknowledgements

In contrast, captan inhibited growth of all ascomycetous and basidiomycetous yeasts (Figure 2). Little or no effect was observed at 1 and 10 ppm, but at 100 ppm and above, growth of all species was inhibited by 100% and EC50 values ranged from 22 to 37 ppm. Captan is a chloroalkylthio fungicide, which is a non-specific thiol reactant with protective and cura-

This work is a Plant & Food Research Core-funded project under the Grape and Wine Research Programme, a joint initiative between Plant & Food Research and New Zealand Winegrowers. Special thanks to Dr M. Goddard and S. Lee, Auckland University, for supplying the ascomycetous yeast species.

RESEARCH INDEX

Research-related articles published in New Zealand Winegrower in 2014, issues 84 to 89 New opportunities for sustainable grape thinning – what have we learned after five years of research? [11-101], Mike Trought, Sue Neal, Dion Mundy, Claire Grose, Benedicte Pineau, Michelle Beresford, Andrew McLachlan and Mark Allen............................................... 87:131-133

84 – February/March 2014 85 – April/May 2014 86 – June/July 2014 87 – August/September 2014 88 – October/November 2014 89 – December 2014/January 2015

Reduced berry size and botrytis tolerance through trauma to the vine [12-106], Dion Mundy, Andrew McLachlan, Sue Neal and Mike Trought...................................................88:95

Aroma & Sensory (also see Sauvignon Blanc and Wine Research)

and beyond’ [12-100], Vaughn Bell and Jim Walker............................................... 84:61-63

Chinese consumers’ preference [12111], D Sun-Waterhouse, FR Harker, BK Clapperton, Anne Gunson, .............84:63-64

Age before beauty, Jamie Goode....86:16-18 Virus diversity in New Zealand grapevines: sequence, ecology and impact [13-115], Arnaud Blouin, Howard Ross and Robin MacDiarmid.............................................. 86:72-73

Botrytis (also see Pest & Disease Management)

Leafroll 3 app................................................ 88:70

Pest & Disease Management Grapevine trunk and root diseases in New Zealand: our knowledge base in 2013, Dion Mundy, BK Clapperton and Anne Gunson,....................................................84: 64-66 Critical recommendations emerging from ‘sustainable virus-free vineyards: replants and beyond’ [12-100], Vaughn Bell and Jim Walker,.............................................. 84: 61-63

Implementing the botrytis decision support models [11-120], Rob Beresford...........................................................85:61

Grapevine Trunk Diseases (also see Pest & Disease Management)

Implementing the botrytis decision support models [11-120], Rob Beresford................................................ 85:61

Reduced berry size and botrytis tolerance through trauma to the vine [12-106], Mike Trought, Sue Neal, Marc Greven and Dion Mundy.........................................................85:62-63

Grapevine trunk and root diseases in New Zealand: our knowledge base in 2013, Dion Mundy, BK Clapperton and Anne Gunson.....................................................84: 64-66

Reduced berry size and botrytis tolerance through trauma to the vine [12-106], Mike Trought, Sue Neal, Marc Greven and Dion Mundy....................................................... 85:62-63

Events

Progressing management of grapevine trunk diseases [13-100], Mark Sosnowski and Dion Mundy.................................... 85:64-66

Progressing management of grapevine trunk diseases [13-100], Mark Sosnowski and Dion Mundy................................... 85:64-66 Powdery mildew – the sexual stage................ 87:12-13

Romeo Bragato New Horizons 2014, ...........................................................87:70-76

Genetics A wine revolution (identification of natural genetic variation in grapevine contributing to pathogen resistance) [09-104] ....................................................................... 87:60-61

Prevalence of grapevine trunk disease in New Zealand vineyards [13-100], Mark Sosnowski and Dion Mundy..........87:133-138 Practical management of grapevine trunk diseases [13-100], Mark Sosnowski and Dion Mundy..............................................89:75-76

Grapevine growth stage monitoring for prediction of key phenological events [14100], Rob Agnew, Victoria Raw, R. Bishell, I. Sorensen, Peter Wood, R. Marshall, Damian Martin, Stanley, M. Gandell, T. Parker and A. Parker............................ 89:77-78

Grapevine Leafroll Diseases (also see Pest & Disease Management) Critical recommendations emerging from ‘sustainable virus-free vineyards: replants

Prevalence of grapevine trunk disease in New Zealand vineyards [13-100], Mark Sosnowski and Dion Mundy,.........87:133-138 Leafroll 3 app............................................... 88:70

Lower Alcohol Wine

Sports and spots for survey................... 89:57

PGP programme ..........................................86:63

Developing powdery mildew best practice in New Zealand Vineyards [14101], Trevor Lupton and Peter Melville .................................................89:76

Grapegrowing Do your vines meet certified standards? ......................................................88:52

Powdery mildew – resistance........... 87:14-15

Mechanical Harvesting/Thinning New opportunities for sustainable grape thinning [11-101], Mike Trought, Sue Neal, Claire Grose, Abby Albright, Benedicte Pineau, Michelle Beresford, Dion Mundy, Andrew McLachlan, Anne Gunson and Mark Allen...................................................... 85:62 Reduced berry size and botrytis tolerance through trauma to the vine [12-106], Mike Trought, Sue Neal, Marc Greven and Dion Mundy.........................................................85:62-63

Powdery Mildew (also see Pest & Disease Management) Powdery mildew – the sexual stage............................................................. 87:12-13 Powdery mildew – resistance,...........87:14-15 Developing powdery mildew best practice in New Zealand Vineyards [14-101], Trevor Lupton and Peter Melville,........................89:76

Great year for mechanical thinning.....................................................87:44-46

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 // 81

Sauvignon Blanc

(Malcolm Reeves).........................................85:58

Manipulation of methoxypyrazine concentrations in Sauvignon blanc wine using leaf and rachis additions [12-107], Claire Grose, Damian Martin, Jeff Bennett, L Stuart, Abby Albright and Anne Gunson,........................................... 86:71-72

The science of wine – Simon Hooker....................................... 87:58-59

Influence of juice pH on thiol production [12-108], Claire Grose, Damian Martin, Lily Stuart, Abby Albright, Sharlene Haycock and Anne Gunson,................................. 86:73-74 Influence of juice pH on thiol production [12-108], Claire Grose, Damian Martin, Lily Stuart, Abby Albright and Sharlene Haycock.................................................... 88:96-98

Science Profiles NZW science scholarships (Matias Kinsurik and Arnaud Blouin)................. 85:56

Winning research (Jackie Sammonds).................................................. 87:126 The science of wine – Mat Goddard,............... 88:38-39

Robotic pruners are coming............87:52-53

Vintage Reports Vintage Preview.......................................84:12-15

The science of wine – Vaughn Bell.............................................................. 89:46-47

Vintage 2014..............................................85:10-13

Sustainability & Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ)

Wine Research

SWNZ: making your spray diary easy,................................................................... 85:46 Introducing a new era in scorecards: WiSE.......................................................... 86:48-49 The WiSE choice,...................................87:88-89 Sustainability – where to now? .........88:10-11 The value of benchmarking............. 89:50-51

EIT’s first honorary research fellow

Photo: Carrick Estate, Central Otago, supplied by NZ Winegrowers.

82 //

Vineyard Machinery (also see Mechanical Harvesting/Thinning)

NZ WINEGROWER DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015

The pathway of volatile sulphur compounds in wine yeast [13-102], Matias Kinsurik, Richard Gardner and Bruno Fedrizzi............................................................. 85:64 PGP lower alcohol research programme ....................................................86:63

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