NZ Winegrower Feb/March 2017

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NEW ZEALAND WINEGROWER

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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF NEW ZEALAND WINEGROWERS F EB RUARY/ MAR CH 2017 I SSU E 10 2

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CONTENTS

ISSUE 102

40 R E GUL A R S

FEATURES

4 Editorial

10

Quake Aftermath

The November 14, 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake was a major event, that impacted on New Zealand’s largest wine region. We take a look at how the industry coped, the insurance issues, the Relief Fund and the impact below the ground in this special feature.

18

NZ Pinots Impress the World’s Burgundy Expert

Allen Meadows is a self-confessed “obsessive” Burgundy lover. The author of the quarterly review, Burghound.com, got the chance to taste more than 200 New Zealand Pinots – and he has been mightily impressed, although he has some sage advice for growers and winemakers alike.

30

Companies Look To Lease Rather Than Buy

There is a new phenomenon sweeping Marlborough’s vineyard landscape.

It’s wine companies looking to lease undeveloped land, rather than buy outright. Lawyer Peter Radich looks at the procs and cons of such arrangements.

Tessa Nicholson

6

From the CEO

Philip Gregan

8

In Brief

News stories from around the country

36

Family Vines

Sir George and Karen Fistonich

68

Calendar

Wine happenings in New Zealand

70

Research Supplement

The latest science and research projects funded by NZWinegrowers.

Front Cover: Sir George and Karen Fistonich at Villa Maria.

Photo: Villa Maria.

46

56

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 mailme@joellethomson.com Hawkes Bay: Mary Shanahan maryshanahan173@gmail.com Nelson: Neil Hodgson 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: Ron Mackay 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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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

TUMULTUOUS START FOLLOWS SHAKY END

I

saw this great headline a few weeks back Praise has to be given to how well the industry that basically summed up the weather pulled together, in a time of adversity. so far this year. “2016, the hottest on Both Wine Marlborough and New Zealand record, but summer doesn’t appear to Winegrowers were instantly out and about, discovering what was damaged, what was have got the memo.”

How true is that? With just one month of the needed and relaying that information to all official summer period left, New Zealand has members and most importantly the market. suffered from an avalanche of weather events. We all know that trying to sugar-coat an issue Bomb low weather systems, flooding, severe is not the best way to engender trust within wind, near zero temperatures, sleet, hail, snow. the marketplace. So credit to all for the honest, The one thing missing has been the balmy upfront response to the damage incurred. summer days we hang out all year for. Let’s just As we are about to go to print, NZWingrowers hope the conditions calm down in time for the is preparing for its largest ever marketing upcoming vintage. event – Pinot 2017. Larger even than the highly The tumultuous start to 2017, followed hard successful International Sauvignon Blanc on the heels of the shaky end to 2016 – for the Celebration held last year. With an Aromatics top of the south in particular. The Kaikoura symposium held before and a Classic Reds earthquake in November will be talked about Symposium straight after, the international for years, as will the impact it had on New media will be having a field day.

Zealand’s largest So while there are no wine region. While it stories about the event was bad, it could have in this issue (there will been so much worse. be plenty in the next), No-one was injured in we do still focus on the the wineries, wine loss Praise has to be given to Pinot Noir variety, with was minimal, and tank how well the industry Allen Meadows. If that damage, while serious, name doesn’t ring any was less than if there pulled together, in a time bells straight off, think had not been remedial about Burghound.com, an of adversity. work undertaken after on-line quarterly review the 2013 Seddon earthquakes. that focuses on Burgundy. It was the very first “What is initially clear, in respect of wine of its kind to dedicate itself to one wine varietal, industry losses, is that this event is not a large or and has become the bible for Pinotphiles the unmanageable situation and the flow on effect world over.

Allen was convinced to undertake a tasting to reinsurers will be relatively minor.”

So says Dan Szegota, Senior Broker for ICIB of New Zealand Pinots, late last year. Getting Insurance. He discusses the quake from his him to agree to do so was a feat in itself. But for our wineries, his response to their Pinot insurance perspective, in this issue.

And while this is very much a story relating to Noir is incredibly heartening. Find out more Marlborough, it could well have been any of our on page 18. renowned wine regions suffering. As most are In the meantime, as harvest approaches in the situated near fault lines, the lessons learned in northern regions, I do hope the weather comes Marlborough are vitally important, if such an to the party for you all, and that Vintage 17 is event were to happen elsewhere. one to be remembered, for all the right reasons.

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FROM THE CEO

PHILIP GREGAN

A POSITIVE START TO THE NEW YEAR

T

he New Year is only just behind us and already the year has started with a frenzy of activity with major wine events in the UK and Europe, and the upcoming Pinot Noir 2017 and associated events about to kick off.

So some thoughts on the New Year as well as some closing thoughts on 2016.

NZW Board now complete As members will be aware, shortly before Xmas the Board finalised the appointment of the two non-elected directors to the Board.

This decision was the final step in the process of getting the new Board in place.

The two appointed Directors – Katherine Jacobs from Big Sky Wines and Rachel Taulelei of Kono – will be well known to a number of people in the industry.

A very warm welcome to Rachel and Katherine! (for more see page 28)

UK love of NZ wines continues The recent NZW Annual Trade Tasting in London was a big success. Over 550 trade and media attended during the day including the likes of Jancis Robinson, Oz Clarke and Robert Joseph, while 300 consumers attended the evening session. There was a real buzz/ excitement in the room throughout the day which was great to see.

Thanks to Air New Zealand and NZTE for their support of the event

6 //

The success of New Zealand wine in the UK was highlighted in a recent press release from the UK Wine and Spirit (which I could not have written better if I tried): ‘The British drinker’s love for a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon

more than 5 million litres or the equivalent of almost 7 million bottles in the on trade, showing our love affair with their top quality wine shows no sign of waning.

The impressive UK sales of New Zealand wine comes at a time

“

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s end of year Market Report shows that in the 12 months, to November, over 63 million bottles of New Zealand wine was sold in the UK, up +15% on the same period last year.

Blanc has given Kiwi wine producers a corking Christmas present with sales growing across the board this year….

Despite wine from New Zealand being, on average, more expensive per bottle than any other top ten country selling wine in UK stores, this has not slowed sales so far.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association’s end of year Market Report shows that in the 12 months, to November, over 63 million bottles of New Zealand wine was sold in the UK, up +15% on the same period last year.

This worked out as 56 million bottles in our shops, supermarkets and off licences and 7 million bottles in our pubs, bars and restaurants.

For the 7th consecutive quarter, New Zealand wine has sold

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

when the majority of the top ten countries selling wine in the UK are showing a decline in volume sales.”

Exports reach $1.6 billion For the 12 months to November 2016, Statistics NZ records that wine exports reached the $1.6 billion mark, exactly 12 months after the $1.5 billion mark was passed.

The continuing strong growth in exports is built on the reputation for quality that the industry has built over the past 20 or so years.

Let’s hope there are many more export records broken in coming years.

Brexit UK PM Theresa May outlined the UK Brexit programme/goals in a major speech in London on 17

January. The British PM confirmed that she will trigger Article 50 in March after which there will be a two year period to negotiate the exit deal with the remaining EU countries. Beyond that, however, much remains uncertain, as Brexit is, by definition, a negotiation, and the outcome of any negotiation is uncertain until it is finished.

Meantime, New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English met with Theresa May, and positive noises were made about the prospect of a UK/NZ FTA, as there were about the proposed NZ/EU FTA after Mr English met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Our trade relations with Europe will need to be watched carefully in coming months as with $550 million of NZ wine going into the UK and the EU, these are markets into which we much have competitive access.

Pinot and all that!

Finally, Pinot Noir 2017 will have happened by the time this edition is published. If all the work that has gone into the event

by Pinot Chair Ben Glover, Executive Officer Rachael Fletcher, the Pinot Committee and the NZ Winegrowers team is a sign, Pinot 2017 will have been a huge success.

The event was a sell out with an absolute A-list of global trade and media attendees. Complimenting Pinot 2017 were a range of other events including the Aromatics and Classic Reds Symposia, a Wine Flight and two Sommits all of which will have added up to an unforgettable experience for our overseas guests. What a way to kick off 2017! ■

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GISBORNE Geoff Thorpe Honoured It probably didn’t come as much of a surprise to the New Zealand wine industry that Geoff Thorpe, managing director of Riversun, was acknowledged in the New Year’s Honours – but it was a massive surprise to the man himself.

Thorpe was made an Officer of The New Zealand Order of

Merit (ONZM) for his services to the wine industry, that has spanned three decades. He initially established Riversun Nursery in Gisborne in 1982, and was dedicated to providing a range of grafted plants, for that region’s horticultural sector. But since 1998 Riversun has concentrated on providing true to type vines for the wine

industry. He has been almost solely responsible for the expansion of grape varieties in this country, having established a grapevine quarantine facility in 2003. Thanks to him and the team at Riversun, more than 120 new varieties and clones have made their way into the New Zealand viticultural scene.

His ONZM is well deserved.

WELLINGTON WINE COUNTRY Big Sky’s new Gruner Big Sky Wines in Martinborough now makes a Gruner Veltliner with grapes grown on a neighbouring vineyard in Te Muna Road, which is nine kilometres east of the township.

Winemaker and co-founder Katherine Jacobs, who owns the property with her partner in life and in winemaking, Jeremy Corban, says the wine is proving popular

as an alternative white wine style. Jacobs invested heavily in tasting sessions at the Martinborough Wine Centre during December, pouring wine daily for visitors to the store and to the town, which paid off in wine sales across her range – including the Gruner Veltliner.

“It was a massive amount of time to put into standing, pouring, talking and tasting,

but it’s been amazing to see how positively people respond when they like a wine style after getting to sample it in a low key environment with the winemaker to talk with,” says Jacobs, who also makes small quantities of a barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc (full bodied, thanks to lees aging time) and two Pinot Noirs. All are made with grapes grown on Te Muna Road.

Porter Pinot goes green Wairarapa winemakers John and Hugo Porter are a fatherson team, who have launched a new Pinot Noir called Porter’s Kereru Pinot Noir.

The proceeds from the sales of this small production wine will go towards creating a new wetland area on land the Porter family purchased and is replanting in native trees.

“Several years ago we acquired a block of native bush which had been grazed for many years. Our purchase was with a view to restoring it to its

8 //

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

original glory. We have fenced off the block from grazing, trapped predators, replanted native species and formed a wetland. In the last few years we have been rewarded by the return of native birds to the block – including the majestic Kereru,” says John Porter, who works as a lawyer in Wellington as well as making wine in the Wairarapa.

Proceeds from the sale of Porter’s Kereru Pinot Noir will contribute to the upkeep and maintenance of this land.

MARLBOROUGH Innovative Purchase A large Marlborough farm has been sold to a partnership that includes Sacred Hill Winery and rural investment company My Farm.

The property, situated in the Northbank, is 410 hectares in total, with the plan being to develop 165 hectares into vineyard.

Concentrating on Sauvignon Blanc, the wine will be sold under the label Bartletts Creek Vineyard Limited Partnership.

My Farm, which is described as “rural investors” bought their first Marlborough property, the 72 hectare Patriach vineyard in Wairau Valley, last year. They are believed to be looking at other Marlborough properties suitable for vines.

Sacred Hill will manage the vineyard and have a 24-year lease.

Top Award for Yealands Marlborough based Yealands Family Wines has taken out a Platinum Medal at the International Award of Excellence in Sustainable Winegrowing Competition, run by the Botanical Institute of Texas (BRIT).

BRIT honours organisations in the wine industry that are taking a leading role in implementing sustainable practices. To gain such an honour, the company’s implementation of innovative sustainable practices in the categories of air, water, and land in both winegrowing and winemaking, along with social responsibility practices and the quality of the ensuing wine, are all judged.

“Yealands list of sustainable programmes is long and impressive,” Ed Schneider, BRIT’s President and director said. “That takes commitment and vision.”

Yealands was the only New Zealand company to be acknowledged.

CENTRAL OTAGO Wild Pinot wins Central Otago Pinot Noir is on a roll, says Elbert Jolink, who manages marketing and sales for Wild Earth Wines, which has won two gold medals for its newest Pinot Noir, released in October last year. The 2014 Wild Earth Pinot Noir was awarded gold at the New Zealand International Wine Show in October while it also received gold at the International Wine Challenge in London in December.

The Wild Earth Winery has also released its first Special Edition Wild Earth Pinot Noir, which is made in smaller quantities.

The first vintage was from 2014.

New Cellar Door Archangel Wines is the newest cellar door on the block in Central Otago. Situated just out of Luggate, it sits high on the river terraces of the Clutha River, providing guests with panoramic views east towards Bendigo, north towards Hawea Valley, west into the foothills and

south to the Cromwell basin.

Co-owner Mary Zurakowski is also an artist in residence, providing works for the cellar door, along with other artists taking part in regular exhibitions. The new cellar door will serve platters and is available to be booked for events.

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 9

EARTHQUAKE UPDATE

Quake aftermath Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

U

nless you were in an area where you felt the full force of the November 14 Kaikoura earthquake, it is hard to comprehend the intensity of it.

To put it in perspective, the energy expended in those 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the earth moving, equated to eight million tonne of TNT exploding, or 40 atomic bombs.

So not surprising that Marlborough’s wine industry was affected.

Even though the quake was centred towards the southern end of the region, the impact of that energy force exploding was serious, although it could have been

a lot worse.

A survey undertaken by NZWinegrowers shortly after showed that just over five million litres of wine was lost. While that sounds like an awful lot, it is really just two percent of Marlborough’s total production.

What has been more concerning, is the damage to tanks within the region. The survey estimated that over 60 million litres of tank capacity was damaged, 20 percent of the region’s total capacity.

“Current estimates (December) is that just on 1,000 tanks were damaged to some extent, while another 150 tanks were damaged irreparably,” the survey

report says.

That is a lot of repairs and/ or replacement required for the upcoming 2017 vintage.

Stainless steel manufacturers, while their books were already quite full, have been working overtime in an effort to help fill that gap in time for the fruit to start coming in.

If there is one saving grace coming into vintage 17, it is that yields look to be lower than initially predicted.

Inflorescence figures prior to December showed another large crop was on the cards this year.

However variable weather conditions during flowering have meant

yield predictions have dropped.

Now growers and wineries alike are expecting a yield that will be slightly below average, to average. Nothing like the near record breaking yield of 2016.

Wineries face hurdles Pernod Ricard’s Chief Winemaker, Patrick Materman says most importantly, thanks to the 12.02am timing, nobody at the winery was injured in the earthquake.

However the winery itself suffered a reasonable amount of damage, and while there was some wine loss, it has not impacted on the company’s ability to supply

The power of the quake is obvious in these once perfectly aligned rows.

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

their markets.

“There has certainly been some impact, but this was largely in parts of the winery with older tank designs,” Materman says.

“Tanks we had repaired after the last earthquake (August 2013) came through this one very well.”

The larger tanks, holding 280,000 litres, had been reinforced following 2013 and he says they will be able to provide plenty of capacity heading into vintage.

“But what we have lost is some of the range of sizes of tanks.

Some of the older ones were a bit smaller, so they will take us a bit of time to replace or repair.”

A substantial amount of juice was moved out of Marlborough in the days after November 14, and Materman says that was one of the biggest hurdles for the company.

“It had been a logistical exercise emptying the winery for risk mitigation; moving wine away from the risk of aftershocks, as well as sorting out the winery

so we have the capacity to take in the 2017 vintage. It has been a challenge, but a great example of teamwork.”

Having wineries in Hawke’s Bay and Auckland helped alleviate the issue, with the latter winery now full of Marlborough wine. Pernod Ricard has also rented space at other winemaking facilities to ensure the upcoming vintage is not compromised.

“We have also done a lot of bottling ahead of time and managed to push wine out to overseas markets a bit ahead of when we usually do.”

The other issue for companies such as Pernod Ricard, is getting fruit to the Marlborough winery, from further south. With SH1 out of action south of Clarence, Waipara and Central Otago fruit will now have a long drive to get to Marlborough. Instead of it being three hours on the road, it will now take at least seven to get from Waipara.

Jack Glover, General Manager

Accolade NZ, says they are in a similar situation, having vineyards in Waipara with processing facilities in Marlborough. Although the Accolade wines from Waipara are made at the Waipara Hills winery.

“In terms of Mud House fruit out of Waipara, the Pinot Noir, Riesling and premium Pinot Gris, we would process down there,” Glover says. “But the others we would have brought to Marlborough. (With SH1 out of action) we may look differently about whether we bring the fruit up, or if we bring it up as juice. We still have to make a decision on that.”

Mud House wines are made through New Zealand Wineries, based at Riverlands. Glover says there was damage to a number of tanks within the winery, and as was the case at Pernod Ricard, it was the smaller format tanks most affected.

“That could potentially make a difference to how we look to utilise tank space available this vintage.

If there are fewer smaller tanks available, we may be forced to move away from smaller lots off different blocks.”

Some of the more premium blends have been affected, which he describes as a “great shame”.

“At the time of the earthquake, some of our premium product was in the compromised tanks and that will have an impact. While the literage won’t be high, the commercial value is higher.”

A large amount of Mud House and Accolade products are moved off shore for bottling in Accolade Park in Bristol, and that has freed up tanks for the forthcoming vintage.

To help make up for shortfall, he says ISO containers have been brought in and there will be discussions about moving wine out as soon as possible to be bottled.

Giesen Wine’s Marlborough GM, Rhyan Wardman says the company came through the November quake better than it

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 11

did in 2013.

“In 2013 Giesens was affected, it was one of the few that were. We were fortunate that we could move wine out and other wine companies generously helped in storing it. That freed up space to build new tank farms. All those new tank farms have come through fine.”

Industry response

Some of the damage to wineries in Marlborough after the November 14, 7.8 earthquake.

THE FACTS The 7.8 earthquake expelled the equivalent energy of 8 million tonnes of TNT exploding or 40 atomic bombs It is estimated that just over 5 million litres of wine was lost in Marlborough, although this is just 2% of Marlborough’s total production 60 million litres of tank capacity was damaged or destroyed Close to 1000 tanks were damaged to some extent 150 tanks were damaged irreparably 80 percent of the total of Marlborough’s capacity was not damaged The shakes have continued – with 1785 aftershocks felt in Marlborough in the month ending January 16 96 of those were between 3 and 4 on the Richter scale 16 were between 4 and 5 Three were between 5 and 6

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

Wardman who is also the Chair of the Wine Marlborough Board, says quick action taken by the industry straight after the earthquake is a credit to all.

“We came together quite quickly after the event. NZW were very good at forming the earthquake recovery steering committee and most importantly getting the survey out to try and understand what we were facing.

We were able to take those survey results and have a meaningful discussion around them. We talked about that information and we made it transparent, not only for our members but also our markets.”

He said while there has obviously been damage, it has to be remembered the region was struck by an extremely powerful earthquake.

“We have to remind ourselves that it was a 7.8 – that is a significant event and we have come through it. There are some learnings that will come out of this event. We are getting better and

better in terms of our processing space, our tank manufacturing, our catwalks. I imagine that we will come out of this fairly robust.”

In terms of moving forward, Wardman says there are two aspects to be considered. The remedial action being taken now and the long term security of the industry.

“There are various levers being pulled now, like ISO storage, advanced bottling, storage in other centres. All these are being done pre vintage to allow us to get through vintage 17.

“The second part of the discussion will be how do we affect long term security of our wine processing and continuity of supply to all our markets. Mitigating risk along our entire supply chain will be a focus for us all in the years to come.”

He also says that given how much wine was in tanks when the quake hit, the 2 percent loss implies that many of the tanks did what they were supposed to.

“Some performed better, some not so much. But that has to do with either the location, the age of those tanks and the various systems around it. We also have to remember, that whilst our industry is young, it does span 30 – 40 years. There is some infrastructure out there that is 30 years old and then there is some infrastructure that is less than one year old.” ■

NEW MODEL

The insurance cost Dan Szegota – Senior Broker ICIB Insurance

F

ollowing the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake many similar issues to the 2013 Seddon earthquake have re-occurred. However some additional issues and learnings can be taken from the most recent one, despite assessments, engineering reports and loss assessor reports for larger claims still in a state of flux.

What is initially clear, in respect of wine industry losses, is that this event is not a large or unmanageable situation and the flow on effect to reinsurers will be relatively minor. However the wider non wine industry losses to the Wellington region is a much bigger issue which could highlight the region and bring it more into focus from an underwriting perspective with tighter controls such as earthquake pricing and policy excess structures.

The current insured losses estimate of around $200-$250m to the wine industry, is a reserve, based on immediate and apparent damage to tank farm infrastructure and barrelled/finished stock both at wineries and contract warehouse facilities. It excludes Business Interruption losses as the impact of any inability to process Vintage 17 (V17) is not yet known.

Although the epicentre was located further away than the 2013 Seddon earthquake, the November event was more severe, damage more widespread and therefore the cost to insurers is far higher. Many similar losses to the 2013 event were apparent, including tank and catwalk damage - although it should be noted that those tanks put on plinths following the 2013 earthquake

“It is becoming clear that how finished and barrelled stock is stored requires some greater risk management in terms of pallet height and securing of racking,” Dan Szegota says.

performed better than those still on legs. Finished stock and barrel damage losses are substantially higher than 2013.

Another reason that the losses to insurers have increased is the recently reduced earthquake excess – typically reduced from 5 percent to 2.5 percent a few months pre earthquake. When this percentage is worked to a dollar value, this lower 2.5 percent excess still results in a high cost to the winery but also a higher claim cost to the insurer.

Despite the current site excess structure being in force for a number of years there is still a lack of understanding around how this is applied and the actual dollar value excess applied to a loss. This is an area that wineries should calculate with the help of their broker to understand the residual risk that lies within the business that needs managing following any earthquake loss.

The one issue that is of more concern to insurers (and the

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industry alike) due to its unknown nature, is the impact of processing availability for V17. Many wineries were quick to get tanks ordered and have a temporary solution up and running with insurers making progress payments to help minimise their loss, but also give the insured the ability to maintain markets next year – more formal repairs can then progress post vintage.

Those that use contract facilities are at the mercy of those facilities getting repaired and, if they can, they may only have a limited capacity resulting in no capacity to produce for all existing clients or increased costs incurred having the wine made elsewhere. Insurance policies are able to pick up these increased costs fairly easily if cover was purchased and an insured loss occurred.

The insured losses for an inability to process V17 are also hard to quantify at this stage due to vintage size being an unknown and

policy wordings that differ greatly in terms of how they trigger, and the basis of settlement. These costs will become more apparent in the coming months. However initial indications are good due

requires some greater risk management in terms of pallet height and securing of racking.

Some underinsurance issues at these locations also became apparent mainly due to a lack of

“

What is initially clear, in respect of wine industry losses, is that this event is not a large or unmanageable situation and the flow on effect to reinsurers will be relatively minor. to a pro-active approach from the outset by the industry and insurers alike.

Finished stock losses at contract warehouses are the easiest to quantify and many of these have now been settled and finalised. It is becoming clear that how finished and barrelled stock is stored

knowledge of exact stock holdings at warehousing locations which is an area that wineries should look at in more detail going forward to ensure they have the correct cover at each location they process or store wine stock.

As alluded to previously, I would expect the currently known

size and nature of this event to impact on underwriting controls only, rather than those insurers that currently write wineries moving away from the industry. Pricing may increase slightly but the more likely scenario is a return to 5% site excesses.

This will put greater emphasis on a winery’s own risk management if they are to withstand future events, financially manage losses that are under excess and gear up for the longer term.

Following two large events in three years insurers will be expecting a proactive approach from the industry and tank manufacturers alike to help mitigate these losses.

Naturally there is no good time for an earthquake, however the timing of both the Seddon and Kaikoura earthquakes resulted in relatively minor bulk wine losses from tank and enough time to at least get most processing capacity back for the upcoming vintage. ■

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

VINICULTURE

Funds for uninsurable infrastructure Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

M

arlborough growers and wineries who lost uninsurable infrastructure in the November 14 earthquake are being encouraged to apply for a government grant.

Four million dollars has been set aside by the government to assist with reinstating infrastructure that does not come under general insurance cover, to help primary producers get up and running as soon as possible. The Primary Industry Earthquake Relief Fund could provide assistance to repair on-farm access roads, dams, reservoirs, water troughs, fences and in the case of vineyards: posts, vines and irrigation systems. MPI appointed coordinator, Chris Wilson, says the funds are for uninsurable items, and costs over and above insurable limits. For example if the limit for insuring your fences is $25,000, but the cost of replacing damaged fences equals $45,000, then you can apply for a grant to help defray the difference.

“But the point to emphasize,” Wilson says, “is that the grant would meet some of the costs of reinstated infrastructure, not the actual losses incurred.”

In terms of lost damage to land, the cost of remediation is claimable, but the value of land lost is not covered by the Relief Fund he says.

“If you have slumpage, liquefaction or the land has fallen into the river and you no longer have that piece of land, the only cost you can claim, is the cost of tidying or

cleaning up, or re-contouring the land, if that is feasible. Where the land is deemed a loss, and there is not a repair cost, there is no compensation for the loss.”

Individuals who have already made repairs within the vineyard, are still eligible for a grant Wilson says. If you fall into that category, when you make an application, all you have to do is provide receipts.

If you have not spent any money yet, then on your application form, provide an estimate of the cost.

“For those estimates, provide what would be the normal rates for that activity. For a vineyard that is pretty easy because contractor rates are fairly well known. And in all cases, it is advisable to support claims with photographs.”

One very important point he stresses, is that you can claim your own labour costs.

“For example, if you have been sitting on a tractor and using your own post driver, then you can claim the contractor rate for doing that, even though you are driving your own machine yourself. And for all estimates – use those contractor rates.”

With $4m having been set aside, limits have been placed on those applying for a grant. Damage wise, the total cost must exceed $12,000 and the maximum funding to an individual is $50,000.

There is an excess of $5000 and the grant will only meet a maximum of 50 percent of costs. People are encouraged to include all costs in their claim though, even where it exceeds the maximum funding.

While this is a government

You can claim you own labour costs, if you have had to clear or repair infrastructure.

initiative being overseen by MPI, the Marlborough District Council will be receiving all applications on behalf of the Assessment Panel. The application form can be found on the Marlborough District Council’s website, under Primary Industries Earthquake Relief Fund.

All of the applications will be considered by a panel of 11, including the three Mayors of the Marl-

borough, Hurunui and Kaikoura Councils, along with consultants, and a Federated Farmers representative. The panel will be chaired

by Jeremy Neild, Consultant at Agricultural Services Ltd. All applications need to be in

by February 28 and decisions on successful grants will be made by the end of March. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

ON-FARM EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY SKILLED WORKER INITIATIVE LAUNCHED Growers who need extra help on the farm as a result of November’s earthquake and aftershocks should call 0800 FARMING (327 646).

Their needs will be matched with skilled workers and volunteers, under the Government’s Earthquake Recovery Primary Industries Skilled Worker Initiative which kicked off in January.

Following Minister Guy’s announcement of the Kaikoura earthquake recovery package in November, MPI has joined forces with Federated Farmers to carry out the skilled worker initiative. A total of $600,000 funding is available to reimburse skilled workers and subsidise volunteer expenses for on-farm earthquake recovery work.

Contact 0800 327 646 (0800 FARMING) to lodge requests for help on the farm, or to offer your help as a volunteer or worker. All requests and offers are being managed through Federated Farmers’ central system. The 0800 FARMING line opened to members and non-members alike following the quakes, to provide a single point of contact for rural assistance and offers of help from around the country.

As the logistics of managing the longer-term recovery grew, all requests and offers of help, including those identified by the local Rural Support Trusts and sector organisation visits, have been compiled into one central detailed database to record all requests for assistance and offers of help. There are currently more volunteers than requests so farmers and growers are encouraged to come forwards.

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 15

Response of Marlborough’s aquifers Peter Davidson, Senior Scientist, Marlborough District Council

A

quifers are affected by many natural phenomena, especially aquifers formed of compressible silts or clays. Groundwater levels in wells as far inland as Blenheim rise and fall in response to ocean tides in Cloudy Bay. Groundwater levels in deep wells 50 kilometres from the sea at Wairau Valley respond to changes in the gravitational pull of the moon.

Low atmospheric pressure causes well levels to rise as does the loading of the Wairau River when it is in flood, squeezing the confined Wairau Aquifer like a water bed.

Trains travelling between Christchurch and Blenheim affect well levels momentarily at Riverlands. It isn’t surprising then that seismic waves generated by earthquakes also affect the behaviour

Figure 1

of water levels in wells and effectively act as seismographs.

The 2013 Seddon earthquakes caused a response in most of the

Figure 2

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

Marlborough District Council’s network of automatically monitored wells because of its proximity.

The levels of some wells rose while others fell with the largest change being around 0.8 metres at the Marlborough District Council deep well 2917 in the OmakaHawkesbury Valley which is shown in the graph above.

These were the largest changes experienced at the time and dwarfed the previous responses induced by the Japan and Fiordland events.

The response at well 2917 to the November 2016 Kaikoura earthquake was far more dramatic due to the greater energy released. (see figure 2) Groundwater levels rose by an astounding 5 metres and the magnitude of the response was mimicked across the confined aquifers monitored by MDC. MDC staff have been working with GNS Science and other researchers since the 2010

Christchurch earthquake to discover what impact earthquakes have on the geological formations that form aquifers, whether the effects are permanent or not and how individual well productivity is affected.

Another unwanted side effect of the earthquake was cloudy groundwater in some wells.

This was experienced at wells across all areas of the Wairau Plain, not just the coastal areas where there are compressible sediments and the potential for liquefaction.

The way it works is the shaking caused clays or silts to mobilise and discolour the water.

It was a temporary phenomenon, but lasted for a week or more in some wells.

Marlborough District Council are also interested to know if the earthquakes caused any changes

in water quality such as increased presence of microbes.

The seismic waves generated by the earthquake caused a rapid upwards flow of groundwater in wells which damaged sensitive water level instruments at 4 MDC permanent recorder wells in the coastal and Riverlands areas. They are under repair. Most irrigation wells wouldn’t have been affected as they are sealed.

The large rises in groundwater levels don’t literally mean the water table is nearer the surface after the earthquake as they are associated with deep, confined aquifers.

Brancott Aquifer deep layer levels at 3333 rose by around 3.5 metres as shown by the offset blue line in the envelope (figure 3).

The photo (figure 4) shows well 3333 free flowing with water slowly seeping out onto the ground.

Figure 4

This has never happened before in the previous 17 years the well has been in existence and

Figure 3

monitored by MDC. Until now the static or natural groundwater table was 3 or so metres below ground. The 2 posts support the instrument cabinet which has been temporarily removed by MDC hydrology staff member so that the well can be capped to stop it free-flowing, which is wasteful. If irrigators or domestic well owners have noticed changes in their water quality or well productivity since the mid November 2016 earthquake, Marlborough District Council hydrology staff are interested in hearing about the details. Call Peter Davidson on 5207400 or email: peter.davidson@ marlborough.govt.nz. ■

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 17

NZ PINOT NOIR

Our Pinot is pushing the boundaries

A

llen Meadows is a selfconfessed, “obsessive” Burgundy lover.

So much so that his life is spent compiling advice and information on the world’s foremost Pinot Noir region. His quarterly review Burghound.com was the first of its kind to dedicate itself to the wines of a particular region – and has become the go-to for lovers of the variety.

While his reviews offer regular updates on Oregon and Californian Pinot, it is not often that other New World countries are included in his extremely popular review. Hence a tasting of 221 wines from New Zealand was an amazing achievement, organised

by NZW’s Marketing Manager USA, David Strada.

Just getting Meadows to a tasting was an accomplishment – but the end results which featured in Issue 64 of Burghound.com (October 2016) were even more so.

Of the 221 wines tasted, 82 were ranked as 90 points or above. And in his report, Meadows had this to say; “We have yet to see New Zealand’s full Pinot Noir potential revealed. Given the very solid

18 //

quality and for the most part, still reasonable prices, there is every reason to be excited and optimistic about the future. If you haven’t tried some of the better examples, I encourage you to do so and see for yourself.”

Tessa Nicholson talked to Allen to get his personal thoughts on where New Zealand Pinot Noir sits currently and where it is going in the future.

It has been three years since your last tasting of New Zealand Pinot Noir. Back then it was a tasting involving 116 wines from 58 producers. In 2016 it was 211 wines from 111 producers. Were you surprised at the growth and evolution in that short time period?

I was indeed very pleasantly surprised by the increased participation in 2016 relative to the prior tasting. I suspect that this remarkable increase was due to some combination of the continued growth of the New Zealand wine industry coupled with David Strada’s tireless efforts to encourage wineries to contribute wines for review. From purely a personal standpoint I would like to think that another possible

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

reason so many growers chipped in is knowing that Burghound.com is a Pinot-centric publication with a global perspective on the current state-of-the-art.

Looking back at your tasting notes of 2013 – what were the major changes you see from this tasting?

This is a fascinating question that could easily warrant an entire article. Three Allen Meadows – years does not the Burghound. sound like a particularly long time going out into the field with winyet in a country like New Zealand emakers to see not only their vinewhere there is so much exciting yards but to discuss with them the exploration going on, it is in fact prospecting that they’re doing for significant. I wish to underscore new and different microclimates that when I use the word “explo- that might make for potentially ration”, I mean it in two distinct interesting Pinot plantations. senses; the first is in terms of the However the second sense is search for new vineyard sites. I actually for me as a critic the more have been to New Zealand several interesting of the two, as one thing times and each trip has involved that really came through in this

Prophet’s Rock.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED BY NZW

most recent tasting is how wineries are pushing the boundaries of winemaking. Perhaps stated differently, the winemaking in the prior tasting seemed “safer and less adventurous” if you will.

While it’s important to note that for the most part the vintages were not the same in the two reports, and this obviously contributed to the differences, my strong sense of things is that winemakers are taking more chances and being more innovative. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t and the proof of this is the understandable fact that I’ve never met a first-rate winemaker yet who didn’t make a few mistakes along the way. Trial and error is the path forward as things that don’t work are discarded and those that do are implemented and gradually refined. As one small example of what I’m referring to, there was a lot more whole cluster fermentations this time around than the last.

What I find illuminating about this is that I didn’t necessarily find enormous

qualitative differences between the two tastings so much as I found a greater range of styles.

This strongly suggests, if not confirms, that there is growing confidence among the New Zealand winemaker community to experiment so as to push the boundaries of their knowledge. As I noted, some of these experiments will warrant more interest and some won’t but my ultimate take away from the most recent review is that there is a developing conviction that New Zealand deserves a place at the table when the discussion turns to world class Pinot Noir. This conviction in turn leads to a willingness to take chances in the hopes of obtaining even higher quality.

You spend a good deal of time each year in Burgundy and know very well its AOCs. Do you see distinct styles emerging from the Pinot Noir regions and sub-regions of New Zealand?

I might rephrase the question slightly to suggest that the New Zea93 points on land regional Burghound.com distinctions

that I see are less about style and more about terroir characteristics.

I hesitate to be categorical about it, as the final chapter regarding what are the specific attributes for any one growing region and/ or sub-region might yet to be written….and probably won’t be for another 50 to 100 years. This is due to a number of particular possibilities, not the least of which are vine age, clonal selection, viticultural philosophy and new vineyard plantings.

Notice that absent from this list is winemaking technique. I say this because if New Zealand is ultimately to ascend to the pinnacle of Pinot Noir, it won’t be technique that accomplishes it but rather two key elements. The first is obviously the quality of the underlying terroirs that New Zealand has, in other words, the overriding question that must be answered is there is a “there there?” For what it’s worth, my sense of it is that there is very much a “there there” but, just as Burgundy’s terroirs took centuries to discover and delimit, New Zealand’s won’t be found and developed overnight either.

The second key element is whether, collectively speaking, winemakers allow their terroirs to be heard as it were. Winemaking techniques are so powerful today that they can easily overwhelm the subtleties of terroir expression and in this sense less is more.

Moreover, figuring out how to first

obtain the best fruit from each terroir is an art unto itself and this is where clonal selection and viticultural philosophies come into play, not to mention New Zealand’s restrictive regulations regarding the importations of promising clones and/or rootstocks.

All of those aspects duly noted, is there a growing consistency of regional terroir expression? Absolutely. The challenge now for the New Zealand grower community is to refine it and allow those individual regional differences to be consistently expressed. It requires a lot of winemaking discipline not to try make Vosne-Romanée or Gevrey-Chambertin or Volnay instead of focusing on what your fruit from your vineyard’s giving you. For example, Central Otago doesn’t make Martinborough and vice versa but the wisdom to accept this rather than trying to trade the elegance of one for the power of the other is a temptation that should best be avoided in my view.

On an average basis what did you think about the age-ability of the wines?

This is another question that could easily engender an extended discussion. In the interest of brevity though, if we put aside those wines that are expressly made for early consumption, there is nothing that I see that should prevent the average New Zealand Pinot from a good vintage from rewarding anywhere from 10 to

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20 years of cellaring. Most examples of Pinot Noir start to become interesting at around six to eight years of age, as this is the typical inflexion point where the primary fruit begins to turn secondary and where at least some of the supporting tannic structure begins to soften.

After that it rapidly becomes a question of personal preference but again, there isn’t anything that I see to suggest that New Zealand Pinots are any less ageworthy than perhaps all but the very greatest terroirs in Burgundy. That said, I hasten to note that there is no particular reason that this should be the case forevermore. I say this because as the average vine

age in New Zealand continues to increase, and potential wine concentrations with it, it’s entirely possible that the ageworthiness of New Zealand Pinot will continue to increase as well such that it may one day match that of grand cru Burgundy.

You reviewed wines from 2010 to 2014 – which years stood out?

The majority of the wines submitted were from the 2012, 2013 and 2014 vintages. Among those wines that I had a chance to review, 2014 was the most consistent, followed by 2012 and then 2013. However, it should be noted that both good and less good wines were produced in all three vintages. Moreover, just

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

like Burgundy, Oregon and California, there are always exceptions to vintage generalizations. For example, while I found more very good to excellent wines from 2014 and 2012 compared to 2013, when the latter is good it’s really good.

I constantly remind Burghound readers to take vintage generalizations with a grain of salt and focus on the excellent wines that are made in almost every year as this is how smart consumers stock their cellars.

Do you have any observations that you think New Zealand winemakers should be taking note of for the future?

They’re actually no different than I would offer to winemakers from any region and I include Burgundy in this statement.

The most important criterion, indeed the critical criterion, that any aspiring world class Pinot producing region must do is to produce something that can’t be found anywhere else. This of course sounds simple and in one sense, it is extremely simple.

However doing it, and doing it consistently, is extremely hard.

What I mean by this is that New Zealand must offer Pinots that consumers can’t obtain anywhere else but New Zealand.

And in my view the first thing that typically must change in order to accomplish this is that the producer mindset itself must change such that he or she stops thinking of themselves as a Pinot

Noir grower but rather as one that makes Wairarapa or Central Otago or Nelson or Marlborough or name your region. If we then take this concept another step, then the sub-regions come into play so that, for example in Wairarapa, the grower thinks in terms of producing Masterton, Gladstone or Martinborough.

I would suggest that New Zealand growers consider adopting the Burgundian concept that they don’t make Pinot Noir but rather Richebourg, or Corton, or Clos de la Roche. This might sound a bit precious to New World sensibilities but it is in fact the key to differentiating what they do from what everyone else does. And in the same vein, New Zealand growers that think of themselves as producing say Canterbury are fundamentally changing their approach to expressing, and preserving, what their wines have to say. Moreover, they are reinforcing the concept to consumers that the only place in the entire world that they’re going to find this particular expression is in Canterbury in the same fashion that consumers understand that if they want to enjoy Vosne-Romanée, they have to seek out something from that commune.

In my strong opinion this is how not only commercial success is achieved but also the respect that comes with making a unique expression of Pinot Noir. I fully appreciate that this is very easy

to say and exceptionally hard to do but in the end, it’s the only way that guarantees long-term success.

What is your overall assessment of New Zealand Pinot Noirs vis-àvis those from other leading Pinot regions around the world?

I dislike sugarcoating things and the honest answer is that while New Zealand is producing some excellent Pinot Noirs, there is still work to be done and progress to be made. At the same time, it’s necessary to acknowledge that virtually the same observation could be made about all Pinot producing regions in the world. Putting Burgundy aside for a moment given its advantages in terms of understanding its terroirs due to centuries of experience along with very high levels of average vine age, together with Oregon, I like New Zealand’s chances to potentially assume preeminent status as the leading Pinot producer in the New World.

I believe this could come to

pass because the best New Zealand Pinots combine two things better than any other New World region, which is to say combining excellent phenolic ripeness levels with Burgundian-style acidity.

This combination allows the wines to be accessible young while keep-

ing them refreshing plus it ensures that they will reward extended cellaring as well, which is something that all of the greatest wines in the world from whatever region and grape variety have in common.

I for one am extremely optimistic about the future of New

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Zealand Pinot Noir. The current state-of-the-art is already wonderfully exciting and it’s reassuring in its fashion to think that quality is only going to improve from here for all of the reasons that I cited previously. I for one can’t wait to see how it continues to evolve and develop!

The importance of Allen Meadow’s article focusing on New Zealand Pinot Noir cannot be underestimated. Nor can the logistics that ensured he had more than 220 wines to sample. Thanks must go to Amber Silvester from NZW in Auckland who was responsible for coordinating the consolidated shipping of the wines to America.

The full report on New Zealand Pinot Noir appeared in Issue 64 of Burghound.com, released in October 2016.

For more information about the quarterly review along with subscription details, visit www. burghound.com ■

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 21

VINEYARD ECOSYSTEMS

Securing the future Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

A

s the New Zealand wine industry matures, the goal of the national body is to ensure that we secure our future in an environmentally sustainable way.

That is the basis of the ambitious New Zealand Winegrowers’ Vineyard Ecosystems programme which began in 2015 and is co-funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) through its Science and Innovation Partnership programme. Over the course of the programme, $7 million dollars will be invested in research that aims to help increase productivity, improve fruit quality, and reduce reliance on synthetic chemistry, while increasing vine age and i m p ro v i n g e n v i ro n m e n t a l sustainability.

Programme manager Nick Hoskins outlines how Vineyard Ecosystems will achieve those objectives.

“It is a programme because there are a number of teams and science disciplines

involved; entomology, ecology, microbiology, molecular biology, virology, chemistry and statistics,” he said.

It also involves teams of scientists from a range of research providers, including Plant & Food Research, Auckland University and outside contractors. The programme, which is directed by New Zealand Winegrowers, is also more extensive, in that it will cover seven years of research, not the typical three.

“The programme is a shift away from looking at individual issues and it is trying to gain a better understanding of the whole vineyard ecosystem under two contrasting management regimes – the use of synthetic chemistry and no use of synthetic chemistry.

The overarching goal is ambitious in that we are attempting to understand the entire vineyard ecosystem, what is in the soil in terms of microbes. The chemistry of the soil. We are trying to understand what is in the vines in terms of pathogens, fungi, viruses.

We are trying to understand what is on the vine and trying to look

at those differences under the two contrasting management regimes.”

Defining the two separate regimes caused a lot of discussion within the advisory group and they have steered away from labelling them as “conventional” and “organic”. Instead, the regimes are referred to as “future” and “contemporary”.

“We settled on the term ‘future’, as in the future we can be sure that what we are doing now, we won’t necessarily still be doing,” Hoskins said. “And it may or may not involve the use of synthetic chemistry. (Synthetic chemistry is defined as any chemical not allowed within BioGro). We chose the term ‘contemporary’ because it is defined as existing or occurring at the present time.”

The time frame of the programme isn’t the only ambitious aspect of this research.

Data will be collected from 24 individual sites, with 12 sites in Hawke’s Bay and another 12 in Marlborough. Half of the sites are managed under the contemporary regime, the other half, under

Specialist equipment to measure irrigation input has been installed in the ‘gold sites’.

22 //

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

future.

Each site will be visited three times a year for sample collection and monitoring related to the individual projects within the programme. It is a massive task for the researchers, and an even greater one for the statistics department at Auckland University, which will collate all the relevant material.

So far 648 holes have been dug over the 24 sites and soil samples for DNA sequencing collected.

The soil samples are collected at three different times during each growing season for analysis over the remaining six years of the programme.

Each of the 24 sites will be visited many times each season by the science teams in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough to collect viticultural data, including weather, phenology, management practices, canopy caps, yield data, pest and disease information.

Analysis over the long time frame will enable researchers to determine any long-term biodiversity changes.

In both Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough there are two sites referred to as “gold sites”. Hoskins said these will provide even more in-depth information.

“They have specialist equipment installed to measure irrigation input, using soil and moisture probes which go down 1.5 metres. They have flux metres to measure soil drainage and leaching. We have also done leaf water potential on those sites as well.”

The first year’s data is in, but meaningful results will require time; meanwhile, data collection and analysis continue.■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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Mealybugs and under vine management Within New Zealand Winegrowers’ Vineyard Ecosystems Programme, scientists are determined to discover if ground cover plants can help to reduce the adverse economic influence of grapevine leafroll virus, as Tessa Nicholson discovers.

M

ealybugs have quickly become the bane of grape growers throughout much of New Zealand. The ability of this insect group to transmit leafroll virus from one vine to another has resulted in a large number of vines having to be removed due to this non-curable infection.

Dr Vaughn Bell, from Plant &

Food Research in Hawke’s Bay, discussed how the new research programme (funded by New Zealand Winegrowers with co-funding from MBIE) aims to identify new tactics that might slow or even prevent the spread of leafroll virus.

He says the objective of this new research is to define the relationship between the vine, the ground cover plants and mealybugs. Bell added that the provision

of an off-vine habitat persisting over time could reduce grapevine susceptibility to mealybugs.

“We need to determine the presence of the mealybugs, the patterns of habitat use within those vineyards – are they on the vines, are they on the ground cover plants, or do they colonise both of those habitats? Factors like undervine herbicide use and soil cultivation may destabilise the habitat

that might otherwise support mealybugs.

“Where mealybugs are present, we want to look at the concept of whether any of those under-vine plants could act as a mealybug ‘trap’, for want of a better term.

In other words, are they capable of separating the mealybug from the grapevine effectively and persistently?”

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tion because if the mealybugs are absent from the vine, they can neither acquire leafroll virus nor can they transmit it to healthy vines.

This programme is not just about discovering whether ground cover plants provide an ideal environment for natural enemies of mealybugs (that will be looked at separately). Instead, this study seeks to ascertain the ground cover plants preferred by mealybugs.

The research, which began in 2015, could continue for a further five years, depending on the results.

It is being undertaken in eight mature Merlot vineyards situated in Hawke’s Bay. Five of those are under “Future” management, and three are under “Contemporary” management (see previous story on why these descriptors have been chosen to differentiate vineyard regimes).

“In November, January and March of each growing season, we will be monitoring the mealybug populations in each of those blocks,” Bell says.

To determine the habitat use by mealybugs, and how that might change during the course of the season (and between years), a combination of monitoring methods are being used, including pheromone traps, assessments of numbers on 200 leaves per block at each visit, and numbers present on 50 ground cover plants per block per visit.

“The pheromone traps offer a passive yet reliable means of determining mealybug presence.

The ability to look at vine leaves and ground cover plants concurrently gives us an idea of where those mealybugs are at each of those three points in time, something the pheromone trapping cannot quantify.”

In the first year of the programme, the pheromone traps showed that the citrophilus mealybug was present in all eight vineyards in January and again in April. They were also generally

found on the leaves of vines and on the ground cover plants.

“But there was a big variation in the numbers we found on either of those habitats across different blocks,” Bell says.

“In two of the future and two of the contemporary blocks, we struggled to find mealybugs on the vine leaves and on the ground cover plants.”

In another three future blocks, the mealybug numbers were moderate to high (30 – 70 mealybugs for every 100 leaves inspected). It was the last of the contemporary blocks that Bell says was a classic scenario – one that every grape grower fears.

“The mealybug numbers in this block – 450 per 100 leaves inspected – were very high in the vine canopy. The combination of the under-vine herbicide strip and the burning off of the interrow groundcover during summer meant there were very few ground cover plants able to support mealybugs. Unsurprisingly then, few mealybugs were found on the ground cover plant community. So it is the classic example where they actually had little to no choice other than to colonise the only available habitat – the grapevines.”

While admitting these results are for a single year only, Bell says that there was no clear distinction between contemporary versus future management systems particularly in respect of mealybugs.

“That may change over time, but we will just have to watch and see how this develops over the next couple of years.”

When it came to ground cover plants, Bell says many of the vineyards within the project were dominated by grass and bare ground.

“That is not habitat that mealybug can use. On the other hand, where we found white clover and hawksbeard, it seemed both plant species were readily colonised by mealybugs, suggesting both were deliberately targeted

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Mealy bugs were found not only on the ground cover plants, but also on the roots and surrounding soil.

by the insects. It would be nice to determine in time whether or not these plants are more attractive to mealybugs than the grapevines themselves.”

Determining mealybug numbers on ground cover plants did not just mean looking above ground. Each of the plants removed included as much of the root material as possible, as well as a plug of surrounding soil. In terms of the future blocks, 22 percent of clover removed in November was

found with at least one mealybug.

“By the time we got to January and March, over 60 percent of the clovers inspected in the future blocks were found with mealybug. Hawksbeard was also attractive from mid to late season, with over 50 percent found with mealybugs. These numbers were much higher than what was found on plants like creeping mallow, dove’s foot, plantains and other species we looked at.”

As for the contemporary

blocks, very little clover was detected in any of them, which may have been the result of repeated herbicide use. Of the clover plants that were collected, mealybugs were not found. Hawksbeard too was not commonly found, and when it was inspected, only 20 percent of samples were found with mealybug.

The research is also keeping a close eye on the level of leafroll virus in each of the eight blocks.

“How will that change over

Phone 06-879 7799 • email: spares@viniquip.co.nz

26 //

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

time and how might that reflect mealybug habitat use in those vineyards? Were they on the vines?

Were they on the ground cover plants and what does either result mean in terms of virus spread and the patterns of virus spread?”

Long term, this research might just provide another tool in the box for those growers trying to manage and reduce the incidence of leafroll virus.

However Bell emphasises that this research does not change the current process of managing grapevine leafroll virus.

“That is about identifying and removing the virus-infected vines, and managing the insects that transmit the virus to healthy vines. I don’t for a minute anticipate the work we are doing here will replace any of that. Instead, I see it as perhaps adding to the existing set of recommendations for virus management as developed and promulgated by New Zealand Winegrowers.” ■

REGIONS - HAWKE’S BAY

One final show Mary Shanahan

O

ne of former Prime Minister John Key’s final tasks, scored him a front row seat at last year’s Hawke’s Bay Wine Auction, which raised a record-breaking $180,000 towards Cranford Hospice.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the auction was a sell-out event, attracting 600 wine enthusiasts from across New Zealand.

The first offering was a commemorative lot comprising a medley of wines contributed by members of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers as a tribute to Lawrence Redshaw.

As Hawke’s Bay Vintners’ honorary auctioneer from 1992 to 2002, Redshaw helped raise

more than $1 million for the hospice cause.

Among the outstanding sales at the most recent auction were a half barrel of Sacred Hill’s 2015 Shotgun Chardonnay, which went for $8400, and winemaker Tony Bish’s 2016 Wine & Arts Collaborative All Things Beautiful - an all Hawke’s Bay offering of three dozen 2015 Golden Egg Chardonnay, a gold, diamond and platinum pendant hand-made by Gerard Smith of Glisten Jewellery and a framed image by photographer Richard Brimer -- which fetched $15,000.

Other notable sales were Clearview Estate Winery and Restaurant’s play, stay and savour experience ($7500), a 25-year

membership of Elephant Hill’s newly-established reserve wine club which provides the successful bidder with a yearly allocation of wine ($9600) and a barrel of Church Road’s 2014 The Squirrel Malbec ($12,100).

Gavin Chilcott’s donated artwork, painting for grown-ups - a meditation aid, raised $12,100 well above the expected maximum of $10,000.

With $150,000 as the fundraising target, the auction outstripped last year’s record of $140,000, helped no doubt by generous donations of wines from 2013, which wine writer Yvonne Lorkin characterised as “the greatest vintage of our time”. ■ maryshanahan173@gmail.com

Former Prime Minister John Key, at the Hawke’s Bay Wine Action last year.

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NZW NEWS

Two more directors

A

t the recent elections for NZWinegrowers Inc, there was a noticeable lack of female candidates.

Consequently, the 10 directors chosen by members were all males. But that gender imbalance has been somewhat countered by the appointment of two more Directors, bringing the board numbers up to 12.

The newly appointed directors are Rachel Taulelei and Katherine Jacobs.

Rachel is the CEO of Kono, which produces the brands Tohu, Rewa and Aronui. She came into the wine role with an array of experience behind her, having been the former NZTE Commissioner to the US and the founder of Yellow Brick Road.

Rachel Taulelei

Kono is the food and beverage arm of Wakatu Incorporation, based in the top of the South Island. All 4000 shareholders are descendants of the original 254 Maori landowning families in the Nelson, Marlborough, Golden Bay

and Tasman Bay regions.

Sustainability has been a major factor in Rachel’s business history, which makes her a perfect fit for NZWinegrowers.

Her business acumen has been acknowledged with a Sir Peter Blake Leadership award in 2012 and last year her services to the food and hospitality industry were recognised when she was made Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

The issues Rachel feels strongly about within the wine industry are ensuring we maintain our premium positioning, realizing the true value of our products, opening new markets, and that the messages we share with the world are authentic.

“I’m over the moon to have an opportunity to contribute to

Katherine Jacobs

the New Zealand wine story. I’m incredibly passionate about our primary industry and wine is one of the most sophisticated aspects of the sector. I look forward to being part of the conversation.”

Katherine Jacobs will be the

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CHAIRS ANNOUNCED As well as appointing two extra directors, the new board of NZW Inc has selected the chairs for all the committees.

They are: Finance- Peter Holley Remuneration Steve Green Marketing - Clive Jones Research - Dominic Pecchenino Sustainability Fabian Yukich Advocacy - John Clarke

only Wellington Wine Country representative on the new Board of NZW Inc, and the first regional representative for a number of years. The owner (with her husband Jeremy Corban) of Big Sky Wines in Martinborough, she brings to the table an array

of skills.

In an earlier life her career was based on advertising and marketing with agencies both here in New Zealand and London. She changed career paths a little later and undertook a double major in public policy and gender studies at Victoria University. Once completed she worked for Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA), helping women in Zimbabwe, before taking on the role of marketing/fundraising Manager for VSA, Red Cross and YMCA. Her interest in wine was totally influenced by marrying Jeremy and while living in France she decided to take that love a step further by undertaking a correspondence course in viticulture and winemaking, with EIT. Hooked on the potential of the industry in New Zealand, the couple first began looking for land in Martinborough in the early 1990s finally finding their perfect spot in 2005, a 10 hectare block. They

ALD0471 NZ Wine Grower Half Page 120x180mm-Ron_PATHS.indd 1

have worked on developing their vineyard and brand, with plenty of help from the very supportive local Martinborough community and established an enviable export market.

When asked what she would bring to the board, Jacob’s says; “I have a strategic vision. We may be small but we have a global view.

Every decision we make, is purposely aimed at being the best in

the world. Everything we do at a micro level aims towards that and that is a vision for all of New Zealand. There is a lot more scope for New Zealand wine in the world, and I am very excited about how we achieve that.”

The fact that as an owner operator of a premium boutique wine business, she touches every part of the business is another major advantage she believes. ■

19/09/16 4:31 PM NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 29

LEGAL NEWS

Companies look to lease rather than buy Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

A

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

new phenomena is sweeping Marlborough’s wine industry.

As bigger companies look to expand their supply, they are increasingly looking to lease land rather than buy outright.

In the past few years a number of large properties have been leased by the likes of Constellation, Delegat’s and Indevin, with wholescale vineyard development being undertaken.

Lawyer Peter Radich says it was not something people considered in the region a few years back, but as restrictions on overseas investment grow, and land values rise, it has suddenly become a viable option.

“There were some leases undertaken quite a number of years ago when Montana (as they were) decided to lease some Rapaura properties and those leases have carried on. Then leasing went out of fashion with the wine companies. I think that was because the rentals that were having to be paid, were disproportionate to the returns the wine companies were getting back.”

Now they are back in favour, with two styles being considered by landowners and wine companies. One, is leasing an already developed vineyard. The other is for a wine company to lease bare land. Radich says this is the more popular of the two options.

“The wine company then puts all of the grapes and support structures in place, the irrigation and where appropriate, wind machines as well,” Radich says. “Then it takes the crop. Under those typical arrangements, the wine company will be paying the landowner a value of 7 to 7.5 percent and in some infrequent cases 8 percent of

Peter Radich

the capital value of the land, before improvement.”

He says typically, these leases have rent review arrangements every five years.

“So the rental will start off at say 7% of $1 million and then five years later that will be reviewed.

What is reviewed is not the percentage because that is set, it is the capital value of the land alone.

So if the land (without improvements) is valued at $1.5 million after five years, then the landowner gets a return of 7% of that.”

Radich describes the arrangement as “an attractive one” from the point of view of a landowner who doesn’t want to be actively involved in viticulture themselves, but is looking for a secure investment that ensures they do not lose their land forever.

“We have got people who say, ‘we are now in our 60’s and we don’t want the hassle of developing a vineyard – but we have owned the land for donkeys years and we don’t want to sell it. We want to hand something on to our children’. Yes they won’t be able to get access to it for 30 years or more, but they will have a nice income from it.”

Some good reasons for landowners, but why are wine companies so keen to lease land?

“Security of supply, and I think it is probably evident to wine companies that they can produce their own grapes, even if they are leasing land, at a more favourable price than by paying contract growers to do so.”

For wine companies owned offshore, the ability to increase supply without having to go through the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) is another reason why leasing has become more popular in recent years, Radich says. As the OIO tightens its rules on who can buy New Zealand land, more off shore companies are looking for alternatives. Given there are also certain restrictions relating to off shore companies leasing land, Radich says one at least, is using a profit-á prendre arrangement.

This is defined as the ‘right of taking the produce or part of the soil from the land of another person’, and is allowed under OIO rules.

While Radich couldn’t say exactly how much Marlborough land is currently being leased, he described it as “an awful lot”.

So what are the issues – what should a landowner consider before going into a lease agreement?

“First thing is the certainty of arrangements,” Radich says. “In other words, how long is a lease for? Does the wine company want a right of renewal and if so, how long would that be for? When are the rent reviews due? How are the rent reviews dealt with? Who is responsible for the outgoings, rates and everything else? Is the rate of return sufficient and is it a fair rate of return on your capital value?”

He also says the landowner needs to be happy with the way the land is going to be farmed – and the effect that form of farming will have on the long term value of the land.

“There are also issues if you are remaining living on the land. To what extent will the activities of the vineyard development affect you in your home? The presence

of wind machines is one of those sort of issues.”

Another critical issue is who controls the water rights. Given Marlborough like so many other places in New Zealand has an over allocation of water, (even if not all that water is being used), there are risks that if the wine company does not adhere to the rights, they can be withdrawn.

“Water rights are an asset of huge value. You have to be sure that you ultimately have control of your water right when you get your land back. No more rights are being given out, so once it is lost, you are unlikely to regain it.”

Another consideration to take into account, especially given the events of November last year, is what happens if a natural disaster strikes – such as an earthquake?

“This is important and it has got to be addressed. The usual situation is, if the land you are leasing is wrecked, then you can’t expect a return on that. If the land is destroyed, ordinarily the obligation of the lessee to continue paying rent would stop. And in situations for example, where you are near to a river and the river may take away some of the land, the issue becomes one of some importance.”

While weather events that affect crop will be the lessee’s responsibility, anything that impacts on the land remains the landowners.

Radich also advices taking legal advice if you are considering such a contract – given every individual lease has its own idiosyncrasies.

“Every lease is different, with its own set of issues. All of those issues need to be carefully worked through.”

As for the future, he doesn’t see the current trend abating in a hurry.

Especially as the growth of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc continues to grow and wine companies struggle to keep up with demand. ■

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tessa.nicholson@me.com

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 31

RESEARCH NEWS

Enhancing maturity Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

H

aving the ability to enhance maturity of wine grapes could be a major asset for growers around the

country.

Every so often, Mother Nature does not come to the party, providing headaches for growers and wineries wanting to bring fruit in before the weather turns nasty.

Heavier than normal crops, poor ripening conditions and disease threats all add to issues growers face as summer winds down and autumn hovers on the horizon.

But research by Chris Henry from Henry Manufacturing, offers a solution for the age old problem.

And it’s something that already has the approval as a permitted fungicide by BioGro. HML32 is a manufactured formulation of ProtectorHML and food grade potassium bicarbonate. While initially it was developed as a fungicide to control powdery mildew and botrytis on grapes, it has also shown to enhance grape maturity, when sprayed at certain times within the fruit’s lifecycle.

Henry first began seeing signs of enhanced maturity from HML32 sprayed vines back in 2010.

He realised that it could be a tool

32 //

Being able to control maturity may be an added tool for growers, Chris Henry says.

PHOTO: GLADSTONE VINEYARD, SUPPLIED BY NZW.

that could be put to good use in certain conditions.

“You know by veraison if it is required,” he says. “And it can be used if climatic conditions make the fruit hard to ripen, or on hard to ripen varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon. You might want an early harvest to avoid the potential late harvest disease threats or to manage winery logistics.”

His aim was to see if using HML32 as a spray at a certain time, could increase brix levels.

“The aim was an increase of one brix per spray, or two brix for two sprays.”

Since 2010 Henry has

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

undertaken more specific research, including last season, where three varieties; Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah were involved.

All three blocks were in Hawke’s Bay, and the trial included three different spray treatments. They were; HML32, with HML Silco sprayed once, HML32 alone sprayed once and finally HML32 alone, sprayed twice 10 days apart.

Treatments were sprayed at 5 day intervals from the lag phase until close to harvest to determine the best timing. In the trial, timings were described as ‘days after lag phase or days after 5% flowering.

Rob Agnew from Plant and Food

Research reviewed the results in relation to a number of growth stages for different varieties and in different regions and found that 50% veraison was a more workable starting point for growers to determine the right timing.

On Chardonnay, the treatment that showed the most promise was HML32 sprayed twice (at 50% veraison and 10 days later), with the fruit from this treatment being harvested 14 days ahead of the control block that had no spray treatments. At similar timings, the two treatments that were only sprayed once saw fruit harvested seven days ahead of the control.

On Reds, the timing was later about one to two weeks after 50% veraison. On Merlot in particular, where the fruit was harvested on the same day, there was a two brix difference between the two spray treatment block and the control – achieving Henry’s initial aim.

Microvin wines were made from all the treated blocks to ensure there was no impact on the quality of the wine. Henry says they have shown improved tannins, phenolics, pigments and free anthocyanins when compared with the control wines (see table).

Table 1: Wine Cloud Analysis MERLOT

Total Tannins

Total Pigments

Total Phenolics

Pigmented Tannins

Free Anthocyanins

Control

0.82

14.89

39.98

0.86

13.46

HML32/HML Silco (sprayed once)

1.16

26.32

51.36

1.00

24.65

HML32 (sprayed once)

1.38

33.41

58.55

1.19

31.42

HML32 (sprayed twice)

1.56

36.62

62.73

1.36

34.35

Control

0.68

20.81

40.85

0.84

19.41

HML32/HML Silco (sprayed once)

0.78

24.68

44.57

0.88

23.22

HML32 (sprayed once)

0.77

25.96

45.24

0.86

24.53

HML32 (sprayed twice)

1.12

32.08

54.72

0.91

30.56

SYRAH

Tannin recorded in g/L epicatechin equivalents. Other results recorded in Absorbance Units and are therefore comparative results within each variety, not quantitative.

These initial results confirm Henry’s aspiration for the ability of using HML32 as an enhanced maturity tool, defined by him as: “To achieve enhancement without any obvious visual difference or substantial yield loss, while retaining juice parameters

to allow ferments within normal values.”

The big questions you might be asking, is why does this happen?

Henry admits he thought he was on to something unique when he began investigating the use of potassium bicarbonate, only

to discover similar research had been undertaken in the US on table grapes and later followed up

by Israeli researchers. The Israeli findings show that the enhanced maturity mode of action was due to microscopic desiccation, or water loss.

They also found that using potassium bicarbonate as a spray treatment heightened colour, developed thicker skins, advanced sugar concentration, with higher nutrient levels (not just potassium).

Similar findings came out of Henry’s 2015/16 research. Another exciting finding was marked end of season botrytis resilience (also slip skin).

“We are not curing botrytis, but we found there was a lessening of incidence. It appears to increase berry firmness providing more resilience to botrytis. In the Merlot, we also got slipskin resilience from the spray.”

Henry is grateful to all the growers, particularly Villa Maria and Te Mata Estates, and many others who have supported this research. “It gives me great satisfaction to have found another tool for growers to achieve great fruit outcomes”. ■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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REGIONS - MARLBOROUGH

Cloudy Bay’s new lease of life Joelle Thomson

I

t’s the last thing you expect a Frenchman to say but it’s one of the first sentences to spring from JeanGuillaume Prats when he visits New Zealand in late 2016: “Pinots from Marlborough and Central Otago are equivalent to some of the great Pinots of Burgundy and the world.”

Prats is the president and chief executive officer for Moët Hennessy Estates & Wines and he was in New Zealand in early November last year to announce the appointment of a new general manager at Cloudy Bay Vineyards.

Yang Shen has taken over as general manager of Cloudy Bay Vineyards. Not that the Cloudy Bay team need to be managed, Prats was at pains to point out.

“The focus is not to guide the team at Cloudy Bay Vineyards – Jim is expert in the vineyard and has an outstanding overview of the business while Tim is expert in the winery. They are a strong team and in many ways do not need the guidance of a general manager, but the reason for this appointment is our future growth – into China,” says Prats.

That growth is destined to

Jean-Guillaume Prats

be big, but it is not destined to be made up significantly of Sauvignon Blanc, he says.

“We have to stick to a few fundamentals, one being that Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc will remain a relatively limited edition wine. It’s our flagship and we are committed to keeping its high quality image.

“We are not able to expand within Marlborough. Today Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is on allocation internationally and if we go any further, we will change the style and that is something we don’t want to do.”

The only way to export Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc to China is to modify the existing allocation

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

by shifting some of it from some markets to China, but this is unlikely to meet the demand for high volumes that the Chinese market may require, says Prats, who adds that Pinot Noir and sparkling wine both provide more room for movement.

“I truly believe that both Central Otago and Marlborough Pinot can help us to open up larger volumes of high quality wine for China.”

When it comes to exporting New Zealand wine to China, Prats suggests the market will explode, but in limited volumes. Pinot Noir is a more expensive grape to grow (and more expensive wine to make) than Sauvignon Blanc. As is high quality sparkling wine made in the traditional method.

Prats suggests that Cloudy Bay’s traditional method sparkling wine has strong potential for both general growth in volume – and, possibly, growth in the diversity of styles produced. It is Pelorus,

New Cloudy Bay GM, Yang Shen.

which is produced purely as an NV (non vintage - as are most champagnes) but in the past it has been made as both an NV and a vintage sparkling wine. This may be an area to investigate again.

“But this will be Yang’s job to decide. Not mine. I am not here

to dictate what he does. He’s got a great team who know what they’re doing and we want them to have the freedom to work with what they think is going to be the best way forward to continue raising the quality of Pelorus.”

Pinot Noir will come first,

however, because Cloudy Bay now has significant vineyards of its own in Central Otago at both Northburn Station and at the Calvert Vineyard on Felton Road.

The latter is managed by Felton Road Winery and Prats describes it as “one of the best vineyards in New Zealand, in terms of how it’s managed and the high quality grapes which come from there.

This makes Pinot Noir the ideal starting point for major growth from New Zealand into China; a market more into red wine than white or sparkling, at this stage.

Another ideal starting point for significant entry into the Chinese market is the addition to the team of a general manager who understands the country’s culture.

Yang Shen fits this niche well, having been born and raised in China, but also having studied winemaking in Montpelier and wine marketing in Bordeaux. ■ mailme@joellethomson.com

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 35

FAMILY VINES Brought to you by

Roots, Shoots & Fruits Soil Health, Plant Health, YOUR Health

Sir George and Karen Fistonich In 1961 Sir George Fistonich leased a few acres of land from his father and went on to found his own company - Villa Maria.

The first wines were a Hock, a dry red and a dry white, released in 1962 with George doing both the viticulture and winemaking.

Now, in 2017 the name Villa Maria is synonymous with an array of wine styles which have won just about every award possible.

With wineries in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough, Villa Maria was the only New Zealand company listed in the Drinks

International Top 10 Most Trusted Brand.

George’s service to the industry was recognised in 2008 when he was Knighted.

Sir George and his wife Gail have three children and one of those is actively involved in Villa Maria. Karen who began her career in banking is the chair of the Villa Maria board, ensuring that the Fistonich name continues at the helm of the company.

Sir George Fistonich, 77

I

was not encouraged by my father to go into winemaking as a career. He believed that his eldest son Ivan should gain a profession, the second (me) go into a trade and my sister marry and have a family. I was encouraged to be a carpenter and joiner and as soon as I had completed my apprenticeship I began winemaking. I think my father would be more than surprised to see what I have achieved in the wine industry but his decision about positioning me

36 //

as a carpenter was probably quite right at the time. The industry was very young and wines were hardly recognised in New Zealand at the time.

I was determined though, and having mixed with fellow Croatian families such as the Babich’s, Selak’s, Delegat’s and a few others ,who were some of the first families to make wine here, I thought to myself that there has to be a better life than just hammering in nails. I bought a few barrels from Tauranga (Gail and myself

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

drove down in my Ford truck) and brought them back and that was the beginning!

Not long after, a few of the young winemakers (Joe Babich, Nick Nobilo, Ivan Selak, Jim Delegat and Joe Corban )and myself started the Young Winemaker’s club. We would get together on a fortnightly basis tasting each other’s wine and swapping stories around winemaking.

It felt natural because wine was very familiar to me. Throughout our childhood there was always

wine and water on the table with every meal. My father made wine under the Mountain View label but just for our own usage and the neighbours.

Back then it was very much a beer drinking culture and there were very few licensed restaurants and no independent wine outlets.

In addition, I was heavily influenced by my uncle who owned the Delta Picture Theatre in New Lynn.

He loved wine and used to import French, South African and

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 German wines which I appreciated tasting. These probably helped develop my palate.

My family had five acres of land and on it we had house cows, vegetables and an acre of grapes .

We were brought up on the land and were nearly self-sufficient. I leased an acre of grapes and also began buying grapes from Te Kauwhata, Whenuapai and Kumeu and Henderson. My vision was to make quality wine and amazingly I won the second and third prize in the Royal Easter Show. This was quite a shock to the judges as in those days there were only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes, not the Golds, Silvers and Bronze medals that we have today. So instantly this put me on the map!

Even with all this influence, I would say that for the most part, I was self-taught. I learnt a lot from reading books and visiting the other wineries. In very simple terms, winemaking is being passionate about the product and having an understanding of the land.

I remember leaf plucking our one acre of grapes and looking after them and I became conscious of the ripeness and brix levels. Our winemaking was quite basic back then - stomping the grapes with your feet, basic fermentation and keeping everything meticulously clean and hygienic. We did not have stainless steel; instead it was oak and totara barrels and

concrete tanks.

Once I was ready to start my own winery I threw around with a few of my friends the name Villa Maria as I thought that it would be good to have an international name. If it was today I would definitely have different thoughts and maybe go with a Maori name. But Villa Maria has good remembrance value.

In terms of bringing the children on board, Gail and I left it open for them to determine whether they wanted to come into the wine business. We firmly believed that they should be able to make up their own career paths.

Karen is the only one who has become involved. She did a degree at university and then took up a banking career. Shortly after starting university, she met her husband, Milan Brajkovich, who comes from another winemaking family!

They married and now have two children, Matthew and Anna, and while they were still quite young Karen came on board to be part of the business. Actually, how it came about was that Karen was driving Gail and myself to the International Airport and I gave Karen the keys to my filing cabinet and said if something should happen to us ‘here are the keys’. That is when Karen decided to come into the business!

Karen had studied psychol-

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ogy and after being in banking for two or three years she was given a leadership position in Wellington and also given a training role in charge of young people, some who were a lot older than her. She has always been a natural leader, very disciplined, with strong values and doesn’t hold back. These are all attributes that are of good value

to Villa Maria.

Do we clash? Yes, of course we do occasionally. I know there are quite a few family businesses where the family debates things and of course they would not all agree but there is more freedom among family members. Sometimes staff do not tell you what they think, which I discourage, as

I believe it is important for them to speak up and to discuss with me their concerns and opinions.

Villa Maria is very passionate about being a family company. A lot of companies in New Zealand have sold or brought in corporate shareholders, but that isn’t part of our long term strategy. We have done a lot of study on long-term

generational planning and how you set it up. Somewhere amongst the grandchildren there might be someone who wants to continue with the family business and in fact, many of them do work for the company periodically throughout the school holidays. But you can’t dictate that, you just have to wait and see.

also remember when we started to win wine awards. When I was 19 or 20 I went to my first wine awards and that was extremely exciting to be part of.

At the point when we had the receivership (1985) I clearly remember that being a very significant and stressful event. The amazing thing though, was a year later when I was working at the ANZ in Wellington, Dad came down with the receiver to speak at a conference about how we were a case study of a successful recovery from a receivership.

There were circumstances beyond

Dad’s control (that caused the receivership) but he was kept on as management and was able to trade out of it. It was fabulous to see that recovery. The other significant event at that time was buying Glenvale. Due to external forces similar to what had affected us, they had also gone into receivership but had difficulty recovering and decided to sell. They chose to sell to my Father so it would remain in family hands rather than in corporate hands. I thought that was amazing; that we were just out of receivership and Dad was able to buy another boutique winery, which is now called Esk Valley. That also was a memorable milestone.

Even though I was immersed in the wine business from a very young age, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for my career.

I didn’t want to be the boss’s daughter. I was a bit reserved and self-conscious, so being the boss’s daughter seemed to be a bit of

Karen Fistonich

M

y earliest memories are living on the vineyard, playing in the vines and in the winery. One thing we really liked to do was play in the corks.

We would sneak up to the attic, slide down the stairwell and land amongst the corks. I don’t know if we were really allowed to be playing there and you certainly wouldn’t be able to today. Another thing I remember was a creek that used to go through the middle of the vineyard. Us kids used to love crossing the creek, testing our courage and balance to not fall in. In some ways, the creek held more fascination for me than the vineyard did at the time.

I vaguely remember Dad building his first winery; I was pretty young at the time but I remember that prior to that, it was pretty much a garage operation. When I was about eight years old we moved closer to town for school-

38 //

ing purposes, but over the years I would go out to the vineyard to do the odd holiday job. I specifically remember the bottling line in those days – it was a very manual operation. One year, I must have been in my teens, I had to help put the bottles on the filling line - by hand. It was a very hard day of work! Fortunately it is all automated these days and thank goodness, because I was not very good at keeping up. I wasn’t cut out to work in production.

There were so many pivotal moments I experienced while growing up in the wine industry, including a number of different key milestones that I distinctly remember such as when Dad bought Vidal in Hawke’s Bay in 1976. That was a significant event in our history and I remember spending time there during our school holidays while he worked. I

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

Brought to you by Roots, Shoots & Fruits nepotism. The business was small in those days and I knew I wasn’t a winemaker. Being shy I didn’t think I would be a sales person.

So I went to university because I had achieved well academically at school. I did have aspirations to get into law, but in that first year of Uni, I realised it wasn’t my destiny. So I decided to do a degree in psychology because that appealed to me. At the end of my degree, I had to think about what I was going to do with it. I couldn’t see myself becoming a psychologist, so I didn’t stay on. But ANZ came on campus looking for students to recruit and that sounded interesting, so I became a graduate trainee.

The program offered a broad base in banking for the first 18 months and then the opportunity to specialize in a key area. I spent 10 years progressing in the banking industry in a range of areas. It was towards the end of those 10 years that Dad identified he needed someone in the family to know

what was happening in the wine business in case something happened to him. He had always been very good at never requiring any of us kids to come into the family business prior to that.

There had never been any pressure; he just let everybody follow their own path. But he invited me to join the board, because I had always shown an interest.

Dad suggested that if I joined the board I could carry on with the banking career and still be the family representative on the board. I joined the board in 1992 and have been a Villa Maria Director ever since, and the Chair for the last 10 years.

Dad has got a fabulous strategic mind. It’s his vision that really stands out. He has a longterm vision of what is possible and an amazing drive. Decisions are always made with a long-term perspective and I think that is the advantage of a family business.

You don’t have to deliver a short-

term view to the shareholders tomorrow.

He is a natural leader and a natural born entrepreneur. In fact he is a classic founder entrepreneur and they do find it hard to let go of what they have built.

We have a strong senior leadership team that we hope will help him to transition to a new role, but at the moment he is so full of energy with much to contribute at the helm.

When I joined, Dad was relatively young – this was 24 years ago. He was very much hands on management while I was on the board, which meant we operated in different spheres, so we wouldn’t clash too much. That has always worked well. It helps that we weren’t in each other’s pockets since day one.

My father’s whole life has been devoted to building Villa Maria to what it is today, so it is not easy for him to relinquish his baby. He has such a passion for it. His pas-

sion for quality infuses the whole business and he just loves being at work. Somedays I say ‘Dad, don’t you want to relax a little bit and let go’. But no, not just yet. All in good time.

Would I encourage the next generation to join the business?

They are still quite young, three are in their early 20s. But we think they should find their own path first.

Once they find that path, this is a large enough business that they could go into an area of business or winemaking or viticulture and eventually find their way back into the family business. But we prefer they find their own path first.

The thing about family businesses in general, which research shows, very few survive the second generation, even less the third. But then you have examples of wine companies like Antonori, which is 26 generations. So maybe, we are at the start of our own family journey.■

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REGIONS - CENTRAL OTAGO

Sparkling wine... something to celebrate Mark Orton

S

itting across the table from Quartz Reef ’s Rudi Bauer without any pre-planned questions might not have been the wisest decision for the interview. Though, having no set agenda except knowing that I hadn’t written anything about Quartz Reef, I figured let’s just wing it.

Interestingly, after only a few minutes I knew what the angle would be. We could have chatted about Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner or even the Noble Riesling, but with recent

news that both Decanter and Wine Spectator have dished out praise for the Quartz Reef Brut (90 points respectively), then it didn’t take much for Rudi to start waxing lyrical about sparkling wine, especially as it is now edging out their Pinot Noir in terms of total production.

“You know, some people are still kind of surprised that we make sparkling wine as well as the other varieties. I guess that comes from an overwhelming focus on Pinot here in Central” says Bauer. “Central Otago is actually really well suited for sparkling wine. In 1990

when we saw the site in Bendigo, there were only six vineyards in Central Otago and Bannockburn hadn’t even started planting. We originally got into sparkling wine because at that stage we had no idea what Pinot from this region would become. The idea with Pinot was that it gave us the ability to switch to sparkling wine. It was a logical conclusion for our business plan, but what eventually happened was that the Pinot proved very successful, so as well as the sparkling we went from 15 hectares to 30 hectares”.

Fifty-three years since the first

sparkling wine was made in New Zealand at the Mission Estate (Fontanella), New Zealand sparkling wines are now seen as a great value for money alternative to Champagne. But with Marlborough providing the lion’s share of production and promoting itself as one of the world’s best sparkling wine-growing regions outside of Champagne itself, Bauer is quick to point out some of the hurdles that he has had to overcome getting recognised for his sparkling wine.

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Rudi Brauer uses the traditional French Sabrage technique to open a bottle of Sparkling wine.

so now you translate that to New Zealand and it inevitably comes back to Le Brun or Lindauer, because people still believe that if there are a couple of bubbles in there it does the trick. But to

educate the palate, that takes a lot more work than educating the palate of people drinking Riesling or Pinot or Syrah for that matter”.

Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Daniel Le Brun and his

conviction to make a Marlborough Méthode Traditionelle to rival the best in the world, it wasn’t long before certain Champagne houses got in on the act. Though when Deutz used traditional Cham-

pagne techniques to release their first Marlborough Cuvée in 1990, Central Otago wasn’t that far behind.

In 1990 Rudi made the first sparkling base wine at Rippon in

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conjunction with Lincoln University and Seppelts Australia, and in 1993 Clotilde Chauvet produced the first sparkling wine for the region at Rippon (Emma).

Though, even with another produced in 1994 and the collaboration between Chard Farm and Amisfield, sparkling wine in Central Otago was more a novelty than a burgeoning enterprise. So when Quartz Reef came to their first vintage in 1998 there wasn’t any infrastructure locally that they could call on.

It took a leap of faith and a substantial capital investment that is now paying dividends in more ways than one.

“Our main point of difference and something that we haven’t been good at promoting, is the fact that we handle the production of our sparkling wine from start to finish. Single estate, estate bottled and estate disgorging and then it hits the market…a full circle that is very traditional. We had to actually design it this way because when we started there was no-one else around.”

Stoicism and determination are two words that inevitably crop up in any discussion about the efforts of the early Central Otago wine community, and while it might be easy to gloss over this in light of the industry strength here now, 20 years on and Bauer is still battling a bias against his sparkling wine.

“We were in Air New Zealand

business class and then you see the wine list and they list all the New Zealand wines by producer and grape variety and then they have Champagne Mumm plus ‘a New Zealand sparkling wine’! I got really upset and let them know, but what it really indicated was

and the viticulture on the wine that he produces.

“Because this is Central Otago, we have a completely different acid profile and different focus and without doing anything you are already separating yourself. On top of that, our wine is all single

“

Sparkling wine needs to mark a celebration and it needs to be shared, whereas Pinot Noir demands to be the centre of attention. With sparkling you grab it and bingo, you drink it. You are less likely to do that with Pinot. Sparkling wine is there to make everything more beautiful. that they were saying that they had all New Zealand wines and one Champagne, but for perception it showed that our sparkling wine still hasn’t broken through the ranks.”

Having been trained in Europe with tutelage from Jacques Peters at Verve Clicquot, not to mention the association with Clotilde Chauvet and her family, Bauer recognises the advantage that gives him when making sparkling wine, but by his own admission, Quartz Reef have never tried to milk the Champagne connection. Rather, he is keen to stress the unique strength of the region

vineyard, which is a little unique as its normal for Champagne to be made from grapes from different vineyards, and then we are biodynamic too. This commitment to the vineyard means that we are able to express some distinctive characters in the wine. In fact, the sparkling is a far truer definition of the land than the Pinot is because you have no influence of oak, no influence of tannins or phenols for that matter, and you have no influence of malolactic. It’s like a straight forward Dry Riesling, if that comparison makes sense.

In actual fact, what I learn from making sparkling wine I transfer

across to the Pinot.”

With the name ‘Champagne’ synonymous with celebration, gracing the podiums of Formula 1 and any number of sports award ceremonies, Bauer thinks that association can be both a curse and a blessing.

“Of course, the name Champagne is an extraordinarily powerful tool and it is very hard to break through the perception that if you celebrate, you have to celebrate with Champagne. That bottle on the table in actual fact is only a tool for celebrating something, provided that it is something to show off your wealth or taste, and Champagne ticks that because it doesn’t matter what it tastes like, right?”

Supporting local sparkling wines doesn’t just have to be about exercising some form of parochial pride either, it’s actually a pretty savvy purchasing decision in light of the price point and quality.

Through, in a region obsessed by Pinot Noir, Bauer has a particularly interesting way of breaking down the distinction between the two wines.

“Sparkling wine needs to mark a celebration and it needs to be shared, whereas Pinot Noir demands to be the centre of attention. With sparkling you grab it and bingo, you drink it. You are less likely to do that with Pinot.

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

REGIONS - NELSON

Port boosts services to wine industry Neil Hodgson

P

ort Nelson has been a key infrastructure asset for the top of the south for decades but its importance to Marlborough is becoming even more significant, following last year’s 7.8 earthquake.

The port company is undertaking a $60 million, three-year

A birds eye view of the Port of Nelson.

capital expenditure programme that is designed to bring the port operation into the 21st century and ensuring it is fit-for-purpose as a modern port.

In recent years Port Nelson Limited has been gradually expanding the area directly under its control with many businesses that don’t need to be located in

the port environment relocating to more appropriate commercial areas.

This has given the company the opportunity to demolish a number of buildings that were built in the 1950’s and ‘60’s and replace them with buildings designed for a modern freight operation.

Taking direct control of more

land has also allowed the port company to enlarge its securefenced Customs Controlled Area (CCA). An important part of the redevelopment has been driven by very strong support from the wine industry resulting in the construction of a 13,000 square meter, $12m wine store, consolidation and distribution facility that will also be a Customs approved bond store.

Port Nelson CEO, Martin Byrne, says; “the wine volumes have risen dramatically, almost trebled, in the last three to four years and the container volumes have continued to increase so during peak times we’re extremely strapped for space. This facility will help us manage the wine related cargo volumes we handle now and in the future”.

Eugene Beneke, Business Development Manager for Port Nelson owned QuayConnect has been the driving force behind creating the facility.

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Zealand’s largest wine producer and Port Nelson is the closest container port in terms of location, so we’ve set up a model called QuayConnect which is a collaborative transport and logistics model that has reduced cost and increased supply chain efficiency between Nelson and Marlborough.

“This means suppliers like OI Glass who freight bottles to Marlborough via Nelson at the moment, can use our facility for bottle storage and we simply send them to Marlborough as required.”

Byrne says, “previously containers of empty glass bottles were sent to Marlborough and the empty containers are then sent back to Nelson. At the same time wineries and bottling companies were moving empty containers to

Marlborough to fill with wine and return to Nelson.

“There are two supply chains and they weren’t talking to each other. So by creating this facility and managing the freight movements through QuayConnect we have almost halved the wine freight movements between the regions.”

Beneke says working with the two largest players in the industry, Wine Works and OI, has helped a lot and having them as influencers has given Port Nelson good profile in the industry.

There are some very important advantages for the wine industry, other than reducing freight costs.

“Having an on-port unpack and storage facility means not having to move containers off site and

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of course the less you move wine the better. Being a secure customs controlled area cuts down on compliance costs incurred when wine is moved around, and it means we always have containers available and can meet vessel cut offs times. When the product is already at the port it is much easier to get it to the ship on time.”

Port Nelson also has the latest container and product tracking GPS systems to monitor every container passing through the port, right down to being able to identify individual bottles if required so traceability of product origin for export markets is much easier to provide.

One of the core drivers of the project is to reduce truckloads of pallet movements out the port

gate and increase value per container.

“The main mandate from our business point-of-view is to ensure we can facilitate container growth from the port and capture the top of the south freight. In this case we can do that by giving the wine industry the best service and best option so they don’t need to go anywhere else” says Byrne.

There are other advantages of road and sea freight via Nelson now, with SH1 South of Ward out of action for at least a year due to the quake damage. With eight daily connections, five days a week from Port Nelson to the main export ports of Auckland and Tauranga they wineries are also able to export direct. ■ neil@hodgson.co.nz

REGIONS - WAIHEKE

Coming together

Some may speak of range.

Others of quality.

All speak of

Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

A

former airstrip set in the middle of a beautiful valley, rolling hiills surrounded by vines, 19 wineries sharing their product and 12 artisan food producers, adds up to 2017’s Waiheke Wine and Food Festival.

The festival which began life four years ago has undergone a transformation since its birth – but the coming together of one of New Zealand’s smaller wine regions has remained a high priority.

Waiheke Winegrowers Marketing Manager Jenny Holmes says the aim of the first festival held back in 2014, was to showcase Waiheke wine producers in their own environment. It was a festival held over a number of days, and culminating in a final day where visitors could hop on and off buses travelling to the wineries. Holmes said that ended up being logistically difficult.

“People were spending too much time sitting in a bus, and it required people to pre plan and pre think their day. What they wanted was to buy a ticket, get on a ferry, arrive, enjoy and then leave.”

Hence the move last year to a single venue, at the Te Motu Airstrip, right in the heart of the

Onetangi Valley. With Stonyridge, Te Motu and Tantalus wineries alongside, the venue provides a glimpse of what makes Waiheke so special.

The inclusion of artisan food producers also plays an important role Holmes says.

“We realise that cuisine is a very important part of the Waiheke experience.

We have a higher percentage of o ur v i n eyards with cafes and restaurants than any other wine region in New Zealand.”

And those cafes and restaurants are well recognised, with Waiheke vineyards winning the Metro Best Rural Restaurant award, nine years in a row.

“We didn’t want to limit the festival to just wine, because we have a reputation for food as well as wine. We realise that food is an important facet in people’s lives so we want to attract the foodies as well as the wine lovers.”

The aim is still to promote what the island has to offer visitors, and given three quarters of all those attending in 2016 were from “off island”, it appears the message is getting through.

The 2017 Waiheke Wine and Food Festival will be held on April 1, between 11am and 5.30 pm. ■

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OBITUARY

Ivan Selak Te r r y D u n l e a v y, M B E , F W I N Z

E

veryone who was in the New Zealand wine industry during the decades of the 1970’s and 80’s could not escape being aware of Ivan Selak (son of Mate, and grand-nephew of Marino) who succumbed to cancer on 13 December, aged 67.

Ivan was much more than a vibrant and popular personality among the wine people of his time. He was also admired for his passion for viticulture and winemaking, for his innovation, his willingness to pitch in on industry occasions, and his everready willingness to share his enthusiasm and talent with fellow winemakers.

The original Selak vineyard, founded by Croatian immigrant Marino Selak soon after his arrival in New Zealand in 1906, and later carried on by Mate, the nephew he imported to be his helper and heir, was located at Henderson, near the 1YA mast.

When it was taken by the Govern-

46 //

ment for the Northwestern Motorway, and Mate wondered about his future, it was his schoolboy son Ivan, set on becoming a winemaker himself, who convinced his father to purchase an initial 20 acres at Kumeu.

From school, Ivan was straight into the winery to work alongside his father, and was soon a member of the Young Winemakers Club.

When Mate Selak developed a passion for the bottle-fermented sparkling he was to launch as Champelle, Ivan was a willing and

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

closely involved partner and spent four months working for Moet Chandon in Epernay in France to learn and bring back ideas to his father and winery.

An earlier grateful memory of Ivan for me was in 1973. As a senior executive of Montana Wines, I was asked by its boss Frank Yukich, to organise the official ceremonial first planting of its vines in Marlborough. Frank eagerly accepted my suggestion of a “Dally’ style barbecue.

When I rang Ivan to ask where I could beg or borrow the necessary 24-lamb motorised spit, he asked me who I had in mind to supervise this unique style of cooking? “I dunno, haven’t got that far yet,” I replied. Said Ivan: “I’ll do it, if you like.”

And do it he did! With panache, organisational skill and culinary craft, that popped the eyes and watered the mouths of Marlburians who had never before seen

or tasted the like.

Ivan served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Wine Institute 1995-98.

After the Selaks winery business was sold in 1998, Ivan and his younger brother Michael, the latter having been in charge of the marketing and sales of Selaks wines, purchased and developed a 110-hectare vineyard in Waihopai Valley in Marlborough, which was later sold to Constellation.

Michael stayed in wine business with his company, Wine Network NZ Ltd. The brothers retained ownership of the 25 acres at Kumeu, and a 20-acre property at Whenuapai, on which the home of Ivan and his wife is located, alongside the first-class go-kart track on which, for the last few years, Ivan has been able to exercise his love of high speed competitive motor sport.

After the sale of the Waiphopai vineyard to Constellation, Ivan is reported to have told Michael: “I’m not retired, I’m just tired” and took charge of the maintenance requirements of their remaining properties, spending as much time behind the wheel of a tractor as the wheel of one of his cars or his go-kart. ■

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A TEETOTALLER IN THE WHITE HOUSE Donald Trump doesn’t drink alcohol.

I’m not sure what affect that will have on the US liquor lobby but Trump is unlikely to lend a sympathetic ear.

I did a little research to uncover the drinking habits of the last ten US presidents. It makes interesting reading: • Donald Trump - Teetotaller • Barack Obama - Has an impressive wine cellar in Chicago and is open about his history with weed • George W. Bush jnr - Pre-1986 liked to drink the “four B’s” -- beer, bourbon, and B&B”, moderation after 1986 • Bill Clinton - Developed an allergy to all alcohol except vodka by the late ‘70s. That didn’t affect his love for Cuban cigars.

• George Bush snr - Occasionally drinks vodka martinis. Everything else in moderation • Ronald Reagan - Would famously drink one screwdriver and cut himself off.

• Jimmy Carter - Outlawed hard liquor at the White House • Gerald Ford - Had the odd gin and tonic. Wife started the Betty Ford Centre for alcoholism • Richard Nixon - Nixon didn’t party, but he did hole up in the White House with some cocktails when he was at his most paranoid • Lyndon Johnson - You think a man who nicknamed his penis “Jumbo” and ordered his Secret Service agents to routinely refill his Scotch and soda didn’t party?

Christies New York auction house notched up a world record when they sold a bottle of JCA & C 1715 Terrantez Madeira for nearly NZ$55,000, more than twice the pre-sale estimate. It was bought by Netherlands-based collector Bay van der Bunt. It joins his collection of other old bottles of Madeira which you can view at www.oldliquors.com A representative of Christie’s auction house, Edwin Vos, had tasted the same wine in 2013, describing it as “remarkably youthful and surprisingly sweet”.

Madeira appears to be a worthwhile investment. I purchased a bottle of 1795 Terrantez Madeira from Christies London auction house in 1991 for NZ$500.

The same wine is on sale through www.oldliquors. com for NZ$20,946. Sadly I drank it in 1991. It was a remarkable wine, still offering pleasure after all those years, although it was impossible to ignore the historic context as we sipped it.

TOP 10 CHARDONNAY TASTING My last “Campbell at Caro’s” wine tasting featured my top 10 Chardonnays tasted in 2016. I compiled the list by simply selecting all New Zealand Chardonnays tasted this year and sorting them by score, then price to identify the top 10. One or two of my favourites, such as Bell Hill, were unavailable but the list seemed to feature most of the heavyweights.

76 people joined me at Caro Wines’ Grey Lynn wine tasting room. The wines were prepoured in the order below as the guests arrived. We tasted them in three flights (1-3, 4-6, 7-10)

48 //

voting on a favourite for each flight then voted for an overall favourite. Prices shown are Caro shelf prices.

1. Felton Road 2014 Block 2 Chardonnay, Central Otago $53.99 2. Giesen 2013 “The Fuder” Clayvin Chardonnay, Marlborough $55.99 3. Cloudy Bay 2013 Chardonnay, Marlborough $39.99 4. Dog Point 2014 Chardonnay, Marlborough $39.99 5. Neudorf 2015 Moutere Chardonnay, Nelson N/A 6. Dry River 2014 Chardonnay, Martinborough $59.99 (cork)

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

7. Martinborough Vineyard 2014 Chardonnay $35.99 8. Vidal “Legacy” Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay $58.99 9. Sacred Hill 2014 Rifleman’s Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay $66.99 10. Kumeu River 2015 Mate’s Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay $68.99 And the winner was … Sacred Hill 2014 Rifleman’s Chardonnay with Neudorf 2015 Moutere in second place and Dry River 2014 Chardonnay third.

My original scores placed the Neudorf 2015 Moutere (98

points) ahead of Sacred Hill 2014 Rifleman’s (97 points) but I had to admit that on a head-to-head basis the Rifleman’s was a very worthy winner indeed. It has great concentration, fruit power and purity with an impressive thread of mineral/struck flint character.

It was a very strong field indeed. Martinborough Vineyard earned my vote for “best value Chardonnay” – a beautifully sculpted wine perhaps without the power of the winners but very classy nonetheless and with more accessibility than many.

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GENDER-BASED MARKETING IS NOT NEW such rapid growth he credited much of his success to the fact that he had deliberately targeted female wine drinkers by making soft, approachable red wines at a time when reds tended to be more astringent.

I quoted Blass in the opening line of my interview, “I have always liked women both as people and as customers …”

The danger of targeting specific genders or minority groups, as the article

“Gender-based marketing is the latest buzz-word in the wine world …” is the introductory line in an interesting article in “Drinks Central” which goes on to describe wine brands that have been developed to suit either male of female wine drinkers.

That concept is hardly new.

I recall interviewing Wolf Blass many years ago for Cuisine magazine. When I asked him why his company had enjoyed

points out, is that you can alienate others. Some men, for example, might feel uncomfortable drinking a wine that was packaged to appeal to female wine drinkers. It’s a “roundabouts and swings” exercise.

Kim Crawford wines deliberately targeted gay wine drinkers when they released Kim Crawford Pansy Rosé more than a decade ago. The brand still exists although

I could only find listings in the UK and US. Perhaps our population is simply too small to support a wine aimed at such a limited market? Gay tourism New Zealand estimates that there are approximately 100,622 gay and lesbian people between 16-64 years living in New Zealand which is rather smaller than the 2,258,900 males and 2,340400 females living here in 2015 (Statistics NZ).

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REGIONS - HAWKE’S BAY

Waimarama’s French c “

Joelle Thomson

F

rench oenologist Ludwig Vanneron is the new consultant to one of Hawke’s Bay’s smallest wineries, Chateau Waimarama.

The French connection is new, even if the winery’s name pays homage to Vanneron’s home base in Bordeaux, where his business, Oenosmart, is based – in SaintEmilion.

The small Chateau Waimarama winery is housed in a modest sized brick building on a six hectare vineyard at Tuki, two minutes drive from the Bay’s iconic Te Mata Estate. It was founded by John Loughlin (owner of Askerne) and is now owned by a Japanese

A lot of people think a French person will come and tell them what to do, but I am a part of the team and am not here to tell everyone how it will be. businessman who is based off shore, says general manager Chase Arquette.

“The appointment of Ludwig is all about taking Chateau Waimarama to the next level, which is why he wanted to use an international consultant with a broad international overview. I was looking for someone to take us to a new level because nearly all our wine is exported and most of it to Japan,

a market that is highly competitive, so I wanted to see how we could

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achieve our best there.”

Enter Vanneron, who was appointed in 2015 and is a graduate of Bordeaux’s

connection University’s Wine Faculty.

“A lot of people think a French person will come and tell them what to do,” Vanneron says, “but I am a part of the team and am not here to tell everyone how it will be, because this is New Zealand. We are not Bordeaux, even though the grape varieties we have originate there.”

He believes strongly in regional and national identity rather than affixing French labels to wines made in other places.

“I am not a fan of calling these wines Bordeaux blends. We don’t import grapes or wine from Bordeaux so we are making Hawke’s Bay wine and this is a great region so we focus on what it offers, its challenges and how to overcome these.”

This begins in the vineyard for Vanneron, who sees the biggest challenge in matching each of the five grape varieties to the best place for them on the six hectare hillside site.

It is a small but extremely varied site where temperature differences vary by up to two degrees, due to east and north east aspects.

The slope of the site also provides a slight altitudinal change and a low lying dip on one part of it can create a frost risk, if spring is cold.

The best way to achieve ripeness in these mid to late ripening grape varieties on this site is to prune judiciously at the most advantageous time of year. This is often earlier than traditionally thought prudent, says Vanneron.

“It is important to prune early for Cabernet Sauvignon in order to eliminate the pyrazine flavours that can come through in this variety,” he says, adding that green aromas in Cabernet are not only a potential problem in Hawke’s

Bay but everywhere this grape is grown.

Based in Bordeaux but with regular wine consultancy in New Zealand, Italy (Tuscany), Turkey, Armenia and other countries, his frequent travels provide him with an extensive international overview of the world’s wine industry today.

Chateau Waimarama was one of the first vineyards in New Zealand to become a member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) in the 1990s, but has yet to become organically certified.

“When looking at organics, I think it should be in the brain of everyone to spray as little as possible, but we also need to save the crops and I am not a fan of copper, which is permitted in organics. It kills the life in the soil so I don’t want to use it.”

He views Hawke’s Bay’s climate as significantly different to Bordeaux’, due to the more variable weather patterns.

“You can easily have four seasons in one day here in the Bay, whereas in Bordeaux if we get good weather, it lasts for weeks but if we get rain, it can also last for a while. We don’t tend to have weather that changes as quickly and I think it’s a very different climate and weather.”

Vanneron views the upside to Hawke’s Bay and New Zealand as being the relatively long ripening season, which accentuates the all-important key ingredient in wines – both reds and whites the acidity.

“I am a big fan of the fresh taste of New Zealand wines, it’s one of the most appealing factors and one that should be maximised.” ■ mailme@joellethomson.com

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WINEMAKING NEWS

Orange wine in NZ Joelle Thomson

A

7

dventurous, boundary breaking and innovative? Or over extracted, faulty and faddish?

Orange wines have taken over where corks and screwcaps left off, as the wine industry’s current hot topic of debate. They can be organic, biodynamic, skillfully made expressions of aromatic grape varieties or they can be oxidized, phenolically challenging and lacking in fruit expression.

Whichever side of the fence they sit on stylistically, orange wines look like they are here to stay, if sufficient numbers of winemakers and gatekeepers in the world’s industry are any

indication.

Their most vocal proponent in New Zealand is the country’s newest Master of Wine, Stephen Wong. He suggests that the most successful orange wines tend to be made from regions with access to good aromatic white grape varieties. Generally, this means cooler regions and it makes New Zealand a natural fit for orange winemaking. In his travels, Wong has seen more orange wines emerge from regions with a strong representation of smaller wineries, especially organic wineries, which are often aligned with natural wine philosophies. While he concedes that orange wine and natural wine are not interchangeable, he sug-

gests there is a significant overlap between the two.

In New Zealand regional terms, Wong says North Canterbury and Central Otago led the initial charge but Marlborough, Gisborne, Nelson, and Martinborough have also produced a substantial number of orange wines, while Hawke’s Bay was only represented by one producer until recently. He has yet to encounter any orange wines from Waiheke or Northland.

Winemaker Lynnette Hudson also sees a greater number of orange wines being made by winemakers who focus on using certified organic or biodynamic fruit in their wines because the

principal of making an orange wine is returning to the basics.

“This can mean minimal intervention winemaking with low to no impact on the environment, human health and, supposedly, a true expression of the grapes and where they are grown; terroir.”

Hudson suggests the role of orange wines is to trigger thought about growing grapes that make less impact on the environment and to make wines with less of an interventionist approach.

“The idea seems to be to make healthier wines for those who live around the vineyards and for consumers who drink them, which can suggest lower SO2 additions and fewer additives in general.”

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Winemaker Lynnette Hudson says; “The idea seems to be to make healthier wines.”

So, how does orange winemaking in New Zealand compare with orange winemaking styles produced internationally?

Wong sees three factors coming into play.

Firstly, New Zealand grapes possess an immense fruitiness which comes through in many of the country’s orange wines. The varieties used play a part because most of New Zealand’s national vineyard is planted in aromatic varieties, so most orange wines tend to be made from varieties such as Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc.

The second factor is the time that wines spend on skins tends towards the shorter end of the spectrum. Like Australian orange winemaking, New Zealand’s tends to last for three to four weeks, with very few going on to spend ten weeks of skin contact, although there are exceptions.

“As a result, we don’t see as many of the highly complex developed spice aromatics and phenolic structures more common in longer-macerated wines. New Zealand orange wines also tend to be less oxidative than their Georgian or Friulian counterparts,” says Wong.

“The majority of New Zealand orange wines are softer in their phenolic make-up from the shorter time on skins, but there are a few which are fiercely tannic,” Wong says.

There is a school of thought that grippy orange wines are the result of a moderate, but insufficient length of time on skins. In the same way as tannins in red wines can become smoother and more complex as they continue macerating, orange wines can, potentially, benefit.

The third factor is vine age.

New Zealand vines are generally younger than those used by many European producers and Wong suggests that local winemakers are more careful with what they extract as a result.

He also suggests there may be less complexity or phenolic maturity to pull out of the skins as a result of the generally younger vine age in this country.

“For me, really good orange winemaking is unafraid to extract - longer times on skins obtain intense flavours beyond what is possible with white winemaking - but also being skilled enough to know how to manage those tannins and phenolics so the wine is still enjoyable texturally.

A good orange wine should bear some relationship to the varieties being used, but transcend them,” he says.

In terms of tannin structure, winemakers at Sato and Pyramid Valley are pushing the envelope and he has also been impressed by the orange wines made by Francis Hutt at Carrick, and James Millton at the Millton Vineyard. He sug-

gests that Hutt and Millton are marrying structure with perfume in their wines made from highly aromatic v a r i e t i e s l i ke Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Viognier.

“I’ve also seen some interesting work with malolactic fermentation in orange wines from Lucie Lawrence at Aurum and Jen Parr at Valli.”

The use of amphoras, also known as tiñajas, is more prevalent in Europe than in this country for orange winemaking. This is a technique which can incorporate noticeable oxidation with a superb effect, which adds complexity rather than spoil the wines, says Wong.

As for a direction for orange winemaking in future, Hudson sees a strong divide between winemakers who she describes as extremists and those who hate the thought of making extreme orange wines.

“For me I find it exciting to push the boundaries but having a sound winemaking background has taught me how to make wine with little or no intervention but using temperature as a controlling factor. This has helped me to produce orange wines that are not faulty. I do not believe that orange

wines means faults are acceptable. At the end of the day these wines have to be drinkable. This is my personal opinion and lots of people think faults are acceptable. I just can’t drink faulty wines,” she s ay s , a d d ing that she hopes orange wines remain a strong category that encourages the reduction of additives in both the vineyard and the winery.

“Any step in this direction is a positive one.”

Wo n g s ay s orange wine sales are growing in New Zealand but believes this is more indicative of an increase in the number of drinkers trying orange wine for the first time than a growing market.

“I don’t think many will continue to purchase or drink orange wines after their first experience, and even some of the more daring drinkers may choose to keep orange wines as an option in their list of possible wines but may not order them regularly.”

He thinks the future for orange wines is a niche market in wine bars and adventurous restaurants as well as influencing conventional winemaking as winemakers gain confidence with their techniques and include more skin contact components in their wines to add interest and texture.

“There may come a time when there is a spectrum of wines with varying levels of skin-contact rather than just orange wines vs normal whites.” ■ mailme@joellethomson.com

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 57

NEW RESEARCH

Taking the hassle out of yield estimates Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

H

aving an accurate idea of yields is an important facet of grape growing. Wineries need to know just how much fruit is going to be coming in at harvest, while growers need to be able to manage yield caps in the most economic way.

Until now predicting yields has involved a number of processes, including regional weather conditions dating back 18 months, through to manually counting individual bunches and berry numbers. Neither system is foolproof, due to high labour costs and inaccuracies; nor do they allow for fluctuations within individual rows.

So news that $6 million has been secured to fund researching and developing a tool that will take the headache out of yield estimates, should have grape growers smiling.

The funding which was announced by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce,

58 //

will come from the MBIE 2016 Endeavour Fund supported

by New Zealand Winegrowers.

The five-year programme will be led by Lincoln Agritech, Armin Werner in partnership with New Zealand Winegrowers, Lincoln University, Plant & Food Research, University of Canterbury and Australian researchers.

Research programme leader at Lincoln Agritech Armin Werner says the new tool will be a combination of hardware and software.

“It will be a camera based system, plus a radar system. We can assume it will be a shoebox sized piece of equipment that will be attached to any platform that can be moved between the rows. Something like a tractor or sprayer. It could be that in the future a robot (with the equipment) moves up and down vine-

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

yard rows.”

The equipment will be able to measure the number of grape bunches and “hopefully the size or their mass” Werner says. Part of the software will predict how those bunches and berry sizes will relate to final yield, a few months ahead of harvest.

While he admits there are a number of yield estimation systems currently available, Werner says they all tend to be based on generalised regional conditions. ”There are some important models from Plant & Food that can predict yield 18 months ahead of harvest by using temperature on a regional scale.

“That is good for an averaging approach, but it doesn’t go down to the vineyard or the block and the row. We hope with the research that we will be able to get

some real data on the individual blocks and rows and that our predictions become better than the current models.”

While the research still needs to be undertaken Werner believes the new tool should provide accurate information on potential yields once the berries begin to form. This will leave plenty of time for growers to take action, particularly in terms of thinning well in advance of veraison.

The multi-faceted project team working on the new tool, will ensure all areas of expertise are included Werner says.

“They have the experience to contribute to different types of inter-disciplinary research.

Accurately assessing the yield of grapes with latest technologies needs very different skill sets.

We need to have the engineers that help us manage the visual part. The camera combined with a computer system, needs a deep understanding of how to identify individual grapes or berries in that

image. You eventually need deep learning algorithms, as we see this project heading towards an artificial intelligence approach.

“We also need people who have capabilities that look behind grapes or leaves, when you have occluded situations. In such conditions you cannot just use the camera to identify grapes or grape bunches.

“We want to develop radar technology and we have very smart engineers in our company that are capable of doing that.

They were successful for comparable problems of other areas in primary production.”

The understanding of grape crops and their phenology is a vital component, and Werner says that is where Plant & Food Research will be able to provide all important information. Lincoln University will undertake the phenology modelling while Canterbury University will be involved in creating the prediction model.

Wineries need to know just how much fruit is coming in at harvest, well before it arrives, hence the need for accurate yield forecasting.

With the solid research each of the partners bring to the table, Werner says they have the perfect base to leverage off.

Three wine companies will be involved in the second stage of the five-year project, trialing the sensing technology within their own vineyards. While it won’t be

possible to create a product for the market during this research and development project, Werner says they are hoping to have done all the work necessary for a prototype. This prototypical solution can then be taken up by a manufacturer and turned into a product.

“So hopefully within six or

seven years there will be something on the market for growers.

However prototypical simple tools, e.g. hard- or software added with some better understanding on how variability influences grape yield may be available even earlier.”■ tessa.nicholson@me.com

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 59

BUSINESS NEWS

Protect your business John Webber

W

hile the majority of New Zealanders have responsibly recycled their glass bottles at kerbside for years, there have long been calls for regulations to control the disposal and reuse of glass by introducing Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) which has operated in parts of Europe, particularly Germany since the 1970s. Over the last 10 years, since the development of the Glass Packaging Forum (GPF) and its Government accredited Product Stewardship Scheme, brands using glass packaging, have been largely protected from restrictive and draconian environmental legislation such as CDL.

Glass has now reached a new high recovery rate of 73% through voluntary programmes, equal to the European Union average where several countries are heavily influenced by mandatory regulations. However, this is still short of world best recycling rates and to protect New Zealand’s 100% pure reputation it is essential that we are comparable with the best and have a recycling rate over 80%.

Progress to date has been achieved by a multifaceted approach to education, infrastructure, promotion and research. The GPF has promoted and funded recycling bins at events such as the Winery Tour and other festivals where wine is sold. Over 50% of our funding goes to Councils or

their contractors to improve the quality and quantity of glass recycling through better collections and storage facilities. The GPF has funded education programmes in schools and research to develop alternative uses for glass which is not suitable for remanufacture into new glass containers and where justified, has assisted related commercial activities.

However, in the current political environment and with an election later this year, the “Cash for Containers” lobby encouraged by support from 90% of local councils at the Local Government New Zealand 2016 Conference, are ramping up calls for CDL knowing that a change in government might result in regulation.

Advocates for “Cash for Containers” say that CDL will reduce costs for councils, increase recycling and reduce litter. However, this is not supported by economic analysis. The Packaging Forum engaged one of New Zealand’s leading economists to assess the cost of introducing a Container Deposit System alongside our existing kerbside collections.

The annual cost of introducing a 10 cents charge on beverage containers is $NZ 75 million which proponents naively expect the commercial sector to meet. (Copies of this research can found on the Glass Packaging Forum Website http://www.glassforum.org.nz/ container-deposit-system-analysis/ The claimed benefits from

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CDL of an expected 7% increase to 80% in the recycling rate does not justify this cost, especially as opportunities exist to similarly improve the current rate with voluntary programmes without regulations.

An often quoted reason for CDL is that it will reduce litter is also incorrect with packaging representing only 11% of litter The glass packaged goods industry can only continue to

operate free from legislation as long as it can demonstrate that its voluntary Product Stewardship Scheme is widely representative and providing results that are comparable with those countries with CDL programmes.

The GPF was one of the first organisations to achieve accreditation of its voluntary scheme and is now preparing its application for a second seven year accreditation period. The Ministry for the Envi-

ronment has signalled a need for more companies to join the programme to clearly demonstrate an increased industry mandate.

There is a need to not only increase recycling but also increase membership. Membership costs are unique in that they are totally equitable being directly related to tonnages of glass sold into the New Zealad market place by each member company.

The GPF appreciates the sup-

port of those leading Winegrowers that have participated in the Glass Packaging Forum since its formation. However, with increasing calls for CDL we ask other companies to seriously consider joining to help ensure that your industry is not encumbered with inefficient restrictive legislation.

Please contact John Webber john@ glassforum.org.nz or Donna Hellens donna.glassforum@xtra.co.nz ■

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 61

BIOSECURITY UPDATE

Ensuring vineyard biosecurity Edwin Massey

M

any plant pests and diseases, including several of the wine industries most unwanted, such as Brown Marmorated Stink Bug or Pierce’s Disease caused by Xylella fastidiosa can be dispersed by humans who inadvertently transport soil, insects or plant material on their person or vehicle. There have been numerous examples within New Zealand and worldwide where human assisted dispersal has been the key cause of significant losses to horticultural production.

In New Zealand the most prominent example of the significant effects of human assisted dispersal of a pest followed the incursion of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), a bacteria

62 //

that can result in the death of kiwifruit vines. It was first discovered in New Zealand in November 2010 and rapidly caused widespread and severe impacts to New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry. A 2012 economic impact report projected that the Psa incursion would cost the kiwifruit industry approximately $900 million stretching out to 2027. For many orchardists Psa had a devastating effect, ranging from a complete loss of income to significantly reduced orchard-gate returns from lower yields, with orchardists also facing higher cost structures from efforts to manage the pest.

It’s your asset - protect it!

There are several pests on the wine industry’s most unwanted

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

list that could have similar effects to our industry as Psa had on the kiwifruit industry http://www.nzwine.com/assets/ sm/upload/tw/uk/ts/4z/NZW_most_ unwanted_Biosecurity_Poster.pdf Over the next few months New Zealand Winegrowers will be working with members to develop vineyard biosecurity best practice guidelines which aim to help protect the long term sustainability of our productive base.

These guidelines will build on the current practices and knowhow of growers and viticulturists who are experienced in managing biosecurity risks posed by endemic pests such as phylloxera or grapevine leafroll – associated virus 3 providing them with a tool kit to mitigate a wide range of biosecurity risks. These guidelines will

champion biosecurity as part of “business as usual”, and highlight that it is growers’, vineyard managers’ and viticulturists’ every day decisions, actions and requirements which have the most impact on mitigating biosecurity risk.

Some vineyard owners/managers are already extremely proactive in this area, others have less awareness regarding what biosecurity best practice might look like. Much like health and safety, creating a culture of effective biosecurity risk mitigation requires ongoing effort. They seek to create a change in mind-set so that biosecurity risk awareness and mitigation become part of business as usual.

Potential benefits Adopting best practice measures have a range of potential benefits for members. These include: Slowing the spread of established pests and disease such as grapevine leafroll – associated virus 3.

Slowing the spread of new pests and diseases should they be detected making it easier to eradicate them.

Providing increased information on the traceability of pests and disease during biosecurity response.

Creating a shared understanding between growers, vineyard managers, viticulturists and contract suppliers on the expected level of facilities and associated costs required to deliver on guidelines identified.

Adopting vineyard biosecurity

best practice can help with managing endemic diseases such as grape vine leaf roll – associated virus 3.

What’s included?

The guidelines are likely to focus on cost effective biosecurity measures that grape growers and vineyard managers can adopt in order to reduce the risk from a future high impact pest. The scope of these measures need to be worked through with members but could include the following: • Briefing staff and visitors to promote vineyard biosecurity awareness • Understanding the origin and potential biosecurity risk of all vineyard inputs • Appropriate tool hygiene • Appropriate facilities for wash down and cleaning • Harvest best practice Appropriate areas to be covered, and specific technical guidance in each areas will be confirmed following workshops with

A wash down facility on a concrete pad is a great step towards managing potential biosecurity risk.

members early in 2017. Workshops will be scheduled with members in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago. Local contractors will also be invited to provide their views and expertise. Stay tuned for more information.

Conclusion – dollars and sense The term “power of hindsight” is often used during a biosecurity

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incident as knowing how a situation could have been prevented is one of the first lessons learned that is applied during a recovery phase. Taking proactive steps to mitigate biosecurity risk is a cost effective way to ensure the sustainability of your vineyard.

The potential financial benefit of introducing these measures are significant and the upfront costs likely to be limited. New Zealand

Winegrowers looks forward to engaging with members regarding what’s possible.

For more information please contact New Zealand Winegrowers Biosecurity Manager Edwin Massey 0211924924 or Edwin.massey@nzwine.com And remember - if you see anything unusual - Catch it. Snap It. Report it. Call MPI biosecurity hotline 0800 80 99 66. ■

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OWNZ CONFERENCE

Success leads to second conference Te s s a N i c h o l s o n

A

fter a highly success- speakers are already in the pipe- these techniques, the more reward ful inaugural Organic line, although McIntyre says many they are seeing. The people who a n d B i o d y n a m i c of the world’s leading experts are are already active can’t help but Winegrower Confer- actually based here in New Zea- investigate further.”

While the passing on of inforence two years ago, land. plans are underway for a repeat “The feedback we are receiving mation will be a key aspect of the performance. (from internationals approached), conference, there will also be a The two-and-a-half-day con- suggest New Zealand is a leader in number of add on events available ference will be held in Blenheim organics and biodynamics. Guest to those attending. from June 26 to 28, with registra- speakers see it as beneficial to A gala dinner, the Organic tions now open.

Feast, with Chef Bevan What : Organic and Biodynamic Smith from Riverstone OWNZ marketing Winegrowing Conference Café will be held on the and events manager When : June 26 – 28 Tuesday night. With Stephanie McIntyre says Where : ASB Theatre – Blenheim Smith’s mantra of “padinterest in both organics Register : www.organicwineconference.com and biodynamics condock to the plate”, McIntinues to grow in New tyre says he is the perfect Zealand and world-wide. Which themselves to be a part of this complement to the conference. makes having a biennial event conference.”

There will also be two separate covering all the significant issues Since the first conference she tastings. A tasting of New Zealand so important. says a vast amount of research organic and biodynamic wines, “There are still a lot of ques- has been undertaken and they are which she describes as very much tions about whether this is the keen to get that out into the public a social event, will showcase the right way to go. Does it create a domain during this year’s event. breadth of what the membership higher quality product? Is it worth “There is some intriguing stuff is doing.

The second will be an internathe effort? What are the costs affil- we will be including. iated? The conference allows us “There is a lot of excitement tional tasting, to be held on the to trigger and address those key within the industry – the more final evening. The wine selection time people spend in the vine- has been curated by Clive Dougall questions.”

A number of international yard and winery committed to of Seresin Estate with the assis-

tance of Dan Gillett from Wine Diamonds (and Scotch Wine Bar), a natural wine importing business.

“There are some spectacular wines already selected,” McIntyre says.

“The tasting will highlight that many of the best wines in the world, that everybody knows and adores, are actually organic or biodynamic. Included in the line-up are wines imported exclusively for the conference and are rarely, if ever, seen in New Zealand.”

Limited numbers of tickets for all three events will be available, and given the interest shown already for the conference, she suggests people may need to book early.

“We’ve had so many inquiries about the conference, well before registrations opened. And not just from New Zealanders. The number of inquiries from Australia has been impressive.”

In 2015, close to 20 percent of those attending were Australian, and McIntyre is expecting an even higher percentage this year.■

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RESEARCH NEWS

The enigmatic nature of minerality in wine New Zealand Winegrowers sponsored Lincoln University sensory scientist Dr Wendy Parr to travel to London in October to speak within an Institute of Masters of Wine seminar on minerality in wine.

T

he event offered opportunity to further increase awareness of New Zealand wines and New Zealand wine science amongst an audience of around 60 international wine professionals, the majority of whom were MWs and MW students.

The contentious notion of perceived mineral character in wine, with its strong links to the concepts of terroir and vine provenance, has received much attention over the last decade.

This attention has come from both scientists and wine industry professionals, with little appar-

ent resolution in terms of what the term minerality means (i.e., how to define it), and whether it more likely reflects smart marketing rather than a sensorial reality based on wine composition. The IMW seminar, organised by Sally Easton MW, was an attempt at opening up the topic for serious

discussion amongst wine critics/ writers and wine educators.

Three scientists were invited to speak at the seminar, Alex Maltman, Professor of earth sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK, Dr Jordi Ballester, IUVV, University of Burgundy, France, and myself, a sensory scientist, Lincoln University, New Zealand. A contribution from UK-based viticulturist Dr Richard Smart, outlining relevant vine physiology, was also read out by Sally Easton as Dr Smart was unable to attend due to health issues. A wine tasting followed the oral presentations,

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 65

which in turn was followed by a lengthy, animated discussion from the floor.

Professor Maltman outlined the disconnection between geological minerals and the mineral nutrients required by vines.

He emphasised the difference between mineral nutrients essential to the vine such as magnesium, phosphorous and potassium and the complex nature of geological minerals such as rock. Further, he reported that the mineral nutrients taken up by the vine have their source in the humus and surface soil rather than in the vineyard stones, rocks and deeper layers.

He also argued that the mineral nutrients determined in wines are in such low concentration that we are unlikely to be able to taste them. This latter point however is open to debate, given that sensory scientists have provided data demonstrating interactions between subthreshold compounds that when presented together can produce a detectable flavour.

Sensory scientist Dr Jordi Ballester of the University of Burgundy then spoke about verbal aspects of the descriptor mineral as applied to wine sensory experience. This included providing data concerning French wine professionals’ definitions of the term minerality.

Data was presented from studies conducted with Burgundy Chardonnay wines where Burgundian winemakers attempted to define minerality. The verbal data were

66 //

Institute of Masters of Wine seminar, Saddlers’ Hall, London.

then classified qualitatively with more than half the words being clustered into ‘stone/flint’, ‘acid/ fresh’ and ‘sea/shellfish’ groups.

The major conclusion from this work was the lack of consensus amongst experienced wine producers regarding how they conceptualised and defined minerality in the Chardonnay wines.

I was the final speaker. My focus was on the sensorial aspects of minerality and I began by asking the question: “What are we sensing in wine that leads us to evoke geological metaphors such as flinty to describe our experience, given that geologists and plant physiologists tell us that it is unlikely that we are tasting directly the vineyard rocks and soil?”. I then presented data demonstrating the sensory drivers of perceived minerality in French and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wines that were assessed

by French and New Zealand wine professionals. A feature of the work was the cross-cultural nature of the study which demonstrated

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

remarkable consistency (consensus) in tasting data across French and New Zealand cultures, leading me to argue that perceived minerality is not entirely a figment of our imagination (perhaps due to smart marketing), but is a data-driven construct, coming from what is in the glass (i.e., the wine’s composition). I elaborated that perceived minerality in the Sauvignon wines was associated with an absence of passionfruit and green character, and the presence of citrus, a fresh/zingy character, chalky, flinty, and smoky notes. My final point was to urge caution with respect to how the term is used, in particular when writing for and communicating with wine consumers, because there was much between-judge variability in terms of what the term meant.

The tasting that followed comprised two flights of wines, the wines selected by Sally Easton MW on the basis that earlier vintages of these same wines had been included in the previously-

described sensory research, and hence there was ‘objective’ data available on these wines for comparative purposes. Several French and New Zealand wine producers generously supplied and freighted wines to London for the seminar; the New Zealand producers being Clos Henri Vineyard, Pernod Ricard Brancott Winery, and Wither Hills.

The tasting began with five French Chardonnay wines, all from Chablis, being rated by attendees in terms of intensity and type of mineral character (e.g., stony; seashore). This was followed by attendees being invited to rate 10 Sauvignons (five French and five New Zealand) in terms of mineral intensity, and to sort or categorise the wines into groupings based on types of mineral character(s). The major outcome of both components of the tasting was the relatively large betweentaster variability, this being more pronounced in the Chardonnay judgments than Sauvignon blanc judgments. ■

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eaf plucking enhances air movement and light penetration within the canopy, and helps decrease bunch drying time and reduce the potential for disease development.

Grape bunches become progressively more susceptible to Botrytis infection as harvest approaches, making it vital to maintain a tight fungicide cover from veraison to pre-harvest. Product and application timing decisions during this part of the season are strongly influenced by the frequency of rainfall, resistance management restrictions and residue considerations. Most protectant fungicides will afford protection on the outside of the bunch against Botrytis for 7-10 days or approximately 25 mm of rainfall, whichever comes first. Once the cover degrades or is washed off, then a reapplication should be made before the next rainfall event, particularly if prolonged periods of leaf wetness (e.g. 15 hours or more) and warm temperatures are forecast.

With the move toward a nil residue approach to Botrytis control in New Zealand viticulture, biofungicides have found a natural fit in conventional production systems at the end of the season. Over the course of the last 14 years Fruitfed Technical has conducted numerous late-season Botrytis trials to screen the efficacy of various biofungicides.

In particular, Serenade Max has consistently performed well, as its QST 173 strain of B. subtilis has a number of novel modes of action: inhibiting attachment of the pathogen by producing a zone of inhibition, preventing pathogen spore germination, and rupturing spore and mycelial cell walls. Serenade Max also induces systemic acquired resistance (SAR) to activate the plant’s natural defence system. Our experience shows these products perform best when integrated into a robust Botrytis spray programme and applied with an appropriate adjuvant such as Du-Wett or Du-Wett WeatherMax, depending on anticipated weather conditions.■

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CALENDAR To have events listed in this calendar, please email details to: tessa.nicholson@me.com

FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY

3-4

21

Classic Reds Symposium

Champagne Bollinger Trade Tennis Tournament

Hawke’s Bay

10-11

Wellington

24

Wellington Wine and Food Festival

Nuits Romantiques – Movie among the vines. Clos Henri in association with Francaise French Film Festival.

11 Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

Close Henri Vineyard, Marlborough, from 7pm 27 Dog Point/Logan Brown Classic Kiwi Picnic Dog Point Vineyard – Blenheim

Brancott Vineyard – Marlborough

MARCH

JUNE

7

26-28

Champagne Bollinger Trade Tennis Tournament

The Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference

Auckland

ASB Theatre, Blenheim.

Registrations; wwworganicwineconference.com

10

Framingham Wines Pre Harvest Concert Framingham Winery

11

Wairarapa Wines Harvest Festival 2017 The Cliffs, Rumahunga River

12

Waipara Valley Wine and Food Festival Glenmark Domain, Waipara Valley

19

Gibbston Wine and Food Festival 2017 Queenstown Gardens, Queenstown

APRIL 1

18-27

Explore Waiheke Wine and Food Festival

Judging for the International Wine Challenge 2017, Tranche 2

Main Event – Waiheke Island

68 //

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

UPCOMING NEW ZEALAND WINE GLOBAL EVENTS MARKET

EVENT

EVENT DATE

FEBRUARY USA

New Zealand Wine Tasting (Sth Florida)

February 17

USA

New Zealand Wine Fair (San Francisco)

March 13 - Registration closed

USA

New Zealand Wine Fair (New York)

March 16 - Registration closed

Germany

ProWein (Dusseldorf)

March 19-21 – Registration closed

Melbourne Wine and Food Festival Made in New Zealand

April 6 & 7

Canada

The Great NZ Wine Tiki Tour (Vancouver)

May 4 – Registration closed

USA

New Zealand Wine Tasting (Austin, Texas)

May 17 – Registrations closed

China

New Zealand Wine Fair (Shanghai)

May 19

China

New Zealand Wine Fair (Beijing)

May 22 – Registrations closed

China

New Zealand Wine Fair (Chengdu)

May 24 – Registrations closed

China

New Zealand Wine Fair (Guangzhou)

May 26 – Registrations closed

MARCH

APRIL Australia MAY

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 69

STATISTICS

MAJOR NZ VINEYARD AREAS PRODUCING HECTARES Region

2016

Marlborough

2018 forecast

PRINCIPAL EXPORT MARKETS % of Total in 2018 forecast

24,020

25,119

67

4744

4938

13

Hawkes Bay Central Otago

1943

1967

5

Gisborne

1448

1447

4

Waipara

1238

1239

3

Nelson

1169

1176

3

Wairarapa / Wellington

1002

1026

3

Auckland

350

351

1

Canterbury

198

196

1

36,192

37,542

National Total

Exports for the year to date to the end of October 2016 (Moving Annual Total)

Country

Litres (m)

$ FOB

Growth Decline Litres %

Growth Decline FOB %

UK

63,.526

376,051

6

0

USA

65,804

485,571

14

18

Australia

53,414

354,473

-2

-1

Canada

11,234

109,272

14

10

7,134

44,635

-1

-1

Denmark

1,044

7,764

9

17

Ireland

3,091

23,164

14

22

Japan

1,340

15,157

17

7

Germany

2,717

15,174

26

40

China

2,101

28,259

15

4

Hong Kong

1,287

17,314

-4

2

Singapore

1,523

20,621

-4

-4

Finland

0.244

2,170

-27

-23

Norway

0.297

2,675

11

28

Sweden

1,846

15,083

9

11

Others

8,591

79,146

11

16

225,200,954

1,596,536,777

6%

7%

MAJOR VARIETIES IN MAJOR AREAS Variety

2016

Sauvignon Blanc

21,016

21,352

21,901

5573

5719

5768

Pinot Noir Chardonnay

2017

2018

3211

3257

3303

2455

2480

2579

Merlot

1271

1327

1327

Riesling

767

768

765

Syrah

443

449

450

Pinot Gris

Gewurztraminer

258

256

258

Cabernet Sauv

283

280

280

Malbec

131

132

132

Viognier

127

125

125

Cabernet Franc

108

108

109

Sauvignon Gris

104

104

104

All other varieties Total

444

439

442

36,192

36,796

37,542

AVERAGE VINEYARD SIZE Region

Regional area producing ha

Average of Area ha

Number of Vineyards

Auckland/Northland

350

4

93

Canterbury

198

5

33

1448

15

98

Gisborne Hawke’s Bay

4744

18

254

Marlborough

24,020

23

1021

1169

9

117

Nelson Northland Central Otago

64

3

20

1943

9

216

Waikato

16

2

5

Waipara

1238

19

65

Wellington / Wairarapa National

70 //

1002

9

118

36,192

17

2040

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

Netherlands

TOTAL

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

Bentonite literature review Lincoln University (B Tian) High-throughput genotyping of transposon-induced mutations in vines Lincoln University (C Winefield) Population genomics of the wine spoilage yeast Brettanomyces bruxellensis Auckland University (M Goddard)

Pests and Disease

Sustainability/Organics

Grapevine Trunk Disease; young vine ecology, diagnostics and preventative treatments New Zealand Viticulture Nursery Association Incorporated (VINA) (N Hoskins)

Pinot noir wine composition and sensory characteristics as affected by soil type and irrigation in the Waipara region Lincoln University (G Creasy)

Leafroll virus and mealybug monitoring in Marlborough, 2015 to 2017 Plant and Food Research (V Bell) Virus diversity in New Zealand grapevines: sequence, ecology and impact – The Rod Bonfiglioli Scholarship Plant and Food Research (R MacDiarmid - student A Blouin) Optimising management of grapevine trunk diseases for vineyard longevity South Australian Research & Development Institute (M Sosnowski) Grape botrytis resistance to AP and SDHI fungicides Plant and Food Research (R Beresford)

Vineyard Ecosystems Programme University of Auckland and Plant and Food Research (Various) Jointly funded by NZW and MBIE Sector weather data licence & tools HortPlus (NZ) Ltd. Cost efficient optimisation of weed management in vineyards Thoughtful Viticulture (M Krasnow)

Cost Reduction/Increased Profitability Grapevine growth stage monitoring for prediction of key phenological events Plant and Food Research (R Agnew) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund

Grape powdery mildew monitoring Plant and Food Research (D Mundy) Developing Powdery Mildew Best Practise in New Zealand Vineyards Lewis Wright Valuation & Consultancy Ltd (T Lupton) Supported by MPI Sustainable Farming Fund

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 71

PROGRESS REPORTS

Continuing the development of powdery mildew best practises in New Zealand vineyards Trevor Lupton (Lewis Wright Valuation & Consultancy Ltd, Gisborne), Craig Howard (MGP Cooperative Ltd, Marlborough), Andrew Blakeman (AJB Solutions Ltd, Gisborne) and David Manktelow (FreshLearn Ltd, Napier).

16-101 New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW), with co-funding from MPI Sustainable Farming Fund and AgChem companies, has embarked on a three year powdery mildew research and extension project.

The aim of this project is twofold. The first is to run extension

seminars where best management practices are demonstrated and discussed.

The second is to build on our scientific understanding of how to better control the disease. The trials being conducted in this project are listed below.

Trial 1. Sulphur rates and adjuvants.

Last season (2015-2016), results indicated that increasing rates of Kumulus DF above 3kg/ha on a 3 metre wide row (this would equate to 3.8 kg/ha on 2.4 m rows and 4.5 kg/ha on 2m rows) did not

improve powdery mildew control (apart from the final assessment of leaves in Gisborne, a month after final application where lower sulphur application rates had more leaf disease expression).

The addition of the adjuvant Actiwett to Kumulus DF significantly reduced powdery mildew severity on bunches but not on leaves over equivalent sulphur treatments without added adjuvant.

This trial aims to confirm the sulphur rates work conducted last season (2015-16) by including a lower label rate of 1.5kg/Ha of sulphur (based on a 3m wide row), the standard rate of 3.0kg/Ha and a higher rate of 5.0kg/Ha. These sulphur rates will be applied on their own or in conjunction with the wetting agents Actiwett (in high spray volumes) or DuWett (in low spray volumes). These treatments will be compared with an organic and a conventional powdery mildew fungicide programme.

2. Mixing single site fungicides with sulphur.

This trial examines the effect either applying single site fungicides on their own or in a mixture with sulphur. The range of single site fungicides includes Topas, Quintec, Pristine, Vivando, Secardis, Luna Sensation and Flint.

Trevor Lutpon inspecting the vines for powdery mildew, in Gisborne.

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3. Spraying, wire lifting and tucking.

Wire lifting and tucking, especially in the period soon after flow-

ering, can create a tight canopy which is difficult for sprayers to penetrate.

This trial conducted in six Marlborough vineyards will measure the effects of spraying before or after wire lifting on powdery mildew control. Vines will be sprayed with the grower’s sprayer either prior to or after wire lifting and tucking. The effects will be assessed at application with water sensitive papers and through bunch and leaf assessments for powdery mildew infections prior to harvest.

4. Autumn management of powdery mildew inoculum.

In an attempt to reduce the level of powdery mildew inoculum carry over, some growers have adopted post-harvest practises such as topping the canopy to remove powdery mildew infected leaves, or the post-harvest application of eradicant fungicides. This study will examine whether there

A case of severe powdery mildew in grapes.

are any benefits from autumn powdery mildew management compared with relying on a fungicide programme the following

spring.

The results from these studies will be available at Grape Days 2017 and will also be communi-

cated to the industry through the NZ Winegrowers Powdery Mildew extension programme and Spray Days events.

New research for the wine sector Plant & Food Research (PFR) maintains a portfolio of wine science and since 2012, PFR’s annual investment in this portfolio has increased from $3.4M to $4.3M. This funding comes from the Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. Earlier this year, the PFR Wine Leadership Team (WLT) who manage the research portfolio refreshed this wine science investment, in consultation with New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW), by running a contestable funding round of $1.15M. Five topic areas were identified as reflecting priority areas for NZW and PFR: 1. Fungal communities, 2. Grapevine phenology, yield and fruit composition prediction, 3. Grapevine leafroll virus, 4. Biosecurity readiness, 5. Improving data management.

In all, 29 expressions of interest were received in the first round from PFR and our collaborators Lincoln University and

Pinot Noir, Foxes Island Wines, Marlborough.

Supplied by NZW.

NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 // 73

The University of Auckland. Of those, 11 projects were selected and approved for immediate funding in a consultative process that included the WLT and PFR’s Chief Scientist Richard Newcomb, the NZW Research Committee and other experts. Figure 1 provides a complete list of the new projects.

Also included in the 29 expressions of interest were four similar applications on trunk disease.

Funding for work in this area has been reserved, and, in early November 2016, PFR hosted a science think tank to bring together scientists to identify what research would have the

most impact for industry. Proposal ideas have been developed for the next founding round.

PFR will continue to hold contestable funding rounds each year to keep our wine science portfolio relevant and on track in terms of outcomes and impact for industry.

The next round was announced in

December 2016 for projects starting July 2017.

We look forward to keeping you updated about new projects and progress of continuing research.

Contact Megan Jones for more information: 09 926 3509 megan. jones@plantandfood.co.nz.

Figure 1

PROJECT TITLE

PROJECT LEADER

Managing vineyard groundcover plants, mealybugs and leafroll virus.

A groundcover trial using white clover as a potential mealybug habitat to reduce the vine/vector association and virus transmission vine-to-vine.

Vaughn Bell PFR

Mealybug biological control in vineyards: a natural ecosystem service.

Understanding the biology of mealybug parasitoid species and their influence on biological control.

Vaughn Bell PFR

Enhancing image analysis-based disease detection with spectral imaging.

An examination of multi & hyperspectral imaging technologies for diagnosis of grapevine leafroll disease prior to disease expression.

Karmun Chooi PFR

Streamlining the VineFacts Newsletter through improved data management.

Automated collection, collation and synthesis of weather, phenology and disease modelling data to enable more efficient production of the VineFacts newsletter.

Gareth Hill PFR

Microbes beyond the soil.

A three-year PhD project to evaluate the effect of harvest date on microbial diversity and stability in juice and correlate this to wine chemistry.

Matt Goddard University of Auckland

Model system development for grapevine trunk diseases.

The development of a plant-based research tool for understanding trunk diseases.

Dion Mundy PFR

Sensing disease in grape: detection and identification for woody trunk disease.

The discovery of key metabolites associated with trunk disease as a basis for their early detection.

Dion Mundy PFR

Understanding the threat of potential New Zealand insect vectors of Xylella fastidiosa in vineyards.

As a critical first step in biosecurity readiness, we are investigating the potential threat of extant insects within New Zealand being vectors of Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of Pierce’s disease (PD) of grapevines.

Mette Nielsen PFR

Getting historical and current grape and wine sample data into a PFR crop database (Kea).

A project to finalise development of a PFR-wide database platform that will be a repository for all grape and wine research chemistry and provenance data.

Marc Greven PFR

Factors affecting arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in vineyards.

Identifying arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in vineyards and determining how they are affected by vineyard management practices (starting 1 July 2017).

Erian Jones Lincoln University

Exploiting New Zealand fungal communities to enhance tropical aroma in wine.

A screening of New Zealand vineyard-derived fungal communities for their Hydrogen sulphide producing abilities pre-fermentation, to enhance thiol production in Sauvignon blanc wine.

Bruno Fedrizzi University of Auckland

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NZ WINEGROWER FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017

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