Winepress - April 2023

Photo: Jim Tannock

Rapaura, 59 Jeffries Road

Golden mile lifestyle with views and income

Situated in the golden mile is this alluring opportunity to secure a lifestyle offering a spacious home built to impress, with a 3.9ha vineyard providing good income to support the lifestyle this property offers. This impressive property is set on an elevated site and offers breath taking panoramic views of the Richmond Ranges and total privacy The 270sqm two-level residence boasts an impressive four bedrooms and bathrooms, perfect to accommodate large families or those who require a unique residence in a suburb location Matched with a modernised open plan farm-style kitchen, formal dining area, multiple family living options and equipped with solar water heating Surrounded by established fruit trees and gardens provides a space to relax and enjoy Marlborough’s climate enhanced by a solar heated in-ground swimming pool and an all-weather tennis court Enjoy hosting friends and family no matter the weather with the custom built, all-season covered pool house complete with a wood burner If that's not enough, the outbuildings include a garage/workshop and a three-bay storage shed to accommodate all your toys, tools and equipment

Adding to this great asset is total of 3 933 canopy hectares of vineyard consisting of 2 24 hectares Sauvignon Blanc, 1 2 hectares of which was recently planted 2021 and 1 02 hectares of Pinot Noir Planted on desirable fertile river silt loam soil and positioned over the main Wairau aquifer, this property benefits from an excellent water supply All new irrigation and electronics have recently been updated, so you can enjoy modern viticulture farming practices So, if you're looking for a unique and versatile property that offers a wonderful lifestyle and a sound investment, this could be the one for you Don't miss out on the opportunity to make this property yours today and get in touch with the exclusive agents Mike Poff and Jackie Herkt

Deadline Sale

12pm, Thu 04 May 2023 33 Seymour Street, Blenheim

Mike Poff I 027 665 5477 mike.poff@bayleys.co.nz

BE MARLBOROUGH LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENESED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Jackie Herkt I 027 292 3762 jackie.herkt@bayleys.co.nz

BE MARLBOROUGH LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENESED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

bayleys.co.nz/4135474 bayleys.co.nz

10 Vintage 2023

“The crew is super experienced,” says Vine to Wine intern Lisa Morgan (page 11) in her second vintage. That’s a welcome change for Marlborough wine companies excited about the quality of this year’s crop.

14 Wellness in Wine

An industry is only as healthy as its people, says winemaker Stewart Maclennan on the cusp of Wine Wellness Week. “We hope to foster a friendly competition that brings out the best in everyone.”

16

Trucking On

A pencil and rubber are Jax Smith’s “best friends” when coordinating grape harvest trucking each year. “Over the whole period of time you make tweaks and change things and try to make it as efficient as you possibly can.”

General Manager: Marcus Pickens 03 577 9299 or 021 831 820 marcus@winemarlborough.nz

Editor: Sophie Preece 027 308 4455 sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz

Marketing and Communications: Sarah Linklater 021 704 733 sarah@winemarlborough.nz

Events Manager: Loren Coffey loren@winemarlborough.nz

Advocacy Manager: Nicci Armour advocacy@winemarlborough.nz

Advertising:

Joanna May advertising@winemarlborough.nz

Grape Grower Directors: Andrew Nation nationa@gmail.com

Anna Laugesen anna@craiglochart.co.nz

Michiel Eradus michiel@eraduswines.co.nz

Nigel Sowman nigel@dogpoint.co.nz

Tracy Johnston tracy@dayvinleigh.co.nz

Wine Company Directors: Beth Forrest beth@forrest.co.nz

Damien Yvon damien@closhenri.com

Gus Altschwager gus@akwines.net

James Macdonald james@hunters.co.nz

Jamie Marfell Jamie.Marfell@pernod-ricard.com

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Disclaimer: The views and articles that are expressed and appear in Winepress are entirely those of contributors and in no way reflect the policy of the Marlborough Winegrowers. Any advice given, implied or suggested should be considered on its merits, and no responsibility can be taken for problems arising from the use of such information.

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From the Editor

WHAT A delight to talk to viticulturists singing the praises of good clean grapes this harvest, despite a season dense with disease pressures. Lovely too, to talk to wineries flush with experienced staff, as open borders welcomed international wine workers back to the cellar, alongside the interns trained up over closedborder Covid years.

Vintage 2023 almost feels like normal, but it’s laced with learnings from the past few years. They include the likes of VinLink, where labour pressures resulted in more flexible working hours in the last vintage, and where a Wellbeing Assistant was employed in 2022 to focus on pastoral care for winery workers. That “face to face” care and attention got them through vintage 2022, says Cathi Angwin. “It was growing a culture of support.” Both the flexible hours and the Wellbeing Assistant remain for vintage 2023, where the new normal includes inventions borne of necessity.

Covid-19 certainly brought focus to wellness in the wine industry, with the myriad pressures of vintage multiplied by labour shortages and Covid precautions. That focus will remain for many, if not most, and the Workforce Strategy Group has launched an initiative to share some of the best ideas and strategies rolled out by individual companies. “We hope to foster a friendly competition that brings out the best in everyone,” says Saint Clair Family Estate winemaker Stewart Maclennan of the Wine Industry Wellness Week.

This edition also looks at a partnership between Rangitāne and boutique wine company Astrolabe, who are working together to deliver an urban winery on the banks of the Ōpaoa River in Blenheim. Simon Waghorn, founder, owner and winemaker at Astrolabe, says the winery development – to be completed in time for vintage 2024 – is the beginning of a new era. “It is the most magic site to do an urban winery I think we could possibly envisage in Blenheim.”

SOPHIE PREECE

Vintage 2023 almost feels like normal, but it’s laced with learnings from the past few years.

Vantage Point

Is overseas climate legislation coming for New Zealand’s wine?

ALISTAIR SCHORN

THE EFFECTS of human activity on our planet are becoming increasingly obvious, in the form of species extinction, habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, degradation of soil, air and water quality, rising greenhouse gas concentrations, and various other metrics.

Across the world, regulatory responses to these ecological crises seem to be gaining momentum, although the jury is very much still out on whether these responses are sufficient, or whether they will be effective in reversing the damage that is being caused to natural systems.

In New Zealand, the past several years have seen the introduction of various pieces of legislation, along with accompanying policies and regulations, to address a

range of adverse environmental outcomes in areas such as freshwater, soil health, air quality, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These laws, policies and regulations are often also intended to protect the integrity of New Zealand’s major primary sectors, and secure their ability to continue producing in the future.

New Zealand has also entered into a number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), including those with the European Union and the United Kingdom. These FTAs include various environmental and social provisions, which can hold significant implications for domestic policies of the parties in these areas.

Over the past several months, I have been involved in a research project being undertaken by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) for the Our Land, Our Water / Toitū te Whenua, Toiora te Wai National Science Challenge. This project is evaluating the effects of environmental and sustainability policies in the EU for New Zealand’s primary sectors, in the context of the New Zealand-EU FTA. This research has uncovered some interesting implications for New Zealand producers.

The EU is playing a leadership role in driving environmental and social outcomes in both its domestic policies and in its international trade relations, and makes no secret of its objective of utilising trade to support its domestic sustainability agenda, as defined in the European Green Deal.

The Green Deal is an umbrella of policies, comprising strategic initiatives in all sectors of the economy, with significant changes to notable industries, transportation, energy, buildings and agriculture. Financial and legal measures back key action areas that make up the Green Deal.

Some of the key implications of the European Green Deal, and the various policies that sit underneath it, include:

• An outright ban on the importation into the EU of products containing residues of pesticides and agricultural chemicals banned from use in the EU – currently, the EU’s list of banned chemicals and pesticides comprises 195 items, while New Zealand’s comparable list of banned substances comprises 27 items.

• A similar ban on the importation into the EU of products associated with deforestation within a fixed timeframe

(likely to be after 31 December 2020) – the responsibility for ensuring that products are free from any association with deforestation will lie with the producer; this responsibility will also extend to the entire supply chain of the product, including in third countries.

• The EU is investigating the feasibility of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs), effectively an import duty on the embedded CO2 equivalent (CO2-e) contained by a product, based on a life cycle analysis – at present it is considered highly unlikely that CBAMs will be applied to agricultural or primary industry products; however this may not necessarily remain the case in the future.

• Legislation aimed at eliminating greenwashing, or the practice of making false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims around the environmental benefits of a product or service – this will compel New Zealand producers to comprehensively substantiate the often-repeated claims of New Zealand products and producers being amongst the most sustainable or carbon-efficient in the world.

• The EU is also in the early stages of developing a Sustainability Labelling Scheme, that will apply to all products sold in the EU, irrespective of whether these are imported or domestically produced. The Scheme will evaluate products according to their performance against a number of sustainability metrics in the fields of climate change mitigation, water quality, air quality, soil quality, biodiversity conservation and the circular economy.

Several of these issues are mentioned in different contexts in the NZ-EU FTA. This suggests that in order to maintain or hopefully enhance their access to European markets, New Zealand producers will need to comply with the EU’s emerging environmental regulations, particularly when these are more stringent than comparable domestic regulations in New Zealand.

The emerging regulatory regime in the EU is also likely to spur other major trading blocs and nations into developing similar regulations, to avoid disadvantaging their own local producers and exporters. This might hold even more significant implications for New Zealand’s primary producers, as larger trading partners such as China and the USA go through this process.

More information on this subject will be available following the completion of the OANZ report, scheduled for Q2 2023. What is already clear, however, is that New Zealand’s primary producers and exporters will in the future need to consider and comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations in key export markets, irrespective of the status of comparable domestic regulation in New Zealand.

Alistair Schorn is a Marlborough-based sustainability economist. He is the business development advisor at the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce and a board member of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand. He writes in his personal capacity.

2023

Table 1: Blenheim Weather Data – March 2023

Temperature

Blenheim’s mean air temperature in March was 16.6°C, 0.5°C above the long-term average (LTA). The first three weeks of March all recorded above average temperatures. The second week was especially warm, with the mean temperature of 18.3°C being the same as the LTA January mean temperature. However, temperatures over the last 10-days of March were colder than average and Blenheim got its first taste of the winter to come.

Coldest and Hottest days during March

1GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures

2GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures

No ground or air frosts were recorded during March 2023. The coldest minimum air temperature of 2.4°C was recorded on 29 March. This was the coldest air minimum temperature in March since 25 March 2004. The grass minimum temperature on 29 March was 0.0°C. While this morning didn’t officially record a frost many people noted that there was some ice on car windscreens and on roofs. Dew and ice form sooner on surfaces such as glass windscreens or metal roofs as these surfaces cool down quickly. The official

Table 2: Weekly temperatures, rainfall and sunshine during March 2023

ground frost temperatures are measured 2.5 cm above a mown grass surface. Soil under grass stores heat during the day, which is then radiated out at night, so the ground temperature will normally be warmer than the temperature on a windscreen or roof. The hottest maximum temperature of 29.0°C was recorded on 2 March. This is the hottest March maximum since 1 March 2017, which recorded 29.3°C.

Sunshine

Blenheim recorded 247.0 hours sunshine in March, 107% of the LTA. Although Blenheim recorded above average sunshine hours in March it languished in 8th place amongst the other contenders for sunniest town in NZ. New Plymouth was in first place with 276.6 hours sunshine. Cromwell and Tekapo had taken the top two spots in January and February 2023, however, they were only placed ninth and tenth in March.

Total sunshine for the first three months of 2023 is 652.6 hours, 90% of the LTA. At the end of March 2023 Blenheim is sitting in sixth place for sunniest town in New Zealand in 2023. Cromwell with 785.2 hours is in first place and Tekapo is in second place with 765.5 hours. However, New Plymouth is now nipping at their heals in third place with 763.7 hours, only 1.8 hours behind Tekapo. It is starting to get a bit tedious reporting that New Plymouth has obtained the highest monthly or annual sunshine hours. Much like it was when Richmond came on the scene a few years ago with a new weather station.

Rainfall

Blenheim recorded 55.6 mm rain in March, 136% of the LTA. While March 2023 rainfall was above average there were no significantly large rain events during the month. There were six rain days during the month; i.e. days that recorded 1.0 mm or more rain. The rainfall was spread throughout the month, with the largest daily total being 15.2 mm recorded on 13 March. In contrast March 2022 only recorded 17.0 mm rain, almost all of which was recorded in the four days from 21 to 24 March. March 2021 recorded 79.2 mm rain, well above average, however, nearly all that rain fell in the final 4-days of March 2021.

Soil moisture

Average shallow soil moisture (5-35 cm depth) at the Grovetown Park weather station during March was 24.5%. This was 4.3% above the LTA March value of 20.2%. Shallow soil moisture rose from 21.2% on 1 March to 26.8% on 31 March.

Wind Run

March 2023 recorded average daily wind run of 201.6 km, 84% of the LTA of 239.0 km (1996-2022). This is the 13th year in a row that March has recorded lower than average wind-run. Only 6-days in March 2023 recorded above average daily wind-run; i.e. greater than 239 km. The maximum instantaneous wind-gust recorded during the month was 78.5 km/hr on 20 March. This day also recorded the highest daily wind-run total during the month of 392 km. While March recorded lower than average wind-run, it was considerably windier than March 2022 which recorded average daily wind-run of only 163.9 km, the lowest March total on record.

Botrytis Comparison between the 2022 and 2023 seasons

I thought it would be interesting to look at the Botrytis infection periods and the actual disease at harvest in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The infection period data come from the Blenheim weather station located at the Grovetown Park campus of the Marlborough Research Centre. The disease scores at harvest are taken from three of the regional Sauvignon blanc vineyards that are monitored as part of the VineFacts phenology programme.

Table 3 summarises the Severe Bacchus Botrytis infection periods (IP’s) during the 2021-22 and 202223 seasons. The top two lines in Table 3 summarise the infection periods from 15 November, just prior to the start of flowering, through until 31 March. This is essentially the full season when Botrytis can infect the developing berries. These data indicate that there were 21 infection periods in 2022-23 compared to 12 infection period in 2021-22. Total hours of wetness and average temperature were also higher in the 2022-23 season. That being the case why wasn’t there more disease at harvest in 2023 than there was at harvest in 2022?

Table 3: Summary of Bacchus Botrytis infection periods during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons

There were a higher number of botrytis infection periods during the whole season in 2023 (Table 3). However, as is normally the case in Marlborough, it is the infection events over the ripening period that determine the expression of disease at harvest. The total hours of wetness and total rainfall over the ripening period in February (and March) 2022 were a lot higher than in February and March 2023. February 2022 was extremely wet with 153.4 mm rain. This gave botrytis a massive kick start in the early stages of ripening. The 2022 vintage in Marlborough was saved from being a botrytis disaster because March 2022 only had 17.0 mm rain.

Table 4 summarises the incidence and severity of botrytis bunch rot from three Sauvignon blanc vineyards in Marlborough. The data indicate that at the Central Rapaura vineyard disease incidence was very similar in 2022 and 2023, while disease severity was 5.4% in 2022 and 1.3% in 2023. At the Upper Brancott vineyard incidence and severity were extremely high in 2022 at 98.8% and 49.2% respectively, whereas in 2023 incidence and severity were only 26.3% and 1.3% respectively. At the Western Wairau Plains vineyard disease incidence was slightly higher in 2023 while disease severity was almost identical in both years.

Although the 2023 vintage is still in full swing as I write this article it appears as if Marlborough has experienced another good year with relatively low amounts of botrytis bunch rot, even though the province experienced regular rainfall from November 2022 to March 2023.

Rob Agnew Plant & Food Research /

Marlborough Research Centre

Table 4: Incidence and severity of botrytis bunch rot at harvest in 2022 and 2023, from three Sauvignon blanc vineyards in Marlborough

Harvest 2023

Great expectations of quality vintage

VIGILANT VINEYARD management has been vital to Marlborough’s 2023 vintage, with La Niña doing her best to cast a shadow on the season.

And the hard work has paid off, says Dog Point Vineyards viticulturist Nigel Sowman at the end of March, “pretty damned happy” with the quality on the vine. “We’re having one of those really good seasons this year. The fruit is lovely and clean which is, I must say, a good change from last year.” The season has been “tricky”, he adds. “But the team here have really put in some brilliant work and we have come through as clean as it could be really, at this stage.” Some Pinot Noir blocks are a little light , while others are good, “and everything else is a good average cropping year”, Nigel says, evoking Goldilocks in his yield assessment. “It’s not big; it’s not small. I think it’s going to be a really, really good year.”

That’s a welcome change from the challenges of vintage 2022, in which Marlborough harvested a whopping 414,649 tonnes, which was 80.6% of New Zealand’s 2022 yield. While many needed the fruit after a very light-yielding 2021 harvest, the 2022 season was described by one industry member as “edge-of-your-seat” stuff, with higher yields stymied by inclement weather and the massive impact of Covid infections on winery and vineyard crews.

way they tied down, says Nigel. “Lots of little things along the way, and what it has led to is incredibly clean grapes, so it’s a recipe we’ll definitely be keeping up.”

Framingham Wines viticulturist James Bowskill says things are looking a lot better than he expected when he saw NIWA’s long range forecast for the region. The weather service heralded a wet, warm growing season for Marlborough and James responded by opening up the fruit zone and intensifying his fungicide programme,

“We learned a lot of lessons from last year,” says Nigel, noting that what to do in a La Niña year, with “increased humidity and more heavy downpours at inconvenient times”, was key among them. He previously underestimated the role La Niña would play in the grape seasons, “but now this is the third one in a row, and it’s the third tricky season in a row. You look back to all the good seasons and they’re either neutral or El Niño. “So what do we do differently if we know we’re having a La Niña year? Look back in history at what you did well and what you didn’t do well. And that’s the time where being on a block for a long period of timeunderstanding those little things - really pays off.”

He changed a number of practices following the 2022 season, starting right after harvest when Dog Point, which is certified organic, made a conscious decision to instigate a different spray procedure, using biologicals. Then there was a conscious effort with pruning, including a change in the

because “the risk of not doing anything about it is too high”. Forewarned is forearmed and Framingham’s Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling blocks are looking great, “so I think we did the right thing”, says James on March 22. Chardonnay is looking good as well, and while one of Framingham’s Pinot Noir blocks suffered in the wet summer, other Pinot blocks have come through well, he says. “So all in all it’s much better than last year quality wise.” He’s happy with yields too, with crops looking around the long-term average.

The Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative began its Sauvignon Blanc harvest at the end of March, picking younger blocks and earlier ripening fruit from the shallow soils in saline areas. Speaking on March 27, viticulturist

Johnny McMillan says it’s looking like a really good vintage. “I think the really exciting thing this year is just that when considering all the disease pressure we’ve had, our grower owners’ increased focus on management for botrytis has

“We learned a lot of lessons from last year.”

Nigel Sowman

Dog Point Vineyards’ 2023 harvest. Photos by Elisa Cigui

Sampling Marlborough's wine industry SOPHIE PREECE

At the beginning of 2022, Lisa Morgan was living in Auckland, working as a picture framer, and tiring of “crazy house prices, crazy traffic, and too many people”.

A year and a bit on, she’s in her second vintage at New Zealand Wineries, and loving the view-drenched, vine-dappled commute from her Seddon home to the Riverlands winery.

“My husband and I wanted to get out of Auckland,” she says of her kickstart into the wine industry via the Vine to Wine intern collaboration run by Ormond Nurseries, SLT, and New Zealand Wineries, with the help of recruitment company Only Human. “I started looking for a change in career and we were keeping an eye on a few small towns.” They settled on Blenheim because of its sunshine hours and the access to outdoor activities, she says. “I saw this job and thought it would be a really awesome opportunity to learn a whole new industry.”

Lisa started her internship with vintage 2022 at New Zealand Wineries, which was “overwhelming and crazy”, she says, excited to be into her second year with that experience under her belt. After harvest she and other Vine to Wine interns went on to Ormond Nurseries – “a really cool company” – where she learned to process the previous year’s grafts, as well as quality control, allocation, and packaging. From there they went to SLT and drove tractors around the vineyards, Lisa says, amazed at how much she has done since she and her husband – Mills Rogers – moved south. “It has definitely been an intense year.”

She’s not planning to specialise in any one aspect of wine just yet, keen to instead build on her education through the internship. “Because I am new to the industry and only have one year of experience, I want to do it again and get more of an understanding of what happens in each part of the industry.”

Meanwhile, her second round at vintage already feels different, with open borders meaning plenty of returnee cellar hands are on deck this year. “The crew is super experienced,” Lisa says. ”It’s incredible and it’s going to be a really smooth vintage.”

Meanwhile she and Mills are relishing life in Marlborough, settling into the house they bought in Seddon late last year. “We’re loving the slower pace; we are loving the valleys and the sun” Lisa says. “It is so beautiful.”

“It has definitely been an intense year.”

Lisa Morgan

Lisa Morgan

really paid dividends.” They are seeing "sound clean fruit” ripening well pre-harvest, he says, noting that sugars are up and they’re waiting on acids to drop. The cooperative’s Sauvignon Blanc yields are looking around 8% up on their long term average, compared to 14% up on their long term average last year.

VinLink winery began working 24-hour cycles on March 20, but winery production manager Kathy Cooney says it’s still in warm up mode, with the “sauvalanche” not likely to roll until the last days of March. That’s a week later than last year, but closer to the long term average, she says. Meanwhile, vintage has a “really nice vibe about it again”, which she’s also seeing in the wider Blenheim township. “It is like what it used to be. Not fully pre-Covid, but certainly a step in the right direction.” The Riverlands winery, with its focus on Sauvignon Blanc, has around 15

returnees this year, with a mix of Kiwis and international visitors. “It’s a really important part of our workforce that comes from overseas,” Kathy says. “They come here and then we go there... It’s nice to have that back.”

The 2023 team also reflects changes in employment practices over the Covid period, when labour shortages forced them to think outside the box. They offered more flexible hours to experienced workers they needed, moving beyond “the one-size-fits-all 12 hour days, six or seven days a week”, says Kathy. “You can miss out on some good people that way.” Having key experienced people on the ground for eight hours, instead of 12, worked really well, as did pulling

“Basically

story will be Fat & Sassy goes to Marlborough,” says the Chardonnay specialist, who swiftly found enough Chardonnay from the region to make up half his production.

Nautilus Winemaker Clive Jones has carved 10 tonnes from the company’s Chardonnay crop, which they’ll make to Tony’s specifications. “We’ve had a good Chardonnay set down in Marlborough so have a little bit more than we anticipated or need. So it seemed like an obvious thing to do.” He says there’s definitely a willingness to help Hawke’s Bay out, “and where people have an opportunity to supply, they are looking at that”.

Three wineries and one grower responded to Tony’s Chardonnay call, along with others offering moral support, Tony says. “It’s a case of Marlborough helping Hawke’s Bay.”

Tony Bish

Dog Point Vineyards’ 2023 harvest. Photos by Elisa Cigui

in a former permanent employee and his partner, now working in a different field, to give supervisors a break in the flat tack working weeks of vintage. “They slot in on the days that we need them.”

Kathy says those changes happened as a consequence of Covid-19, but there’s also a growing realisation that people have lives outside of work. “When I started 15 years

Wine workers

ago, I guess it was a badge of honour that you could say you’d worked three weeks straight without a day or night off,” she says. That “old school way” has been replaced by a “softened” approach that’s necessary to attract people to the industry, she says. “They need to see you can come into it and not lose your life for six or eight weeks”.

Covid-19 locked hundreds of international winemakers out of Marlborough vintages, but for Florencia Costabel and Alfonso Rivero, the pandemic opened winery doors.

The Uruguayan couple were working in a kiwifruit packhouse in 2020 when border closures and labour shortages resulted in a change to visa conditions, enabling them to apply for winery jobs in time for the harvest.

They leapt at the opportunity, joining other stranded South American travellers – most of them new to wine work – in vintages at Matua winery, where Spanish filled the cellar, says Florencia. “We were joking with the permanent people that they would have to learn Spanish.”

Now leaning in to their fourth vintage, this time at Saint Clair Family Estate, they’re surrounded by seasoned cellar hands and winemakers from around the world, with wineries putting out the welcome mat as soon as borders opened.

Florencia says they enjoy the ebb and flow of the wine industry, with the heavy workload and pressure of the harvest cooling off for the more relaxed blending period, which they plan to stay on for.

They’re soaking up the experience while they can, says Alfonso, keen to keep learning on the cellar floor, in a country they consider akin to their home in many ways, including its small size and population. “New Zealand has a space in our heart.

Florencia Costabel and Alfonso Rivero

Wellness Week

Getting competitive when it comes to wellbeing

AN INDUSTRY is only as healthy as its people, says the team initiating the inaugural Marlborough Wine Industry Wellness Week.

Running from May 8 to May 12, in the wake of another hectic harvest, the week challenges growers, wineries and associated businesses to share their best, most recent, creative, or impactful wellness initiatives. “Our goal is for companies to share stories about how they look after their people, and to encourage businesses to consider the benefits of doing so,” says Saint Clair Family Estate winemaker Stewart Maclennan. “By sharing ideas and strategies, we hope to foster a friendly competition that brings out the best in everyone.”

The Marlborough Wine Industry Wellness Week is the brainchild of the Workforce Steering Group, led by Wine Marlborough advocacy manager Nicci Armour. She says the wellbeing of the people driving the sector is key to maintaining a successful workforce, so is closely aligned to the group’s targets

Stewart says he and Framingham’s Bridget Glackin, who are both part of the working group driving Wellness Week, jumped in behind the concept. “In Marlborough’s ever-growing wine industry, the pressure of a short annual harvest window combined with high demand from a competitive global market, wrapped up in New Zealand’s working culture, means taking care of our most valuableand expensive - asset, our people, is of utmost importance.”

The week is expected to showcase smarter and more sustainable working strategies during and following the harvest season, alongside connection activities that demonstrate how companies and individuals can connect with the land, people and teams they work with. Aligning with the Chamber of Commerce's lunch with mental health advocate and speaker Jehan Casinader, who will speak on "Tell Me the Good News", resources and insights on the likes of sleep, self-reflection, goal setting and physical health

will be shared throughout the week. Industry surveys and outreach will be used to promote more conversations about wellness in wine, along with shared resources and strategies around providing support and connection “for those who need it most”, says Stewart.

Meanwhile, growers, wineries, and associated businesses are encouraged to post an image or video on Instagram showcasing a wellbeing initiative undertaken during the week, and to explain or show the impact the initiative has had. Wine Marlborough will re-share the wellness initiatives throughout the week, and at the end will announce the winner of the Wine Industry Workplace Wellbeing Impact Award 2023. Winners will be formerly recognised at the Marlborough Wine Show Long Lunch Celebration later this year, as well as receiving a trophy and being profiled in Winepress magazine.

“As a proudly knowledge-sharing industry, we envision that some ideas will garner significant attention and interest,” says Stewart. “Potentially leading to workshops and workgroups that further promote wellbeing in our industry.”

Get Social

Post an image or video on Instagram showcasing a wellbeing initiative undertaken during the week of May 8 to May 12 and explain or show the impact the initiative has had. Tag @winemarlborough and use the hashtags: #WineWellnessWeek2023 #WineMarlborough

SOPHIE PREECE

“By sharing ideas and strategies, we hope to foster a friendly competition that brings out the best in everyone.”

Stewart Maclennan

Care package - watching over winery workers

Having a staff member dedicated to vintage wellbeing has made a world of difference at Marlborough’s VinLink winery, says chief executive Kelvin Deaker. “It wasn’t about the cost; it was about the cost of doing nothing,” he says of the programme instigated in vintage 2022, when social distancing, masks, and inexperienced crews added up to wellbeing worries – especially for vintage labour without connections in Marlborough. “What sort of support did they have around town if something went wrong?”

So he and human resources officer Cathi Angwin employed Jan Rutherford as a Wellbeing Assistant to look out for the team, checking in with them at work and talking to those isolated at home by Covid, to ensure they had everything they needed. The programme, which is back in place this vintage, includes seven days of meals from Karaka catering, despite a six-day rostered working week. It was about finding ways to “make things better every day for our people”, says Kelvin.

Cathi, who looks after staff on night shift, says the “fantastic idea” has worked really well for the company, in addition to other health and safety measures. “It was more about giving face to face support which is really important to us and what got us through (vintage 2022) in the end. It was growing a culture of support.”

A large portion of their vintage interns last year had never worked in a winery before, with borders closed to international wine workers, and it didn’t take long for the “romantic idealistic view of winemaking” to be replaced by the reality at the coalface, which is hard, dirty work with long hours, she says. “But it can be pretty rewarding if you have a good supportive team around you.”

This year there is a “massive difference” in the working culture at VinLink because of an influx of experienced wine workers from around the globe, including many returnees, says Cathi. Kelvin agrees, saying the “smoko room noise test” reveals chatty break times, very different to the silent masked experience of 2022. “This year there’s a lot of banter and a great atmosphere. Hopefully we’re a part of that.”

The

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Analysis Result Units

Crude Protein 0 6 g/100

Aluminium 5 5 mg/kg

Arsenic 2.6 mg/kg

Boron 4 8 mg/kg

Copper 15 mg/kg

Iron 24 mg/kg

Magnesium 290 mg/kg

Nickel 0 66 mg/kg

Phosphorus 120 mg/kg

Potassium 3000 mg/kg

Rubidium 1 2 mg/kg

Strontium 22 mg/kg

Zinc 7.0 mg/kg

wealth of the sea to soil & plant.

Wellbeing Assistants Jan Rutherford and Cathi Angwin. Photo Jim Tannock

Trucking On

The busy business of moving vintage

AS MARLBOROUGH’S Sauvignon Blanc harvest steps up, there’s a steady flow of trucks, night and day, getting grapes from vineyards to wineries. MOVe Freight operations manager Steve Runciman begins preparing many months before the hustle of harvest, ensuring the company’s bins – not used since last vintage – are cleaned and repaired early on. Meanwhile, he works with trucking companies south of Blenheim to ensure 20 units - many of them from Canterbury - are contracted for vintage.

As part of their training, drivers are schooled up on moving a “live load” of grapes, which slosh around in the tub. “Our main rule is that drivers need to be prepared to stop at every roundabout and we tell them to take their time,” says Steve. But all the caution in the world can be outdone by a pedestrian or car moving unexpectedly, he adds, welcoming the flashing sign on State Highway 1, from Waka Kotahi, cautioning other drivers to keep wine traffic in mind this vintage.

Once available, grower and winery harvest dates are planned for in detail. But despite the best planning, “there’s always the unknown”, says MOVe Freight branch manager Steve Smith. “A breakdown slowing up the harvest, or weather changing the plans.” Having good relationships with the growers and trucking contractors they work with goes a long way, he says. This season that includes harvest dates moving later than anticipated, meaning some of the drivers coming from Canterbury cannot stay for the duration, and other plans have had to be made. “The growers try to give us as much notice as they can and we pass that on. And then obviously some things happen outside anyone’s control.”

Labour constraints have not been too bad this year, says Steve Runciman, who works hard to make sure it stays that way. “Having a good relationship with your contractors guarantees you get them back the next year. You look after

them, our customers look after them, and you know they’ll want to come back next year, and I think that’s paramount to the success of any operation.”

The 2022 vintage had plenty of challenges, with the Covid-19 Omicron outbreak reducing available drivers and trucks, complicating a harvest already tightened by weather pressures, Steve adds. “Many local operators worked together to ensure as many grapes as possible were harvested for growers.”

Renwick Transport managing director and co-owner Jax Smith coordinates grape harvest work each year with her sister Jen Hall. “Over the whole period of time you make tweaks and change things and try to make it as efficient as you possibly can,” Jax says in her 19th year of harvest trucking logistics. “This pencil and rubber are my best friends for six weeks.”

With 20 trucks working night and day at the peak of harvest, with grape hauls from Kekerengu, Nelson, and high up the Wairau Valley, and grape marc delivered as far away as Murchison and Tutaki for stock feed, it’s a hectic business keeping up with the unexpected, such as harvests running over time or weather changing plans.

And she notes that the actual harvest period is just a fraction of the time spent on vintage logistics at Renwick Transport, which is “realistically a four month process, from the time we start training and organising to when we deliver our last lot of grape marc”.

They’ll start recruiting drivers at the end of the year, and spend the lead up to harvest doing training, health and safety, and induction, so drivers can “hit the ground running in March and April, Jax says. Training and refresher courses include carrying water in a bin, so they can practice what it’s like with a live load sloshing in the back. “Otherwise you are setting a driver up to fail.”

SOPHIE PREECE

Through ditches and up lanes

Getting grapes from vineyard to winery is akin to moving a three-quarter full bathtub down the road without spilling it, says seasoned Marlborough vintage driver Peter Welsh. “Put it this way, when you see a car stopping 5km ahead of you, you start slowing up.”

And he’s loved doing that since his first vintage at Forrest Estate in 2010. “You meet a whole lot of different people and get to a whole lot of places you’d never get to. Way up to Upton Downs in the Awatere Valley, and down the coast; into paddocks that you’d never get to, going through ditches and up lanes.”

It’s “a combination of challenges”, adds Peter, who’s worked with Renwick Transport in recent years, taking time off his role as Renwick School caretaker to help out in short-staffed periods. The first year he did weekends and Easter, and the next year a four-week harvest period, with the school supportive of his moonlighting (quite literally right now, with a 3pm to 3am shift). “The school looks at it as helping the community at an important time of year.”

Despite his verve for vintage driving, comparing it to the hay harvest of his childhood, Peter doesn’t envy those dealing with the logistics of harvest transport. “Put it this way, they couldn’t pay me enough to do it.” But as long as he’s told where to go and when, and can manoeuvre his sloshing cargo through paddocks, ditches, lanes and roundabouts, he will be driving for every harvest he’s needed, “for as long as I am capable”.

“You meet a whole lot of different people and get to a whole lot of places.”

Peter Welsh

Peter Welshe

Urban Winery

Whānau at the heart of new development

RANGITĀNE AND boutique wine company Astrolabe are working together to deliver an urban winery on the banks of the Ōpaoa and Taylor Rivers in Blenheim.

A whatu mauri was held in late March at the riverside site at the end of Horton Street, which was purchased by Rangitāne through its Treaty Settlement process. Rangitāne Kaiwhakahaere Matua (general manager) Corey Hebberd says the development will enable Astrolabe to house winery operations and “a unique hospitality offering in Marlborough”, while unlocking the potential of Rangitāne’s commercial asset base. “This development forges a new, longterm partnership between Rangitāne and Astrolabe.”

urban winery. “All our little gems; our little babies. Anything that goes in a barrel will be made here.”

The development, a stone’s throw from Blenheim’s new library complex on the other side of the Taylor River, will also be home to Astrolabe’s office and cellar door, with a food offering on site, as well as occasional events with visiting food trucks. “We want to make this a vibrant hub for Marlborough and we want to showcase all that is good about the Marlborough wine industry,”

to have a winemaking presence as close to the downtown as we possibly could get it.”

For Rangitāne, the development is part of a strategy of investing within its rohe, says Corey. “Ensuring a long term, sustainable presence for Rangitāne within Marlborough’s growing economy, while supporting the iwi Trust to provide a wide range of whānau services, further strengthening the culture, identity and mana of Rangitāne.”

Simon Waghorn, founder, owner and winemaker at Astrolabe, says the winery development – to be completed in time for vintage 2024 – is the beginning of a new era. “It is the most magic site to do an urban winery I think we could possibly envisage in Blenheim,” he said at the laying of the mauri, explaining that while the company’s machine harvested Sauvignon Blanc will remain at a large contract facility, all Astrolabe’s artisanal wines will be made at the

says Simon. The urban winery will also be a space for hands-on succession, with the winemaker passing his knowledge on to the next generation, and perhaps the generation after that, with a gaggle of grandchildren at the dawn ceremony.

“We think Marlborough is the heart of the New Zealand wine industry and we think the wine industry, to a large degree, is the heart of the economy of Marlborough,” says Simon. “It seems very fitting, we think,

Astrolabe general manager Libby Waghorn Levett says, “as a multigenerational business, owned and operated here in Marlborough, we’re thrilled to be investing in the Blenheim town centre as a real hub for the arts, and artisanal food and beverage production. We’re so glad to be working with Rangitāne and their long-term vision and commitment to our region.”

“This development forges a new, long-term partnership between Rangitāne and Astrolabe.”

Corey Hebberd

SOPHIE PREECE

A whatu mauri held on Rangitāne-owned whenua in Blenheim. Photo Jim Tannock

Generation Y-ine

A FASCINATION with the seemingly glamorous world of wine drew Dr Sachi Rana to the wine industry in New Zealand. “My first glimpse into the wine industry was on travel and lifestyle shows on television,” says the new research programme manager at Bragato Research Institute (BRI). “The food and wine looked so delicious and the lifestyle so glamorous - swirling glasses of wine in beautiful vineyards.”

Born in India, Sachi has a research background in biotechnology, specialising in nanotechnology - “teenytiny” particles which could provide potential solutions across many fields, including agriculture, medicine, textiles and engineering. Even fermentation, the science behind winemaking, is a form of biotechnology, says Sachi.

When she moved to New Zealand to study a postgraduate diploma in wine science, Sachi soon realised the reality of making wine was more about hard work and less about the perfect wine swirl. On her third day on Waiheke Island, she was given a pair of gumboots and put to work hand harvesting Chardonnay grapes on a chilly morning. It was a rude awakening for a researcher who “doesn’t do well with the cold’’, she says. “It was not what I expected at all,

wines with excellent systems and lots of opportunities to broaden my perception of the wine industry which has so many facets to it,” she says. “I learned the importance of quality and consistency across the entire value chain, from vineyard to the cellar to bottling, labeling, storage, logistics. The whole point of winemaking is lost if we err in any of these.”

but it was a beautiful journey to begin with, on a beautiful island, with beautiful people - a very inclusive community.”

Sachi did internships in a number of wineries on Waiheke and in Auckland, soaking up everything she could learn about wine. After an internship with Pernod Ricard Winemakers, she picked up her first “proper wine job” working in a variety of roles in three locations around New Zealand for the multinational wine company. “It was a great company to get involved with, producing good quality

Sachi took on the assistant winemaker’s role at Matahiwi Estate in Wairarapa in 2021, before moving to Blenheim to take a job with Indevin the following year. But when the role of research programme manager at BRI popped up, the opportunity to combine her two passions of research and wine was too good to miss. “I’ve always had an inquisitive mind and once you get into research, it’s really hard to get out of that mindset,” she says. “Having worked in wine production and experiencing the challenges and opportunities the industry has, I realise the potential for research to help find solutions and that’s something I need to be a part of.”

Always thirsty for more knowledge, Sachi has also embarked on the first stage of studying to be a Master of Wine and hopes to inspire other curious minds to enter the wine industry too. “All my work and experiences of the last seven years and everything I’ve learnt is going into the MW Programme. I’ve worked with so many people who have shared their time and knowledge with me, and my big wish is that one day I can pass that on to others.”

“I’ve worked with so many people who have shared their time and knowledge with me, and my big wish is that one day I can pass that on to others.”

Dr Sachi Rana

KAT PICKFORD

Dr Sachi Rana

In the Pipeline

In the third of a series of water updates, resource management expert QUENTIN DAVIES looks at what’s in store for the wine industry.

This article attempts to explain the involvement of tangata whenua in the regulation of water. Before diving into the detail, it is worthwhile making a number of acknowledgements.

Firstly, I am not tangata whenua. If you want to understand the position of tangata whenua on a particular topic, you’ll need to talk to tangata whenua. Secondly, and bear with me here while I talk about feelings, I want to acknowledge the heightened emotions this subject can evoke and the challenge this creates for useful conversations. There are many people who hold strong views on the issue of tangata whenua’s relationship to water. I am aware that some people on all sides of this debate are experiencing anger, frustration, mistrust, fear and a sense of injustice. I make two observations:

a. If you are feeling angry and aggrieved about changes afoot around water, understand that others with whom you do not necessarily agree also harbour those emotions; and

b. Such emotions do not bring out the best in us, even though, in certain circumstances, those emotions can be justified.

We might expect the temperature of the debate to rise over the coming months - an election year is quite possibly the worst time to have what may turn out to be difficult conversations. Yet those conversations will need to occur in 2023 and 2024, and beyond. The wine industry includes tangata whenua, Pākehā descendants of early settlers, our Pacific neighbours including those in the Recognised Seasonal Employee scheme, recently minted New Zealand citizens, and vintage workers, not to mention overseas owners. Industry members come to this conversation with varying understandings of how we arrived at this point in history as a nation and varying implications for their work and practices. What we share is the need for enduring and

long-term relationships between wine industry and tangata whenua.

The New Zealand court system recognises that Māori had ownership of water prior to the arrival of Europeans. Te Tiriti o Waitangi needs to be read as a whole. Article 2 of the Treaty in English promised “the full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same” and Te Tiriti in Te Reo Māori promised “te tino rangatiratanga o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa”. The Ngāti Apa foreshore and seabed Court of Appeal case tells us that until property rights have been formally extinguished, the property rights of tangata whenua remain. The Supreme Court in the Mighty River Power case had before it a claim by Waikato iwi to the Waikato River. The Court acknowledged the present day claim of Waikato iwi to ownership of water in the river, but deliberately did not determine who owned the water.

Certainly the Waitangi Tribunal has found in a number of circumstances that the property interests of tangata whenua to water have not been extinguished. Two points are worth noting:

a. Decisions of the Waitangi Tribunal are authoritative but not binding; and

b. Waitangi Tribunal Reports are often fact specific. Different outcomes might be reached in different circumstances. So while a Judge could make a decision as to who owns particular stretches of water, no one has sought to determine that conclusively in Marlborough. The process of finding out will result in:

a. Spending a large amount of resources which might better be spent elsewhere;

b. Forcing people and institutions to take sides, when that might not be in their interests; and

c. An outcome which would disappoint one or many sides. A decision that water used for irrigation in Marlborough is the property of tangata whenua might have a significant

Davies Emma Deason

impact on the profitability of Marlborough viticulture.

A review of case law suggests that the courts are often inclined to focus on the details of rights and responsibilities, and consider ownership (at least understood as a pākehā concept), to not be the central question. In the context of hydroelectric power generation on the Waikato River, the Supreme Court in Mighty River Power noted that the rights guaranteed by the Treaty might be more directly delivered through changes in the regulatory system.

In terms of the Resource Management Act, it is a matter of national importance for which all persons exercising powers and functions under the Act are to “recognise and provide for… the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, waters, sights, wāhi tapu and other taonga”. Under section 7 all those exercising powers and functions under the Act are to have “particular regard” to kaitiakitanga. By section 8 of the Act all persons exercising powers and functions under it are required to “take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)”. Those provisions have been part of our law for the past 31 years.

In 2014 through the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management the concept of Te Manu o Te Wai was introduced into our planning framework. The most recent iteration of that document (the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 amended 23 February 2023) seeks to recognise the power, authority and obligations of tangata whenua to make decisions that maintain, protect and sustain the health and well-being and their relationship with freshwater. That principle complements others such as the responsibility of all New Zealanders to care for freshwater in providing for the health of the nation.

When it comes to the hearing of the freshwater plan, which is due to be publicly notified in or before December 2024 (and on which consultation has commenced) Marlborough tangata whenua iwi will be able to appoint one member of a five member hearings panel who will sit alongside two members appointed by the Chief Freshwater Commissioner and two appointed by the Marlborough District Council (there can be more or fewer appointments in special circumstances).

All of this has nothing to do with Three Waters. Three Waters will have no effect on the vast majority of grape growers. Three Waters concerns the town supply of drinking water, the collection of principally urban sewerage and other liquid waste and the management of principally urban stormwater. Most privately-owned or community-owned rural water supplies will not be affected by the Three Waters reform. There is no present suggestion that the Three Waters entity would take over the water allocation function which is currently undertaken by Regional Councils (which in Marlborough is the unitary Marlborough District Council).

Given that the Government’s reform of the Resource Management Act which is currently progressing through

Parliament (Natural and Built Environment Bill) preserves and enhances the role of regional councils in the planning process, a transfer of water functions from regional councils to freshwater water services entities is unlikely. It is even more unlikely given the fact that regional councils will need to regulate what water services entities do. (Marlborough is unusual in not having the provider of water services separated from the environmental regulator). At least as the proposal currently stands, Three Waters is very much a red herring insofar as rural communities are concerned.

In an earlier article, I described how the freshwater planning process had commenced in Marlborough and the rounds of community consultation which are currently occurring, that will ultimately shape how freshwater is to be regulated. The Council is also carrying out consultation with Marlborough’s tangata whenua iwi. Marlborough’s tangata whenua iwi will have a position. Some iwi have formal published iwi management plans. The Council has commissioned a report titled “Te Mana o te Wai: Te Tauihu Case Study Report”. These are useful resources to understanding the position that Marlborough’s tangata whenua iwi will adopt.

The results of that consultation will result in a notified plan in or before December 2024 with an outcome of that process expected in or before 2027.

Marlborough grapegrowers can expect change to the way freshwater resources are managed through that process. Some of that change may be because of greater involvement of iwi in the process of shaping that regulation. To my mind we are best to go into those discussions focusing on the responsibility of all New Zealanders to care for freshwater in providing for the health of the nation. We might have differences. Ultimately those differences may need to be worked through a judicial process. However, as we discuss the collective challenges that we face with Marlborough’s tangata whenua and other members of the community, hopefully we can find a shared and agreed way forward. Quentin Davies is a partner at Gascoigne Wicks and has represented wine industry participants in numerous Court and Council hearings. He will contribute a series of columns outlining regulatory changes on the horizon. The views are his own and are not a substitute for independent legal advice.

Grove Mill

Biosecurity Watch

What to expect at border control

SOPHIE BADLAND & KERRIE HOPKINS

NEW ZEALAND’S borders are once again open, and many involved with our industry have resumed regular travel overseas, so it’s important we all do what we can do to help reduce biosecurity risk. New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) is committed to working with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to ensure biosecurity risk is managed at our borders to protect the wine industry.

The passenger pathway – a key source of biosecurity risk

The passenger pathway is one of the most important sources of potential biosecurity risk. Key risk organisms that have the potential to enter New Zealand on this pathway include the brown marmorated stink bug, the spotted wing drosophila, other fruit flies, and even the glassy wing sharpshooter, a potential vector for Pierce’s disease.

At the border, biosecurity officers profile all incoming passengers based on risk. They create this risk profile through the information contained on passenger arrival cards and by the questions they ask passengers at the quarantine checkpoint. They also take into consideration non-verbal cues such as the number of passengers travelling together as a group, the types and amount of luggage the passengers are carrying, and their demeanor (for example, a passenger appearing tired and confused would be deemed unlikely to declare risk goods correctly, and therefore classed as a higher risk).

Members of the wine industry, and other passengers associated with primary sectors, may find they experience more border intervention when returning to New Zealand, especially if they have been visiting or working on vineyards or farms offshore during their travels. These risk assessments are an important part of our biosecurity system

and are in place to protect all the primary industries and our native ecosystems from unwanted pests and disease. Given the huge numbers of passengers arriving every year, these interventions are very effective at managing biosecurity risk.

What to expect when you arrive back in NZ

When arriving in New Zealand, members of the wine industry may be questioned by a biosecurity officer about:

• Occupation and reason for travel

• If they have travelled to Indonesia, where there is a foot and mouth disease outbreak

• Countries visited and/or risk items they may be carrying, such as tools and work boots

• Where risk items were last used and what they were used for

• Where in New Zealand risk items are likely to be used again

If the officer is satisfied the passenger poses a low biosecurity risk, and meets eligibility criteria, they will be directed through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ lane to exit the airport. However, if overseas vineyards or farms have been visited, it’s more likely passengers will be directed for further investigation, either x-ray or physical inspection of luggage. This is standard practice to manage risk and those extra few minutes are important to protect the wine industry.

In certain situations, further interventions are also applied; for example, the current foot and mouth disease outbreak in Indonesia means anyone that has travelled there will be subject to a footbath to sterilise footwear

and potentially need to have clothing cleaned as well. NZW anticipates members' cooperation and compliance with these requirements, as it’s in the best interests of the industry.

Members of the wine industry are also likely to encounter MPI detector dog teams at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown airports, either at the luggage carousel prior to being screened for risk or while they are exiting the airport through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ lane. These teams are primarily focused on detecting food risk items, such as undeclared fruit, and plant material that may pose biosecurity risk. Detector dog teams are another important layer of biosecurity risk protection. Don’t try to dodge to the dogs - this will only attract extra attention. It is worth noting that the detector dogs will occasionally react to residual odour, so if food, fruit, or plant material has been present in luggage immediately prior to travel or arrival (but is no longer there) the dog may make an indication. It is standard practice for the dog handler to check the luggage if this occurs, and members can assist by letting the handler know what was previously in there.

What to do to minimise risk

All members of the industry should be active participants in helping to protect New Zealand’s biosecurity. NZW recommends all members of the industry to do the following:

• Before departing for New Zealand, clean all risk items, such as shoes and equipment, that may have come into contact with soil or plant material on offshore vineyards. This applies equally to sports equipment such as golf clubs; tents or trail shoes and hiking boots.

• Declare any visits to a vineyard while overseas

• Declare or dispose of any risk goods on entry, such as food items. If you are unsure, declare it!

• Check children’s backpacks to ensure you are aware of anything they may have put in there that needs to be declared or disposed of

• Answer all questions honestly, even if it means a short delay getting through border clearance

Catch it; Snap it; Report it!

While the border clearance system is very effective at preventing the entry of unwanted pests and disease into New Zealand, the sheer volume of passengers and goods passing through the border each day make it impossible for quarantine officers and detector dogs to catch everything. Your eyes and ears are important in helping to detect any exotic pests or diseases that may have managed to sneak in. If you see anything unusual in your vineyard or winery don’t forget to: Catch it; Snap it; Report it! Call the MPI biosecurity hotline 0800 80 99 66 and notify the New Zealand Winegrowers biosecurity team at biosecurity@ nzwine.com.

ECO TRELLIS® posts have been thoroughly tested in vineyards for more than 14 years and are very strong and durable.

In contrast CCA treated wooden vineyards posts leach contaminants into ground water and are very hard to dispose of. They’re heavy to handle, damage easily and often bend and break under pressure in the vineyard.

A recent new style of vineyard post is untested, made from alternative product sources and may not be resilient to local conditions. These posts could be performing poorly in vineyards.

THE ECO TRELLIS® ADVANTAGE

Industry News

Wine Marlborough Advocacy Update NICCI ARMOUR

For many years Wine Marlborough has been an active participant in the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) which is the resource management plan for the region. Our focus has been the water chapter. We have been through hearings for the plan, supporting the status quo for water allocation, and as an example, this has resulted in maintaining flow trigger levels for irrigation.

Community stakeholders/parties can and have appealed aspects of the PMEP and we have had some mediation recently, which is the first step before the Environment Court. Notably recent mediation has been around water quality, but at the end of March the water quantity mediation was set to take place for three weeks starting Tuesday March 28. We continue to be represented by Gascoigne Wicks, by partner Quentin Davies and associate Josh Marshall.

The PMEP mediation exercise is important, but ultimately water use, allocation, quantity, quality will be determined by the National Policy Statement for Fresh Water Management (NPSFM) which councils need to implement from 2025. Therefore, much of the discussion and understanding of issues explored during the PMEP will offer a basis for the process of the NPSFM.

The Marlborough District Council (MDC) is currently embarking on the consultation process required through the NPSFM to plan for the region’s freshwater management. You may have been aware of the recent consultation around the region to discuss water values, and you can find out more at: marlborough.govt.nz/environment/ freshwater-management/have-your-say-onfreshwater

Wine Marlborough and MDC will hold an additional consultation with our wine members in May, taking into consideration the practicalities of consulting during our very busy harvest period. It is crucial that growers, wineries, and other industry stakeholders get involved in this process. as both members of the community and local businesses. To find out more or discuss your views, reach out to Nicci Armour, advocacy manager, advocacy@winemarlborough.nz or Marcus Pickens, GM, marcus@winemarlborough.nz.

Harvest Concert a warm welcome to vintage workers

The 2023 Framingham Harvest Concert was “the best ever”, says Framingham Wines marketing manager Bridget Glackin. “With borders open it was a truly international event here in Marlborough.” There were 650 people at the March concert, celebrating the upcoming harvest, and 70% of them were vintage workers, many from abroad.

Five Marlborough wine companies held their induction on the same day as the concert, “which is a great way for people to be immersed and meet people they are going to be working with”, Bridget says. The concert marked the beginning of a tour for D4, reunited 21 years after the release of the album 6Twenty. They were joined by Big Scout, Best Bets, and Vinyl in the Vines.

Photos by Jim Tannock and Gabe Bertogg.

Blood, Sweat & Beers

The eighth annual Blood, Sweat and Beers mountain bike race, held in February, drew 85 riders representing 24 teams, racing 12 laps of a vineyard course at Pernod Ricard Winemaker’s Booker Vineyard on Brancott Road. Marisco winery general manager and part time race director Matt Mitchell says it was a new set-up for the event, “with an old school XC-type course on a vineyard that provided just enough climbing to keep things spicy.

Isabel Estate was the clear winner on the day with the Izzy Belle Senders being the first team home in the overall race, whilst Notorious KAB, also representing Isabel Estate, took out the women’s team event. Isabel Estate is also the first team in Blood, Sweat & Beers history to win consecutive races, having taken the top of the podium in BSBVII at Conders Bend in 2021, says Matt. The 2022 event was paused due to Covid-19.

Pernod’s all women’s team The Wedding Party took out the best dressed award at BSBVIII, with their “extremely clever and highly elaborate wedding themed fancy dress”, says Matt. “Riding a mountain bike in the heat of the day in a wedding dress or tux shows commitment on a level never previously witnessed.” The Marlborough Falcon Trust ran a barbeque and rolled out the cold drinks, with money raised going back to the Trust, along with a koha from race day profits.

Talented race photographer Sarnim Dean caught the race action in these photos, and in a video at vimeo. com/797907334

Wine Happenings

A monthly list of events within the New Zealand wine industry.

To have your event included in the May 2023 Wine Happenings, please email details to sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz by April 20th. For more information, please use the contact supplied or email sarah@winemarlborough.nz

APRIL

7-9 2023 Yealands Classic Fighters Airshow (classicfighters.co.nz)

20 2023 Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards event, 5pm, Marlborough Events Centre

MAY

5 International Sauvignon Blanc Day

8 – 12 Wine Industry Wellness Week (see page 14)

13 Saint Clair Vineyard Half Marathon (vineyardhalf.com)

17 International Pinot Gris Day

25 International Chardonnay Day

JUNE

20 - 22 Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowers Conference (organicwinenz.com)

JULY

18

Grape Days Marlborough

Environment Awards – April 20

Sauvignon Blanc Day – May 5

Organic Conference – June 20-22

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