Winepress - August 2015

Issue No. 250 / August 2015

Cane vs Spur

Organic Growth

Chinese Sales

Lunar Tastings

Photo: Jim Tannock

@marlboroughwine

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www.wine-marlborough.co.nz

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In this issue...

Regulars

Features

3

10 The Growth of

Editorial

4

From the Board - Jason Yank

Organics

6

Tasman Crop Met Report

18

Generation Y-ine Abbie Maxwell

33

NZW Export News

34 35

36

News From Home and Away

Diversity

Marlborough

Editor: Tessa Nicholson 16 Bank Street Blenheim 7201 T: 021 709 571 E: tessa.nicholson@me.com

WINEPRESS is printed with vegetable oil based inks on elemental chlorine free paper which is sourced 100% from well managed forests and manufactured under ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems.

With the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration just months away, many people will be thinking about where to from here with our flagship wine. Erica Crawford believes diversity is essential, although admits it is hard to achieve in a country our size.

24 The Young Guns of

Printed by: Blenheim Print Ltd. T: 03 578 1322

p10

14 Sauvignon Blanc

Top Tweets ANZ Wine Happenings

The first ever Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference held in Marlborough last month showed just how much momentum there is in these sectors. We look at where Marlborough sits in terms of New Zealand and where we sit as a nation in the global sense.

Marlborough’s Young Winemaker of the Year and Young Viticulturist of the Year have been chosen. Both will now go on to represent the region at the national finals, later this month. The two day-long competitions kept everyone on their toes as you can see from our photo essays.

p29

29 Cane Pruning Versus Spur

Marcus Wickham says he is often asked by clients why he would cane prune rather than spur. He says there are four compelling reasons why he does what he does, and he explains them this month.

p36 WINEPRESS August 2015 | 1

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Wine Marlborough Board Clive Jones: cjones@nautilusestate.com Ruud Maasdam: ruud@staetelandt.co.nz Guy Lissaman: glissaman@xtra.co.nz Laurin Gane: laurin.gane@xtra.co.nz Simon Clark: simon@clarkestate.com Simon Bishell: simonbishell@outlook.com Stuart Dudley: stuartd@villamaria.co.nz Samantha Wickham: samantha@ormondnurseries.co.nz Jason Yank: jason@astrolabewines.com

From the Editor Celebrating Our Future One of the events I most look forward to all year is the Bayer Young Viticulturist competition. It is the chance to meet and talk with an array of young people who are working hard within the wine industry, creating a niche for themselves and their future.

This year it was a double whammy, as we also had the Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker for the first time.

The interest in this particular competition showed just how wanted it was by those within the wineries of our region. There were only places for six finalists to take part in the competition, which meant organisers had a bit of work on their hands deciding who of the 13 entrants would make up that final six.

The inaugural event was a credit to those involved and everyone who took part said they learned a lot about themselves and their own strengths and weaknesses.

That has always been the case with the Young Vit competition, where contestants get the opportunity to test themselves and their skills against their own peers.

Let’s face it we do it with wine shows, sport and academia, why should it be any different with careers.

I admire anyone who takes part in these competitions. While all the reasons to do so are touted every year, it still takes guts to put yourself at the mercy of judges.

What if I look like a fool? What if I come last? What if I have no idea what the judges are asking of me?

All these are valid questions and worries. Then add in that each contestant has to stand up in front of a room full of people and deliver a three-minute speech, again to be judged. It’s not easy for any of them. But they do it, and extremely well too.

I never fail to be impressed with the contestants, some who come back year after year. They want to test themselves, they are prepared to give it a go and they show the rest of us just how bright the wine industry’s future is.

While there can only ever be one winner on the day, hopefully all the other contestants who did not take out the title felt they gained something from the event. And hopefully we will see more of them come back for a second time next year.

In the meantime congratulations to Abbie Maxwell, who won the Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker, and Matt Duggan who is our Bayer Young Viticulturist.

Rhyan Wardman: rhyan@giesen.co.nz Jack Glover: jack.glover@accolade-wines.co.nz

TESSA NICHOLSON tessa.nicholson@me.com

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 3

From The Board JASON YANK

Acknowledging the USA….

New Zealand is, and will always be a niche producer, and I am fine with that. It is a part of what defines New Zealand. But we’re making some serious waves in some places and one of those export markets is the USA. The US market for New Zealand wine is not suddenly in the lime light, it has been for a while, just that the light has been dimmed for a while…. by the exchange rate. The limelight is brightening and along with that, our ability to see the potential.

Overall the US market is showing continued growth. The media seem to think that this is a recent phenomenon.

In reality, it has been happening every year for more than the last fifteen years. No other import has shown such continued growth over that period of time. We are now approaching 6 million cases per year and people are starting to take notice. Of course that feels good, but in many ways the perception of New Zealand may exceed the reality.

By my calculations, we are at about 1.3% of all wine sales in the US. That is a great achievement, yet who we are and what we are about is not being a power producer.

Almost everyone believes that the US is poised to become the largest export market for our wines. Current, and potential economic policies in the US, and in New Zealand and elsewhere, are expected to show a return to historic levels of the exchange rate. It was at US$0.88 four months ago, and it is at 4 | WINEPRESS August 2015

approximately US$0.66 as I type this.

Everyone believes that when the US increases interest rates the exchange rate will shift much more. And history also shows that when the exchange rate is favourable, the amount of exports to the US will in turn increase.

Demand also seems to continue to be strong in the US. The factor which is unknown is the affect the size of the 2015 harvest will have on the level of shipments. People have said that because the US is their target market that they will continue shipping as much and, possibly more, in the next year. We shall see.

As of June 2015, over the past 12 months, 53,205,292 litres were shipped

to the US. That is the equivalent of 5.9 m cases (I think in terms of cases rather than litres, that’s how my brains process that volume). Of that, 5.57m cases or 50,149,612 litres was Sauvignon Blanc representing a 10% growth over the past 12 months. Pinot Noir represented 1,766,920 litres, a growth of 3%.

Although we would have liked to have seen a greater amount of growth, that is a respectable increase in light of the fact that most imports were decreasing.

So, what does this all mean to us, the producer, grower, winery or vineyard owner/operator? It means we’re doing well and the potential is for better things to come.

Wineries have been busy setting targets

for their export markets; I know I have been doing so at Astrolabe, but these are coupled with a travel budget that has to demonstrate ‘bang for buck’.

Now, here’s the tricky part: how can we measure each US visit against sales, depletions or shipped PO’s? Well, it’s hard.

Whilst we are in-market somewhere across that vast and very complex US, there is a level of inertia between us being there, a placement being made, a reorder to the wholesaler and the wholesaler ordering more from us. I often get the feeling that whilst we are in the US, we’re all the focus…but I am in no doubt that when the next wine maker or winery representative rolls into town, they become the centre of attention. So how do we keep up the pace from 10,000kms away?

I put this down to relationships. Build, maintain and grow. When I emigrated to New Zealand in 2004, Air New Zealand had a tag line that stuck with me: “being there is everything”, and I maintain that this is the most effective

way to build brand New Zealand and our own labels. With travel as easy and accessible as it has become from all corners of New Zealand to the world out there, there’s no excuse not to hop on a plane and go see, look and learn.

We are privileged that the US market takes so much of our fine wine, so we have a responsibility to get up there and say thanks and at the same time, see what else we can manoeuvre in there to strengthen the New Zealand brand and story. The more of us that continue to visit only serves the greater good of brand New Zealand.

I have been to the US a couple of times so far in 2015 and our programme of US travel will continue. The old adage of having to speculate to accumulate may sound cliché, but it’s true. We are seeing results for our brand and I am delighted to see restaurants and independent fine wine stores across the continent with growing New Zealand offerings.

In the last 12 months I am seeing more little pieces of Marlborough infiltrating

and adorning lists and shelves in the US. This is offering the consumer, Sommelier, wine buyer, wine critic and wholesaler choice and a level of quality and consistency that we work so very hard to achieve and maintain.

We deserve the successes we are seeing in the US, it’s no fluke. But let’s not sit back, let’s keep on saying thank you, listening and learning because we have to be nimble and swift if the trends swing.

Lets’ also acknowledge the UK and Asia….we’ll talk about those spots another time!

[I’d like to thank David Strada from NZ Wines in San Francisco and also Yoav Gilat, CEO & Founder Cannonball Wines, CA for contributing some views and data to this article].

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 5

Table 1: Blenheim Weather Data – July 2015

July July 2015

2015 compared

to LTA GDD’s for month -Max/Min¹ 6.9 - GDD’s for month – Mean² 22.5 - Mean Maximum (°C) 13.2 +0.1°C Mean Minimum (°C) 1.8 -0.8°C Mean Temp (°C) 7.5 -0.4°C Ground Frosts (<= -1.0°C) 19 3.9 more Air Frosts (<0.0°C) 11 3.5 more Sunshine hours 199.1 125% Sunshine hours – lowest Sunshine hours – highest Sunshine hours total – 2015 1554.6 113% Rainfall (mm) 35.2 55% Rainfall (mm) – lowest Rainfall (mm) – highest Rainfall total (mm) – 2015 251.2 67% Evapotranspiration – mm 40.1 115% Avg. Daily Windrun (km) 210.2 91% Mean 9am soil temp – 10cm 4.4 -0.4°C Mean 9am soil temp – 30cm 6.9 -0.1°C

July LTA

Period of LTA

July 2014

9.2 22.1 13.1 2.6 7.9 15.1 7.5 159 119.6 230.8 1374 64 9.9 174.1 376 35.0 230.0 4.8 7.0

(1996-2014) (1996-2014) (1986-2014) (1986-2014) (1986-2014) (1986-2014) (1986-2014) (1930-2014) 1996 1952 (1930-2014) (1930-2014) 2014 1998 (1930-2014) (1996-2014) (1996-2014) (1986-2014) (1986-2014)

8.2 23.1 13.1 2.0 7.5 17 10 173.6 1365.2 9.9 397.8 29.0 No data 4.8 7.5

¹GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures ²GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures

July 2015 was very sunny, slightly cooler than average, with just over half the average rainfall.

Temperature and frosts The mean temperature of 7.5°C was equal to the mean recorded in July

2014, and 0.4°C below the long-term average temperature. The weekly mean temperatures during July fluctuated up and down depending on the number of frosts being recorded. The mean temperature was 2.8°C below average in the second week of July

Table 2: Weekly air temperatures and frosts for Blenheim during July 2015 July 2015 Max Min Mean Deviation Ground Air

(°C) (°C) (°C) from mean Frosts Frosts 1st -7th July 13.5 3.5 8.5 +1.0°C 3 0 8th -14th July 11.2 -1.7 4.7 -2.8°C 7 7 15th -21st July 13.0 2.3 7.6 +0.1°C 4 2 22nd -28th July 15.2 3.3 9.2 +1.7°C 3 1 29th -31st July (3 days) 13.1 1.1 7.1 -0.4°C Number Frosts 2 1 July Mean Temps 13.2 1.8 7.5 -0.4°C Number Frosts 19 11 Long-term average 13.1 2.6 7.9 Number Frosts 15.1 7.5 6 | WINEPRESS August 2015

and 1.7°C above average in the fourth week of July. The average minimum temperature during the second week of July was -1.7°C; i.e. every day during that week recorded both ground and air frosts.

The numbers of ground and air frosts recorded in July 2015 were very similar to July 2014. Ten consecutive ground frosts were recorded from 5th to 14th July and a further seven consecutive ground frosts from 17th to 24th July 2015. In July 2014, 14 consecutive days from 15th to 28th July recorded 12 ground frosts. So if you thought July 2015 was cooler than July 2014, sorry that was not the case.

However, both of these years were substantially cooler than July 2013, when the mean temperature was a balmy 10.8°C; 2.9°C above average.

The coldest ground frost was -5.3°C on 21 July 2015. (-6.4°C on 3 July 2014) The coldest air frost was -2.8°C on 11 July 2015 (-2.3°C on 22 July 2014) On a number of occasions over the past few years, during the winter months, I have presented graphs of numbers of frosts recorded over winter in Blenheim. Figure 1 displays the number of ground frosts recorded in Blenheim during July for the 84 years 1932 to 2015. The 10-year mean line indicates that the number of ground frosts in July has been increasing over the past nine years, after a few years with very low frost numbers in the late 1990s early 2000s. However, the trend over the 84 years is still a substantial decline in the number of July frosts. It

Figure 1: Ground frosts for July recorded in Blenheim (1932-2015) and the trend in number of ground frosts

would take quite a few years with high frost numbers to flatten out the trend line.

Sunshine Blenheim recorded 199.1 hours sunshine for July 2015; 125% of the long term average of 159 hours. This is third highest July sunshine total on record for Blenheim, for the 86 years 1930-2015.

Total sunshine hours for Blenheim for January to July 2015 are 1554.6; 113% of the long-term average total of 1373.5 hours (Table 3). This is the highest January to July total on record for Blenheim for the 86 years

1930-2015. The 2015 total, to the end of July, is 189.4 hours ahead of the 2014 total. To the end of July 2015, Blenheim has recorded 379.2 hours more sunshine than 1980, the least sunny July on record (Table 3).

Table 4: Sunniest towns in New Zealand so far in 2015

Total Hours

Hours behind Blenheim Blenheim 1554.6 Whakatane 1538.9 15.7 Waipara 1488.9 65.7 Nelson 1464 90.6 Tekapo 1456.3 98.3

Table 3: Highest and lowest total sunshine hours for Blenheim for the seven months January to July (1930-2015) Year Total Sun hours Ranked out of 86 years % of long-term average 2015 1554.6 1st 113% 2003 1525.6 2nd 111% LTA 1373.5 - 1956 1186.8 85th 86% 1980 1175.4 86th 85%

With Blenheim having recorded its sunniest start to the year on record, it is currently also leading in the sunshine race for 2015 (Table 4).

However, Blenheim is only 15.7 hours ahead of Whakatane, but well ahead of our old rival Nelson.

Whakatane has taken the title of New Zealand’s sunniest town in six of the last eight years (2007-2014). This has somewhat spoiled the old Nelson/ Blenheim sunshine hours rivalry. After all, bragging about coming second or third, doesn’t have quite as much appeal. Whakatane’s rise to the top has come as somewhat of a surprise, given that historically Whakatane was not normally ranked as one of the sunniest towns in New Zealand. In 2007 Whakatane installed an automated sunshine recording instrument. In previous years sunshine had been recorded manually at the Whakatane motor camp. It is interesting to note that in the eleven years 1992 to 2002

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 7

Whakatane recorded an average of 2257 sunshine hours, whereas is the eight years 2007 to 2015 they recorded an average of 2621 sunshine hours; i.e. the average annual sunshine has jumped by 364 hours. In order not to completely sound like a one-eyed Marlburian, I am obliged to add that NIWA did check the automated sunshine recorder in Whakatane a few years ago, after their surprise leap to the front. Sunshine hour’s data have been obtained from NIWA’s CLIFLO database http://www.cliflo.niwa.co.nz/ Rainfall July 2015 rainfall total was 35.2 mm.

While this was well below average it was significantly more than the 9.9 mm in July 2014, the lowest total on record (Table 5). June 2015 is the only month, of the 13 months July 2014July 2015, to have recorded above average rainfall.

Total rainfall for January to July 2015 of 251.2 mm is only 67% of the longterm average of 376.2 mm. In contrast, total rainfall for January to July 2014 was 397.8 mm, an additional 146.6 mm.

Table 5: Monthly rainfall in Blenheim, January to July 2014 and 2015, compared to the longterm average Rainfall 2014 2015 Long-term

(mm) (mm) average (mm) January 79.2 4.4 48.6 February 18 15.2 43.4 March 26.6 37.4 43.5 April 149.8 52 53.2 May 16 20 63.8 June 98.3 87 60.1 July 9.9 35.2 63.6 Totals 397.8 251.2 376.2 Rob Agnew Plant & Food Research / Marlborough Research Centre

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WINEPRESS August 2015 | 9

Organics – A Growth Sector TESSA NICHOLSON

The first ever Organic and Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference held in Marlborough last month, attracted close to 300 people.This is a sector that has momentum.

Organic winegrowing internationally is on an upward trajectory and New Zealand is not lagging behind.

In a six-year period, between 2007 and 2013, the percentage of global organically certified vineyards rose from just 2 percent, to over five. The majority of those vineyards are found in Europe - 23 percent, with Spain, Italy and France at the top.

Here in New Zealand, currently 5.4 percent of all of New Zealand’s vineyards are certified organic. But it is when you drill down into the grower and winery numbers that the figures really impress.

The following figures were supplied by

BioGro and are based on the current situation.

In terms of Marlborough, we are sitting

Planted Organic % Total Marlborough 22,903 1115 4.9 Central Otago 1179 318 16.1 Nelson/Tasman 1115 127 11.4 Wairarapa 997 115 11.5 Hawke’s Bay 4816 85 1.8 Canterbury /Waipara 1462 71 4.8 Gisborne 1602 51 3.2 Auckland/North 416 19 4.5 Waikato/BOP 23 6 TOTAL 35,313 1906 5.4

Total¹ Organic² Percentage Growers 833 104 12.5% Wineries 699 69 9.9% ¹ = Figures from NZ Winegrowers 2014

10 | WINEPRESS August 2015

² = Figures from BioGro NZ

just below the national average at 4.9 percent. It is Central Otago that is streets ahead of every other region, with 16.1 percent of all vineyards in the region being certified organic.

Wairarapa comes in second and Nelson/Tasman is third.

It has to be noted that these figures only relate to those who have been certified, and does not include vineyards that are practicing organic methods, without certification.

And given the size of Marlborough and the number of “big” players operating in this region, it is important to note that our 4.9 percent involves many of them.

Companies like Giesen, Treasury Estate, Pernod Ricard,Villa Maria,Yealands and Cloudy Bay all operate organic vineyards.

In terms of where New Zealand has

come from in the world of organic wine-growing, Jarred White, BioGro’s Audit Manager, says it is a long way in a short time frame.

Back in 1989, James and Annie Millton in Gisborne were the first in the country to attain organic certification; 1999 there were six growers, with a total of 54 hectares certified; 2007 – 20 growers and 225 hectares and in 2015 – 165 vineyards covering 1906 hectares.

And there are more to come.

Which raises the point, is organic fruit and organic wine providing premiums to those who are taking the effort to achieve certification.

Jarred says it is hard to quantify with wine, when comparing with other producers.

For example, in the last few years organic Hayward kiwifruit has achieved a 34 percent premium over non organic.

Organic gold kiwifruit receives $2 more than non organic.

Pipfruit premiums vary between 20 and 60 percent, although in some exceptional years, Jarred says there has been a 100 percent premium paid over non organic pipfrit.

Fonterra pays $1.50 above the current milk solids price for organic, which equates to a 33 percent premium.

And lamb is consistently receiving between 20 and 60 percent premium for organic, sometimes more.

“But wine is more difficult to quantify because you are a particularly unique industry,” Jarred says. “You can be growing a $10 bottle of wine or a $60

bottle of wine.”

What about internationally then –are consumers prepared to pay more for organic wine than conventional? Max Allen, Australian wine author says it appears the demand for organic Australian wines is being matched by price.

Export sales of organic and biodynamic Australian wines have doubled in the last three years, admittedly from a small base.

“But as you know, Australian wine exports are not doubling every three years, so this is a growth figure that is unusual.”

Price wise, the average FOB price for Australian wine exports is $2.60 per litre. Compare that with the average FOB price for organic wine, which is $5 a litre.

“The average FOB price for certified biodynamic wine is $13,” he says. “This brings us into the premium bottle wine territory of the Barossa or McLaren Vale.”

So in terms of marketing your organic or biodynamic wine, what matters?

Stephen Wong is a wine sentience and consultant sommelier who believes it is not the words organics or biodynamics that matter (on the label), it’s the story you have to tell regarding those words.

He says social media is the best way of doing that, as it brings you as a producer on to the same level as a consumer. If you can interest people in

your story – they are more likely to try your wine. And given the worldwide move to organics, once you get people trying and liking your wine, they will do a lot of the marketing for you.

Stephen also suggested more should be done with the “people at the coalface”, those serving the wines.

While it is great to confer with the maître d or the owner operator, are they the people taking the wine orders?

Those that are selling the wines often don’t bother to take the time to read up on them in their own time. So involve them in training sessions, explain your story, what you do in the vineyard and winery and give them the tools to then on-sell that story to the consumer.

As a final point, Stephen pointed out the fascination consumers have with “brands”.

“Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is a brand, Central Otago Pinot Noir is a brand. Gimblett Gravel Syrah is a brand and so is natural wine. Why haven’t we come up with a brand for organic and biodynamic New Zealand wine? Now is the time to come up with something – this is what we want this term to mean. Develop it and start getting people to fall in love with it.”

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 11

12 | WINEPRESS August 2015

Managing Nitrogen Organically TESSA NICHOLSON

Nitrogen is a vital element in the circle of plant life. It is necessary for growth and survival, along with phosphorus and potassium.

But the problem with nitrogen is that while it makes up 80% of the atmosphere, plants can’t absorb it atmospherically. They can only absorb it from the soil.

Dr Charles Merfield from BHU Future Farming Centre says that means wine growers need to be looking at ways of ensuring there is plenty of nitrogen in the soil, without overdosing and creating leaching issues.

Charles, better known as Merf, says growers need to understand how nitrogen works.

“It can only get into a living thing through fixation by a very small number, literally a couple of handfuls, of bacteria and proteobacteria.”

In simple terms, atmospheric nitrogen is turned into reactive nitrogen within the soil by the above mentioned bacteria.

“The first form is ammonia and that is very quickly converted into ammonium. That is the really good form of nitrogen in the soil. It is available to plants to pick it up and it binds very tightly to the soil so it doesn’t leach.

“But ammonium is also then converted by bacteria into nitrites and nitrates.”

It is the nitrates that are the baddy in this equation of life for nitrogen. They do not bind to the soil and can be easily

washed away, or leached out of the soil and end up in waterways – not a good thing whether you are an organic grower or not.

So how do you go about stabilising or increasing nitrogen to assist your vines. Given in organics you can’t use inorganic or imported nitrogen fertilizer, the options are foliar sprays, compost, or cover crops.

While compost is a great soil conditioner, Merf says it doesn’t provide a great deal of nitrogen.

“The main nitrogen compound in living things is protein,” he said. “But protein only contains a small amount of nitrogen – about 6%. So it’s effectively impossible to have a biological organic fertilizer (such as compost) that contains more than 6% nitrogen, and there is a shed load more potassium and phosphorus. So if you are using compost to supply nitrogen, you will be overdosing on P and K and a number of other nutrients as well.”

Foliar sprays are extremely handy at the beginning of spring when nitrogen deficiency is likely to be at its highest.

When you need to get something into the vines and see a quick reaction, foliar sprays are the simple answer.

“But foliar sprays are expensive and not all sprays are equal.”

Then there are nitrogen fixing crops (such as clover) and nitrogen catching crops (such as mustard and cereals) that can assist the vines.

The nitrogen fixing crops can be planted and left to grow for three

The typical signs of a nitrogen deficient vine include yellowing of leaves.

or four months before being removed when they start to compete with the vine.

“That fixes enough nitrogen and then we can kill them off. So that way we have the ability to manipulate the amount of nitrogen we have in the vineyard,” Merf says.

However there is a caveat here – and that is that you have to be careful of timing with cover crops. If the soil temperature is below about 8 Deg C, nitrogen fixing bacteria are inactive – it’s too cold for their chemistry to work.

“That means there is very little nitrogen fixing happening in the middle of winter. This is why we have nitrogen deficiency in spring, because the soil is cold from winter, yet the vines have their head in the warming atmosphere and are growing hard. However the bugs can’t operate to supply the nitrogen through the root system.”

Nitrogen catching crops effectively grab the nitrates from the soil, before it leaches out from rain, Merf said.

“But it is no use sowing these things when autumn is here, the soils are already draining. They need to be well established, so you need to be sowing them in summer so they have good solid roots on them when the water does start moving downwards, so they can grab the nitrates.”

Regardless of which way you decide to go, Merfield warned there is no one crop fits all vineyard scenarios. He suggested that you trial any crop on a small part of your vineyard before taking it any further.

“Unfortunately the options and permutations are legion and often highly site specific, especially in viticulture. There is no one recipe for every vineyard.”

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 13

Sauvignon Blanc Diversity TESSA NICHOLSON

Could our small population base be preventing us from diversification in terms of Sauvignon Blanc? Erica Crawford thinks it may be, and believes South Africa could be our biggest threat.

Erica is well versed in the beauties of our flagship variety. Along with husband Kim, she helped launch New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc into the American market. Now with their new label Loveblock (based in the Awatere Valley) she, like many others, is keen to see diversity within the variety. She admits however, that diversifying isn’t easy in a country where the population base is just over 4.5million.

Having diversity within the range of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is something wine writers have been asking for or talking about for a number of years. And given we are not the only producers of this variety in the New World, we have to look at what others are doing.

Having been a guest speaker at the South African Sauvignon Blanc Interest Group last year, Erica believes we have some stiff competition ahead of us.

“This group is quite active, it’s the who’s who of South African wine.

New Zealand became a hot region and I think South Africa is just bubbling under the radar at the moment. They have some real champions, (much like New Zealand had in its early years).

And they have some real diversity. I

14 | WINEPRESS August 2015

think what is happening there is very exciting.”

While only 9% of the country’s planted area is in Sauvignon Blanc, and the variety only makes up 9.5% of total wine exports, Erica says having more than 50 million people in the local market is allowing the wine producers to try things in a bigger way than New Zealand can.

“I know not everybody buys wine, but even if just 10 percent of that population buys, it’s the same as New Zealand’s entire population base.”

Starting with a clean slate, and not having to conform to any perceived ideas of what style they produce, means many South African producers are creating their own style of Sauvignon Blanc.

“The top 10 producers all hand pick, a lot spend time on lees. They want to be different to New Zealand, and they are. They want more complexity and elegance, indeed some describe New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc as “lacking in sophistication and elegance”.

“There is more barrique work going on, and the lees contact is different to us. Our guys tend to go to clear juice quite soon. In South Africa they really

work their wine, I’m talking about three right up to 14 months on lees.

“The big thing though, is they have the cellar door for these front end wines –we don’t have that local market and numbers to sell these wines to.”

There are a number of producers in Marlborough who are diversifying with their styles, but Erica says they are a hard sell in the export market.

“You can make these experimental lots, you don’t have to make a lot, but you do have to sell it to someone.

The restaurant trade here is hard work because all New Zealand brands fight for a space on the list and the international market is not that interested in taking them, so what do we do? I really thought it would be easier than it is. I work in the US a lot and people know me there, so I thought they would be keen to take it. But it is very hard work.”

While advocating diversity and personally loving that style of Sauvignon, Erica isn’t bagging the traditional style that is behind Marlborough’s international reputation.

“Oh I will never bag our traditional style. It is what has made us, made our reputation and it is too important.

Also if we benchmark Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that everyone knows and loves, at any price point it knocks everyone else out of the way. At US$10 to $15 no one can compete with us.

And just because the style of other countries is not what we are used to tasting, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work – it just isn’t our benchmark. But remember styles and trends change. We have to be careful of that.”

It is an area that is likely to be covered in next year’s International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration. How we keep moving forward, without losing our way. Diversity versus consumer preference is all-important to the future of the variety. As Erica points out, we need to be aware of what is happening in other parts of the world, and be prepared to counter style changes if they occur.

How South Africans View Sauvignon Blanc The following is an extract from the Wines South Africa web page.

It shows quite clearly their goal to do things differently to us, and makes interesting reading.

Despite New Zealand’s claim to be the best maker of this wine, some modern wine experts believe that South Africa has the potential to overtake the former country.

The secret behind this lies in South Africa’s practice of experimentation.

Unlike the majority of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, the South African wine production tends to focus upon new methods and new tastes which can give the wine an extra complexity. With the ability to make tremendous differences in the production of Sauvignon Blanc, it is no surprise that many experts are coming to the conclusion that South African Sauvignon Blanc wines are some of the best in the New World. The most noted difference between the two is the flavour and variety which South African wine makers are able to bring to the Sauvignon Blanc.

What South African wines tend to bring to the table is an air of refinement which is entirely missing from the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. Although the latter wines are considered to be boisterous and aromatic, they often lack sophistication and elegance. South Africa’s wine producers have managed to encourage the Sauvignon Blanc back to its homeland, near the Loire, while still bringing a modern, crisp texture to the wines. This has brought it to the attention of the international market, and there are more Sauvignon Blanc wines being exported from South Africa than in previous decades.

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 15

Increasing Chinese Sales TESSA NICHOLSON

While China may appear to be a great opportunity for wine exporters, wine companies need to aware that it is still a very immature market.

Simon Zhou from Ruby Red importers in Shanghai, was in Marlborough recently, courtesy of NZTE. At a seminar based on increasing sales in China, he pointed out that despite the large population base, wine sales are not high.

“The Chinese market is immature.

People are trying wine, but the frequency and volume is relatively low.

For example the biggest importer in China is only turning over NZ$200 million. So it really is quite a small market.”

Not surprising he added, given it has only been in the last decade that the market opened up to wine. Prior to 2005, tax on imported wine was close to 90% making it unaffordable. In 05 that tax rate was dropped to 48% and due to trade agreements, New Zealand wine is taxed at just 32%.

Since then, there have been three distinct stages, Simon said.

From 2005 – 2008 it was the emergence stage. Foreign companies were setting up shop and the consumers were those returning from overseas or ex pats.

“But the only place you could consume wine in 2005 was in a five star hotel.”

The next phase he says was the hype phase – which occurred between 2009 and 2011.

“Because of the foreign companies and ex pats, wine started to become glamorous. There was a flood of wine coming in and a lot of businessmen were drinking it. It became a status thing.”

It was during this stage that prices skyrocketed, especially for French

16 | WINEPRESS August 2015

Bordeaux. Simon says bottles of Chateau Lafite that were selling for $400 in 2006, were selling for $2500 by 2011.

That hype ended abruptly in 2012, with a change of government, which cracked down on the practice of gifting. Simon describes the situation since 2012 as “realization. The government policy stopped the hype.”

Which brings us to the present day.

While the super premium end of the wine market is growing, it is dominated still by wines from France. He describes this category as wines that sell for more than NZ$200. “New Zealand is not super premium.”

The value end is also growing well, dominated by Chile, Spain and again France.

“New Zealand isn’t in this segment either. New Zealand is in the middle and this price bracket is difficult currently.”

There is hope though Simon says, as consumers start moving away from super premium wines, to quality wines that cost less.

“This super premium trend in China is similar to what happened in the US, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong in the 70s and 80s.”

Which gives hope to New Zealand exporters that our wine has the potential to increase market share in the future. For that to happen though, Simon believes companies need to be looking at their strategies in an effort to increase sales.

His first piece of advice was to increase

A star in his own right. Simon Zhou being interviewed by NZTE prior to the Marlborough seminar.

the number of importers you are dealing with.

“Don’t assume China is one market, it’s not. Why not divide into four quadrants and have an importer for each one.”

The four quadrants he suggested are; East – Shangahi North – Beijing South – Guangzhou West – Chengdo While many importers want to have exclusivity, Simon says that isn’t realistic in a country like China.

“Let them know that is not possible and that you want to work on quadrant exclusivity.”

Another strategy could be to divide your export into separate channels. For example, have a different importer for trade (hotel and restaurant), premium retail, supermarket and online.

Most importantly though he says, you need to work with your importer – given they are an important partner in your business.

“In this day and age, it is not enough to send only product to the importer

and leave it at that.You have to have product information ready, the story of your brand, images and technical data. The wines that do really well in our (Ruby Red) portfolio of 200 are the companies that are in our face, constantly keeping us up to date.”

Monthly updates to an importer are a vital key Simon says.

“You need to create a reason for your importer to push your product.”

Keeping in touch should not be limited to just the “boss” he warned. The people who are out there selling your wine also need to be well informed.

“You cannot underestimate how important training the staff is.”

In terms of marketing, Simon says holding dinners and tastings may not be the best use of time and money.

“Dinners and tastings are a dime a dozen, so they are hard to attract consumers to.You have to look for a point of difference. Also most Chinese do not drink wine with their meal and most don’t drink regularly. Wine is drunk at banquets and celebrations

yes, otherwise they tend to drink after a meal. So wine and food matching is not a big thing there.”

A criticism he had was that many wine companies did not keep their on line information up to date. Given consumers are tech savvy, the need to ensure information is up to the minute is a vital component in increasing sales.

Looking forward Simon believes the next big step in the Chinese market will be in the field of supermarket sales.

Currently only 15% of wine is sold in supermarkets.

“But retail will be more important in the next five to 10 years. More supermarket chains and retailers are coming onto the scene, so this will be the next important phase in the wine cycle.”

Rounding it off, he reminded wine companies, that Chinese consumers are looking for value and experience when they choose a bottle of wine. It is up to you to ensure those qualities are delivered.

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 17

Generation Y-ine – Abbie Maxwell, Babich Wines TESSA NICHOLSON There was no one more surprised on the night of Marlborough’s Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year competition, than the winner, Abbie Maxwell.

The 28-year-old says she never even contemplated she would make the final six, let alone take out the title.

“I went to uni with a few guys who had entered into the Young Viticulturist competition in the past, so I thought why not give this (the Winemaking competition) a go. I was just so excited to have made the final six in Marlborough – I never ever thought I would win the title.”

Born in Auckland, Abbie never considered any career other than winemaking. Her grandparents lived in Marlborough and on her constant visits she became enamored with the possibility.

“Every time they picked us up from the airport they would stop on the side of the road so we could see the vines, see their progression and what they were doing. When I was about 12, Pop slid me my first Marlborough sav, and that was it!”

Even to the point that when she left school, she told her graduating friends that in 10 years

18 | WINEPRESS August 2015

time she would be back at the reunion as a winemaker. There really was no doubt in her mind that that was the direction she wanted to head in.

There was just a minor hiccough though, she wanted to stay in Auckland, rather than head to Lincoln, Marlborough or Hawke’s Bay to undertake a winemaking course.

At Auckland University she was encouraged to

undertake either a major in chemistry or a major in bio-technology, if she wanted to get into the Wine Science Department.

“Bio-technology appealed to me a bit more so I did that. But only because I thought I had to do it to become a winemaker. Then I got to second year when they only take a few students and I was dissecting a rat and thought to myself – ‘this isn’t Pinot Noir’. So I just walked out.”

While the course didn’t give her enough wine theory or practical, she quickly found that EIT in Hawke’s Bay did.

A three-year straight wine science degree provided her with everything she wanted.

There was no messing around trialing viticulture – Abbie was adamant, wine making was it.

“You do get a basic understanding of viticulture with the degree, and that was enough for me. I can’t grow tomatoes, so it was no use trying to grow vines,” she says with a hearty laugh.

With likeminded co students and lecturers that came

directly from the industry, she had found her nirvana.

“Having people like Malcolm Reeves who started Crossroads and Rod Chittenden who looked after Church Road for a while, was a lot better than having a physician telling me how to dissect a rat.”

Her practical work was undertaken at Matariki Wines, a small family owned company that processed 600 tonnes of mainly red fruit. If she thought the theoretical work was hard, she was in for a surprise when it came to the practical.

“I lost 10 kilos in my first vintage, all that hand plunging and running round making sure pumps didn’t go dry. But it was cool.

It was a small team, so we were encouraged to make decisions.

I was in the cellar door there as well, so not only did I get to see what was happening in the winery, I also got to sell and market the final product.”

Graduating in 2010, she did her first professional vintage at Villa Maria in Auckland. Then it was off to Ireland for two years, where she managed a microbiology lab.

“They had a pseudomonas outbreak in their hospitals, so I pretty much walked into the job. And the great thing about it, was they were really flexible so I could go away and do my four month vintages and then come back into the job.”

But after two years, she was missing home and marmite in particular, (and Shortland Street) so it was back to New Zealand to a job here in Marlborough at the then not completed Babich Winery.

“We all met in January and at that stage the winery was pretty much a shell.

Then the grapes came in in mid March and it was all go. It was never dull.”

The winery which is the largest ever investment undertaken by the Babich family and their first custom built facility has created a lot of pride not only for the family members, but also the staff.

“It’s so clean,” she quips. “There is a lot of pride that comes from it, because

everything is new and clean and we want to keep it that way.”

There is also a lot of pride in working for a family that has a history stretching back 100 years.

“They are incredibly encouraging and supportive, especially with me taking part in the Young Winemaker. It is a really great family company to work for.

You don’t feel like a number, you feel like a part of the Babich family and it’s lovely.”

Entering the Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year competition was for her a personal development decision.

Hawke’s Bay, with the winner taking out the title. Before then she admits there will be many an hour spent studying and hopefully that study will be more relevant than the study she undertook before the Marlborough competition.

“I studied quite hard before the competition and then when none of it came up I was kicking myself. But it was a very good motivator to get the books out again.”

Looking forward, past the Nationals, Abbie has one other major goal in mind - to become a Master of Wine.

“It’s the next step.You become a winemaker, but to be an MW is the maximum you can achieve.

It focuses on your palate and your international wine knowledge at a higher level than what is expected in a practical winemaking role. As a winemaker your experience can be limited to the grape varieties and regions you process but an MW is globally recognised. To me it is the ultimate goal.”

Admitting it will take a lot of “liquid research” she is happy to be working alongside Jens Merkle, (Babich Marlborough winemaker) as he has opened her eyes to the global aspect of wine.

“He is amazing, he is constantly including me in decisions, tastings and trials. And he explains why he is doing what he is doing. While I have only been working here for two years, my personal development as a winemaker has sky rocketed.

“I have become less New Zealand centric I guess. Like the Rieslings we are doing this year, they are more of a German style. Plus we do organic Grüner Veltliner and also Albariño which are interesting wines to be making alongside our Sauvignon and Pinot.”

Each and every new wine or technique gathered within her work place will only help strengthen Abbie’s skill set and help her not only at the nationals later this month, but also in her goal to becoming a Master of Wine.

“It’s the next step.You become a winemaker, but to be an MW is the maximum you can achieve.

It focuses on your palate and your international wine knowledge at a higher level than what is expected in a practical winemaking role.”

“Going in to it, I expected to find out areas I needed to work on a bit more and that was enough reward for me. And that might have been why I enjoyed the day so much, because I had no pressure. I went in quite relaxed just expecting to learn something. With new varieties and new technologies happening, in this industry you constantly have to educate yourself to keep up with things. I thought maybe I would find out about some of those areas where I was weak in – I never thought I would win.”

But win she did, and now she is off to the Romeo Bragato conference later this month to take part in the national competition. She will compete against winemakers from Central Otago and

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 19

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The Dirt on China MIKE INSLEY IN NINGXIA Soils are supposed to be dirty stuff – full of fungi and bacteria. Here in Ningxia, I’m not so sure. The cold and dry of winter followed by a dry summer slows down many of the processes that lead to the decomposition of green and woody material and soil organic matter accumulation. I can still see last year’s corn stubble and compost additions mixed in with what passes for soil here.

This is a concern on several levels.

Given their parent material – outwash from the nearby Helan Mountains, alluvial deposition from successive Yellow River floods and wind- blown loess deposition, the soils I get to work with are already very low in organic matter. Organic matter (also known as

OM or soil carbon to give it its other names) is important for a number of reasons such as: • Medium (>3%) to high soil organic matter levels helps resistance to soil compaction and erosion.

• Soil organic matter increases the ability of a soil to hold nutrients (its Cation Exchange Capacity or CEC) and also reduces the leaching potential for applied nutrients.

• Increased soil organic matter generally means increased biological activity. Grapevine roots form part of a total soil ecosystem along with fungi and bacteria.

View over what is now our Block 6 (Cabernet Sauvignon) before development in 1996.This photo has been sitting in the archives for some time, hence the quality, Mike says.

Many of these (fungi in particular) are beneficial and are important for nutrient uptake into the vines.

• Increasing soil organic matter is a great way of increasing the water holding capacity of soils, something that may become important this season if conditions similar to the 1997/98 El Nino induced drought start to bite.

• As well as increasing water holding capacity, good levels of soil organic matter also aid in drainage and help to decrease surface water runoff.

• Taking a long view, soil organic matter accumulation may help in reducing greenhouse gases by soil C sequestration.

All in all, soil organic matter is a good thing and its accumulation is to be encouraged. I would regard most soils that I have worked with in Marlborough as “healthy” especially when I think of the 40 plus years of prunings being mulched back into them and decomposing before the next Winter rolls around; and practices such as cover cropping following vineyard development (where cultivating and “working the soil” can play a part in degrading soil structure and OM levels),

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 21

along with the move to permanent or semi-permanent swards.

As mentioned previously, here in Ningxia it’s a very different situation.

The soils are naturally very low in OM, <0.5%. Until recently, a lot of this country was sandy or stony desert, complete with dunes. Current vineyard management practices of burying the vines over winter and uncovering them in spring require extensive cultivations to shift the amount of soil required for protection – in the lighter, sandier soils, vines may be buried under 40 - 50 cm of cover while in heavier, more silty soils, 20 cms might be sufficient to give the required thermal protection and maintain moisture around the vines.

These cultivations “burn” through our applied OM. Extremely dry growing conditions (less than 200 mm precipitation annually) and limitations on the amount of water we can draw from the irrigation schemes tapping into the Yellow River mean that growing cover crops in the mid-row is problematic. Forget about growing a winter green crop, -20° C puts paid to that. I’m still working through a suitable management system that will allow

22 | WINEPRESS August 2015

organic matter accumulation, ultimately leading to a healthier soil.

The other challenge I have when it comes to the dirt around here is the soil pH. It sits at around 8.2 – 8.5 , distinctly alkaline and very different to the pH 5.6 – 6.4 I’m used to seeing in a lot of Marlborough soils (apart from those on very coastal sites or derived from saline parent material). Soil pH is another major determinant of plant nutrient availability and at pH >8, micronutrients such as Zinc and Boron, essential for flowering and fruitset, are effectively plant unavailable.

A lot of vineyard practices have the effect of reducing soil pH. Sulphur is an excellent soil acidifying agent and practices such as applying some herbicides also acidify soils over time.

Here in Ningxia, Sulphur applications are minimal – at the time of writing we’re just coming into veraison and we’ve only put on 3 spray applications of anything since budburst (there has to be an upside to the harsh winter and arid growing conditions and so far extremely low pest and disease pressure seems to be it). We also don’t use any herbicides, the sandy soils

lending themselves to undervine weeding, currently done by hand but soon to be mechanised when our new weeding machine arrives. The extensive cultivations from uncovering the vines also means that we start off the season very clean from weeds as well.

Raising soil organic matter levels should also help to lower the soil pH. Everything is pointing to OM being a big part of our future success.

As a stop-gap measure, we’ve been using foliar applied micronutrients, particularly pre-flowering applications of Zinc and Boron to get around the pH-caused plant unavailability of these. Lack of Boron can be an issue in Marlborough as at lower soil pH it can be easily leached from the soil profile, particularly on our more free draining soils. A lack of Boron is easily addressed though, by a single, pre-flowering application of a suitable material, ensuring that it is available to the vine over the critical flowering period.

We will have more from Mike Insley in later issues of Winepress.

NZ Cellar Certificates Coming Wineries across New Zealand are playing a leading role in helping manufacturing industry training organisation Competenz develop New Zealand’s first nationally recognised qualifications for cellar operators in the wine sector.

The qualifications will help the industry maintain New Zealand’s reputation as one of the world’s top winemaking countries.

“The New Zealand Certificates in Cellar Operations are a first for New Zealand, and it’s exciting to be part of this work,” says Nick Best, Acting Production Manager at Marlborough’s Isabel Estate.

“Nationally recognised qualifications benefit the industry and everyone in it. New Zealand wine is well regarded round the world. These qualifications will help us invest in, lift and standardise the skills of the people in our industry.

And that will help us maintain the quality and consistency that’s won New Zealand our good reputation.”

Employers and employees benefit too.

“If you’re an employer who takes on someone with a qualification, you’ll know you’re employing someone who can do what they say they can do,” says Nick. “They’ll have the skills they need to be productive and work safely.

Investing in training is a great way to promote our industry across New Zealand too.

“If you’re employed in a cellar operation and hold a qualification, you can show employers you’ve reached a standard that’s recognised across the country.”

Nick joined technical and training experts from eight other wineries, including Matua Valley Wines, Indevin and Sacred Hill, on a technical advisory group which has helped Competenz establish the content and structure of

the new qualifications.

Competenz Industry Manager Mathew Vandy says strong industry representation has played an important part in helping the Competenz team understand the technical and commercial skills cellar hands and managers need to gain to keep New Zealand “up there on the international wine map.”

“We’re really pleased to be working with the industry to formally recognise the skills and knowledge your teams are gaining on-the-job. The New Zealand Certificates will support and formalise the high level of skills I’ve seen in cellar operators across New Zealand.”

About the new national qualifications Competenz will launch three New Zealand Certificates in Cellar Operations next year. Together these

certificates form a pathway of learning over several years.

The entry-level qualification, aimed at cellar hands, has a strong focus on food safety and quality processing.

The intermediate qualification equips graduates with a good understanding of the technical processes and equipment involved in producing wine. The top qualification builds the specialised technical skills needed to manage employees and production.

With the qualifications approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (the government agency that manages New Zealand’s national qualifications), the Competenz team is now working with industry to prepare to enrol learners. This includes agreeing how to support learners and businesses through their training, and the formal review process that will confirm learners have gained the skills they need.

Real Estate Update “It is heartening to hear the Prime Minister saying the viticulture industry is part of New Zealand’s best performing exporters as he tries to deflect focus away from the ailing dairy industry,” says Joe Blakiston of PGG Wrightson Real Estate. “We are certainly seeing this in the level of interest in viticultural land which would best be described as a strong sellers market at present. Local enquiry for smaller blocks plus Auckland and overseas enquiry keep us busy and anyone considering selling should be encouraged to market their property to this wide buyer pool to gain maximum value. Currently a number of OIO decisions are awaited on larger developed blocks locally which always seems a long wait for vendors – usually over six months . Sales activity has been limited to smaller production blocks in the last month with values continuing to firm. As pointed out by readers last month, individual buyer motivation i.e. neighbours, sometimes leads to a spike in value but overall the sales evidence clearly points to a very positive season ahead.”

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 23

Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker

24 | WINEPRESS August 2015

In the first ever Marlborough Young Winemaker, there was some stiff competition, with all the contestants proving themselves in their chosen field.

In the end it was Abbie Maxwell (Babich Wines) who took out the title, with Shelley Young (Delegat) second and Josh Hammond (Villa Maria) third.

Interesting to note that the top three all work for New Zealand owned and operated family businesses.

It was a day of blending, marketing, identifying, fun games, speeches and wine options for the six competitors, which left most exhausted by the end of the day.

But huge congrats to the organisers, who not only set up and ran the

A jubilant winner Abbie Maxwell, with Judge Jeff Clarke (left and Tonnellerie de Mercurey representative, Rhyan Wardman.

Marlborough competition, but have also rolled it out to the rest of New Zealand.

At this year’s Romeo Bragato

Conference, Abbie will represent Marlborough in the nationals, and we wish her all the best.

The top of the crop – from left; Josh Hammond (3rd), Abbie Maxwell, and Shelley Young (2nd).

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 25

Bayer Young Vit

26 | WINEPRESS August 2015

Matt Duggan has taken part in every one of the Bayer Young Viticulturist Of The Year competitions here in Marlborough for the past five years. Until 2015, he had won twice, and been placed twice. This year he is back on the winner’s podium, having taken out the title from five other competitors. The Cloudy Bay assistant viticulturist will now go on to represent the region at the national finals later this month.

In second place was last year’s winner, Brenton O’Riley from Giesen and third was Anthony Walsh from Constellation Brands.

It was a tight competition, with literally only a matter of single figure points between the top three.

Taking out the ANZ Practical section of the day-long competition was Anthony Walsh from Constellation Brands. Brenton and Matt were tied equal in the Gascoigne Wicks Theory section, while Nick Kininmonth from FruitFed Supplies won the Bayer Speech section.

The Biostart Horty Sports was taken out by Brenton O’Riley.

For the third time in his career, Matt Duggan, assistant viticulturist at Cloudy Bay takes out the Bayer Marlborough Young Viticulturist of the Year title.

The top three, from left Anthony Walsh (3rd), Matt Duggan (1st) and Brenton O’Riley (2nd).

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 27

We’re looking for passionate and motivated members to join us.

Two grape growers • Two winery members You can have input into Wine marlborough’s four focus areas of:

governance • markeTing • communicaTion • advocacy

The 2015

Marlborough WinegroWers election is coming up this August Here’s wHaT some oF our board members Have said: Simon BiShell

clive JoneS

“being on the board enables exposure and greater understanding of issues that are relevant to the wine industry as a whole. This knowledge has enabled me to make better decisions on the day-to-day operation and future planning of our own vineyard.”

“if you think it is time to give something back to the industry and help shape the future of nZ’s premier wine growing region, then seek nomination to stand in the upcoming election.”

Jack Glover

rhyan Wardman

“by being on the board i feel i can assist marlborough to be more successful as a region, a brand and a place to live.”

“The broad spectrum of issues covered by the winegrowers board provides valuable insight to the challenges and opportunities we face as an industry. i thoroughly enjoy being a part of that.”

August 2015 | WINEPRESS For28more information, please email: marcus Pickens marcus@wine-marlborough.co.nz or clive Jones cjones@nautilusestate.com

Cane Pruning Vs Spur Pruning MARCUS WICKHAM - KLIMA

During our travels we often get asked the same question by growers who are used to spur pruning: Why would you want to cane prune? It’s too expensive if you ask me!

So here is a list of four compelling reasons why we choose to cane prune ourselves and advocate cane pruning as a more profitable and sustainable pruning system for grape growers.

These answers are based on a combination of science and practical school of hard knocks that comes with being a grape grower in a cool climate.

Bud Fruitfulness – Low Yield Risk Management The fruitfulness of your buds (the size and number of flowers on your shoots) is largely predetermined in the pervious growing season when the buds “initiate”. Conventional wisdom says that: Initiation happens around flowering the previous year.

However this is not exactly the case, our view is that each bud on a single cane is initiated at a different time and date. The first buds may initiate in say November, working up the cane, the next few may be December, January, February March etc.

Cane Pruning

This initiation timing spread of the buds along a 10-12 bud cane can mitigate your risk of low temperatures during the initiation of bud positions.

By laying a 10-12 bud cane on the wire containing buds that initiated at different times of the previous growing season you spread your risk of low fruitfulness that can and does happen on individual bud positions.

A spur pruned vine only contains bud positions one and two which increases your risk of low and small flower numbers.

Bud burst:- Frost Risk Management The buds on a cane pruned vine don’t all burst at exactly the same time in exactly the same way. Early in the spring it’s not unusual to have individual buds on a cane pruned vine at different growth stages; for example leaves unfolded, some green tips visible and some at woolly bud all on the same cane.

A spring frost event affects different growth stages; - woolly bud vs green leaves in different ways. This built-in growth stage variation during a spring frost can be enough to turn a 90% wipe out into a 50% wipeout. Spur pruned and uniformed bud burst may look nice until it all gets frosted in one event because it’s so uniform.

Flowering: - Low yield risk management The same in-built growth stage variation continues through to flowering. Your exposure to the poor weather at flowering is mitigated by cane pruning as every shoot on the vine won’t flower at the same time on the same day. This provides you with a larger flowering window and less likelihood of a low crop resulting from one week of cold weather over flowering.

Yield In our experience cane pruning (if done correctly) provides you with reliable sustainable yields year in, year out. Don’t get me wrong there will be ups and downs as Mother Nature makes the rules in our game. However cane pruning can be an effective tool to even out the humps and hollows and in turn keep you in business.

Spur Pruning

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 29

To The Moon And Back

BY ANNABELLE LATZ

Perhaps wine judges and consumers should take into account the phase of the moon before taking their sip of Pinot Noir.

According to the publication; “When wine tastes best 2014: A biodynamic calendar for wine drinkers” (Thun & Thun, 2013), a wine will taste ‘best’ when the moon passes through constellations that produce ‘days’ called Fruit or Flower, and ‘worst’ when the moon passes through constellations that result in ‘days’ called Root or Leaf.

The Thun & Thun (2013) biodynamic wine-tasting calendar argues amongst other things that the wine in the bottle may physiologically change, or be perceived to change, depending on the lunar cycle, resulting in a wine appearing to taste best on Fruit Days and worst on Root Days. This tenet of the biodynamic calendar produced an empirically testable hypothesis that was investigated recently in a study conducted

by Lincoln University Principal Research Officer Dr Wendy Parr, working alongside collaborators Phil Reedman from Adelaide and sensory scientists from the University of Burgundy in France.

A Pinot Noir tasting study took place late last year at the Marlborough Research Centre, involving around 20 wine industry member participants who were asked to attend two separate tastings, each one at a very specific time. The Thun and Thun (2013) tasting Calendar, originally developed in Germany and reproduced in English for the UK market, was adjusted for southern hemisphere (and specifically for New Zealand daylight summer hours’ timings) via reputable and published means.

30 | WINEPRESS August 2015

The major hypothesis being tested was whether the Pinot Noir wines tasted ‘better’ on a fruit or root day, where all wines were in unique tasting order for each person. ‘Better’ was defined for tasting purposes in terms of published and anecdotal reports from adherents of the tasting methods. For example, the wines were predicted to be more expressive in terms of fruitiness and freshness on Fruit Days, whilst any negative characters (e.g., astringency;

bitterness) would be exacerbated on Root Days if the tenets of the Calendar were supported.

A critical aspect of the study was that all tasters were ‘blind’ to its purpose. To ensure this, participants were provided no information prior to their tastings other than that they were tasting some Pinot Noir wines. After everyone had completed their two tastings, one on a Root Day and one on a Fruit Day,

prior to advising them what the study was about, study participants were sent a questionnaire, asking them if they (i) knew about the biodynamic tasting Calendar, and (ii) if they ever followed it. Results of the questionnaire showed that not one of the participants had undertaken the study tasting with biodynamic tasting principals in mind, even though several knew of the existence of the Calendar.

Dr Parr, who was a psychologist before studying oenology at Lincoln University in 1999, believes a study such as this one is important for the industry, as many extrinsic factors such as ambience, beliefs of the tasters, and bottle aspects (e.g., shape, weight of bottle, and quality of the label) influence how a wine is assessed by the consumer.

“My experience is that New Zealand wine producers, judges and critics, and wine consumers are all innovative and keen to see wine judging behaviour understood and the processes to be research-based, and for judging processes to be as fair and scientifically sound as they can be,” she said.

In reality, it would be impossible to expect wine judges to judge a bottle on two separate occasions, at such specific times, but Dr Parr concedes there is so much the industry still has to learn about within this field.

She has recently been part of an exciting meeting in Bordeaux where Oenologists are very keen to include more cognitive psychology and neuroscience in wine sensory research.

“Because they appreciate that unless we

‘get inside the head of the taster’ we are pretty much just dancing around the edges of understanding wine tasting and wine tasters,” said Dr Parr.

Basic physio-chemical data on each wine, (pH, TA, total phenolics) were collected at each tasting, and Dr Parr is looking forward to being able to share the results of this study when analysis of data has been completed.

Jeremy McKenzie, Chief Winemaker Pinnacle Drinks NZ, was one participant of the study.

He is familiar with this lunar cycle rhythms theory, and does sometimes wonder if a wine he is tasting is as good as the last time, and said when he worked in Burgundy some time ago different winemakers he tasted with were quite often angled towards this methodology.

“I do warm to this notion, I don’t necessarily follow it by the book but I often think about it when I taste and when wines are looking particularly capturing on that day,” he said.

From memory Jeremy did notice subtle

changes between the two tastings, but added that he evaluates a wine for what he sees in the glass at that particular time, rather than trying to think back to a previous tasting.

Similar to Dr Parr’s thoughts, Jeremy doubts whether this style of tasting would be feasible for a wine show, and holds faith in the robustness of the current screening process.

“In terms of general wine tasting, most strong wines displaying top quality should stand out naturally whether fruit or root days, as they have the intrinsic makeup to do this,” he said.

Wietske van der Pol, Assistant Winemaker Wither Hills was another participant at the study.

She has never taken the claim of lunar cycle rhythms affecting the taste of wine seriously, and admitted she did not remember noticing any obvious differences between flights.

Although she may not be convinced the physiology of the wine can change in the bottle due to biodynamic traits, credibility is important.

Dr Wendy Parr

As an industry, Wietske finds winemakers sometimes get accused of talking up wines beyond what is actually perceivable or realistic.

“It is important to show some credibility by scientifically testing all claims including biodynamics as well as conventional winemaking,” she said.

Footnote: Dr Parr was the recipient of The Cresswell Jackson New Zealand Wine Trust funding, which awarded its first research grant in 2013, under the broad objective of enhancing the success of the New Zealand wine industry.

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WINEPRESS August 2015 | 31

Strategy wins battles Plan ahead to defeat powdery mildew this season

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NZW Export News – May 2015 Key Points • MAT May 2015 export value is $1.416 billion, up 7% on the previous year.

• MAT May 2015 exports are 204.1 m. litres, up 9% on the previous year; packaged exports are +1% for the period and other exports are up 26%.

• Average value MAT May 2015 is $6.81 per litre down 4% on the previous year; packaged export value is $8.22 per litre down 1% on the previous year NB: WECS, which is the source for volume data in this Report, moved to a different software system in October 2014. This has affected the data in this Report. Going forward the new software will deliver better alignment with the Statistics NZ value data as WECS data will now record the date of shipment from NZ, not the date of certification. Short term and unavoidably this means, in comparison to previous data,YTD and MAT May exports are understated by 3.6 m. litres, all of which is packaged product.

In the Report reference to ‘adjusted WECS data’ means the data includes this 3.6m. litres Total Export Volume & Value • MAT May 2015 total value of exports is $1.416 billion, up 7% on the previous year.

• YTD May 2015 total value of exports is $1.322 billion, up 7% on the previous year.

• Total value of May 2015 exports was $121.2 m. up 25% on May 2014.

• MAT May 2015 exports are 204.1 m. litres, up 9% (16.3 m. litres) on the previous year. Based on adjusted WECS data, exports are 207.7 m litres up 11% (19.9 m. litres).

• YTD May 2015 exports are 191.4 m. litres, up 9% (16.3 m. litres) on the previous year. Based on adjusted WECS data, exports are 195.0 m litres up 11% (19.9 m. litres).

• May 2015 exports were 15.4 m. litres up 11% (1.5 m. litres) on May 2014.

Export Value per Litre All wines • May 2015 average value was $7.74 per litre, down 3% from May 2014.

• YTD May 2015 average value is $6.76 per litre.

• MAT May 2015 average price is $6.81 per litre, down 4% or $0.29 per litre on MAT May 2014.

Packaged wines • Excluding unpackaged wine from the data, the May 2015 average value was $8.46 per litre, down $0.11 per litre on May 2014.

• YTD May 2015 the average price is $8.19 per litre.

• MAT May 2015 the average price is $8.22 per litre, down $0.10 per litre (1%) on MAT May 2014.

• MAT May 2015 prices are up 2% to the UK, are unchanged to USA, but are down 3% to Australia and Canada.

Export Volume by Country of Destination • In May, for the major markets, exports were up 35% to the UK, and 3% to the USA but were down 7% to Australia.

Canada was up 59% for the month, while performance of other markets was mixed, with the best performer being Denmark.

• YTD May 2015 growth is led by UK +12%, with the USA & Australia +9%.

Shipments to Canada are +12% on last year. Netherlands & Denmark are the other best performers.

• MAT May 2015 growth is led by the UK +12% with Australia +9% and the USA +6%. Canada shipments are +14% for the year. Performance of other tracked markets is mixed with Denmark the strongest performer +53%.

Export Volume by Packaging Type • Exports of packaged wines MAT May 2015 are 134.7 m. litres up 1% (1.9 m. litres) on the previous year and are 66.0% of total export volume. Based on adjusted WECS data, exports are 138.3 m. litres up 4% (5.5 m. litres).

• MAT May 2015 packaged exports are

led by Canada +13%.

• Exports of packaged wines YTD May 2015 are 125.0 m. litres, up 1% on the previous year. Based on adjusted WECS data, exports are 128.6 m litres up 4%.

• May 2015 packaged exports were 12.6 m. litres, up 9% on May 2014.

• Other (non-packaged) wine shipments MAT May 2015 are 69.4 m. litres up 26% (34.0% of export volume). Nonpackaged shipments growth is led by Australia (+71%).

• Non-packaged exports YTD May 2015 are 66.3 m. litres up 28% (14.6 m. litres) on the previous year.

• May 2015 non-packaged shipments were 2.8 m. litres, up 17% on May 2014.

Exports by Variety/Style • In May 2015 Sauvignon Blanc exports were 12.9 m. litres, up 10% from the previous year, accounting for 83.8% of export volume. Of the Sauvignon Blanc exported in May, 12.7 m litres was from Vintage 2014.Just 7,500 litres of current vintage (ie 2015) Sauvignon Blanc was exported in May, 99% lower than the new vintage volume exported in May 2014 • Performance of other styles was generally positive in May with Pinot Gris up +38%.

• YTD May 2015 Sauvignon Blanc exports are 166.0 m. litres up 10% on the previous year. Performance of other styles is mixed with Pinot Gris the strongest performer.

• MAT May 2015, Sauvignon Blanc shipments are 176.2 m. litres up 9% from the previous year. Performance of other styles is mixed with Pinot Gris +21% the strongest performer.

• Production of Sauvignon Blanc in 2014 is estimated to have been 231.1 m. litres, 36% up on the previous year.

Shipments of vintage 2014 Sauvignon Blanc since release are 162.3 m. litres or 70.2% of estimated production – this is a lower share than at the same time after vintages 2010 - 2013.

WINEPRESS August 2015 | 33

Top Tweets The best from the last month.

h3 lG_uy 3 ia c o S @ o uy hours ag Social G ging on levera ry n io s s e s h sto Great arlboroug g m ly n o @ the avin nks for h today, tha arlborough em us @win orough rlb #onlyma

JoeCz Jul 20 Joe Czerwinski @ te: a sweet no Ended the w/e on eninblanc from @ lovely botrytis #ch veblockwine NZ YOUNG @lo winemarlborough WINEMAKER retweeted e #wetastes #nzwin jane skilton mw @ janeskiltonmw Jul 3 NZYoungVit Fantastic evening at @ NZYoungVit the Marlborough @ Jul 23 The Biostart Hortisports NZYoungWinemkr awards. were great fu n at lunchtim Abbie a worthy winner but only e.

Thanks @step hen_wrigley a few points separating finalists. @ winemarlboro ugh #nzwine Nailbiting

Reuben Levermore @ RLevermoreNZ Jul 23 Sharing the @winemarlborough and NZ tourism story at Bangkok Club with @villamaria_wine and @yealand s@ MarlboroughMEX

34 | WINEPRESS August 2015

Cell CellarH arHand @ Congra and Ju t l 14 HuiaV ulations @ ineyard s! @ NYIBe v Biodyn Comp Natur a a the Yea mic Winery o l/ r #NZ f wine @ winema r http:// lborough. On goo.gl/ dxUmG Huia: B

ards @ ay Viney Jul 24 B y d u Clo ay CloudyB Matt Bay’s Cloudy ugh f o d u o r p ro We’re so he Bayer Marlbo @ t , in n w e Dugga er! @nz e n in w it Young V orough #nzwin lb winemar

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

To have your event included in next month’s calendar please email details to tessa.nicholson@me.com

AUGUST 26-28 Romeo Bragato Conference 2015 – Hawke’s Bay 25-27: National Young Viticulturist of the Year – Hawke’s Bay 25-27 National Winemaker of the Year – Hawke’s Bay

SEPTEMBER 1 4-6: 8

Entries open for Marlborough Wine Show The Food Show Wellington – Westpac Stadium Entries close for Marlborough Wine Show

OCTOBER 6-7 7 22

Judging Marlborough Wine Show Auction of leftover wine from Marlborough Wine Show – 6pm, Marlborough Convention Centre The Marlborough Wine Show Awards Dinner - Blenheim

NOVEMBER 15 28

Toast Martinborough Air New Zealand Wine Awards Dinner - Saxton Stadium, Nelson

DECEMBER 1

Regional tasting Air New Zealand Wine Awards - Marlborough

FEBRUARY 2016 1-3 4-5 13

International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration 2016 – Marlborough Chardonnay and Sparkling Symposium - Gisborne Marlborough Wine & Food Festival 2016 TREAT YOUR STAFF TO A CHRISTMAS FEAST AT HERZOG’S

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WINEPRESS August 2015 | 35

News From Home and Away Hunter’s Wines team up with SKYCITY Breakers Hunter’s Wines have become the Official Wine Sponsor to the SKYCITY Breakers for the upcoming 2015/2016 ANBL season. The latest sponsorship deal reinforces Hunter’s on-going support of basketball in New Zealand. Hunter’s have been gold sponsors of New Zealand NBL side the Nelson Giants for many years and are local supporters of Marlborough Basketball.

Hunter’s Wines Managing Director and New Zealand wine icon, Jane Hunter said “We are very pleased to grow our association with basketball in New Zealand from our on-going successful relationship with the Nelson Giants to now include the SKYCITY Breakers. Basketball is a fantastic spectator sport and the Breakers are a great organisation with a successful track record. We’re looking forward to the season kicking off in October.”

Spiegelau International Wine Competition At the recent competition, judged here in Marlborough, 6.5 percent of all the wines entered won a Gold Medal, 83 in total.

Of those 83 golds, 29 were for Marlborough wines. Below are the winning wines.

Hunter’s MiruMiru™ Reserve 2010 Daniel Le Brun Methode Traditionenelle Rosé Giesen The Brothers Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2014 Lawson’s Dry Hills Gewurztraminer 2014 Spy Valley Gewurztraminer 2014 Mud House Marlborough Pinot Gris 2014 Giesen Marlborough Pinot Gris 2015 Wither Hills Marlborough Pinot Gris 2014 Dashwood Riesling 2014 Loveblock Vintners Bone Dry Riesling 2011 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 9 Big John Riesling 2013 Mount Ara Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Twin Islands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 20 Cash Block Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Rapaura Springs Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014

Stanley Estates Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Tinpot Hut Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Villa Maria Cellar Selection Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Wither Hills Marlborough Chardonnay 2013 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 11 Cell Block Chardonnay 2014 Yealand’s Estate Gruner Veltliner 2014 Giesen The Brothers Marlborough late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Noble Riesling Botrytis Selection 2013 HaHa Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2014 Summerhouse Marlborough Pinot Noir 2013 Tinpot Hut Marlborough Pinot Noir 2014 Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2012 Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Pinot Noir 2012

GRAPES WANTED Coopers Creek is a medium sized winery which sources grapes from its own vineyards and growers in New Zealand’s principal grape growing regions. Additional premium Marlborough grown grapes are required to satisfy increased export demand.

We are looking for on-going supplies of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir from growers who would like to join a small group who are committed to producing quality grapes and in sharing the success of Coopers Creek’s brands.

Competitive pricing and flexible terms are available, and a generous deposit will be offered on signing a supply contract.

If you are interested in becoming part of our dynamic group of grape-growers please contact our Viticulturist with applicable details.

Wayne Morrow Viticulturist Coopers Creek Vineyard Ltd PO Box 140, Kumeu waynem@cooperscreek.co.nz

Disclaimer: The views and articles that are expressed and appear in Winepress are those 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.

36 | WINEPRESS August 2015

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