Winepress - December 2016

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF WINE MARLBOROUGH

ISSUE NO. 265 / DECEMBER 2016

EARTHQUAKE REOVERY

RSE INCREASE

Photo: Jim Tannock

wine-marlborough.co.nz

YIELD PREDICTIONS

STAINLESS STEEL

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AND ACHIEVE A GOOD HARVESTABLE OUTCOME In an independent 2016 field trial, a vineyard crop with severe powdery infection (the outcome as indicated in the top photo) was returned to top condition (bottom photo).

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For spray programme details, talk to your local advisor.

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Protectorhml and HML32: armour plate for grapes

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this issue...

REGULARS

FEATURES

3 4

Editorial From the Board - Rhyan Wardman

6

Tasman Crop Met Report

22

Gen Y-ine - Ash Linklater

24

The Block - Herzog Estate

26

9

Biosecurity Watch - Best Practice

28

Industry News

32

ANZ Wine Happenings

Cover: Crown Sheetmetal (pg 16) has big plans for earthquake recovery. Photo by Jim Tannock.

20

After the Quake Work is afoot to ensure Marlborough’s wineries are repaired and ready for Vintage 2017, while tackling the issues around transport infrastructure in the top of the South Island.

20

12 Resilience

Marlborough’s wine industry is “bent but not broken” after the quake. This edition of Winepress looks at damage and repairs, along with insurance, engineering and health and safety.

19 Yield Prediction

Marlborough’s wine industry could be heading towards another high yielding year, with inflorescence numbers at a similar rate to this time last year.

22

20 Rise of Rosé

New Zealand Rosé is sitting pretty, with a “phenomenal” increase in domestic demand.

Winepress December 2016 / 1

2 / Winepress December 2016

General Manager: Marcus Pickens 03 577 9299 marcus@wine-marlborough.co.nz Editor: Sophie Preece 027 308 4455 sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz Advertising: Harriet Wadworth 03 577 9299 harriet@wine-marlborough.co.nz Wine Marlborough Board: Ben Ensor ben.lisa@clear.net.nz Callum Linklater callumandsarah@xtra.co.nz Jack Glover jack.glover@accolade-wines.co.nz Michael Wentworth michael.wentworth@yealands.co.nz Nick Entwistle nick@wairauriverwines.co.nz Rhyan Wardman (Chair) rhyan@giesen.co.nz Samantha Wickham samantha@ormondnurseries.co.nz Simon Bishell (Deputy Chair) simon@caythorpe.nz Stuart Dudley stuartd@villamaria.co.nz Tom Trolove tom.trolove@framingham.co.nz Printed by: Blenheim Print Ltd 03 578 1322

From the Editor For every glass half empty, there’s also a glass half full. So when a terrible earthquake hit Marlborough last month, smashing tanks, draining wine and crushing our state highway, most people were grateful it swept through at night.

The region may have lost a few million litres of wine and experienced substantial damage to its infrastructure, but that’s insignificant compared to what might have been lost if it had been two minutes past midday, not midnight. To get another overused idiom into the first pars, this could be a valuable wake-up call to the industry to make sure its people are safe if a natural disaster of that calibre happens during the day.

In terms of damage, some people got off incredibly lightly and others have had a blow, with talk of a single wine glass broken at one cellar door, while a neighbouring winery was seriously shaken. Or of a coffee cup placed only half on the bench and still there in the morning, compared to wineries that took great care to be prepared and still lost tanks and wine.

A New Zealand Winegrowers survey has revealed that Marlborough lost approximately 2% of its wine and had damage to 20% of its tanks in the quake.

With vintage 2017 looming quickly and early predictions of a large crop, compromised capacity is the most pressing issue for many who lost tanks.

And of course every winery will be affected by the earthquake, whether or not in a direct hit. There will be serious pressure on services, resources, skilled labour and infrastructure, as those with damage seek to move wine and rebuild capacity. Meanwhile, the South Island’s road and rail infrastructure has been seriously impacted, complicating the movement of goods south.

But lest that glass seem too empty, the response to the earthquake has been phenomenal, with Wine Marlborough, New Zealand Winegrowers, Marlborough District Council, central Government, transport operators, stainless steel manufacturers, engineers and port companies all taking a can-do attitude to getting the industry ready for vintage 2017 and beyond.

A few of their stories are in this month’s Winepress, and more will follow in the next edition in February 2017. In the meantime, I wish you a merry Christmas and seismically smooth New Year.

“And of course every winery will be affected by the earthquake, whether or not in a direct hit.”

SOPHIE PREECE 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.

Winepress December 2016 / 3

From the Board RHYAN WARDMAN

LAST SATURDAY we were celebrating. Our wine industry had come together at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards and the vibe in the room spoke of a tight-knit community sharing the same passion for their craft. The evening was made more special by the acknowledgement of some of the pioneers of our then fledgling industry, who each faced adversity and challenge, and persevered in their small numbers to create what we call today the New Zealand Wine Industry.

Twenty-four hours later Marlborough was struck by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. More violent than we have experienced before, it moved Marlborough two metres to the north. I am so relieved that it happened when no-one, including the bottling crews, were at work. I am also relieved that, in most instances, the winery, vineyard and bottling infrastructures did what they were designed to do and underwent controlled damage, to protect those that might have been working nearby.

I am grateful that wine industry service providers such as fabrication and stainless engineers, refrigeration technicians, electricians and plumbers were so quick to respond and helped make safe our working areas. Proactive response by local council and Government ministers was also most appreciated.

There has been a lot to comprehend, from the initial response and assessment, to planning how to get through the weeks after the quake, and indeed what must be done before the harvest, less than four months away.

The constant aftershocks challenge our progress, and keeping everyone safe is 4 / Winepress December 2016

always at the front of our minds.

It feels a mammoth task.

Our wineries were more full than usual from the 2016 crop and our collective capacity has been reduced by some measure. The wine industry service providers such as stainless manufacturing, civil and structural engineers, building and earthmoving contractors, local council and numerous others were already well engaged meeting our growth projections before this earthquake happened.

When a group of us met with Minister Steven Joyce, he talked of a

“The constant aftershocks challenge our progress and keeping everyone safe is always at the front of our minds.” collective approach, with government expertise, to group procure goods and services to hasten the rebuilding of our capacity. Both New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) and Wine Marlborough are willing to facilitate this.

I am part of an Earthquake Response Steering Committee

established by NZW to help the region navigate its recovery. The first step is to ascertain the full extent of the earthquake’s impact on our winery capacities and vineyard land holdings.

A NZW survey sent out last month gave us more understanding of the size of the challenge, to help define what extra services are required and what resources need to be brought into our region.

This month our regional and national bodies will host forums covering key issues, to enable knowledge sharing and identify best practice through collective dialogue.

Among them is a forum organised by Wine Marlborough to give wineries and structural engineers the chance to meet and discuss issues and recommended next steps.

I am reminded of the challenges our pioneering colleagues must have faced, how the to do list must have seemed endless. But, they came together and through unity, persevered. Now we need to help each other and get through these four months. We must be ready to harvest and continue making the world class wines we are famous for, so enjoyed in New Zealand and around the world.

The traditional end of year wrap from the Chairman has been held, due to the earthquake, and will run in the February edition of Winepress.

Events Manager Wine Marlborough’s new Events Manager Georgie Leach is looking forward to learning the stories behind the wine industry. “I’m proud to now call Marlborough home. As an Australian, I’ve always admired how strong Marlborough is as a brand globally so I’m thrilled to be working with the team at Wine Marlborough, to continue to grow and build on the strong reputation and market presence that wines of Marlborough occupy.

“It’s a great time to be part of the region and to see what’s next, Marlborough is such a dynamic and beautiful place, I can’t wait to get stuck into the role and involved in the community.”

Georgie has moved to Marlborough from Sydney, where she was Marketing Manager, Australia, for Mr. Black Spirits Co, a three-year-old start-up business that makes cold pressed coffee liqueur. She’s enjoyed that role, which involved plenty of consumer events and marketing functions, but says her passion is for wine.

That passion began early on when she was working as a bartender in a restaurant at the Hilton in Sydney, and the head sommelier took her under her wing and taught her an appreciation for wine and the people behind it. “I fell in love with it. It’s diverse and I love the fact that you can continue to learn at any stage or age in your life.”

During that time, she studied for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) level 1 and 2 qualifications, then extended her wine career into communications, marketing and PR, working at Sydney based PR agency Liquid Ideas and then in a series of roles at Accolade Wines.

Georgie, whose partner lives in Marlborough, is excited about experiencing her first kiwi summer, trying as many New Zealand wines as she can, “and meeting as many people as possible”.

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Winepress December 2016 / 5

Table 1: Blenheim Weather Data – November 2016

November November 2016 November Period November

2016 Compared LTA of LTA 2015

to LTA GDD’s for: Month - Max/Min¹ 167.7 117% 143.5 (1996-2015) 152.1 Month – Mean² 160.4 111% 144.7 (1996-2015) 151.1 Growing Degree Days Total Jul - Nov 16 – Max/Min 368.9 112% 328.8 (1996-2015) 325.7 Jul - Nov 16 – Mean 406.0 106% 382.4 (1996-2015) 381.0 Mean Maximum (°C) 20.5 +0.6°C 19.9 (1986-2015) 20.7 Mean Minimum (°C) 10.7 +1.3°C 9.4 (1986-2015) 9.2 Mean Temp (°C) 15.6 +1.0°C 14.6 (1986-2015) 14.9 Grass Frosts (<= -1.0°C) 1 - 0.50 (1986-2015) 3 Air Frosts (0.0°C) 0 Equal 0.0 (1986-2015) 0 Sunshine hours 232.3 97% 239.6 (1930-2015) 280.4 Sunshine hours – lowest 158.9 1985 Sunshine hours – highest 322.5 1997 Sunshine hours total – 2016 2338.3 106% 2214 (1930-2015) 2519.3 Rainfall (mm) 86.4 182% 46.8 (1930-2015) 2.8 Rainfall (mm) – lowest 4.6 1930 Rainfall (mm) – highest 154.6 1999 Rainfall total (mm) – 2016 571.0 96% 592.1 (1930-2015) 364.2 Evapotranspiration – mm 126.6 103% 123.1 (1996-2015) 137.9 Avg. Daily Windrun (km) 275.2 90% 305.4 (1996-2015) 307.1 Mean soil temp – 10cm 15.4 +0.5°C 14.9 (1986-2015) 15.5 Mean soil temp – 30cm 16.8 +0.2°C 16.6 (1986-2015) 17.0 ¹GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures ²GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures Table 2: Summary of weekly temperatures for November 2016

Mean Max (°C Mean Min (°C) Mean (°C) 1st - 7th 18.8 9.0 13.9 8th - 14th 18.8 10.1 14.5 15th - 21st 22.2 10.4 16.3 22nd - 28th 22.4 12.4 17.4 29th – 30th (2 days) 19.8 13.2 16.5 1st – 30th 20.5 (+0.6°C) 10.7 (+1.3°C) 15.6 (1.0°C) Long-term average (1986 – 2015) 19.9 9.4 14.6 Figures in Table 2: Blue indicates cooler than average, red indicates warmer than average 6 / Winepress December 2016

November 2016 was warmer and wetter than average, with below average sunshine and wind.

Air Temperature The mean temperature of 15.6°C was 1.0°C above the long-term average temperature for November.

The mean maximum temperature of 20.5°C was 0.6°C above average.

The mean minimum temperature of 10.7°C was 1.3°C above average.

Overcast conditions associated with above average rainfall meant that the daily range in temperature was below average.

In five of the six years 2011 – 2016 November has been cool for the first half of the month and warm in the second half of the month, November 2013 was largely warm for the entire month. The first week of November 2016 was well below average (Table 2). The second week was very wet, with cool days and warm nights. The third and fourth weeks were both well above average. As was the case in 2015 the last two days of the month were cooler. The coldest morning was on 1 November 2016 with an air minimum of 4.1°C and a grass minimum of -1.1°C. The hottest day was 22 November with a maximum air temperature of 28.1°C. Growing degree-days (GDD) The black GDD line during November 2016 (Figure 1) is a direct reflection of the weekly temperatures as shown in Table 2. From September to the end of November 2016 the GDD deviation line is very similar to 2013.

Frosts One ground frosts was recorded during November 2016 in Blenheim, compared with three in November 2015. The average number of ground

Figure 1: Normalized growing degree days for Blenheim: days above (+) or below (-) the long-term average (1990-2015) for the period 1 September to 31 December

frosts in Blenheim for November for the 30 years 1986 – 2015 is only 0.5.

Sunshine November 2016 recorded 232.3 hours sunshine, 97% of the long-term average. This was 48.1 hours less sunshine than November 2015, or 1.6 hours less per day. Total sunshine for the 11 months January to November 2016 is 2338.3 hours, 106% of the longterm average. January to November 2015 recorded 2519.3 hours; 181 hours more than 2016. However, you need to bear in mind that 2015 is Blenheim’s sunniest year on record for the 86 years 1930 to 2015.

Rainfall Blenheim received 86.4 mm rain in November 2016, or 182% of the long-term average for November of 47.4 mm. In contrast November 2015 only recorded 2.8 mm rain (lowest on record for November 1930 - 2016). Total rainfall for October and November 2016 was 145 mm, or 140% of the longterm average of 103.5 mm. In stark contrast total rainfall for October and November 2015 was only 8.8 mm, or 8.5% of the long-term average. The 2015 total is the lowest on record for Blenheim for these two months, (19302016: 87 years).

Total rainfall for the 12 months

Table 3: Blenheim monthly rainfall data for 2014, 2015 and 2016

2016 2015 2014 L.T.A. January 69.2 4.4 79.2 48.1 February 18 15.2 18 43.1 March 46.8 37.4 26.6 43.4 April 25.6 52 149.8 53.2 May 89.2 20 16 63.3 June 76.8 87 98.3 60.4 July 34.8 35.2 10 63.3 August 39.2 49.8 9.6 62.8 September 26.4 54.4 41 51.2 October 58.6 6 22.4 56.6 November 86.4 2.8 16.6 46.8 December 17.4 31.8 48.1 Total 381.6 519.3 640.2 LTA – Long term average Blue – at least 20% above average, Red - at least 20% below average, Black – within 20% of average

July 2014 to June 2015 = 347.4 mm (54% of LTA). Only one month out of 12 recorded above average rainfall.

Total rainfall for the 12 months July 2015 to June 2016 = 491.2 mm (77% of LTA). Three months out of 12, recorded above average rainfall.

Blenheim was very fortunate to receive exceptionally well timed rainfall in January 2016, after three months of extremely low rainfall.

The January rainfall averted a much more serious drought which would have seen water schemes cut off for much longer than was the case.

Good rainfall in May and June 2016 gave a much needed boost to soil moisture. However, rainfall in July, August and September 2016 was well below average (56% LTA). At the beginning of October 2016 it appeared as if Marlborough could potentially be heading for a third straight season of drought. Fortunately rainfall in October and November 2016 was above average. This has prevented Marlborough experiencing dry conditions in the early part of the growing season, for the third consecutive season.

Soil Moisture Figure 2 displays the shallow soil moisture (5-35 cm depth) at the Grovetown Park weather station for the two and a half years starting in July 2014. With above average rainfall in June 2014 and 2015, and June and July 2016, soil moisture started close to field capacity in July for the three years. However, in 2014 and 2015 soil moisture plummeted during October and November. Soil moisture at the beginning of October 2016 started out at the same point as in 2014 and 2015. However, as a consequence of above average rainfall in October and November 2016, moisture in the topsoil was well above average throughout November. Average moisture in the topsoil for November for the 14 years 2002 – 2015 was 22.9%. The November 2016 average of 32.5% is the highest since 2002, when records began at this site. On 30 November 2016 soil moisture was 27.6%. In contrast, after the very low rainfall in October and November 2014 and 2015, the topsoil moisture on 30 November in both years was 15.5%. The topsoil was bone Winepress December 2016 / 7

Figure 2: Shallow soil moisture (0-35 cm) at the Grovetown Park weather station in Blenheim

it appears that most vines are carrying higher potential bunch numbers for harvest 2017 than in the previous two years. Temperatures over the first two to three weeks of December 2017 will be critical at determining the fruit set; i.e. whether berry number per bunch is above or below average. If above average temperatures eventuate over the main flowering period in December 2016, then potential crop load for harvest 2017 could be quite high. Only time will tell.

Rob Agnew Plant & Food Research / Marlborough Research Centre

dry, with almost all available moisture having been lost.

Flowering, potential bunch numbers and crop load in 2017 At the beginning of December 2016 flowering of grapes in Marlborough is just getting underway. Phenology monitoring on 14 vineyards in Marlborough indicated that budburst on most vineyards occurred a few days earlier than in 2015. With warmer temperatures between budburst and flowering in 2016 we would have expected that flowering would also have begun earlier than in 2015. However, early observations of flowering on 1 December 2016 indicated that the budburst to flowering interval in 2016 will be slightly longer than expected. Why is

8 / Winepress December 2016

this? One possible explanation may be associated with the much lower sunshine hours and much higher rainfall in November 2016, than in November 2015. The grapevines appear to have fairly strong shoot growth in 2016 and this may have slightly delayed flowering.

Inflorescence counts have been conducted during November 2014, 2015 and 2016 on the 14 monitored vineyards in Marlborough.

Inflorescence numbers per shoot in 2016 are higher than in 2014 and 2015, on 10 of the 14 vineyards. All monitored vineyards on the Wairau Plains have higher inflorescence numbers in 2016. The four vineyards with lower inflorescence number per shoot in 2016 compared to 2015, are all in the Awatere Valley. From these data

Industry Shakeup Marlborough’s wine industry must work together to prepare for Vintage 2017.

SOPHIE PREECE

WITH A fifth of the region’s tank storage damaged by the magnitude 7.8 November earthquake, the wine industry is in rapid repair and prepare mode.

A New Zealand Winegrowers’ (NZW) survey of damage last month indicated wine losses of just over 2% of Marlborough’s total production and varying levels of damage to 20% of its tanks. “These numbers may change as the process of damage assessment continues,” says NZW Chief Executive Philip Gregan.

He says the loss of wine – which equates to approximately 5 million litres - is “frustrating”. But the near record level of the 2016 vintage means it is not a major concern. “This means there is plenty of wine available to continue our market growth.”

The bigger impact is to tank capacity in the lead up to the next vintage, just months away. “The process of tank repair is already underway, but it is going to be a big task which will continue for many months.”

Philip says another issue facing the industry is transport infrastructure at the top of the South Island, with parts of State Highway 1 between Marlborough and Christchurch destroyed by the quake, along with damage to Wellington’s port. “As a major exporter we need to be able to ensure that the exports keep flowing out of the region and all the dry goods that are needed for packaging keep

coming in.”

The NZW board has set up a steering group to coordinate the wine industry through its recovery.

It comprises of Fabian Yukich (Villa Maria), Duncan MacFarlane (Indevin) and Rhyan Wardman (Giesen and Chair of Wine Marlborough), supported by Philip, NZW Biosecurity Manager Ed Massey and Marcus Pickens from Wine Marlborough.

The response team is speaking

“There’ll be temporary fixes applied to some tanks, there’ll be new tanks built and there’ll be temporary storage facilities.”

Philip Gregan with the Marlborough District Council and central Government, as well as tank manufacturers and engineers, to

ensure there are no impediments to tanks repairs and rebuilds.

It has also met with MDC and Government representatives, along with the port companies of Nelson and Marlborough, shipping companies and transport operators, to ensure there are no obstacles to the movement of wine out of the region.

“Despite the obvious damage to transport links, we are not aware of any particular issues affecting the movement of wine out of the region at the moment,” Philip says.

Speaking to a Wine Marlborough Labour Summit audience late last month, Philip said not all the tanks would be fixed in time for vintage and affected companies were sending wine out of the region to free up tank space.

“There’ll be temporary fixes applied to some tanks, there’ll be new tanks built and there’ll be temporary storage facilities,” he said. “So there’s not insignificant challenges for affected wineries.” He also noted that there was no silver bullet to fix the problem, but the industry and the services that surround it, along with Government agencies, would work collectively to address the challenges.

“There are plans in place to make sure that the tank repair side and the logistics side are in as good a shape as Winepress December 2016 / 9

they possibly can be going into vintage 2017.”

Rhyan Wardman says most companies kept quiet about wine loss and tank damage in the wake of the shake, for fear of spooking markets.

“But in saying ‘everything seems to be fine’, we run the risk of hurting ourselves in the process.”

The confidential survey has revealed the extent of the blow to infrastructure and wine stocks, and allows a cohesive approach to filling resourcing gaps across the province. That could mean calling on Government assistance to procure stainless steel and ISOtanks from offshore. It may also tempt trade professionals and engineering operations to move into Marlborough, as they see “the size of the opportunity”, he says.

“There’s a need to assess where we stand as the Marlborough industry and then understand what gaps we have with local resources and how much it needs to be supplemented. The survey shows that capacity is 20% down, so will that attract some out-of-region or offshore manufacturers to set up shop here?”

Rhyan says ISO-tanks could be a good part of the solution, because

10 / Winepress December 2016

the tanks could be stacked to store wine, making space for new juice next vintage. Marlborough normally uses 100-150 ISO-tanks in a big yield year, but the earthquake may mean that number jumps to 500, which would require the industry, potentially with Government assistance, to tap into a “global network”.

Giesen Wines was hit hard by the 2013 earthquake and took it as an opportunity to bring forward a lot of capital expenditure and growth plans, ensuring its new tanks were designed with seismic activity in mind.

Rhyan says the recent earthquake took a far lighter toll on the winery as a result. “The key thing to probably remind ourselves is that, a little bit like Wellington, all these buildings and structures did what they were supposed to do. It was a controlled damage process, so now we may have some stretched or sheered anchor bolts and a little bit of tank compression, but we didn’t suffer wine loss and nobody was hurt. Now the challenge we have is how do we effect repairs or replacement in the short time frame we have.”

He says the earthquake’s financial impact is significant and even with insurance coverage the high excess

cost means many wine companies will be parting with “a sizeable chunk of money” that’s not budgeted for.

That’s another reason for transparency, he says. “We in the winery side are one aspect of the supply chain. Our growers are going to want to be assured that when harvest time comes, their fruit will be taken.

But they also need to be aware of some of the financial challenges the wine companies they are linked with will be going through.”

Irrigation Reports are emerging of damaged pipes following the November earthquake, and Wine Marlborough recommends irrigators check their systems are working before they need to use them. IrrigationNZ has released information on keeping safe when turning on irrigators, with twisted machinery and damaged foundations becoming potential hazards when irrigation resumes.

To see the comprehensive guide to managing irrigation safely postearthquake, go to www.irrigationnz. co.nz/wp-content/uploads/INZPostQuake-Doco.pdf

A Big Move Port Nelson’s new infrastructure proving valuable for shaken wine companies.

SOPHIE PREECE

A PORT Nelson transport and storage business has had a 40% increase in wine movements since November’s earthquakes.

Serious damage to SH1, South Island rail and Wellington’s port have put QuayConnect’s warehousing, transport and logistical service in hot demand, as wine companies seek to ensure supply to markets and space for the upcoming vintage.

Port Nelson’s Business Development Manager Eugene Beneke says prior to the November 14 earthquake, Port Nelson managed 80% of the South Island’s wine exports and 90% of the inbound dry goods. QuayConnect also provided warehousing and distribution to approximately 50% of Marlborough’s wine industry.

Since the earthquake, Port Nelson has advanced its existing growth plans for QuayConnect, and has brought in two Eugene Beneke additional truck and trailers, while recruiting more logistics and transport staff, he says. “The wine industry is a critical earner for New Zealand.

QuayConnect is helping ensure it is business as usual post-quake.”

WineWorks Managing Director Tim Nowell-Usticke says the earthquake has put significant pressure on the region as a whole. “In these stressful times, it is reassuring that our customers have a supply chain

Still Connected QuayConnect was established in February, and is a partnership between Port Nelson and trucking firm Central Express to transfer glass from the port to wine bottling companies, and bottled wine from those businesses back to the port.

Historically, glass arrived in Nelson in a 40ft container via coastal shipping and was trucked to Blenheim still in the container, which holds 22 pallets of bottles. After the glass had been distributed locally, the container returned to Nelson empty. Meanwhile, an empty 20ft container would be trucked to Marlborough to collect wine.

Under the new scheme, QuayConnect empties the container of its glass in Nelson and brings a purpose built HPMV (High Productivity Motor Vehicle) carrying 38 pallets of bottles to Marlborough. Once empty, the truck is reloaded with wine and taken to back Nelson to be stored until shipment.

QuayConnect then loads the container on behalf of WineWorks, their customers and other wine exporters.

Before the earthquake, QuayConnect had reduced the wine industry’s trucking movements between Nelson and Marlborough by more than 800 return trips per year - with significant cost savings for wineries, as well as a reduced carbon footprint.

The port has been building a 13,000 square metre wine warehouse in Nelson, due to be operational in February 2017, which is to be followed by a 10,000sqm high density wine storage warehouse.

they can rely on, and which can continue moving their product through Port Nelson to both domestic and international markets.”

Port Marlborough Port Marlborough Chief Executive Ian McNabb says the November earthquake has highlighted the role coastal shipping could play in Marlborough. Goods coming into the region to serve the wine industry, and wine heading out of Marlborough to serve the world, could move from and to major ports in Tauranga and Auckland.

But a “self-geared” vessel would need to come in from overseas and the company running it would need to know Marlborough’s wine sector was committed to using it, he says.

“This is entirely dependent on the industry.”

Ian says coastal shipping has been on the port company’s agenda “for ever and a day” but it has always proved difficult to deliver as it is required to pay its own way, without Government assistance.

“We had another discussion with coastal shipping companies following the earthquake and have made more progress in a week than for the past five years,” he says.

Winepress December 2016 / 11

Resilience The industry is repairing and preparing for vintage.

SOPHIE PREECE

“WE ARE bent but not broken,” says Yealands Operations Manager Michael Wentworth, following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Marlborough last month. That could be the theme for the region’s wine industry, which has reacted rapidly to ensure there is sufficient capacity for the looming 2017 vintage. “That’s going to be the biggest challenge for the industry, finding capacity for tanks,” says Michael.

Yealands did substantial work after an earthquake hit Seddon in 2013, and has learned a lot about engineering precautions to avert damage and wine loss, as well as dealing with the implications when infrastructure is impacted. Despite that significant investment, the long duration of the latest earthquake, along with a different movement to 2013, meant even some of the newest technology was damaged. But the building itself, including the 1314 solar panels on its roof, is in perfect order, having been built to withstand an earthquake magnitude of 8.

And the company is resilient. “Our mission now, as it was back in 2013, is to not miss an order,” says Michael.

Two days after the quake the company sent wine to WineWorks to be bottled and then set about moving stock to other distribution centres, such as Auckland and Christchurch, to ensure they continue to meet their markets.

Whitehaven Wines General Manager Simon Toneycliffe was in Japan for the quake, but returned immediately to find collapsed catwalks and tanks with broken legs, crunched bases and 45 degree tilts.

“We had minor damage from the last earthquake, but a lot more from 12 / Winepress December 2016

this particular one,” he says. But he counts the company lucky to have lost little wine, with 3000-4000 casesworth spilt. They also had the luxury of spare tank space, so could move wine Simon Toneycliffe with a tank damaged when its legs collapsed from full damaged underneath it tanks to empty unaffected ones. up and running within a day. “All in “The winery all we have had very small volumes of is still up and running and we’ll have damage,” he says. no problems meeting orders, which is The company’s largest bottling our first priority,” he says. “We’ve had line was damaged by the earthquake, fantastic support from contractors when the filler was rocked off its feet. and suppliers around the region and Because of the midnight timing of Whitehaven is on target to have all its the earthquake, there was no wine on repairs completed before Vintage 2017, the line, saving potential stock losses, with the winery at full capacity.”

The damage at Whitehaven was to he says. The other three lines were checked the day after the earthquake older style tanks on legs, rather than and were running the following the large plinth-based new tanks the morning, with the fourth line a few company has put in since the 2013 days after. quake, says Simon. “All the new larger There was no loss of bulk wine in tanks were absolutely fine.”

But some of the empty older tanks tankers at the facility, and less than 0.5% loss to their total stock holding in hopped several centimetres, leaving the warehouses. That’s a surprisingly the previous footprint in the concrete. small impact for such a high energy And several full ones suffered phenomenon, says Damien. In the collapsed legs, leading to damage to new warehouse, which was designed the base of the tank. to withstand seismic activity, there Simon is hopeful those tanks was no damage to racking systems can be repaired, which will speed up of stock. However, the skylights in the process. The company will also one warehouse were twisted, and the continue its work to earthquake-proof subsequent heavy rain affected some the facility. “It is paramount that we stock before temporary covers were speed that process up and get all the put in place. “It was remediated very tanks onto plinths.” quickly and, all in all, we are now WineWorks Plant Manager pretty much getting back to business Damien Gillman says the Riverlands as normal.”

Estate bottling facility suffered some damage from the earthquake, but was

Land Loss Land at the Opawa River edge of the Glover Family Vineyards dropped 1.5 metres in last month’s earthquake.

The vineyard rows are fortunately planted further from the river, which has essentially reclaimed the silt laid down over years of floods. But some neighbours were not so lucky, with vines and posts dropping off the end of a few blocks.

Glover Family Vineyards, which produces Zephyr Wines, also lost approximately 15% of its Sauvignon Blanc from the 2016 vintage, due to a tank rupture, says Winemaker Ben Glover (pictured). That’s a big blow for a small company, even with insurance. “Operationally, we are working on ensuring we get through this,” he says. “I feel you will hear plenty of stories like my own coming out of the woodwork. Everybody I know has sustained some form of infrastructural damage and possible wine loss that will impact on the significance of the 2017 vintage, only 15 weeks away.”

Ben says companies will need to ensure continuity of supply for their markets while managing the wine loss and damage through budgeting and maintaining business and in-market confidence of their product. “Then, looking ahead, having enough tank capacity to support their 2017 grape intake.”

In the future, Ben believes the industry will do a lot

more to reduce and negate risk with the storage of bulk wine at source in Marlborough. “One avenue would be looking at splitting how we manage our bottling and freighting logistics to our international markets - getting wine out of Marlborough to offshore facilities early for bottling drawdowns is one such option.”

He says the two weeks following the quake revealed “huge ongoing implications for the infrastructure of the South Island, with the wine game being one of the major cogs seriously affected.”

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Winepress December 2016 / 13

In Excess Insurance costs are likely to climb following November’s earthquake.

THE HIGH excess provisions attached to insurance mean Marlborough wine companies may pay the cost of damage from the November 14 earthquake, rather than make a claim.

Garry Mooney, who is Managing Director of winery insurance specialist ICIB Insurance Brokers, says that since the Christchurch earthquakes, natural disaster excess in New Zealand is between 1% and 10% of the total sum insured, depending on age and location of property. In Marlborough the range is between 2.5% and 5%, which is the insurers’ way of keeping the premiums reasonable despite the risk.

A wine company executive, who chose to speak anonymously, says companies would have to experience “a very large loss” to warrant a claim.

“I would think most wineries would be facing a large repair bill and simply writing off damaged stock, barrels

and equipment. With the current challenges around higher exchange rates, this has capped off a challenging year for the Marlborough wine industry.”

Some vineyard owners have suffered damage to structures or loss of land through liquefaction, but may not be covered by insurance. Since the Christchurch earthquakes, there are now limitations on earthquake cover for vineyard structures and the land itself has never been insurable, says Garry.

Marlborough wineries suffered approximately $100 million of damage from the 2013 Grassmere earthquake, and many are suggesting this recent event could be twice as much, with both product and tanks lost.

But Garry emphasises that the quake’s cost in Marlborough is “not excessive” in relation to the industry’s

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size. The wine company and tank provider representatives he met with soon after the earthquake were confident about being back in gear for the 2017 vintage, and “everybody seems to know where they are going”.

Tanks on concrete plinths fared far better in the latest quakes and Garry’s company is now recommending clients retrofit tanks on legs to plinths, especially for tanks of 10,000l or more.

However, he says a more formal joint engineering and compliance-led approach is required.

Meanwhile, insurance premiums are likely to increase because of the earthquake’s impact on the Wellington CBD, just as they did after 2011. Garry says the cost of damage in Wellington could be anywhere between $1.1 billion and $5 b. “That will affect everybody, including wine companies in New Zealand.”

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Strengthening Relationships The evolution of earthquake safe wineries is likely to take another leap following the recent quake, thanks partly to sharing within the industry. Wine Marlborough organised a forum early this month to enable engineering experts to discuss technological advances and winery representatives to give feedback on the performance of existing infrastructure.

General Manager Marcus Pickens says wineries want to know how to best refit for earthquake security, to protect their plant, product and people. “We need to make these environments really safe for people to work in. We need people to want to come here and see New Zealand as innovative and fast to react. We have that reputation but we need to prove it now and make these places really, really safe, not just for the vintage workers, but the workers there every day.”

He says the industry was lucky that the event happened in the middle of the night, but it must have systems that can handle a similar event in the middle of the day, when the wineries are populated.

Wither Hills is part way through a programme to increase the seismic rating of its winery, based on an engineering recommendation established after the 2013 earthquake. The company lost some bulk wine in the November quake, but Geoff Matthews, National Operations Director of Lion’s New Zealand wine interests, says the new infrastructure, which includes concrete plinths under tanks, self-supporting catwalks, additional cross bracing for the older buildings and redesigned hold-down bolts for tanks, stood up well. “We are continually making improvements within our business to ensure we always provide a safe place of work for the team.”

The company’s “safety and wellbeing processes” mandate that a risk assessment be undertaken following events like this, which resulted in cordoning off all areas until a structural engineering assessment could be undertaken, Geoff says. “Things like this make you sit up and realise that there’s some real benefit to having strong safety and wellbeing policies.”

“We need people to want to come here and see New Zealand as innovative and fast to react.”

Marcus Pickens

Sharing is Caring The wine industry needs to begin sharing inhouse learnings in order to keep its people safe, says Yealands Estate Health and Safety Manager Jo Lumsden. Jo has spent a long time working in the oil and gas industry, where information sharing is key to saving lives, and is bringing that philosophy to her role at Yealands.

She says there is a great opportunity for the industry to work together to do better in health and safety. “The reality of it is that unless we share and tell each other what’s going on, we’re not doing as much as we can.” As an example, Jo has WorkSafe coming to the winery in December for a risk assessment of equipment, and has invited other winery representatives to attend, Jo Lumsden calling it “an open house”.

Post-earthquake is a perfect time for health and safety managers to communicate, discussing learnings Jo had already commissioned an Employee Assistance from that event, both in terms of physical and mental Programme (EAP) for the company, due to start in January, safety. One major lesson Yealands had in the earthquakes and has pulled it forward to assist employees through any was the need to use chocks on the harvesters, which leapt earthquake trauma. “We are all physically okay, and the forward a metre in the 7.8 magnitude shake, ramming into big thing right now is making sure we are all mentally okay the machinery in front of them. too.”

Winepress December 2016 / 15

Jewel in the Crown A one-size-fits-all tank may help save Vintage 2017.

NEW ZEALAND’S stainless steel manufacturers have rallied to create tank space for Marlborough’s earthquake damaged wine industry in time for harvest.

Crown Sheetmetal Blenheim General Manager Andrew Horton has designed a standardised 140,000 litre winery tank and called on companies in the North and South Island to help manufacture as many as possible before March. “We have gone to nearly every manufacturer in New Zealand that makes tanks and we’re getting a number of them on board.”

He says the industry has responded well to the concept, with most of his clients opting for the replacement tank pre-vintage and to revert back to normal tank offerings after vintage. The company’s engineers will travel to other areas to oversee the creation and transportation of the tanks, which utilise the holddown system developed by Crown Sheetmetal in collaboration with Onguard after the 2013 earthquake.

Crown’s parent company NDA, which works in the dairy industry, will put dairy projects on hold and concentrate on winery rebuilds until after harvest, so it can also build and repair as much wine industry capacity as possible, says Andrew. “We are getting all our resources on hand to get through this harvest.”

Crown operates under Lean Manufacturing principals, “which work really well when you are making 16 / Winepress December 2016

Hard at work at Crown Sheetmetal

one standardised tank”, says Andrew.

“There’s one drawing, one way of putting it together and one set of materials. Everything can be done as a production line and you can get a lot

“We are getting all our resources on hand to get through this harvest.” more done over a short period of time yet deliver a high quality seismically rated tank.”

Steel manufacturers without capacity to build tanks may be called on by Crown to make base

replacements, in order to repair tanks that were damaged but not destroyed by the quake.

There will plenty of other repair jobs happening while the new tanks are built, with Crown fabricators working to band-aid infrastructure where possible. “The job is so big we need to break it into manageable chunks. Not all tanks will be fully repaired before harvest, but they will be safe, patched up and, critically, they’ll be able to hold wine,” says Andrew.

“We have increased our repair and installation crews four-fold so we can maximise the temporary and permanent repair jobs that can be completed by harvest. After harvest we will revert to customised tank design.”

Industry on guard Seismic anchors with sacrificial fuses proved a resilient tank system in last month’s earthquakes.

Onguard founder Will Lomax says the system worked exactly as he expected it would, because the sacrificial fuses within the anchors dissipated the quake’s energy to protect the rest of the structure. “There has been no loss of wine, no damage to tanks and the structural performance has been exactly as intended. We’re thrilled with the result,” he says. “We’re now in the process of installing replacement fuses wherever needed.”

The Onguard Seismic System, developed after the 2013 Marlborough quake, is placed around the base of wine tanks to provide “security and stability” in the event of an earthquake. The stainless steel devices are welded around the bottom of wine tanks and anchored into the concrete base.

Crown Sheetmetal General Manager Andrew Horton, who manufactures tanks, says certain pockets of the region were hit hard by the quake, but the Onguard system performed “brilliantly”, with no

damage to those tanks. “It’s amazing when you consider the volume of liquid - 230,000 litres of wine in one tank 14 metres off the ground.”

Will says many of the tanks that failed are designed to a code of practice that was developed in the 2000s, based on building codes Will Lomax that focus on protecting life not property. “I’ve always had the opinion that in the case of wineries, with a high value product in large quantities, that kind of damage isn’t acceptable. Particularly when you can design it to be protected.”

He says the cost of smart design is insignificant compared to the loss of an inferior tank and the wine in it. Over the past three years he has assessed most of the wineries in Marlborough from a structural engineering perspective, and has raised concerns about how tanks would perform. “A lot of the failures we have seen around the valley we actually predicted.”

The quake will inevitably lead to wineries adopting smarter design that protects both people and product, he says. “Hopefully in the long run it makes businesses safer.”

Winepress December 2016 / 17

Labour Lift Increase in seasonal workers for RSE. SOPHIE PREECE

NEW ZEALAND Winegrowers has welcomed the Government’s decision to increase the number of seasonal workers allowed to work in New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme. But Wine Marlborough General Manager Marcus Pickens says an increase of 1000 to the national cap is an “underwhelming” response to severe labour shortages in the region.

“This year’s labour survey revealed the need for 2000 more vineyard workers over the next five years.

Last month’s earthquake will just exacerbate that issue, with increased demand for metal fabricators, truck drivers and winery staff, when we are already running on empty.” He says the increase is a good start, but not enough to offer the region security in its growth plans. “I hope we see the RSE increase allocated to regions that really need it.”

The current RSE cap is to be increased to 10,500 workers across the country for the 2016-17 season.

Minister of Immigration Michael Woodhouse says the horticulture and viticulture industry is New Zealand’s fourth largest export industry, producing almost $5 billion in exports. “The industry has forecast an additional 2,500 workers will be needed for the upcoming season…

The increase of 1,000 RSE workers shows the Government is committed to enabling the industry to continue to grow and maximise export returns, while ensuring jobs aren’t being taken from New Zealanders.”

Last month’s announcement

18 / Winepress December 2016

Judah Woyo, an RSE worker with Hortus. Photo Jim Tannock

followed Statistics New Zealand’s quarterly Labour Market report, which shows that Nelson/ Tasman/ Marlborough/ West Coast has just 2.8% unemployment, down 2.2 percentage points from the same time last year.

That’s the lowest unemployment rate for the combined regions since December 2007, bringing them to a similar level to that before the 2008 recession. It is also the lowest unemployment rate in the country, compared to a seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate of 4.9 % in the September 2016 quarter.

Earlier this year Wine Marlborough held a Labour Summit, to discuss issues of recruitment, accommodation and pastoral care for workers, then pulled together a group of stakeholders to create a strategic White Paper. The organisation recently held a second summit, to get input on that paper and will continue to work on labour challenges, says Marcus.

Marlborough District Council (MDC) Economic Development Manager Neil Henry says Marlborough is essentially in full employment, which is an issue the region is “grappling with”. But it’s preferable to

the alternative of high unemployment, he says. “It’s a nice problem to have in a way.”

Population growth is low in Marlborough and between this year and last it barely recorded half a percent. Neil says the numbers may not capture all the region’s newcomers, but the council is working to attract more people to the province. That includes working with the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce and also adapting Destination Marlborough’s visitor site www.marlboroughnz.com to include information for people wanting to “work and play” in Marlborough. “It is a shop window to help people make the decision to move here.”

Kaikoura MP Stuart Smith says the growth of the wine industry is a major driver of employment levels and the statistics reflect the increased confidence in the industry following a good year. “It’s a challenge, but these are good challenges to have,” he says.

“We have to encourage people to come to Marlborough to work and to move away from wherever it is they are living.”

Yield Outlook Early yield predictions higher than expected.

SOPHIE PREECE

MARLBOROUGH’S WINE industry could be heading towards another high yielding year, with inflorescence numbers at a similar rate to this time last year.

Sileni Estate’s Group Viticulturist Stephen Bradley expected his November bunch counts to indicate a smaller than average crop in 2017, following the large yields of 2016.

“Normally after such a big vintage, even when people did tackle the yields later on, the retained carbohydrate stores and the quality of the cane is down, which can result in crappy

Mechanical Shaking Viticultural advisor Mark Allen says growers facing high bunch numbers have the option of using mechanical shaking in January to lessen the load. “This is just a reminder that they can go through fruit set and then reassess the crop load in the new year. Once they have an idea of the berry numbers, growers can then use a light setting of mechanical shaking for trash removal and botrytis control, or use the option of a heavier setting, with the benefit of yield reduction and botrytis control.”

Photo by Jim Tannock

budburst and less fruit as a result.”

But bunch counts from last month, although fluctuating up and down across blocks, are as good as the same time last year, if not better, he says.

However, the inflorescences don’t look to have the potential to result in large bunches, and Stephen is hoping for

“At this early stage you are just one step along the line.

It tells you where your potential is.”

Stephen Bradley a fruit set that ensures “good” bunch weights, rather than “massive” ones.

There’s also the chance of a “getout-of-jail-free card” at flowering, he says. “At this early stage you are just one step along the line. It tells you where your potential is.” Nonetheless, growers will need to keep a close watch on crop levels, with budburst a week behind a typical year and the La Niña

weather system promising a potential headache at vintage. “You don’t really want to be around in the second half of April,” Stephen says, adding that in rough terms, for every two additional tonnes per hectare, growers add a week to harvest.

Damian Martin, from Marlborough Plant & Food Research, says recent years have shown a trend of big cropping years being followed by lower yields. “There is a carry-over effect that seems to be around the diameter and the quality of the canes that remain decreasing the yield potential of the following year, in general.”

He says inflorescence numbers are about 15% higher than last year “and it’s actually hard to know why that might be”. Anecdotally, there are a few more double buds and the budburst has been good, which could account for the high numbers, Damian says.

However, the spring count is only a rough guide to the potential harvest yields, and in 2015 and 2016, for example, vines had the same inflorescence count, but there was a 40% difference between their final yields. “Fruit set and berry growth were very good in 2016, but not in 2015,” he says. “If we get good conditions during flowering, then the crops will be sizeable. But at the moment we could still be above or below average at the end of the year.”

Winepress December 2016 / 19

The Rise of Rosé With New Zealand Rosé Day on February 5, it’s time to think pink.

SOPHIE PREECE

NEW ZEALAND Rosé is sitting pretty, with a “phenomenal” increase in domestic demand and increasing attention from winemakers.

“Everybody seems to be drinking Rosé,” says Two Rivers Winemaker Dave Clouston. “It’s being taken seriously now, rather than being treated as a poor cousin to red wine.”

It may be a new fling for some, but Dave has been devoted to Rosé for the past 17 years, creating a dry, pure, Pinot Noir Rosé in a Mediterranean style with a pale salmon hue. “We aim to produce New Zealand’s best Rosé,” he says, having just taken the Number 1 spot in the Cuisine Magazine Rosé tasting for the third year out of four.

The judges’ comments on the 2016 vintage were not out at the time of writing, but last year they said the top placed Two Rivers ‘L’Ile de Beauté’ 2015 had a winning personality, with both good manners and modesty.

They spoke of the “deceptive depth of the strawberry-infused fruit, the

well-ordered lightness of its frame and its overall clarity and class”.

There’s long been a misconception that all Rosé Dave Clouston is sweet and high in alcohol, suitable for summer alone, says Dave. But several New Zealand wine companies are producing a dry and elegant expression of the style, while campaigns around the world have urged people to rethink the pink drink. “People are travelling more, the world is becoming a smaller place and fashions are filtering down.”

Dave’s own Rosé journey began in the late 1990s, when he spent three vintages in a “far flung outpost of Corsica”, where the wine was made “pretty archaically”, but began with great material. He was there to help the

Te Pā’s Rosé programme came out of “thin air”, says Haysley MacDonald. “It started out with our New Zealand distributor asking us for one…the answer is always ‘yes’, so we made 200 cases in 2013.” It rapidly gained traction around the world, to the point that it’s now a good part of the company’s programme, with around 12,000 cases heading to the United Kingdom this year. “It was always considered a ladies’ drink and always drunk in summer time. Now we’re finding it’s becoming just about an all-year-round drink and a lot of males are starting to take to it.”

Winemaker Liam McElhinney says these days there are no rules around Rosé and who drinks it. At te Pā he aims for fruit that’s ripe, but not too ripe, “to keep some freshness, keep some lighter red fruits. If it gets too ripe, they get cooked out”. He also uses a little bit of oak, “just to give it a bit more body”.

20 / Winepress December 2016

wineries freshen their whites, but on the flipside learned how to make Rosé in a Mediterranean style, with a hand in the 1 million litres produced using mainly Sangiovese, which retains a lot of acid.

When he returned to his home province of Marlborough in 2004, Dave established his Two Rivers label. He has made a mark with his wines since, including a Rosé that marries Corsican learnings with Marlborough terroir.

Dave says New Zealand Rosé has traditionally been dark in colour, high in alcohol and sweetness and often

made from Merlot grapes unable to hold enough acidity, resulting in a peaches and cream characteristic.

But he found the grapes on his mother-in-law’s Southern Valleys vineyard suited the style, with clay soils promising Pinot Noir with more savoury elements. He leaves more leaf on the canopy, picks fruit early and makes the wine with very little skin contact and a cool ferment, to ensure “crunchy red berry fruit”, bone dryness and a pale salmon shade.

It’s an exceptional wine, but there’s still more to do, he insists. This year the Cloustons spent a month in Provence, so Dave could work with winemakers on Rosé and gain more insight into the style. One of the lessons he brought home was the opportunity to mix varieties, with some of the producers using up to nine to build a Rosé. Now he’s determined to refine his own examples even more, with less alcohol and sugar. “I thought ours was dry and light in colour, but the Rosé in Provence is markedly drier and lighter in colour.”

Two Rivers is focused on the domestic market, because using high end Pinot Noir makes it expensive to create, limiting demand on the international stage. Domestically, however, the growth is “phenomenal”, with Rosé the fastest growing category he has seen in recent years. For his own Black Cottage and Two Rivers labels, Dave has seen domestic sales grow 100% year on year since 2013.

Whitehaven Wines is on the same stellar rise for Rosé sales,

with the 50 cases it made in 2013 completely dwarfed by the 2000 cases made this year. Winemaker Diana Katardzhieva loves working with the style, using Pinot Noir grapes grown near the company’s winery to create a sophisticated wine of pale salmon colour, clean acidity and red fruit flavours.

To get the taste, colour and finish takes a lot of work in the vineyard and winery, and Diana enjoys the responsibility Rosé places on its winemaker. She’s certainly fit for the challenge, having won a Bragato trophy for her 2015 Rosé and a trophy at the recent Air New Zealand Wine Awards for her 2016 vintage.

Whitehaven’s General Manager Simon Toneycliffe notes that “there are Rosés and Rosés” and Diana’s work is

Dave has seen domestic sales grow 100% year on year since 2013. ensuring theirs are of a consistently high quality, which is reflected in their position in the market. “Rosé has this perception it still has to overcome that people see it as being sweet and cheap. But with ours being made with specifically grown Pinot Noir grapes, it

Diana Katardzhieva

is costly to make and therefore at the more expensive end.”

The company sells most of its Rosé domestically, but had its first lot of orders into Canada earlier this year.

“Obviously Sauvignon Blanc has made Marlborough’s name, but places like Canada are looking for other things from New Zealand and are excited by Rosé.”

Simon notes that there is a complication in crossing hemispheres with the wine because New Zealand Rosé is made on the cusp of Canada’s winter and demand cools down with the weather. “They don’t want to drink it until their summer, so you have quite a long lead-in time.” That said, consumer perceptions are changing, he says. “People are starting to educate themselves and drink it all year around.”

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Winepress December 2016 / 21

Generation Y-ine A career in stainless steel has proved the real deal for fabricator Ash Linklater.

SOPHIE PREECE

WHEN ASH Linklater left school at 16 to become an apprentice, his mates considered him “a drop out loser” and continued their route to university.

Fourteen years later he’s running a successful business, owns his own house and truck, and loves every day of work.

The founder of Ash Engineering Ltd, a specialist in stainless steel tube fitting in Marlborough wineries, is a walking, talking advertisement for apprenticeships. “Trades deserve more respect out there and I really rate it as a professional choice,” Ash says from Cloudy Bay winery, one of his favourite places to work. “This place is wicked – they want all the work to be at the highest level and I love that. I want it to be to that level too.”

His excellence in the trade, in a region that’s reliant on farms of gleaming steel, is a far cry from his experience at secondary school in Dunedin. He had just started his 6th form year when he decided he was being “brain washed” into thinking university was the only way forward. “I was hopeless, so I ended up leaving. It just didn’t suit me and I knew I wanted to do something tangible.”

Ash grew up on a sheep and beef farm in West Otago and from a young age could be found in the shed making things, including go-karts with his father. “I just loved it. I was always in there welding things…I loved the end result. The satisfaction. And learning along the way.”

After leaving school he spent six 22 / Winepress December 2016

months doing a pre-trade course in mechanical engineering, followed by two years in a meat works doing maintenance engineering and diagnostics. It paid $8.60 an hour to begin with, and Ash had to seek a top-up from his parents to get through. “It proves you have to be patient,” he says. “You just have to have some vision.”

When he left the meat works, Ash finished his apprenticeship and set up Ash Engineering. Then he went on the road for four years, “living out of a suitcase, building those big (dairy) factories you see in the middle of nowhere”, and learning all the stainless steel pipe fitting and installation skills he needed.

Then two years ago he came to Marlborough, where his parents had purchased vineyards and the wine industry was in a constant expansion phase. After six months sub-contracting, Ash caught the eye of what would become clients and was able to source business on his own.

He stands in a room of his work, where tubes of stainless snake up walls, bending and linking here and there to ensure a seamless, gleaming connection of pipes; all designed, created and installed by Ash. “This one

was all made on the spot – there were no plans. I just thought, how will we make it work, make it fit?” It’s the same way he has worked since making those go-karts as a kid, or the big motocross ramp he made in his teens. “I can visualise it really well. How it needs to be.”

These days Ash runs a workshop in one of his parents’ unused vineyard sheds, moving between there and onsite jobs. And despite the success and growth of his business, he’s still as excited as a kid with a go-kart working with a welder, music playing in the background, to transform steel into a vital component of a factory.

If he’d known this would be the outcome when he left school, it would have been easier to smile through all the “frowning” of others, he says. “I didn’t think this far ahead. I just saw engineers who were good and knew I wanted to be like them.”

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The Block Hans Herzog Estate is the site of a quiet but passionate Swiss rebellion.

SOPHIE PREECE

A WARM wind drifts over rocks and sand beside the Wairau River, and carries their sunbaked heat across the neighbouring vineyard.

That’s how Hans Herzog Estate ripens its closely planted and lightly cropped rows of Montepulciano and Cabernet, says Therese Herzog, who also thanks the river for the poor and beloved alluvial soils of this land.

Layers of sand, gravel and stone lie beneath a thin layer of top soil at Herzog, and no two rows have the same terroir, she says. It’s why her husband Hans can grow 28 varieties across 11.5 hectares, selecting small pockets of land for parcels of fruit, then managing each according to the style of wine they will produce. “It took us 10 years to work out that not even one row is the same soil,” says Therese.

“So often you find one variety in the first third, and another on the ridge and another variety towards the stop bank.”

Viognier, for example, grows in

sand and gravel, while Cabernet and Tempranillo are deep rooted in similar soil that’s interspersed with rocks. The Chardonnay plants do well with some clay amid the sand, and the Nebbiolo thrives in a mix of sand, clay and gravel.

It’s a world away from the valley’s commercial crops of Sauvignon Blanc, and the perfect expression of Hans’ artisan approach to growing and making wine, says Therese. “He is a very natural person, with a very natural way of growing things,” she says. “Farming for him is a tradition.”

Hans wanders quietly in and out as Therese tells their combined story of a journey from his family’s vines in the Swiss hills above the Rhine, to a parcel of land at the edge of the Wairau River.

Her gregarious energy is the perfect foil to his silent introspection, allowing him to focus on his vines and wines, and her to showcase both to the world.

In the vineyard Hans uses astrological cycles and homeopathic

sprays, hand tends his vines and ensures a rich biodiversity of plantings between the rows. The wines are then handcrafted without added yeast, bacteria, acid and tannins, and bottled with no fining and little sulphur, to ensure they’re an expression of this place.

It’s a curious contradiction that the vigneron’s methods respect the oldest traditions of the world’s greatest winemaking regions, but the estate itself is a product of his aversion to rules, tradition and convention.

Hans’ ancestors have grown wine on the steep hillside vineyards of the Rhine Valley since the beginning of the 16th century, but he found himself frustrated by the set ways and laws that instructed on what to plant and how.

Prepared to push boundaries, he did an apprenticeship as a viticulturist and then another as a winemaker, then studied oenology and did his Masters diploma. He then spent 12 years as

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the head winemaker of a big wine trade company in Zurich that had its own vineyards, but also brought in wine from many other European wine regions. Hans would help choose wine in bulk, including barrels from a Grand Cru of Saint Emilion and Burgundy, then would finish and bottle the wine for the Swiss market, enabling him to make the wines he could not grow and to become a varietal specialist.

He loved the work but missed the land, so in 1984 he and Therese set up brand new vineyards in the Zurich wine country, where Hans could continue to work while they built their own wine brand. But he was still frustrated at being restricted to growing Pinot Noir and Muller Thurgau, when he wanted to be making Bordeaux blends, Italians styles and all the other wines he loved to drink.

Within a few years the couple began looking for a second vineyard for a broader mix of varietals.

Therese says all their holidays became reconnaissance missions and they eventually rejected European vineyards because of the unreliable seasons, and tried the Napa Valley, where Therese had connections through her work with Hewlett Packard. But even in the 1980s the prices were out of their reach, so they cast their gaze to Marlborough, where the wine industry was nascent.

The Herzog set their hearts on a block of land at the edge of the river, protected from frost and warmed by river stones, and when it came on the

market in 1994, they grabbed it. The arid, sandy and gravelly soils reminded Hans of the Médoc region of Bordeaux, with its late ripening Cabernet, Merlots and Sauvignon Blanc, and he began to plan the patchwork of varieties they could and would grow.

In 1996 they began to plant, putting rows at 1.2 metre spacing, with six to eight vines per bay, and giving them as little water as they could.

“Artisan winegrowing and winemaking starts in the vineyards,” says Therese.

“When you plant like that you give them only as much water as they need to survive, so that they have to go and find their own humidity, which is deeper in the different sediments. Then your vines are much healthier because they are deep rooted.”

The tough-loved vines also gain different elements of nutrition from the different layers of substrata, she says. For the same reason, Hans only ever repays the soil with what it has given, returning grape skins and prunings to the land, but no more. “We don’t want to alter our terroir,” Therese says. “We want to have poor soil - we paid a lot of money to have it.”

To begin with, the couple commuted between Marlborough and Switzerland, where they had their vineyard, a Michelin Star restaurant, and plans to add the New Zealand wines to their Swiss portfolio. But when they built their small winery in Marlborough in 1998, they soon realised they could not sustain, either financially or physically, vineyards on both sides of the world.

“Hans said, we have a comfortable life, we are successful and it’s all really easy. New Zealand will be a totally different life and we have to learn, but we can make much better wine,’” says Therese. “He said, ‘if we do that, I promise you I will make the best wine I can.’”

Nearly two decades on, Hans Herzog Estate has forged a reputation for making wines in the new world that rival their old world counterparts.

“Internationally Marlborough needs wineries like us that concentrate on making great wine for New Zealand. With very light crop loads, we can make wine that’s equal to Bordeaux and Burgundy, if not better,” says Therese. Herzog’s wine is a complement to those regions, not a threat, she adds. “We don’t want to do a cheap copy. We want to make them proud.”

It’s a satisfying life that’s got little to do with commercial success and everything to do with Hans’ quiet rebellion against the status quo and passion for the land and wine. “It’s all for the love of wine,” says Therese.

Winepress December 2016 / 25

Biosecurity Watch Ensuring vineyard biosecurity: It’s your asset - protect it.

EDWIN MASSEY

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

In New Zealand the most prominent example of the effects of human-assisted dispersal of a pest and disease followed the incursion of Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), a bacteria that can result in the death of kiwifruit vines.

It was first discovered in New Zealand in November 2010 and rapidly caused widespread and severe impacts to the country’s kiwifruit industry. A 2012 economic impact report projected that the Psa incursion would cost that industry approximately $900 million, stretching out to 2027.

For many orchardists, Psa had a devastating effect, ranging from a complete loss of income to significantly reduced orchard-gate returns from lower yields, with orchardists also facing higher cost

structures from efforts to manage the pest.

It’s your asset - protect it.

There are several pests on the wine industry’s most unwanted list that could have similar effects to our industry as Psa had on the kiwifruit industry. Search ‘most wanted’ on www.nzwine.com to see what they are.

“These guidelines will champion biosecurity as part of business as usual.”

Edwin Massey Over the next few months New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) will be working with members to develop vineyard biosecurity best practice guidelines which aim to help protect the long term sustainability of our productive base.

These guidelines will build on the current practices and know-how of growers and viticulturists who are experienced in managing biosecurity risks posed by endemic pests such as phylloxera or grapevine leafroll– associated virus 3, providing them with a tool kit to mitigate a wide range of biosecurity risks. The guidelines will champion biosecurity as part of ‘business as usual’. It is the everyday decisions, actions and requirements of growers, vineyard managers and viticulturists that have the most impact on mitigating biosecurity risk.

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

Potential benefits Adopting best practice measures has a range of potential benefits for members. These include: • Slowing the spread of

IF YOU SEE ANYTHING UNUSUAL

CATCH IT . SNAP IT . REPORT IT .

Call MPI biosecurity hotline 0800 80 99 66 26 / Winepress December 2016

IF YOU FIND ONE OF THESE: 2

What’s included?

The guidelines are likely to focus on cost-effective biosecurity measures that grape growers and vineyard managers can adopt in order to reduce the risk from a future high impact pest. The scope of these measures need to be worked through with members, but could include the following: • Briefing staff and visitors to promote vineyard biosecurity awareness.

• Understanding the origin and potential biosecurity risk of all vineyard inputs.

• Appropriate tool hygiene.

• Appropriate facilities for wash down and cleaning.

• Harvest best practice.

Appropriate areas to be covered and specific technical guidance in each area will be confirmed following workshops with members early in 2017. Workshops will be scheduled with members in Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago. Local contractors will also be invited to provide their views and expertise. Stay tuned for more information.

Conclusion – dollars and sense The term ‘power of hindsight’ is often used during a biosecurity incident, as knowing how a situation could have been prevented is one of the first learnings applied during a recovery phase. Taking proactive steps to mitigate biosecurity risk is a cost-effective way to ensure the sustainability of your vineyard. The potential financial benefit of introducing these measures are significant and the upfront costs likely to be limited. New Zealand Winegrowers looks forward to engaging with members regarding what’s possible.

1

CM

established pests and disease such as grapevine leafroll–associated virus 3.

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

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

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

0

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The brown marmorated stink bug are a major threat to our primary industries and environment. They can also ruin gardens and infest your home.

If you find one: Catch it. Call us.

For more information please contact New Zealand Winegrowers Biosecurity Manager Edwin Massey 0211924924 or Edwin.massey@nzwine.com. And remember - if you see anything unusual: Catch it. Snap It. Report it. Call MPI biosecurity hotline 0800 80 99 66 and give Ed a call on the number above.

Winepress December 2016 / 27

Industry News Air New Zealand Wine Awards Twelve of the trophies awarded at the 30th Air New Zealand Wine Awards were for Marlborough wines, including the O-I New Zealand Reserve Wine of the Show Trophy, which went to the Brancott Estate Letter Series “O” Chardonnay Marlborough 2015.

Trophy Winners • Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Lowburn Ferry Home Block Pinot Noir Central Otago 2014 • O-I New Zealand Reserve Wine of the Show Brancott Estate Letter Series “O” Chardonnay Marlborough 2015 • JF Hillebrand New Zealand Champion Pinot Noir Lowburn Ferry Home Block Pinot Noir Central Otago 2014 • Rabobank New Zealand Champion Chardonnay Brancott Estate Letter Series “O” Chardonnay Marlborough 2015 • Label and Litho Champion Sauvignon Blanc Babydoll Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2016 • QuayConnect Champion Other White Styles Nautilus Albariño

Marlborough 2016 • Fruitfed Supplies Champion Syrah Mission Reserve Syrah Hawke’s Bay 2015 • Guala Closures New Zealand Ltd Champion Pinot Gris Wairau River Pinot Gris Marlborough 2016 • Plumm Glassware Champion Gewürztraminer Lawson’s Dry Hills Gewürztraminer Marlborough 2015 • Coast FM Champion Merlot, Cabernet and Blends Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon/ Merlot Hawke’s Bay 2014 • Plant & Food Research Champion Riesling Giesen Riesling New Zealand 2015 • WineWorks Limited Champion Sparkling Wine Deutz Cuvee Blanc De Blancs Methode Traditionnelle Marlborough 2013 • Wine-Searcher Champion Sweet White Wine Giesen The Brothers Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2014 • Liquorland Champion Rosé Whitehaven Pinot Rosé Marlborough 2016 • New World Champion Open White Wine Giesen Riesling New Zealand 2015 • Dish Magazine Champion Open Red Wine Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Marlborough 2015 • Rangitikei Chicken Champion Exhibition White or Sparkling Wine Maude Mt Maude Vineyard Dry Riesling Central Otago 2016 • New Zealand Winegrowers Champion Exhibition Red Wine Mission Reserve Cabernet Franc Hawke’s Bay 2014

Helping hand E. & J. Gallo Winery, which is a partner in Marlborough’s Whitehaven Wines, donated $50,000 to the Red Cross to assist those impacted by the November 14 earthquake. “On behalf of our suppliers and grape growers who live and work in New Zealand, we are making this donation to help the rebuilding effort and to provide aid and comfort to the victims of this disaster,” says the company’s Chief Executive Officer and President Joseph Gallo.

New World Winery of the Year Wine Enthusiast magazine has named Kim Crawford winery ‘New World Winery of the Year’ in their

28 / Winepress December 2016

most purchased wine brand in the United States, which is New Zealand’s largest wine export market, and produces the top selling Sauvignon Blanc.

Real Estate Update

annual Wine Star Awards, which honour outstanding achievements in the international wine and beverage industry. “I’m so proud that we’ve brought this one home for New Zealand wine against the new world competition,” says Kim Crawford Winemaker Anthony Walkenhorst.

Kim Crawford is now New Zealand’s

PGG Wrightson real estate sales manager Joe Blakiston says it’s early days yet to see how the November earthquake will impact on the viticulture land sales market.

He says several vineyards currently on the market south of Blenheim will likely have the greatest impacts from the earthquake from a future sales perspective, and also from the potential damage to irrigation schemes

and water supply. In the meantime, demand is still steady as frost risk has passed, he says. The sale of a 400ha Northbank property has been finalised with values of viticulture land at around $25,000 p/ha and a prime 8ha viticulture property sold in Fairhall for around the $280,000 p/ha mark.

that information, Spray Mix Mate will either email or SMS the job to others. Spray Mix Mate Calculator is free to download in New Zealand and is available for both android and iOS users from Google Play and the App Store.

Spray Mix Mate

New Zealand Winegrowers has developed a poster and checklist to assist members and their contractors in managing the risk from agrichemical spray drift. Find the guide on www. nzwine.com.

A new mobile app is helping growers get the best results from their spray programme.

The Spray Mix Mate Calculator has been developed by New Zealand Winegrowers with industry input to calculate spray application rates for vineyards. It complements NZW’s recent Spray Days event series held around the country, which were cofunded by the Sustainable Farming Fund, and is part of a new research project that aims to improve practices for powdery mildew management.

By entering simple details about your row spacing, stage of growth, spray target and label rate, the Spray Mix Mate Calculator will determine the maximum application rate per hectare required for your specific canopy and spray job. If you want to go a step further, you can calculate the tank mix for up to four different chemicals. Using your planned application volume, tank size and area to be sprayed, the app then calculates exactly how big the job is, how many tanks you need and how much chemical to add to each tank to get the job done. If you want to share

Spray drift guidelines

Half price wine study People wanting to study winemaking and viticulture in Marlborough may be able to get half their degree for free. The Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is offering half a degree scholarships for New Zealand students enrolling full time in the February intake of the Bachelor of Viticulture and Winemaking degree.

Sue Blackmore, NMIT’s Educational Developer Viticulture and Wine, says many people working in the industry without a degree are realising they need one to get promoted.

“Increasingly, wine companies are corporate-owned and companies are looking for skills and background of a degree qualification in applicants for management positions.”

NMIT’s flexible study options all include vineyard experience, and Sue says the applied learning elements

Marlborough Wine and Food Festival Ticket sales to next February’s Marlborough Wine and Food Festival are cranking, and organisers expect another surge as people get into Christmas shopping. Festival Chair Lucy Walter says with Karena and Kasey Bird booked to cook in the Culinary Pavilion - thanks to Kono and Kiwa Oysters the foodies will be well satisfied. Meanwhile, the just released Master Classes - Rosé and Kaikoura Cheese then Sauvignon Blanc and Regal King Salmon are bound to be a hit, and Hollie Smith and Supergroove can’t wait to perform.

“It’s going to be a fantastic lineup of wine, food and entertainment at an iconic Marlborough event,” Lucy says. “So we can’t wait either.”

are a point of difference at NMIT. “Students can study theory online and then reinforce that learning with practical components completed in a vineyard.”

The degree programme appeals to high school graduates, those wishing to change careers, or for people already in the wine industry who want to gain a qualification, she says.

Sue says all the current degree students have been placed for vintage.

“It’s part of our strength, to be on the doorstep of New Zealand’s biggest wine region and to have a relationship with the industry so students can learn as they study.”

For more details about the half a degree scholarship for February 2017 visit nmit.ac.nz

Dog Point Picnic Over the past nine years the Dog Point/Logan Brown Classic Kiwi Picnic has evolved from a single picnic table affair to an annual event with approximately 150 guests in the Dog Point olive grove. The emphasis is on seasonal and local produce including oysters, whitebait, paua, salmon and venison, as well as seasonal salads, homemade ice cream, coffee and truffles. Wellington’s jazz trio Twinset will entertain beneath the trees. The 2017 picnic will be held on Saturday February 25. Tickets are $195pp, go on sale 9am November 28th and are strictly limited to four per person. To secure a ticket, email picnic@dogpoint. co.nz, or for more information visit www.dogpoint.co.nz/events.

CLASSIFIEDS GRAPES FOR SALE: Hawkes Bay Merlot 35-40 Tonne from 4.5 ha Clone 481.

Please contact John Mob: 027 673 1769.

Winepress December 2016 / 29

Brought to you by

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

To have your event included in next month’s Wine Happenings or Industry News pages, please email details to sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz by January 20. For more information on the events below email Harriet Wadworth at harriet@wine-marlborough.co.nz

JANUARY 2017 7: UB40 Red Red Wine Vineyard Tour 2017 - Villa Maria Marlborough Winery 22-25: Southern Pinot Noir Workshop – Hanmer Springs 28- 30: Nelson Aromatics Symposium 2017 - Nelson 30: Pinot Palooza - Wellington 31: Pinot Noir NZ 2017 - Wellington FEBRUARY 2017 5: New Zealand Rosé Day - #nzroseday 10: Cloudy Bay Clams’ Chefs on Tour dinner for KidsCan – Allan Scott Wines 10: Wine Market Day – Blenheim 11: Marlborough Wine and Food Festival – Brancott Estate 12: Wine & Food Wind Down 2017 – Vines Village 24: Les Nuits Romantiques - Clos Henri 25: The Dog Point/Logan Brown Classic Kiwi Picnic – Dog Point

Pinot Noir NZ 2017 – January 31

NZ Rosé Day – February 5

Wine Festival – February 11

GREAT FOOD, GREAT WINES AND GREAT FRIENDS COME TOGETHER AT HERZOG’S! Book your Christmas Party at the casual Bistro or splash out at the iconic Gourmet Restaurant!

Packages available from $59 pp. Relax in one of Marlborough’s most beautiful garden or indulge in the stunning Restaurant where will be in wine heaven with one of New Zealand’s largest International wine lists!

BISTRO OPEN 7 DAYS FOR LUNCH & DINNER GOURMET RESTAURANT FROM WEDNESDAY TO SUNDAY FOR DINNER CELLAR DOOR 7 DAYS

‘Herzog gift vouchers - something everyone will cherish’ Hans Herzog Estate | 81 Jeffries Road | Blenheim | 03 572 8770 | enjoy@herzog.co.nz | www.herzog.co.nz

30 / Winepress December 2016

MARLBOROUGH, 35 Welds Hill Road Large Vineyard Plus Planting Potential Located on two fertile river terraces and elevated well above the south bank of the Awatere River, Welds Hill features 60 hectares of established Sauvignon Blanc plus approximately 60 hectares of additional flat land well suited for vineyard development and carrying a water right. An attractive five bedroom homestead is set amidst mature trees and gardens and there is a full range of other utility buildings. The total area of 221.5 hectares is in three separate land titles providing an opportunity for subdivision. The vineyard has a proven track record and is contracted in the short to medium term to two established wine companies.

Tim Crawford +64 21 704 833 tim.crawford@sothebysrealty.com Tender: Closes 4:00 p.m. Tuesday 20 December 2016 nzsothebysrealty.com/MAR10325 5 bed | 2 bath | 3 car Floor 420 sq m | Land 221.5 ha

Winepress December 2016 / 31 Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated. Browns Real Estate Limited (licensed under the REAA 2008) MREINZ.

Index for 2016 Biosecurity Watch Biosecurity strategy – June – pg 24 Pierce’s disease – July – pg 26 GIA – August – pg 30-31 Grafted Grapevine Standard – September – pg 34-35 Stink Bug – October – pg 30-31 Chilean Needle Grass – November – pg 26-27 Mitigating risk – December – pg 26-27

Andrew Jeffries – April – pg 22 Edwin Massey – May – pg 18-19 Matt Fox – June – pg 20-21 Brenton O’Riley – July – pg 22-23 Jordan Hogg – August – pg 26-27 Richelle Collier – September – pg 28-29 Ben Burridge – October – pg 26-27 Jack Weaver – November – pg 22-23 Ash Linklater – December – pg 22

Education and Training Working safer – March – pg 14-15 Alexandre Schmitt on aroma - March – pg 24 Wine school – March – pg13

Marlborough’s Industry Matt Kramer – March – pg12 Rachel Taulelei – March – pg 18-19 Corporate players dominate growth – April – pg 19 State of the Environment Report – June – pg 14 Marlborough Environment Plan – July – 12-19 Vintage 2016 – July – pg 9 25 years of Winepress – August – pg 9-13 Mayoral candidates – September – pg 10-11 Grape marc issues – October – pg 10-14 Jane Hunter Lifetime Achievement – November – pg 12 Earthquake – December – pg 9–17

Employment Labour survey – April – pg 10-12 Best practice – June – pg 10 Health and safety – June – pg 16 Building beds – August – pg 17 Labour laws flouted – September – pg 16-18 NZIER survey – November – pg 9 RSE cap – December – pg 19 Exports Growing GDP – April – pg 16-17 NZ Wine Exports – April – pg 21 Brexit – August – pg 22-23 Events ISBC 2016 – March – pg 9-11 NZSVO – March – pg 16-17 Wine and Food Festival - March – pg 28-29 Young Winemaker competition – August – pg 24-25 Romeo Bragato – September – pg 12-14 Silver Secateurs – Sept – pg 22-23 Pinot Noir 2017 – October – pg 16 Sauvignon Blanc Yacht Race – October – pg 33 Initiatives Trademarks in China – May – pg 14-15 Naked Wines – May – pg 16-17 WineWorks waste minimisation – November – pg 16-17 The Bottling Company – November – pg 29 Generation Y-ine Pratap Vanga - March – pg 22-23 32 / Winepress December 2016

NZW News Geographical Indications – April – pg 19 Financial benchmark – May – pg 24 Elections – October – pg 9 Science and Research Botrytis App – March – pg 17 Mechanical shaking – June – pg 18 Trunk disease – July – pg 10 Precise breeding – September – pg 14 Clonal diversity – September – pg 14 Brown beetle – September – pg 32 Climate change – October – pg 18 Regional Research Institute – November – pg 10-11 Yield forecasting – November – pg 14-15 The Block te Pā – March – pg 26-27 Clos Marguerite – April – pg 26-27 Ashmore – May – pg 22-23 Forgotten Valley – June – pg 22-23

Yealands Estate – July – pg 24-25 Loveblock – August – pg 28-29 Tohu Vineyard – September – pg 30-31 Rocenvin – October – pg 28-29 Seresin – November – pg 24-25 Herzog – December – pg 24-25 Vineyard Dam builders – March – pg 20-21 Vintage vibes – May – pg 10-11 Financial benchmarking – August – pg 14-15 Trunk disease – July – pg 10 Pruning costs increase – July – pg 20 Frost fighting – August – pg 18-19 Soil health – September – pg 19 Young Viticulturist of the Year – September – pg 26-27 Mapping project – October – pg 19 La Niña– October – pg 20 GPS in vineyards – October – pg 24 Vineyard values – November – pg 20 Spring yield predictions – December – pg 19 Rise of Rosé – December – pg 20-21 Winery Fuder for though – September – pg 20 Young Winemaker of the Year – September – pg 24 Wine Marlborough Board From Wine Marlborough, Marcus Pickens – March – pg 4 From The Board, Nick Entwistle – April – pg 4 From The Board, Simon Bishell – May – pg 4 From The Board, Samantha Wickham – June – pg 4 From The Board, Tom Trolove – July – pg 4 From The Board, Clive Jones – August – pg 4 From The Board, Jack Glover – September – pg 4 From The Board, Callum Linklater – October – pg 4 From The Board, Ben Ensor – November – pg 4 Profile – Michael Wentworth – November – pg 18 From The Board, Rhyan Wardman – December – pg 4

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