Winepress - March 2024

Vintage 2024

Drought conditions as harvest begins

SOPHIE PREECE

Photo by Jim Tannock

A HOT, dry and windy summer has delivered tinder dry conditions for vintage 2024, with grape growers making the most of remaining water allocations as harvest gets underway. “It’s becoming one of the very driest years since I have been involved in this business,” says Fruition Horticulture consultant Jim Mercer in late February, as picking for sparkling and lighter alcohol wines gathers speed. “There are a lot of vineyards where they are on top of it and visual stress symptoms are not that bad or not at all,” he says. “But there are definitely blocks as you drive around that are seriously water stressed.”

Dry Marlborough summers are typically mitigated by rain in December, or a decent rain event in January or February, “but we have had none of those”, Jim says, awaiting official confirmation of what he already deems drought status. The wind and heat in January and the first weeks of February led to extraordinary rates of evapotranspiration, and the occasional light rainfall served only to “dampen the dust”. Despite the lack of rain on the plains, rainfall in the wider catchment has refreshed the Wairau River, allowing growers with relevant water rights to continue irrigation, “but we are running a fine line in terms of the Southern Valleys Irrigation Scheme (SVIS)”, Jim says. Meanwhile, Awatere River Class B rights were shut down in early February, with Class A being rationed at times.

Dog Point Vineyards taps into the SVIS, and is working hard to ensure every drop available goes to the vines, says Anna Dunne, general manager of viticulture and operations. “We have no moisture in the soil. Whatever we are putting on is what the vines are getting.” That means scheduling evening irrigation for wind-battered hill sites whenever possible, prioritising soil types that require more water, and fixing leaks the moment they’re spotted. Constant WhatsApp communication between teams has been invaluable for effective water use and vine care, Anna says. Speaking on February 26, the team was preparing for a SVIS shutdown, at which point Dog Point will revert to its wells and dams, she says, grateful for the foresight of her parents and vineyard founders Ivan and Margaret Sutherland, in ensuring there are secondary water sources for drought years.

If the dry is one defining feature of the 2024 vintage, a modest crop is the other. “Yields are light,” Anna says, estimating Sauvignon Blanc at 20% below a typical year, “and even more in places”. Uneven flowering means the vines are “a little bit all over the show”, she adds, describing one plant with an abundance of fruit, then another that’s relatively bare. That’s likely to mean modest quantities of excellent wines, she says. “All the goodness is going into the fruit that is there; the crops are light but the quality should be amazing.” Protecting the grapes as they ripen is vital in a light year, and Anna notes that bird pressure seems greater and earlier this season, potentially due to the dry conditions.

Dog Point’s markets remain strong, following a low harvest in 2021, and even lower in 2022, when weather and a shortage of handpicking crews created a “shocker”. The fruit they did harvest was excellent quality, “we just needed a lot more of it,” Anna says. Last year they managed to restock Sauvignon Blanc, but still need more for 2024. “Everything has been allocated… Our tanks are empty and very much waiting to be filled.” Looking at the region in general, she notes that the cost of production continues to rise steeply which, partnered with light yields, will have ramifications for growers. “This year there will be quite a pinch for people.”

Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative chair Ben McLauchlan says the season will be challenging from a cash flow perspective for growers and companies, “but industry wide I think it’s positive”. Ben notes that the resumption of regular shipping – following sporadic schedules during the Covid-19 period – have seen sales of New Zealand wine pull back. However, as information about the low vintage spreads rapidly around the world there is a “rebalancing of expectations”, he says. “There is an understanding in global markets that there is less coming out of this vintage.” It’s hard to estimate how low crops are, he adds. “We are down, but saying that the quality is exceptional.” Speaking in late February, a day after harvesting 10 tonnes of Pinot Noir for a low alcohol rosé, he says the fruit was clean “and the flavours were amazing”.

Booster winemaker Helen Morrison says particularly low Pinot Noir crops in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough resulted in accelerated ripening, and harvest for sparkling base began early in both regions. The later summer brought cooler nights, slowing the ripening down, and she anticipates something of an “old school” Marlborough vintage, “where sparking, rosé and even Pinot Noir are off long before Sauvignon hits its strides”.

Sauvignon Blanc is also “really light”, reminiscent of the 2015 season, “with lots of little berries and little bunches”, Helen says, anticipating “wines of great intensity and complexity”. It’s a season where every single bunch counts, with vigilance required at harvest and in the winery, she adds. “Different vintage; different pressures.” She also sees it as a potential “reset” for the industry, with less fruit and less wine on the books for 2024. “I think you will see slightly later rollovers, when people switch off 2023 whites and move into 2024.”