Magic Season

SOPHIE PREECE

Long autumnal harvest shines through

MARLBOROUGH’S 2023 vintage “could have gone so wrong and came out so well”, says Astrolabe owner and winemaker Simon Waghorn, calling it a magic season. “I think every winemaker I’ve spoken to is pretty excited and also a bit bemused.”

The good reports are across the board, he adds. “I think all the varieties have benefitted from more time on the vines and ripening a bit later. Pushing forward into what we would have thought a more classic time of harvest.”

Conditions were far from perfect over the spring and summer, with inclement weather spurring on early botrytis infections, along with a surge in powdery mildew, and also downy mildew, an unwanted newcomer in Marlborough. “Everyone was dreading what could happen,” Simon says. “We were pretty much expecting the worst and wondering where the season was going to go, particularly with Cyclone Gabrielle coming down the country.”

But the cyclone that hammered the North Island left Marlborough largely unscathed, “and from that point on our season seemed to just run into a nice finish”, he says. Autumn ripening was not dry, but rain was either cool or followed by good weather, with no prolonged humidity to aggravate disease. Then a near-frost in March, which could have been a “disaster” mid harvest, instead seemed to halt botrytis in its tracks, Simon adds. The result was a slow and long ripening season, healthy vines without disease pressure, and clean fruit at harvest, “so very, very good”.

Booster Wine Group’s new chief Marlborough winemaker Helen Morrison is also pretty excited about the 2023 wines. Speaking days before a final Cabernet Franc handpick in late April, Helen says it was a vintage where patience was key. “So we have some really nice flavours and really nice ripeness levels, but things retained their acidity.” By late January there was a “bit of a split” in opinion in the region, she says, with some thinking harvest would come in early and others putting their money on a season later than 2021 and 2022, and closer to the long-term average. Helen was in the latter camp, expecting the wet summer, without much heat, to delay proceedings. But predicting much more about the season was a challenge, with forecasts often at odds. “You’d look at five different weather forecasts and they’d each be saying something different.” That settled down in the >later part of autumn, she says, “but in summer and early autumn the weather was all over the show”.

The season also threw some subregional curveballs, with the group’s final machine harvest in the Wairau Valley rather than the typically later Awatere, thanks to a couple of tardy Pinot Gris blocks. “They weren’t showing ripe flavours and ripe phenolics earlier in the season, so we left them to hang,” says Helen, loving that bespoke approach. “There’s a lot to be said about making picking decisions based on what you are seeing - fruit condition, canopy condition - and the style we want to achieve from those wines… You have to be expressing the best that Marlborough can be to stay competitive in the global world of wine.”

A nimble approach is required to sidestep challenges in winegrowing, “whether it’s Covid or whether it’s weather or whether it’s frost”, she adds. “But that’s farming right? You have to wrap your head around ‘what have we got to deal with this particular season?’ And perhaps we’re going to see more of that variability with climate change. It’s about making sure we have the tools and flexibility to be dynamic and change our plans if we need to.”

Plant & Food Research Marlborough’s Rob Agnew, who produces the VineFacts report, says there were 21 botrytis infection periods in Marlborough from midNovember 2022 to the end of March 2023, compared to 12 the previous season. The period of those infections exacerbated the potential risk, because in the 2021/2022 season they were confined to December and February, whereas in this growing season, infections occurred in November, December, January, February and March. “But we didn’t see the botrytis we expected to see,” says Rob. “Marlborough has been so incredibly lucky disease wise in the last few years. It’s phenomenal.”

It was a “remarkable vintage”, agrees Babich Wines’ Marlborough area viticulture manager David Bullivant, happy with both quality and quantity of yields. “It’s difficult to remember such a balanced harvest.” Pinot Noir blocks were naturally balanced and the variety looks “very strong”, while it is “hard to find faults with the Sauvignon Blanc”, he says.

Greywacke winemaker Richelle Tyney was “quite sceptical” coming into vintage 2023, after a wet growing season that could have heralded disease pressure. “But the fruit we brought in this year was beautiful.”

She’s excited by the Chardonnay, along with Sauvignon Blanc, which came in clean with good flavours. The change in fortunes for the season became apparent in February, says Richelle. “Walking around the vineyards, the fruit was amazing, and especially the Chardonnay. The yields, the flavours were exciting, and we’re pretty happy with what’s in the barrel.”

To hear more from Simon Waghorn, Jules Taylor, and Nigel Sowman on Marlborough’s 2023 vintage, listen to the Wine Marlborough Podcast at marlboroughwinenz.com/podcast.