Winepress - October 2019 by Winepress Magazine

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF WINE MARLBOROUGH

ISSUE NO. 298 / OCTOBER 2019

WINE SHOW

GMO AT BRAGATO

Photo: Jim Tannock

wine-marlborough.co.nz

KIWI OWNED

YEALANDS ESTATE

TAKE THE GUESSWORK OUT OF CROP MANAGEMENT Farmlands expert team of Technical Advisors are on hand to help you make the most out of your crop this year. Our unbiased technical advice and support will help you manage the mayhem and reap the rewards through: • Vineyard development • Pest and disease control • Weed control • Crop health • Nutrient management

FAR_09382

Talk to your local Farmlands Technical Advisor Today.

this issue... REGULARS

FEATURES

3 4 6

10 Who’s to judge?

30 32 34 36 38 40

Editorial

From the Board - Beth Forrest Tasman Crop Met Report - Rob Agnew Pioneer - Mike Insley Forgotten Corners - Yealands Estate Generation Y-ine - Peter Russell

Biosecurity Watch - Dr Edwin Massey Industry News Wine Happenings

Cover: A new day at Yealands Estate. Photo by Jim Tannock

“I don’t really care which kind of Sauvignon you really like drinking, or if you don’t like drinking it at all,” says Jack Glover, chair of judges at the QuayConnect Marlborough Wine Show. “What I care about is looking at the quality of that wine on the table.”

Local Ownership Saint Clair Family Estate had one vineyard and no markets when it made its first wine in 1994. The company’s transformation from minnows to majors parallels that of several other New Zealandowned companies.

32 CarboNZero

“There’s only one carboNZero winery in New Zealand and we are it,” says Yealands Estate chief operating officer Mike Insley. “Yet the biggest challenge facing the industry and facing the world is climate change.” Winepress October 2019 / 1

Roundwood Limited Suppliers of Quality Roundwood Contact:

Grant Cathcart Phone 03 313 8339 fax 03 313 3767 mobile 021 511 460

roundwood@mcalpines.co.nz

2 / Winepress October 2019

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 Beth Forrest Beth@forrest.co.nz Callum Linklater callum@csviticulture.co.nz Jack Glover jack.glover@accolade-wines.co.nz Kirsty Harkness kirsty@mountbase.co.nz Nick Entwistle nick@wairauriverwines.com Stuart Dudley (Deputy Chair) stuartd@villamaria.co.nz Tom Trolove (Chair) tom.trolove@framingham.co.nz Tracy Johnston Tracy@dayvinleigh.co.nz Jamie Marfell Jamie.Marfell@pernod-ricard.com

Printed by: Blenheim Print Ltd 03 578 1322

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.

From the Editor Thirty years after he arrived in Marlborough to work for Montana, Mike Insley (pg30) is Yealands Estate’s new chief operating officer, and driving a “reinvigoration” of Yealands’ sustainability story, to ensure depth and authenticity (pg32). At the heart of that story is carbonNZero, which ensures measurable environmental initiatives that look at the full lifecycle of products, from manufacture to waste stream, and requires continuous improvement, he says. Mike is amazed that Yealands is the only winery in New Zealand to be carboNZero certified, when “the biggest challenge facing the industry and facing the world is climate change”. Riversun Nursery managing director Geoff Thorpe told audiences at the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration 2019 that it was surprisingly cost effective to go carboNZero, despite “the scaremongering and rhetoric we hear that going carbon neutral will kill the world economy.” It begs the question, “what are we all waiting for?” he said. It is of course not the only way of measuring and reducing emissions, and other industry players are working hard to do better, including Marlborough Environment Award category winery Pernod Ricard, which has carbon accounting and a zero waste target, among a raft of fantastic environmental initiatives. In 2017, Port Nelson’s QuayConnect transport business cut 10,000 hours off the time its trucks spent on the road in a year, saving 348,436 litres of fuel and 1602 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Port Nelson measures its emissions using Foundation Footprint, an environmental management system that shows total emissions in its annual reports, and has become the first business in Te Tauihu to join New Zealand’s Climate Leaders Coalition. I’m writing this editorial just after the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, which highlights “the urgency of prioritising timely, ambitious and coordinated action to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere”. This morning I heard Massey University Professor Bruce Glavovic, one of the more than 130 scientists behind the report, talk to Radio New Zealand about the consequences for our country, with its abundance of mountains and coastlines. “If any country in the world should be concerned about this report, it is certainly New Zealand.” There is a “fundamental challenge” ahead, he said. “The struggle for sustainability is essentially going to be won or lost in the boardrooms, in the communities, in the government offices, in the cities and towns of our coastlines.” So, to steal Geoff’s line, what are we all waiting for?

“The biggest challenge facing the industry and facing the world is climate change.” Mike Insley

SOPHIE PREECE

Winepress October 2019 / 3

From the Board BETH FORREST

Take time to smell the Rosés SPRING HAS arrived and with it the beginnings of another grapegrowing season. Some of us are scrambling to get the last of the pruning complete as the sap begins to run, the last of the posts in the ground and wires fixed up. As I write this, our sprayers drive back in the driveway from servicing. The contemplative winter is over and all those jobs we planned to get completed when we were in the quiet season are now more urgent. I was lucky enough to have a family escape to ‘The Rock of the Pacific’ - Niue - last month. The internet is spotty at best, there is no cellphone network, the beer is cold and the water is warm. And somehow, with coral gardens to be investigated, fish to be caught and whales to be watched, no one missed the connectivity at all. The ability to switch off and appreciate the people and the land around us brought home to me a need to stop and re-evaluate my own work-life balance more regularly. We live in a far more demanding world with the growth in global connectivity and access to information from the phone at your fingertips at every hour of the day. People’s expectations seem to be that, because we are connected, we should be available anytime. The belief that we should be ‘on’ constantly, ready to function, lead and inspire at 100% full throttle at all times is impossible and totally exhausting. Spring is a busy season for all aspects of the industry. It’s wine show season, full speed ahead on the bottling lines, buds are bursting around the vineyards, marketing and sales teams 4 / Winepress October 2019

are prepping for the New Zealand summer season and international Christmas entertaining requirements. And we are all getting excited that the Kiwi summer looms just a few more frosty mornings away. But it’s also a time to make some changes; perhaps we can take that slightly more relaxed and contemplative winter attitude and apply it across the year. As the demands of the busy season evolve, how can you make your time more productive and enjoyable? Steve

“People’s expectations seem to be that because we are connected we should be available anytime.” Jobs reminded us ‘Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what

you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do’. We are part of an industry that is full of passion and devotion, and I appreciate all of the hard work, long hours and dedication that go into a glass of Marlborough wine. Just be sure to stop and have a glass of your hard work every now and then. Check in on your friends, fire up the BBQ, sit down and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly stuff with good people. At the end of the day, there isn’t much that can’t be solved over a fire pit, a fishing rod or a sizzling hotplate with a few glasses of the good stuff. Good luck with the season. May the weather be kind, the soils be rich, the river levels stay elevated, and the vines be abundant.

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MET REPORT Table 1: Blenheim Weather Data – September 2019 September September 2019 September Period September 2019 compared to LTA of LTA 2018 LTA GDD’s for month – Max/Min¹ 47.8 86% 55.9 (1996-2018) 51.4 GDD’s for month – Mean² 66.1 96% 68.8 (1996-2018) 62.9 Growing Degree Days Total Jul – Sep 19 – Max/Min 77.4 92% 84.4 (1996-2018) 87.5 Jul - Sep 19 – Mean 137.0 107% 128.4 (1996-2018) 134.1 Mean Maximum (°C) 16.2 Equal 16.2 (1986-2018) 16.4 Mean Minimum (°C) 5.9 -0.1°C 6.0 (1986-2018) 5.8 Mean Temp (°C) 11.1 Equal 11.1 (1986-2018) 11.1 Ground Frosts (<= -1.0°C) 4 0.6 less 4.6 (1986-2018) 3 Air Frosts (0.0°C) 0 0.8 less 0.8 (1986-2018) 0 Sunshine hours 215.4 118% 192.7 (1986-2018) 231.8 Sunshine hours – lowest 129.6 1989 Sunshine hours – highest 248.9 2011 Sunshine hours total – 2019 2003.4 113% 1775.5 (1986-2018) 1804.1 Rainfall (mm) 63.4 121% 52.2 (1986-2018) 36.2 Rainfall (mm) – lowest 3.0 1951 Rainfall (mm) – highest 191.5 1943 Rainfall total (mm) – 2019 499.2 103% 485.9 (1986-2018) 659.6 Evapotranspiration – mm 75.6 105% 71.8 (1996-2018) 75.0 Avg. Daily Wind-run (km) 261.1 95% 274.7 (1996-2018) 220.5 Mean soil temp – 10cm 8.9 -0.4°C 9.3 (1986-2018) 9.4 Mean soil temp – 30cm 10.5 -0.3°C 10.8 (1986-2018) 11.4 ¹GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures ²GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures September 2019 in summary September 2019 recorded an average temperature, close to average number of frosts, above average rainfall, above average sunshine hours, and slightly

below average wind-run. However, September was a month of two distinct halves. The first two weeks were cool, wet and relatively calm, whereas the latter two weeks were warmer, dry and fairly windy. Temperature The mean temperature of 11.1°C was equal to the long-term average (LTA) temperature for September and the same as in 2018. However, as indicated in Table 2, the mean temperature over the first two weeks of September was well below average, whereas the mean temperature over the latter half of the month was much warmer. The final two days of September were very warm with maximum temperatures 3-4°C above average and minimum temperatures 7-8°C above average. The coldest day in September was the 11th which recorded an air minimum temperatures of +1.2°C and grass minimum temperature of –3.3°C. The warmest days were 28th and 29th September both of which recorded maximum air temperatures of 20.6°C. We expect quite a marked natural increase in soil temperatures over the late winter and spring. However, Table 3 reveals that there was also a marked difference in soil temperatures between the first and second halves of September 2019, as a result of

Table 2: Weekly weather data during September 2019 Mean Mean Mean Max (°C) Min (°C) (°C) Deviation 1st - 7th 14.7 6.0 10.4 (-0.7) 8th - 14th 14.0 4.6 9.3 (-1.8) 15th - 21st 17.2 5.5 11.3 (+0.2) 22nd - 28th 17.7 5.7 11.7 (+0.6) 29th – 30th (2 days) 19.9 13.1 16.5 (+5.4) 1st – 30th September 16.2 (=) 5.9 (-0.1) 11.1 (=) 2019 September LTA (1986 – 2018) 16.2 6.0 11.1 LTA – Long Term Average 6 / Winepress October 2019

Ground Frosts 0 2 1 1 0 4 (0.6 less)

Air (mm) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0.8 less)

Rainfall (hours) 39.2 23.8 0.2 0.2 0.0 63.4 (121%)

Sunshine 37.0 41.6 65.7 60.8 10.3 215.4 (118%)

4.6

0.8

52.2

192.7

Table 3: 9am Soil temperatures (°C) in Blenheim during the two halves of September 2019 Depth 1-15 Sep 16-30 Sep 10 cm 8.3 9.4 20cm 9.0 10.0 30 cm 10.0 11.1 100 cm 11.2 11.9

1-30 Sep 8.9 9.5 10.5 11.5

the contrasting air temperatures. Temperatures at the three shallower soil depths were 1-1.1°C higher from 15 to 30 September, whereas the temperature at 100 cm depth was only 0.7°C higher in the latter half of the month. As discussed in a previous Met Report article there is a lag phase between increases in air temperature and a corresponding increase in soil temperature at 100 cm depth, as it takes quite a while for heat to be transferred down through the soil, as is also the case with water movement through the soil profile.

September 2019 is 2003.4 hours, 113% of the LTA.

Frosts

September’s rainfall total of 63.4 mm was 121% of the LTA and it was the highest September total since 2013. September 2019 was also a month of two very distinct halves with regard to rainfall. Almost the entire month’s rainfall fell between 1 and 15 September. The only rain from 16 to 30 September was 0.2 mm on the 23rd. Total rainfall for the first eight months of 2019 was 499.2 mm, or 103% of the LTA. The same eight month period in 2018 recorded 659.6 mm, or 137%

There were four ground frosts and no air frosts recorded in Blenheim in September, close to the LTA for the 33 years 1986-2018. Sunshine Blenheim recorded 215.4 hours sunshine during September, 118% of the LTA. While this was a sunny month it didn’t set any records. September 2018 was a lot sunnier with 231.8 hours. Total sunshine for January to

Wind Average daily wind-run for Blenheim during September 2019 was 261.1 km, slightly below the LTA of 274.7 km. Average wind speed was 10.9 km/ hr compared to the LTA of 11.45 km/ hr. However, even though wind-run was below the LTA, it was still the windiest September since 2013. All five years 2014 to 2018 recorded well below average wind-run during September. Rainfall

of the LTA. However, rainfall in the three months July to September 2019 was 239.6 mm compared to 167.4 mm from July to September 2018. The high rainfall in 2018 was earlier in the year in January, February and May. Soil Moisture Shallow soil moisture at the Blenheim weather station on 1 September 2019 was 35.4%, which is 2% lower than the LTA value for 1 September. However, with all the rain in the first two weeks of the month the soil moisture quickly rose to be above field capacity (>~38%) from the 4th to the 17th of the month. With 62.8 mm rain received over those 14 days there would have been a lot of water draining through the topsoil to recharge soil moisture at lower depths in the soil profile. With almost no rain in the second half of the month the moisture in the topsoil fell from 38.5% (~field capacity) on 17 September to 31.7% on 30 September (Figure 1). The moisture in the topsoil at the end of September 2019 was lower than in any of the previous six years (2013-2018). The warmer temperatures and dry weather in the latter half of September were responsible for this fairly quick drop in soil moisture. Average evapotranspiration during October is 102.4 mm and average rainfall is 62.2 mm, giving an average water deficit of -40.1 mm. This explains why moisture in the topsoil on average

Winepress October 2019 / 7

Figure 1: Shallow soil moisture (5-35 cm depth) at the Blenheim weather station

period when soil moisture was a lot higher at the end of December than at the beginning of December. The line has not been smoothed between months. Rob Agnew Plant & Food Research / Marlborough Research Centre Exclusive importers of

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(2003-2018) has dropped from 34% on 1 October to 27.9% on 31 October, a reduction of 6.1%. October rainfall would have to exceed 100 mm to keep moisture in the topsoil fairly stable during October. The last time October rainfall exceeded 100 mm was in 2009. Rainfall in October 2017 (32.4 mm) and October 2018 (33.8 mm) was just

0 80 0 855 2 55

over half the LTA (58.7 mm). Figure 1 indicates that the shallow soil moisture plummeted during October in both 2017 and 2018. The LTA soil moisture line in Figure 1 is for the 16 year period 2003 to 2018. If you are wondering why the LTA soil moisture line doesn’t drop during December it is because there are a number of years during this time

Biking the Boulevard ACCESS THROUGH Pernod Ricard Winemakers’ Woodbourne vineyard has enabled a key link to Marlborough’s cycle path network, says the chair of the Renwick Smart and Connected Cycle Group. Steve Hill says ‘the Brancott Boulevard’, to be opened on October 15, will provide cyclists a safe off-road route between State Highway 6 and New Renwick Rd. “It is great to have the wine industry getting involved with the development of the cycle paths and in particular Pernod Ricard Winemakers, which is one of our largest wineries,” he says. “There are plenty of areas on the edges of vineyards, on river stop banks and road-side reserves that, with a bit of development and management, can be 8 / Winepress October 2019

used to for cycle paths with minimal or no impact on vineyard operations.” Pernod Ricard Vineyard Operations Manager Lesley Boon says the company is committed to sustainability and responsibility, including looking at ways to improve and contribute to local communities. “We are very excited to open the Brancott Boulevard cycle path on our Woodbourne vineyard to both visitors and locals to help them explore this amazing region.” As the Brancott Boulevard runs through a working vineyard, signage will inform path users of the potential safety risks. There will be occasions when The Boulevard will be temporarily closed while tractors are

Steve Hill

operating in the vineyard. The Cycle Group has a five year plan to complete a network of cycle paths in the region and have had support and funding from Bike Walk Marlborough, The Marlborough District Council and The Rata Foundation.

ADVERTORIAL

Snatch and Grab or Full Monty? A Shoot Thinning Trial on Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Chris Henry of Henry Manufacturing is championing a trial this season on Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to evaluate how changes in vine management can improve spray penetration for disease control. The trial will also evaluate the benefits vine management has on vine productivity in the following year. Trials last season showed the dense canopies associated with Sauvignon Blanc grown by the ‘Marlborough Method’ provided a challenge to disease control products that rely on contact to be effective. “Protector and HML32 fall into that category as do many modern synthetics,” says Chris. Changes to the management of the canopy are needed for these products to be effective.

Dr Mike Trought

Mark Allen

Jason Flowerday

NZ Wine Industry HoF

Allen Vineyard Advisory

Te Whare Ra

Chris is working with local Marlborough experts, Mark Allen of Allen Vineyard Advisory, Dr Mike Trought, Member New Zealand Wine Industry Hall of Fame and Jason Flowerday, co-owner of Te Whare Ra, to develop a solution for improved spray deposition during the critical period of flowering and the four weeks following fruit set. A range of canopy treatments providing different levels of spatial gaps will be trialled. The treatments focus on shoot thinning either at the head of the vine or over the whole plant. Growers who practice head thinning often call it a ‘head grab’ or ‘snatch and grab’ or a ‘karate chop’. This is a quick action where the worker hardly stops moving down the row. A step up from that is the ‘stop and look’ approach where the worker stops and looks for doubles, shoots crossing over other shoots or heading in the wrong direction. As Mark Allen puts it: “A ‘snatch and grab’ gets outwards pointing shoots only, whereas a ‘stop and look’ gets the three ‘no-nos’ – outwards, backwards and twins.” “The upside of a pre-flowering head thin is that it opens up the head for effective cover with the 80% flowering spray for both powdery and botrytis control” says Mark.

Even better is the whole vine ‘full monty’ where the canes are also checked early for double shoots and under shoots. “Done early, normally between EL9 and EL12, it is easy to see doubles and you can do it by hand”, says Jason Flowerday, who has been using the Full Monty practice for a number of years now. “Early shooting thinning by hand at the head also reduces the amount of pruning wounds in winter, minimising the risk of trunk diseases.” Dr Mike Trought adds that removing shoots by breaking them off removes the buds close to the origin of the shoot and as a result over a number of seasons, there should be a general reduction of shoots around the head of the vines. Pruning in the following season should be a lot easier and quicker as a result. “The trial is taking place on a Giesen vineyard in the Wairau Valley where Sauvignon Blanc grows particularly vigorously so it will be a good test,” says Chris. “They recognise the benefit to the industry and we appreciate their support. The trial will likely be expanded next season.” BEFORE whole vine ‘Full Monty’ shoot thin

AFTER whole vine ‘Full Monty’ shoot thin

Source: Mark Allen - Allen Vineyard Advisory

Visit www.henrymanufacturing.co.nz Call Chris Henry on 027 294 1490 email chris@henrymanufacturing.co.nz

Winepress October 2019 / 9

Who’s to judge? Marlborough’s up and coming wine show judges SOPHIE PREECE

“I DON’T really care which kind of Sauvignon you really like drinking, or if you don’t like drinking it at all,” says Jack Glover, chair of judges at the QuayConnect Marlborough Wine Show. “What I care about is looking at the quality of that wine on the table. Not beside the one before it or after it but that wine at that particular time.” Egos need to be checked at the door, he tells me, as five associate judges, three stewards and two journalists gather for a judging workshop in Blenheim, each facing six 2018 Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs. The actual judging, which will begin a few hours later, includes sub-regional categories, but this is a taster, with the task of assessing, commenting and scoring the six wines on a 100-point scale. “However you decide, it’s about the frame of reference you have, for what makes an outstanding Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in your

10 / Winepress October 2019

mind,” Jack says. Complexity, length, balance and intensity all come into assessing its quality. Flavours come into it, “but they are not the only contributer to the scores,” he adds. “We all grew up in different households in different parts of the world. And my citrus flavour spectrum could be different to Hannah’s or Emily’s.” So the tasting of the six randomly

“If your panel goes through and no one gets a gold, that’s okay.” chosen wines begins, with deft swirling, sniffing, swilling and spitting, followed by the scribbling of notes and

Photo: Richard Briggs

CELEBRATE

attribution of points. Jack says a panel should never be concerned about a lack of high scores, and when tasting the likes of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris, it’s possible to discover a long line of well made, solid, high bronze wines. “If your panel goes through and no one gets a gold, that’s okay.” The associate judges include two recent winners of the Tonnellerie de Mercurey New Zealand Young Winemaker of the Year, Jordan Hogg and Emily Gaspard-Clark, as well as more seasoned winemakers. One of them, Nikolai St George, chief winemaker at Giesen Group, says judging in the show is a chance to take a new perspective. “In a winery you rip things apart, and you’re pretty hard on the components of the wine. But when judging a wine you have to take it as a finished product and don’t be negative, but positive about its attributes.” From a winemaker’s perspective, it’s valuable to see how judges view the

CELEBRATE

wines and emerging styles, he says. “I can see trends and how the trends are changing over the years.” Jack says the associate judges provide a good pool to refresh the ranks of the senior judges, such as Abby Maxwell, winner of the inaugural Marlborough young winemaker competition in 2015, who joined the panel of nine senior judges at this year’s competition. And why no egos? “Because judging is by committee to get the best result. Everyone comes at wines from a different angle, and if we aren’t parking egos, the quiet wines will get shouted down. And some of those quiet wines are the most interesting.” Six associate judges and nine senior judges assessed 540 wines in 21 categories over three days last month for the QuayConnect Marlborough Wine Show. Trophy winners will be announced at a celebratory long lunch on October 25.

New Zealand’s top young winemaker Emily Gaspard-Clark knows her way around a lab. So when competitors in the Tonnellerie de Mercurey New Zealand Young Winemaker of the Year competition were tasked with fining trials and pre bottling analysis, “it was really in my wheelhouse”. That helped the 28-year-old Spy Valley assistant winemaker take the national title last month, having won the Marlborough competition in August. Speaking on the cusp of Marlborough Wine Show judging, where her regional win gave her an associate judge role, Emily explains that the national title will see her also judging at the New Zealand Wine of the Year Awards. “There’s a lot of learning,” she says. “There are still a lot of places I need to grow, but it’s all such a great opportunity.” The national competition involved a 20-minute presentation on whether New Zealand wine’s export growth is sustainable. “That was really, really interesting - learning a lot more about parts of the wine industry that I hadn’t looked into before.” She cited the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2018 strategic review of the New Zealand wine industry, which predicts Marlborough will have run out of practical planting space by 2025. “We have to do a lot more research around quality, crop loads and everything like that,” she says. “Making the most of our land and promoting our other varietals and our other regions is also really important.” PCL AD Winepress 2016.pdf

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Winepress October 2019 / 11

EDUCATE

The Locals Domestic wine companies increase their stake SOPHIE PREECE

SAINT CLAIR Family Estate had one vineyard and no markets when it made its first wine in 1994. Now it has 18 vineyards and a winery, all wholly owned by the Ibbotson family. “In the same time, the company has expanded its distribution from a nil base to more than 70 markets,” says founder Neal Ibbotson, who started growing grapes with his wife Judy in 1978. The company’s transformation from minnows to majors parallels that of several other New Zealand-owned companies, many of them in family hands, who have helped grow the country’s wine industry, worth $1.8 billion in exports. They include the likes of Delegat, a listed and registered New Zealand company 66.1% owned by Jim and Rosemary Delegat, which has grown 14-fold in the past 16 years. It now produces 27 million litres of wine from 2,982 hectares of land, the vast majority of which is company-owned. Marisco (see pg 14) has grown from 250ha in 2006 to 750ha of producing vineyard today, with more on the way, not to mention a state-of-theart winery at Marisco and another planned at Leefield. Wairau River began with just 2,000 cases of wine in 1991, but by the time they built a winery in 2002 had lifted their aspirations to 1,000 tonnes, “which we felt was quite large in those days”, says founder and owner Phil Rose with a chuckle. It has “developed somewhat” since then. The winery, still wholly family-owned under the umbrella of Rose Family Estate, now has 6,000 tonnes capacity, and an application to grow further currently in the pipeline. The PricewaterhouseCoopers 12 / Winepress October 2019

(PwC) 2018 strategic review of the New Zealand Neal and Judy Ibbotson started Saint Clair with one vineyard wine industry found that foreign entities controlled 33.5% of New Zealand’s total grape crush in the 2018 vintage. Multinationals also owned half of the large category 3 wineries, with sales above 4 million litres per annum, leaving the rest in New Zealand hands. That’s a The Giesen brothers have “deep roots” in the industry different picture to the turn of the founded the company in 1961. century, when big internationals had Executive director Fabian Yukich says a far greater stake, says New Zealand despite not having the capital reserves Winegrowers chief executive Philip of a multinational, “its impact and Gregan. “The simple fact is that both the impact of other family-owned the New Zealand-owned and the foreign-owned companies have grown businesses have been significant in the development of the New Zealand wine strongly over the past 20 years… The share of foreign ownership has lowered industry”. For example, Villa Maria was the first major wine company over that time. There’s no doubt about worldwide to seal 100% percent of its that.” wine in screwcaps, “and this focused The report also looked at industry media attention on New Zealand consolidation, with larger players wine”. He says family-controlled leading growth, as the number companies were often “the innovators of growers and smaller wineries and ground-breakers” that ultimately continues to decline. In the case of made New Zealand wine an attractive Saint Clair, growth has come from investment for foreign owned several strands, says Neal, talking of a companies. combination of purchasing bare land Villa Maria has grown significantly to develop, buying existing vineyards, to keep up with international demand, taking on contract growers, leasing with investment in purpose-built vineyards and the recent purchase of facilities and land, he says. “Our two smaller wine companies. focus has always been on the quality Villa Maria has been in family of our wine, so our growth trajectory ownership since Sir George Fistonich

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has been driven by consumer demand.” That growth has been enabled by “a combination of key partnerships and having purposebuilt appropriate facilities to ensure we can meet demand is critical to expansion”, he says. “Nurturing long-term relationships with both our customers and our grape growers while ensuring we have the facilities to meet production are key aspects.” Yealands Estate, now owned by Marlborough Lines, started 11 years ago using company-grown fruit from its Seaview vineyard. It has “grown exponentially” since, due to “rapid international market growth”, says Michael Wentworth, general manager of external relations and sustainability. That growth necessitated a more widespread sourcing strategy “incorporating grower fruit and the further development of a number of vineyards throughout the wider Marlborough region”, he says. Giesen Group doesn’t consider itself a ‘large’ wine company, says general manager Kyle Skene. “In terms

of scale we may well be, but we are very much the family-owned, privately funded business we were when the Giesen Brothers started it back in 1981.” Businesses like Giesen have “deep roots” in the industry, “personality” in what can be a very corporate environment, and an entrepreneurial spirit that is “deep in the DNA”, he says. The company has grown in both landholdings and also volume of wine sales, and has invested in markets that are helping drive the New Zealand wine industry. In Australia it is one of the top five white wines sold, he says. However, with the exception of the Clayvin vineyard, Giesen’s land holdings have stayed reasonably static for some time. “Being privately funded has meant we have had to invest in areas that we see the strategic benefit to grow our brands in market.” New Zealand ownership may be key to Giesen’s DNA, but Kyle says multinationals do “a wonderful job” of keeping New Zealand wine profiled across the globe. “They have taken brands to new levels and are showing

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a continued ability to invest in the brands once in market.” They also offer a substantial investment to the local economy, he says. “I am sure they see themselves investing more as New Zealand wine continues to grow in important markets like the USA. We do enjoy the ability to work on opportunities to grow whilst in their slipstream.”

Global funding for Kiwi growth Developing wineries and vineyards is an expensive business, says Marisco Vineyards founder and owner Brent Marris, who has tapped in to international capital to enable domestic development. “The OIO (Overseas Investment Office) has been very supportive of the finance nature of the transactions, and we are an example of where the OIO are empowering the increasing Kiwi ownership in the industry,” says Brent. Marisco Vineyards has grown rapidly since 2006, when it began planting on an initial 250 hectare property in the Waihopai Valley. Now it has 750ha in production, including on the recently purchased Leefield Station. It is planting between 50 and 80ha each year, with a target of more than 1,000ha of producing vineyard within the next few years. The gleaming “new generation” Marisco winery was built in 2010 and now the Marris family have started building a second winery on Leefield Station to handle increased production, “and to give us flexibility with the challenges of climate change”, says Brent. “Wineries are a capital intensive business so it is difficult for a family to finance rapid expansion. This is where strong banking relationships and connections with global investment funds become important.” He says “clever financing arrangements” leave ultimate ownership

14 / Winepress October 2019

with the Marris family but have required OIO involvement. Brent says New Zealandowned companies can be Brent and Emma Marris at Leefield Station authentic about their brand and family stories, which appeals to the buyers and the public. “This resonates worldwide, with increasing interest in authenticity and sustainability.” However, he insists that large multinationals are not a negative for the industry. “These players have wide reaching global distribution networks that establish and showcase New Zealand wine.” That opens doors for wider New Zealand participation and success, he says. “It is up to Kiwi producers to develop strong brands and invest in infrastructure so they can compete in the global arena, and this is what we are seeing happen in the industry.”

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Bragato 2019 Challenge, Think, Do TESSA NICHOLSON

THE CHALLENGE started a few days before the Bragato Conference began, with a Hawke’s Bay organic producer claiming the conference was heavily weighted with a pro-genetic modification line up. John Bostock was “outraged”, according to Stuff.co.nz, that Jack Bobo (pictured), the CEO of Futurity and an advocate for genetic modification, was one the guest speakers on day one of the conference. That was very quickly nipped in the bud by New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) board chairman John Clarke in his opening speech: “To challenge you this year we have many sessions covering a wide range of topics. One of these sessions is on plant genetics, and on new breeding technologies (NBTs). Some people have taken from this that we are supporters of GM – genetic modification. Let me be very clear. We do not support GM and I doubt we ever will. “We see no reason why our industry should not have a discussion about the role that new breeding technologies could, may, or might have in our future. That discussion can only happen if we have an informed industry, hence the session this year.” Bobo did not advocate GMOs in his talk, but instead challenged the delegates to break through the risk versus hazard component of chat about where agriculture is going in the future. “The food supply is the most plentiful in the history of the world. The food supply is the safest it has ever been. And people have never been more terrified,” Bobo said. “Consumers have never cared more about where their food comes from, or known less about how their food is produced.” That is a challenge for all agricultural producers, including the 16 / Winepress October 2019

wine industry, he said. Trust needs to be built and consumer values need to be appreciated. “We all need to become better storytellers, whether we are policy makers, scientists or farmers. Because we need to be able to get to that point of trust.” There were other challenges highlighted in the two-day event held in Napier, climate change being one of them. Professor Gregory Jones, director of the Evenstad Centre for Wine, said while we all know air temperatures are rising, very few realise that oceans are warming up at 10 times the rate of the atmosphere. “So that is a real problem as we move forward in the future.” The conference also highlighted the impact Xylella fastidosa (see

“Consumers have never cared more about where their food comes from, or known less about how their food is produced.” Jack Bobo.

Biosecurity Watch, pg 36) would have if it ever appeared in New Zealand. It was described by Craig Elliot from Wine Australia and Hort Innovation as “the Ebola of the plant world,” having decimated horticultural regions in recent years. And it is spreading, having been discovered in Portugal last year and Israel this year. This could well be the greatest biosecurity threat New Zealand has ever seen, and the mantra of Catch it, Snap it, Report it, was vital to keep this bacterium from being spread in New Zealand, he said. NZW also released its Code of Conduct for grape supply contracting at the conference (see pg 17). While this is a voluntary document, it is the first time the officiating body has provided guidance on industry expectations and good practice between growers and wineries. The code covers 12 important areas that should be carefully considered whenever a contract is undertaken. Bragato has morphed in recent years and is beginning to take on subjects that were once considered anathemas to the wine industry. But if 2019 proved anything, it was that sensible discussion on all topics, whether that be GMOs, wine tourism, social media, irrigation, herbicide reduction or diversity, needs to be had. The future is challenging, but having the tools to think about what might happen means people also have the ability to take informed action.

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Code Maker Guidelines for good practice between growers and wineries The New Zealand Winegrowers new Code of Conduct for Grape Supply Contracting was launched at Bragato, and a call put out for independent experts. Rapid and fair dispute resolution, particularly around vintage, is critically important, New Zealand Winegrowers’(NZW) senior legal counsel Sarah Wilson told the audience. The Code is a voluntary document, intended to provide guidance on industry expectations and good practice between growers and wineries for grape supply contracting. “It is a guide for negotiating parties to ensure they have considered common issues that can arise in the course of a grower-winery relationship, and to

promote fair dealing,” says Sarah. The code’s aim is to reduce the likelihood of issues arising during the course of the contract, and to ensure that parties have agreed a clear process for prompt and effective resolution when issues do arise. In the latter case, an independent expert - whether in vineyard assessment or contract arrangements - may be required to make a determination. NZW will maintain a list of Sarah Wilson independent experts who are available to assist with the disputes. expert, go to nzwine.com/members/ To find out more about the code grow/compliance/code-of-conductor about becoming an independent for-grape-supply-contracting

Winepress October 2019 / 17

CELEBRATE

A Meaty Challenge More than a few sur-pie-ses in store SOPHIE PREECE

“IF THIS is the only trophy we win this year we’ll be happy,” says Mount Riley Winemaker Matt Murphy, “thrilled” to have taken out the Great Burleigh Pie Pairing Challenge. His team of five dug deep to come up with the perfect pairing, heading to the library for a Mount Riley Marlborough Syrah 2009, knowing they needed some forest floor goodness to balance a Burleigh steak and mushroom pie. Also thrilled was Marlborough Mayor John Leggett (pictured), who pronounced himself “the luckiest man on earth” as he joined three other judges in finding the best match for 12 pies, blind tasting entries from 46 wine companies, each of them with their eyes on the pies. Fellow judge Sander de Wildt says that in all his years creating and enjoying pies, he’s never seen anything like it. “These Marlborough wines are all fantastic in their own right, but they are on the verge of sublime when matched with these iconic pies”. Fiona Fenwick (pictured), a judge and challenge co-founder, says every cent of the entry fees - $2500 in total -

18 / Winepress October 2019

will be donated to three local organisations. “We knew that The Burleigh is the go-to for most folks to satisfy their pie cravings, but this level of involvement has blown us away yet again,” she says. With the few remaining cases of Mount Riley’s Marlborough Syrah 2009 (the first Syrah the company ever made) safely tucked away, this pie perfection is not something many will be able to sample, but there were plenty of other winners on the day, thanks to the dedicated work of so many. Category winners were: • Chicken, leek and mushroom: Seresin Estate Chardonnay 2017 • Jerk chicken : Marlborough Sun Pinot Gris 2017 • Vegetarian : Constellation Brands The People’s Methode Traditionelle • Mince and English cheddar : Tohu Chardonnay 2016 • Mince cheese and bacon : Grove Mill Riesling 2016 • Steak and blue cheese : Two Rivers Ampitheatre Syrah 2018 • Steak and trufﬂed cheese :

Stoneleigh Merlot 2018 • Steak and pepper : Giesen Organic Syrah 2015 • Steak and bacon : Vavasour Rosé 2018 • Pork belly : Lake Chalice The Falcon Riesling 2019 • Jamaican lamb : Auntsﬁeld Busch Block Late Harvest Riesling 2016

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Organic Wine Week ORGANIC WINE Week is our chance to show consumers that organic and biodynamic wine is the best choice, every time,” says Organic Winegrowers marketing and events manager Stephanie McIntyre. “So that’s what we did.” Seven restaurants and 10 retailers were involved in last month’s sevenday programme, with 25 events across New Zealand and the United Kingdom supported by 42 Organic Winegrowers New Zealand members, as well as promotions and special tastings at cellar doors. Stephanie says the week is designed to offer something for everyone, from free tastings through to ‘1-hatted’ dinners, via formal tastings, barbecues and long lunches. In Marlborough, Karaka Cuisine

presented two “delicious” lunch specials over two days, showcasing spring produce paired with a complimentary glass of Babich or The Darling wine. Meanwhile, Arbour (pictured) presented two dinners, with Te Whare Ra “hosting out-of-towner” Rippon at the first, and Huia hosting Peregrine at the second. “The dinners were early sell-outs and showcased the best produce of Marlborough alongside a selection of nine wines each night,” says Stephanie. “It was a journey for the taste buds.” She says there is growing appetite for all things organic, including wine. “Consumer awareness is increasing at a rapid rate. We want to know what we are consuming, what we are rubbing

Photo by David James

on our body, and how the product we choose to spend our money on has impacted the land and the people that work it.” Until recently there has been a “disconnect”, with many restaurants celebrating organic produce on the plate but neglecting it on their beverage list. “That is rapidly changing and I take great pleasure in calculating the average of organic versus conventional wine on restaurant menus these days.”

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Top Cut Kiwi pruner sets sights on Switzerland SOPHIE PREECE

KERRY HAMMOND thinks a lot about pruning and a lot about surfing, and a lot about pruning while he’s surfing. The Starborough Wines Awatere vineyard manager - winner of the inaugural Felco Kiwi Pruning Competition - often meets his employer James Jones at the Awatere River mouth, where they discuss their vines from boards amid the waves, planning pruning dates, education, improvements and trials. This is Kerry’s 20th year in the vines, but he says the past few years working at Starborough have upped the ante in terms of pruning excellence, with a steadfast focus on the impact of cuts on the upcoming harvest and on the long-term health of the vine and vineyard. That focus bore fruit at the Felco competition, where Kerry put his knowledge to the test against eight competitors from across the region. The competition was held the day before the annual Wine Marlborough Silver Secateurs competition, and saw competitors handle spur and cane pruning in theory and practice. Meadowbank provided the venue, with high-density Pinot plantings offering both pruning techniques side by side. Kerry says the practical side of the competition was a snip, although the pace was faster than he is accustomed to working. The theory was more of a challenge, with competitors quizzed on the types and prevalence of trunk disease, and the advantages and disadvantages of spur and cane pruning. However, two decades of experience, along with those long discussions in the vines, in the waves and at workshops, stood him in good

20 / Winepress October 2019

stead, and he beat the competition to become New Zealand’s first pruning champ. Kerry will represent New Zealand in Switzerland next March, so is planning some visits to the likes of Herzog to get his mind and his secateurs around the Swiss pruning style. He’ll be helped out by viticulturist Jeremy Hyland, who has organised the Silver Secateurs since it began in 1995, as a celebration of the people working in Marlborough’s

“The practical side of the competition was a snip, although the pace was faster than he is accustomed to working.” vines, many of whom leave their families in the Pacific Islands to work the winter in cold vines. Along with James Jones, Jeremy has long been beating the drum for good pruning practice, including considered cuts and vineyard hygiene, to protect

the longevity of Marlborough’s wine industry. Jeremy says the new Felco competition came about after an approach from the sponsor, and aligned with discussions had by the Silver Secateurs committee. The new competition attracts supervisors, vineyard managers and winery staff who don’t tend to participate in the Silver Secateurs, which is dominated by contract gangs. As well as the 2019 Felco Kiwi Pruning Competition, Kerry won the Allan Croker Memorial Trophy. The Silver Secateurs John Bibby Memorial Trophy for Overall Champion went to Max Maralau from Vinecraft, while the Vinepower Championship Pruner for 2019 is Epati Tanuuasa from Thornhill, which won the title of Wine Marlborough Overall Contractor. Thornhill South Island Manager Alistair Mitchell says the company promotes the Silver Secateurs “as recognition of their skills and a celebration of a successful season”, and the staff “embrace the experience and the competition”. The event is a celebration of all the “amazing and hard work that goes into the winter pruning season,” says James Jones. “It is wonderful Wine Marlborough supports this

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fantastic day - our chance to show our appreciation for the commitment that is put in through the winter months.” Results Eco Trellis Novice Cutter 1st Place: Jack Sefo (Pernod Ricard) 2nd Place: Nalo Kelvenu (Pernod Ricard) 3rd Place: Kibson Salerua (Vinecraft) Ace Viticulture Novice Wrapper 1st Place: Fuifui Faavae (Thornhill) 2nd Place: Taisi Alofa (Thornhill) 3rd Place: Richard Jacob (Vinecraft) Constellation Brands Novice Pruner

Pernod Ricard. Championship Vine Stripper 1st Place: Epati Tanuvasa (Thornhill) 2nd Place: Valulua Fio Sao (Thornhill) 3rd Place: John Kennar (Thornhill) Yealands Wine Group Epati Tanuuasa, third from left Championship Wrapper 1st Place: Wilson Toara (Vinecraft) 2nd Place: Johnson Toka (Focus Labour Solutions) 3rd Place: Taufaiai Keneti (Thornhill)

1st Place: Oliva Poutoa Maua (Thornhill) 2nd Place: Richard Jacob (Vinecraft) 3rd Place: Fasimalo Palakoki Legaoi (Thornhill)

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Disease detectives The time is ripe to check for trunk disease SOPHIE PREECE

TRUNK DISEASE reveals itself in several ways, from water-stressed foliage to missing spur positions. However, new research is revealing which symptoms provide the best predictors of a vine’s demise, with a dead half head and stunted shoot the two strongest death knells, says Dion Mundy of Plant & Food Research Marlborough. The Vineyard Ecosystems Research Programme has included three years of research into visual symptoms of trunk disease, recording each to better understand the condition of the vine, says Dion. “We have been thinking about not just presence or absence of symptoms, but the presence of individual symptoms.” The trunk disease clues recorded include foliar symptoms, large cankers, half the head dead (top image), a dead vine, and missing spur positions (bottom image), including detail on how many were missing. They then returned the following year to see how the same vines had fared, “to work out whether some of the symptoms are more predictive of vine death than others”. While the findings are still in draft form, with another 18 months of research, two symptoms are standing out as being more likely to lead to the death of the vine, says Dion. “They don’t always mean the vine dies, but they are the ones associated with vine death the following year.” The first symptom is where half the vine doesn’t grow after pruning. The second is when shoots have failed to grow on the cane, or have grown 22 / Winepress October 2019

with only a couple of nodes. Both symptoms are associated with a physiological blockage of at least half the flow of xylem, he says. The plant can deal with some symptoms itself, by laying down defence compounds that hold the canker. While the plant grows, putting down more pipes, the canker does not. When it comes to foliar symptoms, a plant can show signs one year and not the next, because it is repairing itself, perhaps thanks to a better season. Foliar symptom are a really good indication that there’s a

“If you wait until you see the symptoms before you start using pruning paste, you are too late.” fungus present, but the lack of visual symptoms does not mean an absence of trunk disease, says Dion. If you wait until you see the symptoms before you start using pruning paste, you are too late. “You don’t teach your 2-year-old to brush their teeth because they’re about to fall

out,” he says, borrowing the analogy from an American trunk disease researcher. Late October to early November is a good time to walk through vineyards and see what the relative shoot lengths are, to ascertain which vines are struggling. In spur pruned vines, growers should check whether they have spur positions “that never fired”, Dion says. Mature vines that have not been actively managed are likely to be infected already, so it’s a case of working to slow the spread of further infection, and to look at timely surgery. “If all the infection is still in the head, and you can get below and cut it out, you can grow a new trunk.” Because of the established root system, the plant will come back to production quickly, he adds. Otherwise it’s a case of looking at the economics of replanting vine by vine, row by row or block by block. For those who are replanting now, best practice is to protect wounds from the first cuts, Dion says. “We now have 20 years of international knowledge that says we should protect those vines from day one.”

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Winepress October 2019 / 23

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Data Cruncher Corralling data for future research SOPHIE PREECE

WHEN DR Fang Gou was growing up in a small village in southwest China, she was surrounded by green, with boundaries of bamboo and gardens of vegetables. But the small plot behind her grandparents’ house was a kaleidoscope of colour, with as many different flowers as she could get her hands on. From the age of 7, Fang started collecting different species from friends and neighbours, steadily replacing her grandparents’ vegetables with blooms, all of which she could name. “Some days I would count how many species I had, and I was very excited by that.” It’s an auspicious background for Fang’s current role, cataloguing the wine industry’s research data to date for the Bragato Research Institute (BRI) in Blenheim. The work, which requires her to source and corral hundreds of projects, reports and presentations, will inform industry researchers on what’s already been done, and how to access data. Fang has also built a library in Mendeley, a programme for managing and sharing research papers, for project reports and fact sheets from the past 20 years. There are already more than 600 records in the library, which will be shared with New Zealand Winegrowers members, and Fang is looking forward to helping researchers search for the reports they need. She is getting plenty of insights along the way, including on the challenges that remain relevant over the decades, such as mealy bug and trunk disease, along with 24 / Winepress October 2019

the emergence of new research themes, including environmental sustainability and climate change. Going forward, she may embed some of the data to a database or collection of databases, for ease of accessibility across a range of projects. Part of Fang’s brief is to help establish data standards and protocols, as well as a new research database framework, so new data can easily be mined in the future.

“Some days I would count how many species I had, and I was very excited by that.” Fang Gou Fang came to Marlborough two years ago, after her husband Junqi Zhu took a job at Plant & Food Research Marlborough. She spent her first 18 months in Blenheim at home with their baby daughter Julia, before taking the data role at BRI, formerly known

as the New Zealand Winegrowers Research Centre. While Fang’s doctorate is in modelling yield potentials in wheatmaize intercropping systems, data collection has been a key element of all her study, since a love of plants led her to China Agricultural University in Beijing for a Bachelor in Science, majoring in agro meteorology - the study of weather in relation to crops. She went on to do a Masters in simulation and modelling of intercropping systems, before she and Junqi both went to Wageningen University in the Netherlands for their postgraduate doctoral degrees. The flowers she found there were similar to those she’d sourced and grown as a child. New Zealand, however, is a different story, and she’s still getting used to southern hemisphere blooms, a few of which she has growing in pots at the family’s Blenheim rental home. She and Junqi are now looking to buy a house in Marlborough, with a bigger garden high on the priority list.

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Fresh Water Submissions due on fresh water consultation NEW ZEALAND Winegrowers is reviewing the government’s Healthy Waterways consultation materials, with submissions due at the end of this month. The Ministry for the Environment (MFE) released its Action Plan for Healthy Waterways early last month, with proposed new requirements to improve freshwater, including a new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, new National Environmental Standard (Freshwater NES) and section 360 regulations relating to stock exclusion. New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) general manager advocacy Jeffrey Clarke says the proposals are primarily directed towards halting any deterioration of freshwater standards in the short term, and then, in the longer term, ensuring that all councils are required to “raise the bar” on management of freshwater ecosystem health. “They are likely to require all grape growers to have an audited Farm Environment Plan,” he says. “Because grape growing is a low input/low intensity activity, NZW believes it will be important for the new requirements to recognise the SWNZ (Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand) system as

able to meet this Farm Environment Plan requirement - avoiding the need for costly duplication.” Jeffrey says many of the proposals, such as fencing for stock exclusion, are intended to minimise the water quality impact of intensive farming practices, such as dairy, so are unlikely to affect growers. “However, other proposals would restrict the expansion of irrigated land, and impose other broader requirements, so the proposals would directly affect growers” he says. “Because the proposals ‘raise the bar’ on water quality generally, they may also require regional councils to reduce minimum flows, reduce water allocation limits and implement catchment-wide nutrient loss restrictions. They may also impact disposal of winery wastewater and marc. The proposals will impose significant additional costs on councils, which will inevitably need to be passed on to ratepayers and consent applicants.” Once it has assessed the documents, NZW will send members a summary of the potential impacts on winegrowing in New Zealand. “We are also seeking to arrange a webcast meeting in which MFE officials can

explain the proposals and how they may affect winegrowers directly to our members,” Jeffrey says. Marlborough District Council environmental planner Pere Hawes says policy, consenting, compliance and science staff are working through the proposals “to establish what positive or negative effect they could have in a local context”. The National Policy Statement is the most complex part, with “a suite of new water quality ‘attributes’, some of which we measure now and some of which we do not”. The work will be implemented through regional plans, such as the Marlborough Environment Plan (MEP), and must be done by 2025. Pere says the National Environmental Standards in the proposal apply regardless of the MEP provisions. “They are effectively national rules.” The official closing date for submissions is Thursday 17 October 2019 at 5pm. However, the MFE site says submissions will be accepted until 31 October. *nzwine.com/members/grow/ compliance/current-consultations/ *mfe.govt.nz/consultation/action-forhealthy-waterways

Increase in seasonal workers New Zealand Winegrowers and Wine Marlborough have welcomed an increase in the number of Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme workers allowed to work in the horticulture and viticulture industries’ peak seasons. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway has announced an increase of 1,550 RSE workers for the 2019-20 season, bringing the total to 14,400, and a further increase of 1,600 places in 2020-21. New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan says the industry’s primary focus is on placing Kiwis into work, but there is often a shortage. “Increased access to labour through the RSE scheme has supported the wine industry, and contributed to export growth… The fact that a further increase of 1,600 has also been indicated

26 / Winepress October 2019

for the following year gives us increased certainty, and allows us to plan into the future.” Wine Marlborough advocacy manager Vance Kerslake says the increased number will help ease severe labour shortages in the region, and Marlborough’s wine industry should not be impacted by new restrictions on using residential rental housing for RSE, also announced by the minister. Figures from the Marlborough District Council indicate that RSE worker accommodation accounts for approximately 2% of Blenheim’s total rental stock, says Vance. “The industry here has invested a great deal in purpose-built accommodation, to ensure seasonal workers can be comfortably accommodated without putting a squeeze on local housing availability.”

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Winepress October 2019 / 27

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Immigration changes Industry baffled by Marlborough’s placement in new labour market test VANCE KERSLAKE

IT WILL be tougher to hire migrants in Marlborough following the Government’s immigration announcements last month, although there was a mix of good and bad news overall. To start with the good news, if you are employing overseas staff for the current growing season or vintage 2020, then there is nothing you need to change (unless you are a Talent Accredited Employer using the Work to Residence visa). New regional labour market tests and visa conditions will give open access for higher-paid jobs in the regions and longer visas in regions with low labour supply. You would think this would be good for Marlborough, but in a move that defies all logic and reason, Marlborough has been defined as a high labour supply region alongside regions with the highest unemployment in the country! The result is 12-month visas that must be renewed every year, but only after passing a tougher labour market test. Wine Marlborough has already challenged this decision, requested an explanation from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and asked for a review. We will keep you updated on progress. All employers wanting to employ migrant workers will also be required to be accredited. The Strengthened Labour Market Test for lower-paid jobs means employers will be required to advertise jobs with pay rates and accept Work and Income (W&I) referrals. Employers will not be able to reject W&I referrals unless they have failed to attend an interview or 28 / Winepress October 2019

fail a drug test for Transport is one of many industries in Marlborough struggling to a job in a highfill positions. Photo Richard Briggs risk environment. Employers will also be unable to reject effect mid-2020. This gives us some an applicant for not having their own time to lobby for Marlborough to vehicle or driver’s licence unless it be correctly categorised as a lower is specifically required for the job. labour supply area. The new visa and ANZSCO codes are out, a positive application process will have a phased result, and the median wage ($25 per implementation in 2021. hour) will distinguish between high Finally, the Government said: and low paid jobs. “The new process will be designed The biggest surprise is what did over the next 18 months, so there is a not change: lower-paid foreign workers lot of detail that is not yet available. will still have to leave New Zealand This includes information about for a one year stand-down period after fees, processing times and evidence they have been working for three years. that employers and migrants will Timing for these changes is quite have to provide in support of their drawn out. The new high versus low applications”, so watch this space. evidence that employers and migrants will have to provide in support of their applications”, so paid threshold and reinstating the watch this space. ability for lower-paid foreign workers Vance Kerslake is advocacy manager at Vance Kerslake is advocacy manager at Wine Marlborough to bring their families will come into Wine Marlborough

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Winepress October 2019 / 29

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Industry Pioneer Coming up roses, from Windsor Castle to Marlborough vines SOPHIE PREECE

A UTE drives through Seaview on a dark and cold Marlborough morning, via rolling pastures and wide swathes of crops. It’s 3am, spring and the early 1990s as Mike Insley reaches out the truck window with a thermometer, measuring this “hot spot” in the Awatere Valley. Back then, Pacific winds buffeted sheep, grass and swathes of corn at Seaview, on the eastern edge of the South Island, but Montana’s vineyard supervisor envisioned vines. The company bought and developed easier flat land instead, creating Triplebank vineyard nearby. But 25 years on, via a career marked by major Marlborough developments, roles in California, China and India, and a lifetime of learnings, Mike is back at Seaview, as the new chief operating officer at Yealands Estate. These days seemingly endless rows of vines climb and descend the land’s contours, stretching all the way to the sea. It’s a vineyard empire that “still takes my breath away every morning when I come around the corner”, says Mike. His new role has plenty of challenges, including the blow taken by Yealands Estate last year, when breaches of the Wine Act 2003 saw the company, two winemakers and founder Peter Yealands in hot water at the High Court. It’s meant a thorough review of systems and processes, checks and balances, says Mike, who came on board in the wake of the events. He’s excited by a fresh start for the company. “It’s a repositioning, with new branding, new winemaking team, 30 / Winepress October 2019

and sustainability manager to really reinvigorate the sustainability story,” he says. “Making it absolutely real and taking it to the next level.” (see pg 32) The company’s carboNZero status also excites him (it’s the only wine company in New Zealand to be certified), as does the company’s new $2 million grape marc composting facility and plans to regenerate soils, helping lock away carbon in the vineyard. “It’s about really adding depth to the programme.” Meanwhile, around 250ha are in development, to supplement the more than 1000ha Yealands already has in production. Mike first arrived in Marlborough 30 years ago, fresh from a year at Windsor Castle, where he’d pruned the Queen’s roses, mowed lawns, and raked lots and lots of leaves. In 1984 he had studied a single paper on grape growing and winemaking, in the final year of his four-year Massey University degree, one of only four in the class. “As a struggling student, making your own alcohol had a degree of attraction,” he says. But it wasn’t until he and his wife Jennifer returned to New Zealand in 1989, after spending time overseas, that he considered wine as a career. Back then there were “lots of sheep” in Marlborough. Montana’s Fairhall, Brancott, Renwick and Omaka vineyards were planted, but there was nothing west of Bedford Rd and very few vines in the Awatere. New Zealand’s wine exports were

Photo by Jim Tannock

worth less than $50m, compared to the current $1.85 billion, but opportunities abounded. His role meant working with growers including Ivan Sutherland, Max Gifford, John Marris and Neal Ibbotson, all pioneers of Marlborough’s wine industry, many of whom are still “very much” a part of it, he says. It was a chance to see what worked and what didn’t, and he realised there were no hard and fast rules true of every season. In the early 1990s the Marlborough Research Centre started changing the way growers looked at their vines, helping transform the industry, he says. “It is something we kind of take for granted now, as something that has always been there, but it wasn’t always the case.” Montana’s vineyard developments continued, with Mike and his boss Tony Hoksbergen heading out on cold spring mornings to measure the temperature of likely looking places. Then, if the landowner would let them, they would walk over a paddock with a long spike, to see how far they could plunge it into the ground, assessing the viability of the soil type. “Now in Marlborough we know it’s all pretty bloody good.” Between 1994 and 2003, first as Montana and then Allied Domecq, they developed nearly 1,400 hectares of vineyard between North Canterbury and Marlborough, says Mike. From

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2003, things slowed significantly, but they went on to develop blocks in the Lower Wairau, choosing not to irrigate, despite Montana first introducing irrigation in Marlborough vineyards. In 2005, Mike (by then South Island vineyard manager) moved to California with his family - one of the benefits of working for a multinational business, he says. It was quite a transition, with more than half of the grapes there hand harvested because of access to cheap labour. “That has changed now, so the industry over there has gone through some major changes with mechanisation.” Three months later Allied Domecq was sold, with Jim Beam buying most of its Californian interests, while Pernod Ricard bought the New Zealand operations. Mike stayed on in the States, but at the end of 2007, when Jim Beam decided to sell its wine assets in California, he called Tony and applied for the position of New Zealand vineyard manager. “I came back to work with the same people and same vineyards.” In 2015, Mike left again, this time going to China’s far northwest, looking after Pernod Ricard’s Helan Mountains operation in Ningxia. “I have a very, very understanding wife, who when she receives a text late one night saying ‘China?’ doesn’t immediately say no,” he says. “We’d always said once the kids had left home we would have one more adventure.” It was a big shift - culturally, socially and viticulturally, says Mike. Four years into the role, he still

Photo by Richard Briggs

struggled to gauge the size of the industry. “The Government would talk about 40,000ha or 60,000ha, but driving around it didn’t look like that,” he says, estimating a planted area closer in size to Marlborough’s. Wine sales there now are “very, very tough”, because there’s no tradition of wine drinking, he says. “Wine stocks are building, and winery growth is mainly in storage tanks.” His work also took him to India - a “truly nascent” wine industry of 2,000 to 3,000ha. Despite an abundance of table grapes, the wine side is “very small and very challenging”, he says. “They prune twice and harvest once an accountant’s worst nightmare when it comes to vineyards.” Production pruning is in September, which forces budburst in October, so that the fruit is developing and ripening in winter, “such as it is”. Nights are cold, it’s dry with very little humidity,

and the temperatures rise as harvest progresses. Work in India made China seem simple, but at the end of 2018 and beginning of this year, Mike found he was spending far too much time on planes, travelling between New Zealand, China, India and France. Deciding there are better things to do in life than sit in airports, he started looking homeward and stepped into the position at Yealands. “We worked out that I could probably bring something to them and they offered a very challenging role.” It’s been easy to return to New Zealand’s wine industry, “like slipping on an old shoe”, he says. “I still get a lot of satisfaction from sitting down in a restaurant or at home, opening a bottle of wine and thinking, ‘I helped to make this’. It’s an extremely rewarding industry.”

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Winepress October 2019 / 31

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Forgotten Corners The regeneration of Yealands Estate SOPHIE PREECE

CRACKING DOWN on carbon use is a constant challenge at Yealands Estate and “at the heart” of the company’s sustainability story, says chief operating officer Mike Insley. “There’s only one carboNZero winery in New Zealand and we are it. Yet the biggest challenge facing the industry and facing the world is climate change.” It’s not the glossiest environmental story on the block, with lightweight bottles, bulk exports, efficient systems and a dirty great pile of compost rather less picturesque than Yealands’ wandering ducks, shiny flax and beautiful butterfly valley. But for Yealands’ new sustainability manager Tara Smith, it’s about measurable, significant and important changes that lighten the footprint of the wine industry. “We can draw everything back to carbonNZero and say ‘this is why we are doing this’.” Tara’s role is part of a new era at Yealands, says Mike, talking of “reinvigorating” the company’s sustainability story and ensuring it has depth and authenticity. “Making it absolutely real and taking it to the next level.” That includes the company’s new 80-metre long, $2 million covered grape marc pad, which has yielded mountains of compost since last vintage. The compost is being spread on Yealands’ vineyards this spring, to regenerate soil and lock up carbon, says Mike. “Grape marc has been seen as a waste stream, but we don’t see it that way. There is value to be extracted from it, and we are putting our money where our mouth is.” Meanwhile, the company has just 32 / Winepress October 2019

gained consent to spread the runoff onto the land. “Some people say leachate and we say compost tea because there are lots of goodies in there… it’s a very biologically active material,” says Mike, determined to avoid the loaded ‘L-word’ from here on in. A new day at Yealands Estate. Photo by Jim Tannock The company has of bottles in some ranges, because “the been certified carboNZero since the biggest contributor to C02 emissions winery was built in 2008, and has had in the wine industry is packaging”, to show continued improvement year he says. “On the farm here it is diesel on year. Any “unavoidable” emissions usage, but when you look at the can be offset with the purchase of amount of energy and C02 to make registered carbon credits, but there is a glass bottle, it’s huge.” Glass can also an obligation to reduce offsets, contribute up to a quarter of a wine relative to growth, says Tara. business’s total emissions, although Yealands’ most recent audit by that figure can be altered by recycled Enviro-Mark Solutions showed a content and the fuelling of furnaces, reduction of 21% in the intensity of emissions between 2013 and 2018, with he says. The lighter bottles cost less key gains being made in the areas of carbon in manufacture and transport, product transportation and energy but also carry the risk of skewed efficiency. That’s largely down to some wines perception, with consumers apt to link a lightweight bottle with a lightweight now being shipped to the UK and wine, admits Mike. “It’s not easy being bottled under Yealands labels once green.” there, says Mike. “Shipping off-shore There have also been efficiency in bulk is a great way of reducing food gains in the day-to-day operations, miles and there is definitely a huge, while solar, wind turbines and pruning huge saving in carbon emissions.” They have also reduced the weight burners are now responsible for a

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quarter of the company’s annual energy needs. Vine prunings, which are baled and burned, are considered biofuel, says Tara. “The burners contribute so much that we’re currently in the process of looking at how we can automate the process.” The company currently bales up to 10% of the available vine prunings, because that’s all it can process. But they made more bales this winter to enable the automation project to go ahead, ideally resulting in a future boost in biofuel bales. That’s just one of the targets being set to make “significant gains” in energy utilisation, reduction in fuel emissions and efficiency gains across the supply chain, she says. The carboNZero certification requires Tara to look at the full life cycles of resources they use, such as posts. Yealands is now putting in metal posts rather than treated timber, because the full-life cost is less, despite the manufacture and transport of the steel. They are also running a trial of recycled milk bottle vineyard posts, made by start-up company Future Post. Distribution and supply chain is hardly a sexy topic, laughs Mike, but it’s the kind of environmental work that makes a tangible difference. And there are other, perhaps more scintillating, topics on the table, such as the macrocarpa windbreaks snaking across ridgelines on Yealands’ newest development. Where most new vineyards spell the demise of old

windbreaks, the ones here have been retained and celebrated for the heritage, biodiversity and shelter they offer. On another development, closer to the sea, the five-person landscape team has planted kilometres of new windbreak, Tara Smith as well as hillsides of natives. Mike says there are many trees already planted, but he and Tara are now looking at any other bare land that could be transformed, envisaging hillsides of manuka and kanuka, with consequent opportunity for honey production, Chilean Needle Grass control, and perhaps the potential for in-house carbon offsets. Meanwhile there’s the whimsical butterfly valley developed by company founder Peter Yealands several years ago, and the chickens and ducks wandering at a nearby wetland and pond surrounded with natives. These things have no role in the carboNZero challenge, but do play a part in telling Yealands’ sustainability story, says Mike. “We are one of the few, if not the only, vineyard that actually invites people to come and see what we are

Feeling parched?

doing - drive along the White Road and get out to take a look.” Peter had a great vision from day one, says Mike. “You see that driving down the road. Were things implemented in the way they should have been? In some cases, no. This is about building on what came before, and ensuring things are real and have depth.” “Sustainability requires a level of trial and error,” adds Tara. “Some things work well, others not so well, but there is great learning regardless of the outcome.” Wine Marlborough has organised a grape marc field trip to the Yealands Estate composting facility at 10am, Tuesday October 22. Please RSVP to advocacy@winemarlborough.nz by Friday October 18

Last summer highlighted how important Marlborough’s surface water resources are for irrigators. Hydrologist Val Wadsworth has years of experience and knowledge. Get in touch, especially if you want more water storage for your vineyard. Val can provide river flow and rainfall records and explain the science behind them. River and rainfall information can also be found at www.hydro.marlborough.govt.nz Val Wadsworth Hydrologist

DDI: 03 520 7441 | M: 021 667 746 val.wadsworth@marlborough.govt.nz www.marlborough.govt.nz

Winepress October 2019 / 33

GROW

Generation Y-ine Telling a story in every wine SOPHIE PREECE

IT’S A big step from a boutique winery to a major Marlborough producer, but winemaker Peter Russell has taken it in his stride. “It just so happens that Matua is probably eight times bigger than anywhere else I have worked,” says the company’s production winemaker and runner up in the 2019 Tonnellerie de Mercurey Marlborough Young Winemaker of the Year competition. He is relishing the opportunity to hone processes and conduct trials at Matua, while indulging his respect for Pinot Noir. “Probably a little known thing about Matua is that it’s one of the largest producers of Central Otago Pinot,” says Peter, who loves the variety for its difficulty. “There is little room for error, but when you do get it right it’s one of the most expressive varieties I think New Zealand is making at the moment.” Peter grew up on a sheep, beef and deer farm in the Manawatu, but when he received a Future Leaders scholarship to study at Lincoln University, decided to look beyond agriculture. “I didn’t want to be immersed completely in that life, I suppose.” He liked science and sought the chance to broaden his horizons, while staying in primary industry. “Somehow I worked out I would study winemaking.” Before graduating in 2014, he took some time out for vintages in Hawke’s Bay and Bordeaux, “to reinforce that’s where I wanted to end up”. They did the trick, and he returned to study invigorated about an industry enriched by “vast differences”, with winemakers able to “show” themselves

34 / Winepress October 2019

in their work. “You create something for people to enjoy and they are essentially tasting what your thought processes are. Your ideas and beliefs in a way come through, whether that’s organic winemaking or out there, in-your-face styles, or subtlety that will please everyone. It all comes out.” His first full-time role was at Hunter’s in Marlborough, where he stayed for three years, expanding his vintage experiences with the yearround role, to experience the postvintage pleasures of blending, filtration and fining. After leaving Hunter’s, he went to Hawke’s Bay for a vintage, followed by harvest in Santa Rosa in the United States. From there he had nearly two years at Framingham, learning from the “wealth of information” in the winemaking and viticulture teams. “Andrew (Hedley) rubbed off on me quite a bit with the winemaking and wine styles and what really makes a wine, I suppose. It’s all about place and bringing out the best.” Moving to Matua was “the ambitious young side of me coming out”, Peter says, adding that it’s been a great move. “It’s a young team and I get quite a lot of freedom to come up with things I want to do and follow them through, such as trials through vintage,” he says. “We’re open to lots of ideas.”

Peter says the recent young winemaking competition, which was won by Spy Valley Wines’ Emily Gaspard-Clark, was another great opportunity to extend himself. “You meet so many people in the industry and it’s a really good competition for highlighting your weaknesses.” He has competed in the Marlborough event three times and says there is always a range of emotions, “from ‘I did really well’ to, ‘I could have done so much better’.” Having set himself the task of improving his public speaking this year, he won that module, as well as the marketing. “I would say I had a fear of public speaking growing up and I would now say that public speaking is a strength.” They’ll be essential skills, because he finds himself centre stage at Matua marketing and training events, and hopes to one day have his own brand, which would “showcase where it’s come from”. Marlborough has a distinctive wine style, Peter says, “and I think there’s still room for movement to make it a whole lot better in years to come”.

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Biosecurity Watch Lessons from California: Improving the New Zealand wine industry’s readiness for Pierce’s Disease DR EDWIN MASSEY

THROUGHOUT NORTHERN California, wine producers have dealt with Pierce’s disease, caused by the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa, for over a century. The presence of Pierce’s disease has an ongoing impact on viticulture but has not stopped vineyards in Napa and Sonoma county from being some of the most valuable and profitable agricultural land in the entire United States. During July, New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) visited California in collaboration with Wine Australia to learn more about the impact of this disease on viticulture and the ongoing state-sponsored management programme, as well as investigating the latest research underway to mitigate its impact. The threat of Pierce’s disease Pierce’s disease is one of the wine industry’s highest threat biosecurity risks. The disease blocks infected plant’s xylem tissue, preventing the movement of water from the roots to the canopy. Plants typically show signs of water stress, with accompanying loss of productivity before eventual death. While there is no known treatment for the disease, there is some evidence of cold curing where cold winter temperatures reduce the amount of bacteria present in an infected vine.

Xylella fastidiosa is vectored by xylem feeding insects, such as sharpshooters and spittle bugs. The disease has a very wide host range with hundreds of different plants being recognised hosts, but not all these host species display disease symptoms. New Zealand is currently free of Xylella fastidiosa and is also free from any sharpshooter species. Nonetheless, New Zealand is home to a range of xylem feeding insects and one, the meadow spittle bug, is prevalent throughout vineyards in many growing regions. The most likely entry point for the bacteria is on infected plant material. New Zealand has strong quarantine laws that mitigate risk posed by plants on the commercial pathway, but preventing smuggled material from entering New Zealand is much more challenging. Overall, while the likelihood of Xylella fastidiosa entering New Zealand is relatively low, the potential consequence for the wine industry could be extremely significant. The Californian experience Xylella fastidiosa was first identified in California in the 1880s. California has a range of native vectors, in particular the blue/green sharpshooter, and the local wine industry has always suffered localised losses. This all changed in

1994 with the arrival of a new vector, the glassy winged sharpshooter (GWSS), likely imported to California on citrus nursery stock from Florida on the US east coast. GWSS proved to be a much more effective vector than native species and its introduction caused extremely significant losses in vineyards across southern California. In response, the Californian state government established the Pierce’s Disease Control Programme. This programme is focused on preventing GWSS from establishing in northern Californian wine regions. Since its inception in 2000, the programme has been very successful in limiting the spread of GWSS. The programme has implemented a dedicated surveillance and incursion response capability and a nursery accreditation system that regulates the movement of potential risk goods. The programme has also concentrated on delivering first class extension services that promote awareness and provide risk management advice. By any metric the programme has achieved its objectives and has helped to ensure the sustainability of the Californian wine industry. Despite the success of the programme, Californian growers still suffer annual losses caused by native vectors. Vineyards that bordered

IF YOU SEE ANYTHING UNUSUAL

CATCH IT . SNAP IT . REPORT IT . Call MPI biosecurity hotline 0800 80 99 66 36 / Winepress October 2019

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contingency plans to help mitigate risk. Conclusion – be a biosecurity champion

A pile of dead Chardonnay vines that have succumbed to Pierce’s disease

rivers and creeks or had significant drainage ditches were typically the most heavily infected, with up to 12 rows from the border being impacted. Many affected growers have attempted to mitigate the impact by setting up a physical barrier, removing habitat or even covering threatened vines with kaolinite clay to make them less inviting for vectors to feed on. Most of these management activities have limited effect, with growers replanting each season to reduce the risk of vectors moving deeper into the vineyard in search of feeding sites. In effect, these replanted vines serve as a buffer, soaking up the attention of the vector insects who live in the riparian area. For some growers this constant replanting is a significant drain on profitability. To break this cycle, US researchers have been working on breeding hybridised vines that are resistant to Xylella fastidiosa. After almost 25 years of work these resistant vines are close to being commercialised. In the vineyard, these resistant vines would be planted along the riparian borders. The grapes from these resistant vines could then be blended (within limits) with the grapes from the rest of the vineyard and still be labelled as the same variety with no impact in the marketplace. Improving New Zealand’s readiness NZW chairs the Xylella Action Group, a partnership between the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and a range of industry and other stakeholder groups who are working together to improve New Zealand’s readiness for an incursion of Xylella fastidiosa. Recently, Plant & Food Research delivered an excellent research report - Risks to New Zealand’s primary industries from Xylella - which outlined the potential impact of the disease on a range of New Zealand’s horticultural industries. For the wine industry, the report highlights that the impact of Pierce’s Disease could be extremely significant, particularly in North Island wine regions with warmer winter temperatures. This report is available on the NZW website (nzwine.com). While there is still much uncertainty regarding these impacts, particularly in a changing climate, the report enables those industries that are most likely to be impacted to better partner with MPI to improve collective readiness. Together these groups will work to identify research questions and

While at this stage the threat posed by Pierce’s Disease raises more questions than answers, the Californian experience highlights that it is A physical barrier alongside a still possible to grow vineyard riparian boundary in grapes profitably and Sonoma County – a typical if make excellent quality ultimately futile attempt to prevent wines in the presence vectors from entering the vineyard. of the pathogen. At this stage the best thing individuals can do is to mitigate risk by improving the effectiveness of supply chain biosecurity and by implementing the NZW biosecurity best practice guidelines on their property. While these measures won’t prevent Pierce’s Disease from establishing in New Zealand, it will help to mitigate the impact and build a higher degree of resilience in the wine industry. Don’t forget if you see symptoms, or anything unusual in the vineyard, to call the Biosecurity New Zealand hotline 0800 80 99 66 to report your find and also let the NZW biosecurity team know on biosecurity@nzwine.com.

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Winepress October 2019 / 37

Industry News Grape Marc Field Trips With the growing season underway, it’s a great time to consider options for managing grape marc for vintage 2020. Members are invited to attend two grape marc field trips to the Yealands Estate composting facility (Winepress May 2019) and the PacRimEnviro drying plant (Winepress June 2019). • Yealands Estate composting facility (pictured) 10am, Tuesday 22nd October • PacRimEnviro drying plant 10am, Wednesday 23rd October. Please RSVP to advocacy@winemarlborough.nz by Friday October 18 Wine Marlborough Update Wine Marlborough is assembling a vintage information pack with Immigration New Zealand, to assist with processing AIPs and Essential Skills visas. We discussed the ongoing labour shortage with the Ministry for Social Development’s regional commissioner, who also attended the Smart + Connected Labour and Skills meeting chaired by us. The government has released an avalanche of consultations on water, highly productive land, urban development (housing), hazardous substances (including agri-chemicals) and glass packaging. Wine Marlborough is working closely with the New Zealand Winegrowers advocacy team on submissions. Kerry Hammond (Starborough) won the FELCO Kiwi Pruning Competition and is off to Switzerland to represent New Zealand. Thornhill was the overall winner of the Wine Marlborough Silver Secateurs. The CCA Post Working Group is continuing to develop guidelines for CCA timber and, continuing the sustainability theme, Wine Marlborough co-hosted a business luncheon on sustainable value with the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce and KPMG. The next regular Marlborough Winegrowers meeting with Marlborough District 38 / Winepress October 2019

Council is on November 19. If you have any issues you want us to raise with council, email Vance Kerslake, Wine Marlborough advocacy manager advocacy@winemarlborough.nz Rabobank Wine Quarterly Over the past decade, the Chinese wine market has been the fastestgrowing in the world, according to Rabobank’s latest global Wine Quarterly. For wine marketers, China offers an “enormous opportunity”, but requires a dedicated focus in order to understand the ongoing changes, it says. While the volume of imported wine (from global suppliers) into China has surged by “nearly fourfold in a decade” as it benefits from a highquality, premium image in the mind of the Chinese consumer, the report says 2018 saw the first decline in Chinese wine import volumes since 2014. “Overly optimistic expectations and aggressive investments in the wine market have resulted in oversupply and overstocked products, and the market is working to draw down existing inventories.” The report also cited a slowdown in economic growth, notable price increases of French wines, fading consumer confidence, the weakening of the renminbi, and uncertainty in US-China trade as contributing to the overall decline in

imported wine. While the Chinese wine market appears to be slowing, that is likely to be a “temporary phenomenon”, the report says. “China is expected to remain an attractive export market moving forward, though the competitive landscape for both foreign and domestic wine companies continues to evolve quickly.” The report says New Zealand wine exports have grown strongly in the first four months of 2019, recording an 11% increase in volume and 10.5% in value on the same months in the prior year. Senior wine analyst Hayden Higgins said the increase in wine exports in early 2019 was largely driven by stronger sales into the UK market. “The majority of the increase in export value was derived from exports to the UK, with an early rush of imports by the UK in the lead-up to the initial Brexit date.”

New Zealand Wine of the Year The best of New Zealand wine will be discovered at the New Zealand Wine of the Year event, with judging of the wines from October 14-17 in Auckland. Hawke’s Bay winemaker Warren Gibson is chair of judges, with Marlborough winemaker Ben Glover (pictured) alongside him as deputy chair. They will lead a 26-strong team of international and national judges, including Canadian wine writer Treve Ring and Australian winemaker Steve Flamsteed. Warren says New Zealand Wine of the Year is an opportunity to recognise the achievements of grape growers and winemakers in one competition. “The

focus is strongly towards celebrating the entire New Zealand wine industry, with a particular emphasis on vineyard excellence and regionality.” Gold medals, varietal trophies and regional trophies will be announced in late October, early November, with the eight platinum trophies revealed at the New Zealand Wine Awards celebration in Blenheim on November 16. The awards event will also acknowledge other industry achievements including Young Viticulturist of the Year, Young Winemaker of the Year and the New Zealand Winegrowers Fellows for 2019. More information go to nzwine. com/events.

Sister City The Marlborough District Council’s economic development adviser, Alistair Schorn, recently represented Marlborough at the Ningxia International Sister Cities Forum in Yinchuan, China. He gave a presentation on the opportunities for collaboration between Marlborough and Ningxia, particularly in education and wine technology. He also met with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise representatives at New Zealand’s embassy in Beijing, to discuss wine technology exports and promoting Marlborough to the Chinese film and television industry. New World Wine Awards The Stoneleigh Rapaura Marlborough Chardonnay 2018 has taken the Chardonnay Trophy and Champion White Wine at the New World Wine Awards, in the competitions largest ever Chardonnay field. There were 50 Marlborough Chardonnays in the competition, just below Hawke’s Bay’s 60. Chair of judges Jim Harré

Marc Greven’s 20 year service After almost 20 years as a research scientist in viticulture and oenology for Plant & Food Research (PFR), Marc Greven is leaving the Marlborough Research Centre (MRC), in order to join Bordeaux Sciences Agro (BSA). Marc took a one-year sabbatical in September 2018 to start as associate professor at BSA, a French ‘Grand École’ for agricultural engineering. Besides teaching, most lecturers at BSA undertake research at the Institute of Science Viticulture, a grape and wine research organisation formed through collaboration between BSA, Bordeaux University and the French Research Institute. The time in France was enough to tempt him to make the move permanent. However, he’s already planning collaborative research with Marlborough Research Centre colleagues. Marc says highlight of his time in Marlborough was when the (then HortResearch) team moved from MRC’s Grovetown Campus into the new purpose-built Marlborough Research Centre in Budge Street in 2004. At the time the research focused on olives, apples, cherries and some grapes, with only five in the team. The Marlborough olive industry was then the biggest in the country and the apple industry was still important. “We started off as a small group, but soon we were joined by three research staff from MRC - Mike Trought, Jeff Bennett and Kerry Strong - and due to additional grape research funding we had five postgraduate Lincoln University students working with us.” Over the next few years olives, cherries, and apples were pulled out and replaced with vines. Marc was mainly dedicated to vine water use and canopy research, including work on mechanical thinning research work. “This work demonstrates that when you have the industry behind you, research gets picked up very quickly,” Marc says. In the third year of this 10-hectare research trial, there was enormous over cropping, and “overnight” the industry adopted the research, applying it to 4000ha of canopy area in Marlborough alone. Marc says his best work investigated the influence of node numbers laid down at pruning, on vine development and yield. Two international papers were published from this work. Shortly after, in 2016, for research on immediate post-harvest canopy loss, Marc was the first New Zealander to receive the coveted prize for best viticulture paper from the American Society of Oenology and Viticulture. This is an abbreviated version of a story in the MRC newsletter, and is reprinted with their permission calls the entry surge a “sign of winemakers’ confidence in the quality of their Chardonnay, and of changing consumer tastes as more people embrace new versions of this old favourite”. Champion Sauvignon Blanc went to the Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2019. Six other Marlborough Sauvignons received gold trophies, including a canned wine - JOIY Savvy Society Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019. Entries to the New World Wine Awards must retail for $25 or less, and there must be at least 4,000 bottles (or 2,000 for emerging varietals) available for sale through New World stores.

Publication error The September Winepress mistakenly included an advert for Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

CLASSIFIEDS For sale: 30ac vineyard property in prime Conders Bend location. 25ac producing vineyard. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc. Email bridgetbyrne2018@gmail.com Mower. Giltrap 210. Side Discharge. Ideal for 3 metre rows. Very clean. What offers. Ring Ken Grant 03 5705218

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

To have your event included in next monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wine Happenings or Industry News pages, please email details to sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz by October 20. For more information on these events, email Harriet Wadworth at harriet@wineâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;marlborough.co.nz

OCTOBER 12 Voting closes in local body elections 14-17 Judging for New Zealand Wine of the Year competition 20 Grape marc field trip, 10am, Yealands Estate composting facility (see pg 38) 23 Grape marc field trip, 10am, PacRimEnviro drying plant (see pg 38) 25 QuayConnect Marlborough Wine Show Long Lunch 25 WineWorks Marlborough Wine Race 26-28 National Cellarbration - nationwide cellar door weekend NOVEMBER 16 New Zealand Wine Awards, Marlborough, nzwine.com/nzwa 20 Marlborough Winegrowers AGM, 4pm followed by drinks, MRC Theatre

Marlborough Wine Show Lunch - October 25

40 / Winepress October 2019

WineWorks Marlborough Wine Race - Oct 25

National Cellarbration - October 25-26

FOR SALE

Boundary lines are indicative only

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Mike Poff 027 6655 477 Wine Industry Specialist Sales and Leasing

Tender 3pm, Wed 6 Nov 2019 33 Seymour Street, Blenheim Mike Poff 027 6655 477 mike.poff@bayleys.co.nz BE MARLBOROUGH LTD, BAYLEYS LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

mike.poff@bayleys.co.nz BE MARLBOROUGH LTD, BAYLEYS LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

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