Winepress - November 2013

WINEPRESS Issue No. 231 / November 2013

Dry Farming

Wine Weekend

Mitigating Risk

Meet the Board

Photo: Jim Tannock

The Official Magazine of

www.wine-marlborough.co.nz

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In this issue...

Regulars

Features

3 4

7

33 34 35 36

Editorial

The Essence of Dry Farming As summer fast approaches, so

Tasman Crop Met Report

too does the need for irrigation.

Or does it? Some growers are practicing dry farming, with spectacular results. But as

Wine Unwound

p20

convert William Hoare explains, it is something that needs to be

Export News Wine Happenings

introduced slowly.

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The Five Nasties Last month we took a look at the PSA experience and how it impacted on the Kiwifruit industry.

News From Home and Away

This month we look at the five insects that could change the face of the wine industry if they

All correspondence including advertising / associate memberships / change of address to: Wine Marlborough PO Box 511, Blenheim 7240 T: 03 577 9299, F: 03 577 9298 E: admin@wine-marlborough.co.nz www.wine-marlborough.co.nz

arrived on our shores.

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Meet the Board The new board of Wine

p24

Marlborough has been announced and this month we introduce you to five of the 10 members. They explain why they stood, what they see as our greatest strengths and the

Printed by: Blenheim Print Ltd. T: 03 578 1322 WINEPRESS is printed with vegetable oil based inks on elemental chlorine free paper which is sourced 100% from well managed forrests and manufactured under ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems.

challenges that face us.

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Preparing for Flowering The third in our series on soil nutrition takes a closer look at how important it is to build the nutrition levels up as flowering looms.

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

Produced by:

From the Editor

Wine Marlborough Free to all levy paying members Associate Members: $77 +GST Editor: Tessa Nicholson 16 Bank Street Blenheim T: 021 709 571 E: tessa.nicholson@me.com If you wish to make contact with any member of the Wine Marlborough Board, the following are their email addresses.

Clive Jones: cjones@nautilusestate.com James Jones: james@starborough.co.nz Blair Gibbs: blair@spyvalley.co.nz Ivan Sutherland: ivan@dogpoint.co.nz Ben Glover: ben@zephyrwine.com Ruud Maasdam: ruud@staetelandt.co.nz Guy Lissaman: glissaman@xtra.co.nz Laurin Gane:

The world is currently experiencing a shortage of wine, and that could be a bonus for New Zealand. So says a recent report from American financial services firm Morgan Stanley.

According to the report, global wine production peaked back in 2004, but since then consumption growth has outstripped it, leading to production reaching the lowest level in 40 years in 2012.

Much of that production drop has to do with European nations suffering from poor weather conditions over a number of years and a concerted vine pull in certain areas.

In the meantime as global consumption steadily rises, the report says “there may be insufficient supply to meet demand in coming years as current vintages are released.”

The two biggest growth markets are the US and China, both vitally important to New Zealand producers.

In terms of how the financial firm sees New Zealand, it says the export prices for our wine are “high and rising, almost double Australia’s pricing and second only to France on the global stage…The country has benefitted significantly from it’s on-going popularity of its Sauvignon Blanc, with export demand re-accelerating in 2012.”

So good news for the near future and one that local producers will be sure to want to take advantage of.

But, and there is always a but, producers have to be careful not to over analyse those comments and think that the bigger the crop in 2014, the better it will be. There is a lot of anecdotal talk about how large the crops look at this stage of the cycle. Which given the conditions at flowering last year, it not a surprise to many. Just how big and how viable those yields are going to be is still not known.

We do know though, that many wineries were affected by the August earthquakes.

Tanks have been damaged, and may not be able to be replaced in time for vintage next year. Can the current infrastructure cope with massive yields?

We also know that large crops don’t always mean great quality. Can we afford to crop like mad, and forego those all important quality parameters that ensure our high prices?

It’s to be hoped that the lessons of 2008/09 are not forgotten in the coming months. It took a handful of years for some form of supply/demand balance to be returned to the Marlborough wine industry. Years that financially hit everyone involved.

Yes there may be a global wine shortage, yes consumption is increasing – but we need to be very savvie with our decisions on crop levels over the next few months.

laurin.gane@xtra.co.nz Simon Clark: simon@clarkestate.com Simon Bishell: s.bishell@slingshot.co.nz

TESSA NICHOLSON tessa.nicholson@me.com

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Table 1: Blenheim Weather Data – October 2013

October 2013

October 2013 October comp[ared to LTA LTA

Period of LTA

October 2012

GDD’s for month -Max/Min¹ GDD’s for month – Mean²

128.8 138.0

129% 128%

99.9 107.5

(1996-2012) (1996-2012)

99.1 110.6

Growing Degree Days Total Jul – Oct 13 – Max/Min Jul - Oct 13 – Mean

255.9 306.4

140% 131%

182.4 234.3

(1996-2012) (1996-2012)

189.3 236.8

Mean Maximum (°C) Mean Minimum (°C) Mean Temp (°C)

19.6 8.7 14.1

+1.5°C +0.9°C +1.1°C

18.1 7.8 13.0

(1986-2012) (1986-2012) (1986-2012)

18.7 7.5 13.1

Grass Frosts (<= -1.0°C)

1

1 less

2.1

(1986-2012)

5

Air Frosts

0

-

0.1

(1986-2012)

0

(0.0°C)

Sunshine hours 222.3 98% Sunshine hours – lowest Sunshine hours – highest Sunshine hours total – 2013 1997.4 101%

226.1 140.7 299.6 1970.5

(1930-2012) 239.5 1983 1969 (1930-2012) 1920.0

Rainfall (mm) 56.0 97% Rainfall (mm) – lowest Rainfall (mm) – highest Rainfall total (mm) – 2013 634.5 116%

57.7 2.3 161.0 547.3

(1930-2012) 1961 2001 (1930-2012)

547.6

Evapotranspiration – mm

109.9

111%

99.1

(1996-2012)

112.0

53.0

Avg. Daily Windrun (km)

290.3

96%

302.4

(1996-2012)

320.8

Mean soil temp – 10cm

12.2

+0.4°C

11.8

(1986-2012)

11.0

Mean soil temp – 30cm

14.4

+0.9°C

13.5

(1986-2012)

13.3

¹GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures ²GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures October 2013 weather October 2013 was warm, with average sunshine hours and rainfall. There were a few very windy days but also quite a number of relatively calm days. October continued the warm start to the new season.

Temperature The October 2013 mean temperature of 14.1°C was 1.1°C above average and the warmest October since 2001, with a mean temperature of 14.3°C. For the 11 years 2002-2012 Blenheim experienced only average to below average October mean temperatures. The average daily maximum temperature for October 2013 was 19.6°C. This was 1.5°C above average. It was also the 5th highest average daily maximum temperature on record for October for the 67 years 1947-2013. The average daily minimum temperature for October 2013 was 8.7°C. This was 0.9°C above average. This was the highest average daily minimum temperature for October since 2001.

New temperature records for Blenheim In Met Report over the last three

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months I have previously reported the warm mean temperatures for July, August and September 2013. With the addition of October, the four months July to October 2013 recorded a mean temperature of 11.5°C; 1.7°C above the long-term average. This is highest mean temperature on record for Blenheim for this four month period for the 82 years 1932-2013. The previous highest mean temperature for this period was 11.25°C recorded in 1988. 2005 is in third place with 11.1°C. Table 2 presents the 10 warmest July to October periods for the 82 years 1932-2013. It is interesting to note that seven of the 10 warmest years are in the last 16 years, since 1998. This is in line with previous data I have presented in previous editions of Met Report, with regard to the warmer winter and early spring temperatures in Blenheim over the past 28 years.

The three months August to October 2013 are also the warmest on record for the period 1930-2013 with a mean temperature of 12.26°C; 1.7°C above the long-term average. 1988 was also

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

in second position for this three month period with a mean temperature of 12.1°C. Growing degree-days The last time I included the growingdegree day graph in Met Report was in May 2013 at the conclusion of the last season. Now is an opportune time to include the graph to give an indication of how the growing-degree days are progressing early in the 2013-2014 season.The solid red line in Figure 1 is for the current 2013/2014 season.

September oscillated between warm and cool weeks so the GDD line was only slightly above average at the end of the month. However, with more consistent warm weather in October (apart from the second week) the GDDs are well above average at the end of the month. As detailed above, October 2013 was the warmest since 2001. I have included the green line for the 2001/2002 season as a comparison. Not only were the mean temperatures very similar in September and October 2001 compared to 2013, but the temperature patterns during those months were also very similar, indicated by the green and red GDD lines following a very similar course.

The question is where will the GDD line head from 1 November 2013 onwards?

I have included some projected GDD straight lines from 1 November through Table 2: Warmest July to October mean temperatures on record for Blenheim for the period 1932-2013 Year

July - Oct Mean Temp.

Deviation from Mean

(°C)

(°C)

Long term average 1986-2012

10.2

2013

11.47

+1.27

1988

11.25

+1.05

2005

11.13

+0.93

1998

11.05

+0.85

1999

10.80

+0.60

2006

10.73

+0.53

2012

10.73

+0.53

1970

10.68

+0.48

2001

10.68

+0.48

1980

10.63

+0.43

until 31 December for both last season and the current season. These are projection of where the GDD line would end up given temperatures being +1.0°C, +0.5°C or average. By including the straight black projection lines for last season I hope it helps to compare with what actually occurred and to compare with the current season.

Some of the main points to note from the GDD projections are: • Given average temperatures during November and December 2013 the GDD line would remain above average.

• If the temperature was +0.5°C for November and December 2013 the GDD line would be in a similar position to 2001 and 2005, both early seasons. The 2005/06 season was very warm during most of November and December, giving rise to an early flowering and contributing to an early harvest in 2006.

• If the temperature was 1.0°C above average in November and December 2013 then it would be the warmest season since the very hot seasons in the late 1980s (not shown).

What are the consequences for grape phenology going forward this season?

The first week of October was very warm and occurred just as a large proportion of Sauvignon blanc grapes were going through budburst. With a rapid progression through budburst in comparison to recent years and warm weather in the latter half of October, it currently appears that flowering of Sauvignon blanc in Marlborough in 2013 will be earlier than average. Given a

+1.0° C temperature scenario as shown in Figure 1 then we would have a very early flowering in 2013. Bunch numbers in 2013 are already above average due to warm temperatures over the period of bunch initiation for this season, in late 2012. Warm temperatures over flowering in late November and December 2013 would give rise to good fruit set, so the outcome would be higher than average bunch numbers with higher berry numbers per bunch. With both of these scenarios coming into effect the potential yield in 2014 could be very high.

Rainfall October rainfall of 56.0 mm was very close to the long-term average. The rain was fairly evenly spread throughout the month, with significant falls recorded on 8, 11, 14, 25 and 30 October. Total rainfall for January to October 2013 of 634.5 mm was 116% of the long-term average.

Sunshine Total sunshine hours for October 2012 were 222.3; very close to average (225 hours). Although nine days during October recorded rainfall, there was only one day during the month (8 Oct) with zero sunshine. Two other days recorded less than one hour (9 & 11 Oct). However, there were nine days during October that recorded more than 10 hours sunshine. The highest daily total was 13.4 hours on 29 October.

Wind October 2013 average daily wind-run was 290.3 km. This was 96% of the October mean (1996-2012) of 302.4 km.

Figure 1: Growing degree days for Blenheim: days ahead (+) or behind (-) average Growing Degree Day summation starting from 1 September; straight lines indicate GDD projections from 1 Nov to 31 Dec for 2012 and 2013.

October 2012 recorded a significantly higher average daily wind-run of 320.8 km.

It may seem surprising that the daily wind-run was slightly lower than average.

Most people will remember a number of windy days during the month. However, there were twelve days during October that were relatively calm, recording less than 200 km wind-run. The calm days tend to go by unnoticed. There were seven days during October when the daily wind-run was greater than 400 km.

Two days had fairly persistent wind and recorded greater than 600 km wind-run; 14 Oct with 619.1 km and 26 Oct with 667.0 km. The maximum wind speed in Blenheim was 86.7 km/hr recorded on 14 October. Although wind-run was slightly below average during October it is still the windiest month so far in 2013.

October and November are normally the windiest months that Blenheim experiences.

Evapotranspiration The evaporative demand, as measured by evapotranspiration, was above average for October 2013; 109.9 mm compared to average of 99.1 mm.

Soil Moisture As a consequence of the regular rainfall events throughout October, shallow soil moisture (5-35 cm depth) at the Grovetown Park weather station stayed fairly close to field capacity (approx 38%) for the first three weeks of the month.

During the final 10 days of October soil moisture fell from 35 to 30%; this is normal. In drier years the shallow soil moisture can drop to 25% by the end of October. From mid October onwards soil moisture can drop very rapidly without regular sizeable rainfall events.

Rob Agnew Plant & Food Research

The Met Report was brought to you by:

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Dry Farming TESSA NICHOLSON

Dry farming can help create special wines, while saving millions of litres of water. But it is something that needs to be done slowly.

Marlborough’s Fromm Winery began its

undertake tomorrow, not unless you want

have to go looking for water, so they stay

conversion from irrigating to dry farming

to stress the vines out he says.

in a ball under the dripper. That means

back in 1999. These days 60 percent of

“Vines are just like people - if you stress

the vines make varietal wines, pretty

the vines are not irrigated, with some of

them out, they won’t work. A stressed

wines, but they can be quite simple.

the older blocks having not been irrigated

vine makes really tannic and bitter wines.

Whereas if you dry farm you try and get

since 2004. Water savings are calculated

If you are looking at dry farming, you

the vine roots to go deep. Then the vine

at 9.5 million litres a year. (Irrigation lines

need old vines and you need to have

has to suck moisture from deep within the

are still present, even if they are not

grown them so the roots have travelled

soil which makes the wines taste of that

used.)

well down.”

site. That helps make each of those wines

General Manager William Hoare says

William says when French soil scientist

special and that can be the difference

once they made the decision to move

Claude Bourguigon visited the vineyard

between a really good wine and a great

away from irrigating, it has been a 10-

three years ago he made an interesting

wine.”

year process. Initially all the young vines

comment that made sense to the Fromm

While most varieties will benefit from dry

planted are irrigated, to allow them to

team.

farming, William believes you need to be

grow in balance and not be stressed.

“He said that with new world wines,

careful with Sauvignon Blanc.

“We aim for the square metres of leaf

where everyone irrigates, the roots don’t

“... because if you stress Sauvignon

to be the same as the square metres of roots. So we get them up, get them strong and then we look at irrigating the vines in the same way as rain.”

That means gradually weaning the vines off daily irrigation, and watering only every two or three weeks - depending of course on the season - for about four to six hours.

“We irrigate in such a way that the vine’s roots have to work to go after the water.

We even went to the extent of changing the times each day when the vines were irrigated – this way they don’t rely on their 10 am feed. We have dug holes two and a half metres deep and the roots down there are the size of your fingers, big tap roots.”

It is not something you can decide to

The Fromm winemaking team, Hätch Kalberer and William Hoare

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without having to dig deeper.

Gradually remove that source of water and they will have to work for what they require, in the end creating a stronger, more balanced vine. That balance is something William says is apparent in dry farmed vines, when it comes to canopies.

“We only trim them once, maybe twice, a year and they have that nice balance where the growing tips are healthy but you are not dealing with big canopies. Leaf plucking is easier, trimming is easier and the actual canopy is easier because it is not being Blanc you end up with much more of

But this year it got stressed, the base

the tropical, pineapple characteristics

leaves went yellow, and we had issues

coming out. They end up looking a bit

with potassium and pH levels, which for

more like Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon, rather

a winemaker becomes a hassle. While

than the typical Marlborough. You can get

this didn’t affect the finished wine, it’s

an incredibly concentrated aromatic, but

a hassle for the winemaker to manage

it will be different.”

through the winemaking process. The

Fromm Winery has a strong organic

vines we hadn’t irrigated though were

approach when it comes to its vineyards.

totally fine. The root systems were big

But that doesn’t mean it has abandoned

enough that they could get what they

science. William says they now do

wanted, when they wanted it and the

more testing for nutrient and moisture

wines look really good.

levels than they did prior to stopping

“What seemed to happen was we would

the irrigation. And thanks to a steady

irrigate those young vines, then they

compost and mulch regime, the nutrient

would dry out, so we would irrigate again.

levels along with moisture levels have

But the vines began to stress, because

been almost perfect according to tests

we couldn’t get the water levels quite

taken.

right. It is a guessing game in conditions

Perhaps the biggest test was this recent

like that.”

season, which was an extremely dry

It makes perfect sense that vines, like

one. While the older vines coped well,

most organisms, are lazy. They do only

the younger vines, which are still being

as much as they need to to survive. So

irrigated, didn’t fare as well.

if the water is being delivered on a daily

“We have six-year-old Riesling in front of

basis, the roots will stay close to the

the winery, which we have been irrigating.

surface, getting everything they need

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pumped up artificially.”

In terms of advice, he says if you are considering moving towards dry farming, take a good look at your soil type, your root stock, what wine style you are trying to make and the age of your vines.

“If you have older vines, and by that I mean 10 years or older, it is a positive. I would get soil monitoring to measure the humidity in the soil. And then go slowly.

Don’t just randomly do it. It has taken us 15 years to get the vines to the stage where we don’t have to irrigate them. It cannot be done overnight.”

Fromm Winery took out the Winery and Horticulture Award at this year’s Marlborough District Council Environment Awards. The judges were impressed with not only the ability to dry farm, but also the holistic approach the company takes to producing quality wines. “Fromm vineyard felt like a healthy farm working with the environment to grow quality grapes,” the judges said.

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The Five Nasties RESEARCH BY JIM WALKER OF PLANT AND FOOD, HAWKES BAY, REPORTED BY TESSA NICHOLSON

The kiwifruit industry being hit by Psa, was a wakeup call for all primary producers. There are a number of threats that could have equally devastating effects on the wine industry.

What those threats are and why were the subject of one of

out, we have no idea whether Pierce’s which is a bacterium

the more enlightening presentations at the Romeo Bragato

(Xylella fastidiosa) is already present in New Zealand.

Conference. Dr Jim Walker from Hawke’s Bay Plant & Food said

“The thing with xylella is there are more than 300 host plant

as air travel, tourism, immigration and trade increase, so too

species and many of those are asymptomatic hosts. We don’t

does the threat that an industry changing insect could arrive

know if we have the bacterium but not the vector. But if the

on our shores. There are at least five that every grower needs

vector comes in, it could complete the whole cycle and cause

to be aware of. This month we highlight them. Jim said growers

major problems.”

need to be constantly on the lookout for all of these. Hoping they won’t turn up is not enough. Be proactive and if you have any doubts about an unusual insect, call the Exotic Pest and Disease Emergency Hotline – 0800 80 99 66.

Spotted-winged Drosophilia Jim described this insect as a very nasty one. It is a vinegar fly, that lives for up to two weeks. The females can lay around 300 eggs and there can be up to 10 generations in a season.

“It attacks earlier, as the fruit begins to mature. It has many hosts including berry fruit, grapes, stone fruit, kiwifruit and it has spread like wildfire through Europe and North America. While it is not found in the

Glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS)

Southern Hemisphere yet, potentially via a fruit tray it may not

This is large leafhooper, native to south-eastern America.

be far away.”

The reason it is such a danger, is because as a vector it can

The spotted-winged Drosophilia has a serrated ovipositor that

transfer Pierce’s disease. Already it has decimated vineyards in

is like a chainsaw, used to great effect on maturing fruit. The

California. A xylem feeder, it has a huge range of host plants,

consequent wounds then expose the fruit to other pathogens

such as pittosporum, eucalyptus and citrus. The GWSS is an

and fungal diseases such as botrytis.

extremely strong flyer and an equally strong vector for disease.

“If this entered New Zealand it would change our pre-harvest

While not present in New Zealand, there have been numerous

insecticide programmes as we would have to protect to prevent

reporting’s of GWSS in the Cook Islands.

berry or reduce berry damage.

Admittedly, you need both the GWSS and Pierce’s disease in the same country to impact on vineyards. But as Jim pointed

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Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Very like a shield bug in shape, this was first found in the US

Vine Mealy Bug This is of considerable concern to winegrowers throughout New Zealand.

Originally emanating from Europe, it has now spread to California, and South Africa.

It is spread via budwood and equipment. With a broad host range, it has four to five generations per year.

“And the damage – whole bunches literally shrivel and in the late 1990s. Now it is present in more than 35 states, with extremely high population densities. It feeds on a wide range of host plants, from apples to citrus, figs to grapes. When they feed on grapes, they damage berries, which impacts on the ensuing wines. What is worse, is if they are collected with the

eventually it kills the vine. It is a significant vector of grape leafroll virus, so we need to be vigilant.”

Exotic Pest and Disease Emergency Hotline – 0800 80 99 66.

Don’t be afraid to use it.

grapes at harvest and crushed with the fruit. In this case the wine taint could be significant.

They are the classic hitchhiker Jim said, easily transported in suitcases, or shipping containers. There have already been five identifications of this bug in New Zealand. It is not easy to get rid of either.

“In apples in the US, up to 13 pyrethroid insecticides are required to control this. And even with those 13 treatments there was 10 percent fruit damage. It has completely destroyed IPM programmes.”

European Grapevine Moth Native to Italy, this moth has spread throughout Europe. In 2008 it was found on grapes in Chile and in 2009 it was discovered in the Napa Valley, California. Hosts include olives, apples, kiwifruit, cherries, persimmons and grapes.

Larvae feed inside berries, hollowing them out and leaving only skin and seeds. The risk to fruit health and potential botrytis epidemics is obvious. Jim said it is an insect that could easily be introduced via fruit imports.

NICK WINTER

VINEYARD CONSULTANCY LTD This company was formed to provide Advice and Management to get the best outcome for your vineyard. I have been in the Grape Industry since 1985, this experience and expertise enables me to understand the clients needs and provide practical, cost effective advice. Every vineyard is different so needs its own individual assessments.

The Vine Balance is the most important thing in Growing Quality Grapes.

SERVICES INCLUDE: • COMPLETE OR PART MANAGEMENT • SOIL TESTING • VINE HEALTH / NUTRITION • HERBICIDE & FUNGICIDE SPRAY PROGRAMS • PEST & DISEASE MANAGEMENT • CANOPY MANAGEMENT • SPRAY DIARIES • IRRIGATION SCHEDULING • SWNZ ACCREDITATION • WINERY LIAISON • INDEPENDANT REPORTS

Nick Winter Vineyard Consultancy Ltd 5 Washington Cres Blenheim PH: 027 609 0009 email: nick@nwvc.co.nz

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Meet the Board The new board of Wine Marlborough was announced in early October. Over the next two issues we take a closer look at the 10 people you have chosen to represent you.

CLIVE JONES - Chairman Company You Represent Nautilus Estate Title Winemaker/winery manager Why Did You Stand For The Board Of Wine Marlborough?

I felt I could contribute to the organisation and the best way to do that is putting your hand up and volunteering. It is easy to sit back and complain when things are not going well so it is better to front up and get on with it.

What Is The Greatest Challenge For The Marlborough Wine Industry?

Ensuring profitability across all sectors – from contractors to growers to wine companies. If any one of these sectors is struggling then we are not in good shape.

What Can The Board Do To Mitigate That

Association, Methode Marlborough, The

Challenge?

Mana group etc. If we all work together

Keep all players informed and keep

with a collective vision it makes our

promoting the quality message. Our

region much stronger and we all benefit

region’s reputation was founded on a

from this.

quality product that attracts a premium

What Are Your Interests Outside Of Work?

price and we must ensure that continues.

Watching my kids play sport and hanging

If we start competing on price alone then

out in the Sounds

profitability tends to evaporate.

What Is Your Favourite Thing About

What Is The Biggest Opportunity For The

Marlborough?

Marlborough Wine Industry?

It is a great place to grow grapes and

To promote diversity across our product

make wine! Marlborough isn’t the

range. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

biggest region in New Zealand by

is certainly NOT ‘all the same’. We are

accident – it is the best place in the

also the largest Pinot Noir producer in the

country to grow grapes. It is not a

country and we need to make more noise

bad place to live too, centrally located

about our quality Pinot, which is up there

and a great environment and climate.

with the best and don’t get me started

Whenever I travel I always look forward to

on the superb quality Marlborough

coming ‘home’ to Marlborough.

Chardonnays that you can find these

What Is Your Favourite Wine?

days.

At the moment I am really excited

How Can The Board Help To Make The

about Chardonnay- there are some

Most Of That Opportunity?

fantastic premium quality cool climate

We will keep promoting our wines

Chardonnay’s coming out of our region

and bringing people to our fantastic

and I think we should be making more

region. However the board and Wine

noise about it as it adds another string

Marlborough has other tasks as well

to our bow. I am talking about the

including; labour, working with other

premium end though – I am not a fan of

regional bodies and organisations and

un-wooded chardonnay – I would rather

environmental issues etc which are

have a Sauvignon Blanc. From outside

often quite distracting. So we cannot do

our region a Mosel Riesling Kabinett will

everything for everyone in the region.

do just fine.

We need to work with other groups and parties such as the Winemakers

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11/2013 WINEPRESS

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13

What Is The Greatest Challenge For The

wine supply so we can increase the price

Marlborough Wine Industry?

of Marlborough wines to hopefully deliver

Maintain profitability in the face of fierce

better margins for all.

global competition.

How Can The Board Help To Make The

Protect our global reputation as the

Most Of That Opportunity?

world’s premier wine producing region.

Remind wineries and growers to only

What Can The Board Do To Mitigate That

produce what the market can profitably

Challenge?

sustain, not a bottle more. Learn from the

A collective voice representing the

past and keep the market in balance.

JAMES JONES – Deputy Chair

industry on critical issues such as our

What Are Your Interests Outside Of Work?

Company/Vineyard You Represent

seasonal labour requirements and other

Family, friends, fishing, diving, surfing

Starborough Farming Company Ltd

advocacy and right to farm issues.

What Is Your Favourite Thing About

Title

Continue to market Marlborough as the

Marlborough?

Owner/Vineyard Manager

best place on earth to produce world-

The Marlborough people

Why Did You Stand For The Board Of

class wines.

The Marlborough Sounds

Wine Marlborough?

What Is The Biggest Opportunity For The

The Marlborough wine industry.

To contribute back to the industry that

Marlborough Wine Industry?

What Is Your Favourite Wine?

has created such a fantastic opportunity

To build on our reputation as a premium

A Chardonnay with plenty of nice oak but

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11/2013 WINEPRESS

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

Wine Marlborough?

worker numbers coming to Marlborough.

I was keen to have some input into an

What Is The Greatest Opportunity For The

industry which I am very passionate

Marlborough Wine Industry?

about and to ensure my children have the

To keep growing our reputation to the

same opportunities in the future.

World that Marlborough Sauv Blanc is

What Is The Greatest Challenge For The

A+++ (This I believe is going to be a

Marlborough Wine Industry?

challenge as well as an opportunity for

Personally I think the greatest challenge

the Marlborough Wine Industry). As well,

going forward will be a labour shortage,

getting more recognition for other wines

but we also need to ensure that

produced in Marlborough.

LAURIN GANE

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is “number

How Can The Board Help To Make The

Vineyard you represent?

one in the eyes of the consumer”

Most Of That Opportunity?

Selmesbrook Vineyard/Tasman Crop

How Can The Board Help Mitigate That

Keep helping organise and supporting

Position you hold

Challenge?

events such the Marlborough Wine

Fifth in charge, behind Dad, Mum,

Keep promoting Marlborough as a

Festival etc.

Brother and Sister

destination for travellers to visit and work.

What Are Your Interests Outside Of Work?

Why Did You Stand For The Board of

Also keep working towards more RSE

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

11/2013 WINEPRESS

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15

Makos, Crusaders to the All Blacks.

What Is The Biggest Opportunity For The

What Is The Greatest Challenge For The

Diving and fishing.

Marlborough Wine Industry?

Marlborough Wine Industry?

What Do You Love About Marlborough?

Expanding markets in North America /

To avoid over supply and dilution of our

The Marlborough Sounds and our

Asia.

presence as a quality wine producing

climate! Roll on Summer!

How Can The Board Help To Make The

area, along with increasing the dollar

What Is Your Favourite Wine?

Most Of That Opportunity?

per litre return, so Growers, Companies,

Mudhouse 2012 Sauvignon Blanc

By continuing to emphasise the

Employees and the District will reap the

Selmesbrook Single Vineyard...”Bloody

importance of quality viticulture; matching

rewards.

great drop”

supply with demand.

What Can The Board Do To Mitigate That

What Are Your Interests Outside Of Work?

Challenge?

I enjoy participating in or following most

Keeping the total industry well informed

sports, playing music, spending time in

of industry statistics, particularly

the Marlborough Sounds.

those associated with production and

What Is Your Favourite Thing About

marketing to ensure any expansion in

Marlborough?

plantings is market led rather than just an

Has got to be our amazing climate!

increase in production driven mentality.

What Is Your Favourite Wine?

Continue to enhance and promote the

Rhetorical question?! Marlborough

quality aspect of Marlborough wine,

Sauvignon Blanc.

working closely with members to add value and integrity.

What Is The Biggest Opportunity For The

SIMON BISHELL

Marlborough Wine Industry?

Vineyard You Represent

To obtain greater awareness

Caythorpe Vineyards Limited

internationally of the unique wines we

Title

produce, particularly Sauvignon Blanc

Owner

and Pinot Noir.

Why Did You Stand For The Board Of

How Can The Board Help To Make The

Wine Marlborough?

Most Of That Opportunity?

I am fifth generation on the family farm

More influential visitors to the region and

and the wine industry is now a major part of our business. I would like to ensure that future generations can continue to grow and share in the success of the industry that we have today.

What Is The Greatest Challenge For The Marlborough Wine Industry?

Ensuring grape supply matches market demand; GLRaV-3 What Can The Board Do To Mitigate That Challenge?

Communicating to members that future plantings must have a clear and structured path to market (not speculative); promoting awareness around GLRaV-3 and associated management options.

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11/2013 WINEPRESS

making their visit memorable so everyone IVAN SUTHERLAND

benefits.

Company/Vineyard You Represent

What Are Your Interests Outside Of Work?

Ashmore Vineyards/Dog Point Vineyards

Family, the sport of rowing, tramping and

Title

boating.

Owner and share viticultural/winemaking

What Is Your Favourite Thing About

duties.

Marlborough?

Why Did You Stand For The Board Of Wine Geography with its diversity, climate and the people.

Marlborough?

Have been involved in the industry body

What Is Your Favourite Wine?

for over 30 years, strongly believing in the

Try to drink quite widely, particularly

future of the wine industry here, hence

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and enjoy

a keenness to try and assist in adding

matching nice cuisine with a wide range

value to our presence both nationally and

of wines.

internationally as a quality wine producing area.

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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17

Preparing for Flowering TESSA NICHOLSON

As we get into the serious growth phase of the vines, building your soil up becomes even more important.

Given the tough times experienced by

the soil for every tonne of grapes, based

• 100 grams of magnesium

growers between 2009 and 2013, it is

on information from Blair McLean from

Soil consultant Gerard Besamusca says

no surprise that very little fertilisation has

Fruitfed Supplies.

soils could be facing nutrient deprivation

taken place in Marlborough’s vineyards.

• 750 grams of nitrogen

if they have not had the many minerals

That is something that cannot continue,

• 170 grams of phosphorous

replenished over time, and the ones most

if you want to achieve the best from the

• 1.5kg of potassium

urgently needed include nitrogen and

vine. Last year Winepress highlighted

• 60 grams of sulphur

sulphur.

how many minerals were depleted from

• 110 grams of calcium

But he also warns that carbohydrate

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

reserves of the vine could also be under stress and that cannot be under estimated. Young vines are the most at risk of low carbohydrate reserves, especially if they didn’t get the opportunity to continue photosynthesising after harvest.

“If you have a season with young vines that are cropping heavily and get frosts around harvest, they lose the ability to recharge their storage levels of carbohydrates for a good start in spring.

“When you look at spring after bud burst, most of the growth is coming from the reserves of the plant. That is not only the sugars that are re-mobilised from reserves, but also nutrients.”

Which means that any fertiliser you apply in the winter and spring months will not be enough to make a huge difference to the vine, until after flowering.

“Up until the point around flowering, most of (the growth) is based on re-mobilising nutrients from the reserves. Root uptake will only start to kick in later and it will take time for anything you apply now to become available in the root zone for uptake.”

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply nutrients, Gerard says. It just means don’t expect to apply something like magnesium one week and the next see a vast change in levels during a leaf or petiole test.

“If you want to know what your vines are going to be like before flowering in the spring, you should look at the nutrient status of the vine after harvest the season

before. For example, if you found you

he strongly believes it is better to do the

had very low boron levels in the soil and

testing in the two weeks prior.

the leaf test, and you want to encourage

“In that case we get results before

yields after bad years, you can apply

flowering starts and if we see anything

boron to the soil. But it is most important

that needs addressing we can apply

that you apply some foliar boron as well.

foliar in time. It makes a lot of sense to

Because the boron applied to the soil is

me. If you get results back after flowering

not going to make much difference for

that show low boron and low zinc,

flowering and fruit set this spring. Soil

two key elements you need for good

boron will take far more time to end up in

flowering and fruit set, it will explain why

the vine.”

you are always struggling with yield. But

For healthy vines, strong fruit set and

if you get the information beforehand and

better yields, Gerard says soil nutrition

use it, it can make a difference.”

is vital. However after years of non-

There is the issue that the target ranges

fertilisation, it will take time for results to

are based on samples taken during

show through.

flowering, so the levels can be different

“After four years of no fertiliser, anything

if taken two weeks earlier. This applies

we apply now will have very limited effect

especially to calcium which will be lower

on this critical period of flowering and

pre-flowering.

fruit set, because it won’t be taken up

“But you can take that into account. It

straight away.”

is all about interpreting the information

One other piece of advice he has is

correctly.”

regarding when the best time is to take leaf and petiole samples. Generally they are taken during the flowering period, but

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19

Vintage 2013 Lauded

BY ANNABELLE LATZ

Judges at this year’s Marlborough Wine Show were impressed with the strengths of the 2013 vintage, in particular Sauvignon Blanc.

Chief Judge, Jeff Clarke, Chief

He described the aromatic wine classes,

they know what to expect,” he said.

Winemaker for Ara Wine, said it was

(Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris)

He described the sweet wines as “pretty

quite a different vintage compared to the

at the Wine Show as terrific, showing very

impressive across the board,” with

smaller cooler one of 2012, which had

distinct varietal characters.

three out of the 15 tasted receiving gold

produced concentrated wine with more

“There were wonderfully lifted aromatics.”

medals.

herbaceous characteristics.

He believes these quality aromatic

He said many of the wines at this

“It’s a very good vintage, absolutely, there

wines are often under appreciated

year’s Marlborough Wine Show were

are some very good wines,” said Jeff.

by consumers, because of a lack of

technical, correct, and fault free, but at

The sub-regions continued to show

understanding, exposure, and knowledge

the same time he was pleased to see

character separation, which Jeff said will

about these varieties.

lots of experimentation with winemaking

be an interesting development to watch,

“Sauvignon Blanc is the benchmark for

happening.

as the young vines grow and mature.

Marlborough. The challenge for us is to

“There’s a lot of experimentation here,

“It’s part of our communication to

broaden that appeal to these aromatic

and that’s a lot of fun. It’s just people’s

international markets that there is not a

varieties. Time will change this,” he

enthusiasm to explore and try new things.

generic Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

said, remarking that Marlborough’s wine

It’s part of the New Zealand culture.”

brand. The sub-regional differentiations

industry region is still only 40 years old.

Joe is a big fan of larger oak usage, not

help individual wineries tell their own

“We will continue to grow and mature as

restricted to barriques. He also likes to

stories to the world.”

a wine region.”

see spontaneous fermentation, which

New Yorker, Joe Czerwinski, Managing

provides the winemaker with an element

Editor for Digital and Print at Wine

of “funkiness” to play with as different

Enthusiast Media, enjoyed his fifth trip

strands of yeast work together.

to New Zealand and Marlborough,

“Idiosyncrasies make wine interesting,”

as a guest judge sponsored by Wine

said Joe.

Marlborough. and said that this year’s

Jeff said the use of barrels and wild

vintage produced wine that was more

(spontaneous) ferments with Sauvignon

homogeneous in terms of quality and

Blanc means a broadening of wine

style.

characteristics and potentially a loss of

He commented that there was great

sub-regional differentiation.

purity to this year’s fruit, with a good

He said this does not have the same

degree of ripeness, without overblown

impact on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

aromatics.

which are less defined by sub-regional

“Consumers know what they are going

variation.

to get when they pick up a bottle of

He described the 2012 Pinot Noir as

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Globally

exciting, with further time to mature.

Jeff Clarke

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

“It’s a classic vintage for cellaring. There

in their marks at all wine shows, whether

are some terrific wines from this year.”

these reflect good or bad performance.

Jeff said the Marlborough Wine Show

“If anybody ever has any queries, we

has two major functions; to improve the

are more than happy to answer any

quality of wines across the board and to

questions, and steer them in the right

assess performance amongst peers.

direction of who they should be talking

“It’s been a major part of the new world

to, to get a better outcome at the end of

winemaking process.”

the day.”

Wine awards also give consumers

Vintage variation must also be taken into

guidance to what can be a confusing

account, and wine shows are a good

category.

way of benchmarking against other local

Jeff encourages winemakers and

wineries for a particular year.

wine companies to ask the judges for

“Winemaking constantly changes, there

feedback if they have fallen below the

are always challenges and improvements

mark at the wine show.

that can be made.”

“With the smaller wineries this is even

The Trophies were not announced at the

more relevant, who have often only got

time Winepress went to print. We will

themselves to test success against.”

include these in the December issue.

He said the best winemakers take interest

Joe Czerwinski

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21

Wine Weekend Close to 100 influential wine individuals took part in this year’s Marlborough Wine Weekend. Those guests were treated to the best of the best in terms of wine and food and all left with an even greater appreciation of where Marlborough is going in the future.

One of the highlights of the two-day event was the master classes that focused on Sparkling wines and Chardonnay. Both are world-class in terms of quality – that was apparent from the comments coming from the panels of experts and those tasting. Our best kept secrets? Maybe. We will have more on that in the December issue of Winepress.

But this month we take a pictorial look at what was a stunning weekend, that impressed all who attended.

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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23

Grapes on a Train

BY ANNABELLE LATZ

What better way to tell New Zealand’s wine journey to New York, than taking it on a journey there.

Remarkable ever-evolving Chardonnay,

a portfolio of New Zealand’s finest

the New Zealand wine story with key New

essentially new aromatics, quality aged

wines that are showcased to the USA,

York Trade and Media.

Sauvignon Blanc and popular Pinot Noir,

funded by Central Government, New

The train ride itself was something

were just some of the wines bundled

Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the

special, with 40 participants on board

together and taken to America in

participating wineries.

two private vintage rail way carriages,

September for the third annual ‘Grapes

The train wound its way from New York to

donning Kiwiana art on its walls, travelling

on a Train’ event.

Montreal, accompanied by 14 key New

along an ancient railway line.

It is a feature event for Complexity;

Zealand hosts and presenters sharing

One carriage featured Sauvignon Blanc,

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11/2013 WINEPRESS

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

Chardonnay and Bordeaux Reds, while the other carriage featured Pinot Noir, aromatics and bubbles.

The 11-hour trip involved four groups of 10, each spending time tasting and discussing the different New Zealand wines.

Three of Marlborough’s wine industry members featured on the trip, including Brett Bermingham, Assistant Winemaker at Nautilus and Twin Islands, and Winemaker for Opawa.

“Complexity is great because it’s about pulling funds together and marketing efficiently,” he said.

Alongside Cloudy Bay’s Senior Winemaker Tim Heath, the pair presented New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to four groups of Americans. Brett said they could tailor make the session depending on what each group was interested in.

“Some wanted to learn about pH levels and brix, while others wanted to learn about how to describe the wine,” he said.

Maintaining concentration levels amongst the stunning scenery like the Hudson River and Adirondacks fall foliage, competing with moving noisy carriages, and serving very early morning tastings meant managing a fair amount of challenges.

But it was a unique and fantastic way to

expose the New Zealand

Blanc, resulting from stylistic and sub-

wine brand.

regional diversity, always attracts interest

“If you want to pitch

from those tasting it for the first time.

yourself to the right

“And these wines can age extremely well

people in New York and

when handled in a particular way.”

give them some lasting

He recalled the reaction to one particular

memories, then there’s

bottle he opened on the train.

no better way to do it.”

“I was watching people’s faces when they

They discussed the

tried the Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc

evolution of Sauvignon

from 1996...It was nice to shock people,

Blanc, the new releases,

because there is a misconception that

the older varieties, and

this wine style doesn’t have the ability to

the diversity.

age.”

“People are still excited

Aside from the success of the Sauvignon

about Savvy, and it was a good way to

Blanc presentations, Tim said Pinot Noir

reaffirm it,” said Brett.

is continuing to grow in popularity with

It was not just wine and art that was New

the American market. And he was excited

Zealand-themed. Amongst the rattle

about the audience’s reaction to New

and clatter of bottles and chatter was

Zealand Chardonnay.

everything from jaffas and jet planes,

“People said the quality of the

to scones and salmon and steak and

Chardonnay was a real surprise.”

cheese pies.

Ben Glover, Mud House Chief Winemaker,

“It was a total immersion of New

presented the Pinot Noir with Matt Dicey,

Zealand,” Brett said, describing the

Winemaker and General Manager at

whole trip as pretty cool, with no one

Mt Difficulty in Central Otago, and the

taking themselves too seriously.

Riesling and Pinot Gris alongside Rudi

“It was a trip of informal education,” he

Bauer, founder and winemaker of Quartz

said.

Reef in Central Otago.

Tim Heath said the American market

Ben agreed Chardonnay was a highlight

poses its challenges, particularly

of the trip, which has seen a style change

because individual states have their own

as Kiwi styles of cuisine have changed,

laws.

therefore is no longer “cordon bleu” like it

“It’s important to get aligned with

used to be, but rather has a more elegant

someone who really wants to work with

pure refined style, showing place. He

you,” he said.

said Pinot Gris was a surprising stand

He beleives the feeling around New

out, and is effectively new for the

Zealand wine is a hugely positive one,

American market. Embracing Pinot Gris

and the train ride environment ensured a

fruit and phenolics is very important.

very powerful captive audience.

“It is about understanding, and having

“It’s a good way to show people

confidence in what the young vines can

the diversity in New Zealand wine,

do,” said Ben.

particularly the top end of what New

The train trip provided an opportunity

Zealand does. It was about providing

to form more adherence and

a broader and deeper insight into New

understandings of New Zealand varieties.

Zealand wine as a whole.”

“It’s about relationship building, and that’s

The variations in Marlborough Sauvignon

what wine does,” said Ben.

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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25

Wine - Making Together

BY ANNABELLE LATZ

Whether you’re a crusty old winemaker, a new winemaker, a hose dragger that plans on being a winemaker, or you just love to learn about winemaking, an advocacy group in Marlborough, wants to hear from you.

Winemaker’s Association of Marlborough

is this neat network of wine industry

Marlborough’s winemaking culture.

(WAM) was initially thought up in 2011,

people.”

“We want WAM to be something more

by Simon Waghorn of Astrolabe. Matt

WAM was involved with the Marlborough

than just a giant industry tasting group....

Mitchell, Marisco winemaker, has since

Wine Show for the second time this

It is about networking with your peers.”

taken hold of the presidential reins.

year, which Matt said provides a natural

Learning curves have all been part of the

“We are all here because we are

feedback loop to the industry, and an

past 12 month’s adventure.

passionate about wine in Marlborough.

opportunity for collaboration. WAM also

“On top of long hours, travel for

We are here to champion the cause.....

sponsors the Sparkling Wine Trophy.

marketing, keeping business striving,

We would absolutely encourage anybody

He wants to see more technical

trying to maintain some kind of family life

(to join WAM). We would like to think

information gathering and sharing

and having some other interests outside

we are an inclusive group of people, for

amongst people involved in

of work - people are just crazy busy.”

winemakers and aspiring winemakers, a group about education and learning.”

WAM’s first meeting took place mid-2012, with the aim of establishing a steering committee of eight to 12 Marlborough winemakers.

“Initially there was a certain amount of nervousness about our ability to maintain the interest of the group,” recalls Matt.

WAM works on a non-profit userpays system, with an aim to get some sponsors on board for key events as the group picks up momentum.

There are about 150 industry people on the database, with two or three additional people joining every month.

Matt said surviving the first 12 months has been a quite milestone, including successfully hosting nearly a dozen tastings and social gatherings.

“I think what we have really achieved

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Members of the WAM team, from left; Sarah Burton, Matt Mitchell, Anna Kingscote and Ian Marchant. Absent (the balance of the steering committee) are Brett Bermingham, Kyle Thompson, Simon Waghorn, Sally Williams, Matt Murphy, Anita Overgaauw, Warwick Foley, Gus Altschwager

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

Getting the timing of the events right,

with some sporting and social things,

tasting, which at this stage is still “a bit of

such as choosing an evening for a tasting

extending our focus.”

a secret;” pending on the availability of a

when more than four people can turn

He is looking forward to delivering a

guest speaker.

up has been the steepest part of the

mountain bike event in early March, just

Matt hopes WAM will provide a platform

(learning) curve.

before harvest kicks into gear.

for the next generation of winemakers

“We can’t do events all the time, but it’s

“This will be a fun thing to do, as we can’t

to carry on this vehicle of knowledge,

about coming up with the right ideas and

ignore the social side of things.”

networking, and sharing of ideas in an

getting people interested and involved.”

There will be individual trophies and a

industry they are collectively passionate

A technical mandate will always be the

keg for the winning winery team.

about.

dominant feature of WAM, including

At the end of the year (12th Dec.)

“If we can tick off all the technical and

tastings and seminars from technical

there will be the traditional ‘bubbles at

social and fun things, organising six to 10

experts or people of interest to the

Christmas,’ involving a tasting contrasting

events annually, we will have achieved

industry visiting the region.

a selection of small production, grower

what we set out to do.”

But Matt says its role and purpose will

Champagnes with a range of more

To learn more about WAM, and if you

expand to serve the wider needs and

notable, iconic brands.

would like to join, email Matt at matt@

interests of the winemaking community.

“It’s about providing something different

marisco.co.nz

“Looking forward, the focus will be to

to what is usually available” he says.

supplement the technical mandate

Pre harvest, there will be one more

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

11/2013 WINEPRESS

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27

Mitigating Risk IAN BLAIR

Facilitator Top of the South Rural Support Trust The recent Marlborough earthquakes bring a sharp reminder that any bounty the soil may render is always at risk of those elements from which the land has been generated. While steps can be taken to mitigate the risk, to some extent, damage will inevitably occur.

Economic progress does require taking risks. However these can be reduced by giving some thought as to their interaction within the business operation.

The earthquakes at least should have highlighted the earlier need to check pumps, buried mainlines, drip feeders and frost machines before any seasonal requirement occurred.

With the early advancement of the season and the damage caused by the earthquakes, there is a harvest outcome that has to be managed on every grape block. The greatest risk next autumn is in an abundant fruit yield providing a quantity of grapes that is beyond the ability of wineries to process or store, given earthquake damage to storage tanks has occurred.

New Zealand export wines are built on a reputation of quality. It is not a standard that can be manipulated in wine making.

The quality of the wine is ultimately

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dependant on the brix content at time of the grape at harvest. This season winemakers may be under pressure for tank storage. Where this occurs higher quality fruit will undoubtedly be under tighter surveillance for harvesting and processing preference. Growers can expect a lot more field inspection from wine company staff.

In vineyards, economic risk will be associated with New Year thinning.

The psychological stress for producers will be in the decision to either go for quantity or quality or both. The cost of the earthquake damage for each grower would be lessened by a heavier yield even at a lower price. The risk being that an over capacity of supply may not be matched by the winery’s ability to want to harvest or process the grapes.

Alternatively is what can be harvested at the contracted brix, if a high yield jeopardises the desired quality?

The other decision in the mid-season thinning is to deliberately seek a lower yield to better control both the ripening process of the crop and an evenness of the brix levels. Irrigation control will also change fruit size and sugar concentration levels. Wineries are unlikely to turn down

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

a high quality crop but may walk away from low quality grapes that are outside of the contract requirements. Their other option is to substantially reduce the price in accordance to the grower not having achieved the quality standard.

The anxiety between deciding on quantity or quality will be lessened if a good communication pathway exists between those doing the field husbandry, the viticulturist; the bank and the field representative of the wine company. It will require judicious crop monitoring, regular discussion between the parties and the finalisation of important decisions that will affect the quantity of dollars going into the bank account. It requires a coherent team approach from all parties to achieve the optimum result.

Team meetings need to be site and crop based.

Being mentally in control and having good regular communications with all the team players will not only give a more restful night’s sleep and less anxiety, but will also go a long way to mitigating harvest risk and any threat to economic returns.

Unlawful Marlborough Vineyard Contractors Targetted The pruning season may be over, but the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Labour Inspectorate will retain its focus on the vineyard contractors who may be exploiting workers.

It is estimated that up to 5000 people – a

contractors who comply with employment

the Ministry encouraging managers to

combination of backpackers, migrants

laws.”

look carefully at the contractors they’re

and Marlborough locals - work in the

The Ministry is taking a firm line against

employing.

region’s vineyards during the winter

this behaviour, with enforcement

“As a responsible grower producing a

pruning season. Labour Inspectorate

action already issued against seven

premium product, you don’t want your

regional manager Steve Watson says

Marlborough vineyard contractors this

product and brand associated with

while most vineyard contractors comply

season. Breaches of employment law and

exploited or underpaid labour,” Steve

with the law, the Ministry has identified

immigration law were identified; including

said.

some who are exploiting their workers.

not providing employment agreements,

“It could be your reputation that is on

Steve says the contractors take on

paying less than the minimum wage, and

the line and you need to have certainty

migrants or even illegal immigrants, and

two workers who were unlawfully working

around the quality and legality of the

often pay less than the minimum wage.

in New Zealand.

labour used to harvest your crop.”

This behaviour is being targeted in the

Four of those seven contractors were

The Ministry encourages any growers

Ministry’s work as part of a long-term

taken to the Employment Relations

with concerns to check that their

operation in Marlborough.

Authority, with hearings currently

contractors are meeting their obligations.

In particular the Labour Inspectorate is

pending.

“You should check with your contractor

checking contractors are meeting their

“The Ministry of Business, Innovation

that they have employment agreements in

obligations as employers, by providing

and Employment takes the exploitation

place for all workers and ask for evidence

their workers with employment contracts

of workers seriously. We want to send a

that they are being paid at least minimum

and paying at least $13.75 an hour. He

strong message that this behaviour will

wage. This can be evidenced by wage

says the behaviour of those that don’t is

not be tolerated.” Breaches of minimum

and time records,” says Steve Watson.

anti-competitive, as well as unlawful.

employment rights can attract fines of up

“If you are still unsure, seek advice from

“If they were not in the market, other

to $10,000 for an individual and $20,000

our contact centre on 0800 20 90 20. We

contractors who operate lawfully

for a company.

encourage anyone with concerns to get

would be employing more people in

“New Zealand’s reputation as a fair place

in touch.”

their businesses. We want to take the

to work is important to maintain.”

problematic contractors out of the market

Growers have a key role to play in the

so growers can be sure that they use

crack-down on exploitation too, with

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

11/2013 WINEPRESS

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29

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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Mud House Wines ‘Proud As’ to be Kiwi

BY ANNABELLE LATZ

This year’s America’s Cup competition displayed great New Zealand talent both on and off the water and Mud House Wines were an integral part of that.

While Emirates Team New Zealand were gliding the waters of San Francisco Bay, the New Zealand compound on its shores boasted a fine example of what our country can offer the world, and how we do business.

Mud House was once again the official wine supplier to Emirates Team New Zealand, and has been since 2007. Fulfilling this role means Mud House wine was served at ETNZ’s home base, and to all the guests and supporters.

Ben Glover, Chief Winemaker for Mud House, was proud to be there representing the brand and says it was getting behind our country as a whole which was the most outstanding feature of the Campaign.

Everything from Mud House wine to salmon to carbon fibre foil, was on display at the New Zealand Taking it to the stars: Ben Glover and Tom Cruise. compound, which at least 200 guests visited each day during the “It blew them away; it gave them a sense Campaign. of how we do business.”

“It was an absolutely brilliant platform to Ben may be the envy of a good few Kiwis, be proud and showcase New Zealand.” as he got out in the Harbour amongst the Ben says the atmosphere was very action three times on a supporters’ boat. relaxed, giving almost a soft sell, and Seeing the race boats from such close was extremely memorable for a heap of range was a huge highlight.

Americans.

“It was humbling, quite incredible.

They are such beautiful sleek machines.”

Seeing them dock out, racing on their foils, and seeing the boat almost flip, Ben says from the highs to the lows amongst the racing action, it is the huge New Zealand pride that is common amongst competitors and supporters.

“There’s a huge amount of respect for the Kiwis.”

Amongst those showing their respect was Tom Cruise, who spent a couple of hours in the New Zealand compound showing his son Connor around.

Ben took a few moments to have a chat with the Top Gun star, who was there representing Warner Bros.

“He’s not that short, and he’s a nice guy.”

Ben describes Tom Cruise as “nice and affable,” who was happy to spend time amongst the New Zealanders at San Francisco, and probably would have stayed there all day if he had more time.

“He’s been to New Zealand quite a few times, he loves the place.”

Mud House was one of more than 200 official suppliers at this year’s America’s Cup competition.

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

11/2013 WINEPRESS

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31

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11/2013 WINEPRESS

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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Wine Unwound A ROOKIE’S PERSPECTIVE WITH ANNABELLE LATZ

Judgement Day Looking across the room, dozens of

sub-regions and harvest years.

Joe Czerwinski at the end of the show

wines awaited their turn in the glass,

There was also the inaugural ‘Legacy’

about their thoughts on this year’s event.

each positioned in a particular square on

class which provided the opportunity

By doing so, it put everything into place

a particular judging table. Within a matter

for one wine over three vintages to be

of just how monumental and complex

of minutes, each glass will be picked up,

entered into the one class, proving its

wine judging is.

looked over, swirled, tasted, scrutinised

consistent quality.

Each mouthful bursts with certain

and analysed.

After the swirl, taste and spit, the judges

thoughts like the wine’s particular

As one of the stewards at the

would score the wine, with the highest

vintage, balance of fruit flavours and

Marlborough Wine Show last month, with

possible number being 20. The score

acidity levels, aromatic qualities, and

strict instructions not to wear any perfume

given aligned the wine with either no

whereabouts in Marlborough the fruit

or hair product which can interfere with

award, a bronze, silver, or gold medal.

came from.

the judging, I had the enjoyable learning

Within each panel, the judges would call

All this data has to be quickly

experience of helping to ensure the wine

out their scores and discuss each wine,

summarised, to give the wine its final

took its correct journey from the bottle to

reaching agreement on the final outcome.

score.

the correct spot on the judging table.

If an agreed score could not be reached

It was done more than 500 times across

In the back room of the Marlborough

re-pours were requested.

the three panels, in just two days.

Convention Centre, the bottles stood

This meant cross referencing the number

Amongst the whole procession there

in their rows like soldiers, filled with the

on the judging table back to the number

were smiles all round with a relaxed

end result of various harvests involving

in the back room, (where judges strictly

atmosphere, and barely a flinch or

passion, energy, and a heck of a lot of

could not enter) and presenting a second

reaction when a glass crashed itself onto

hard slog.

pour for each of the five judges, often

the floor from the tray instead of onto the

Laying out the hundreds of entries, over

from a fresh bottle.

judging table. Good thing we had such

five hundred in total, in their correct

While judging took place out the front,

a robust system to do a quick refill of the

spots, was the first vital task before

there was always plenty to do in the

correct wine.

judging began the following day.

back room, such as washing glasses

Challenging parts of the Wine Show

Judging obviously has to be done ‘blind,’

(the show used 3,000 glasses), making

from a steward’s point of view? Probably

and a two-tier numbering system ensured

sure the correct glass was used for each

carrying the spit buckets to the kitchen

this happened.

particular class, (this show is one of only

to be emptied, without a slop making its

We matched the number-stickered bottles

two wine shows in Australasia that uses

way up the side and onto your hand....

with its correct spot on the table in the

style-specific glasses – flutes, Aromatic,

even supreme gold medal-winning wines

back room, which was cross-referenced

Bordeaux and Burgundy) laying out trays

don’t soften the blow of that happening.

with the position it would take on the

of glasses for the next class or ‘flight,’

http://annabellelatz.blogspot.co.nz/

judging table.

and checking the bottles ready for the

Judging was divided up into three

next class.

panels, each involving three judges and

I had the pleasure of chatting to

two associates.

Chief Judge, Jeff Clarke and Wine

Classes were divided up into varieties,

Marlborough’s Guest International Judge,

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33

NZ Wine Exports August 2013 Key Points • MAT (Moving Annual Total ie previous 12 months ) July 2013 export value is $1.229 billion, up 4% on the previous year.

• MAT August 2013 exports are 171.9 m. litres, down 4% on the previous year; packaged exports are +3% for the period and other exports are down 17%.

• Average value MAT July 2013 is $7.09 per litre up 6% on the previous year; packaged export value is $8.43 per litre up 0.1% on the previous year.

Total Export Volume & Value • MAT July 2013 total value of exports is $1.229 billion, up 4% on the previous year.

• Total value of July 2013 exports was $120.0 m. up 20% on July 2012.

• MAT August 2013 exports are 171.9 m. litres, down 4% (6.3 m. litres) on the previous year.

• YTD3 August 2013 exports are 34.1 m. litres, up 2% (0.8 m. litres) on the previous year.

• August 20134 exports were 18.0 m. litres down 13% (2.6 m. litres) on August 2012.

Export Value per Litre - All wines • July 2013 average value was $6.95 per litre, down $0.51 per litre on July 2012.

• MAT July 2013 average price is $7.09 per litre, down $0.04 from the previous month but up 6% or $0.42 per litre on MAT July 2012.

- Packaged wines • Excluding unpackaged wine from the data, the July 2013 average value was $8.39 per litre, up $0.16 litre on July 2012.

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• MAT July 2013 the average price is $8.43 per litre, up $0.01 (0.1%) per litre on MAT July 2012.

• MAT July 2013 prices are up 1% to the UK and USA, but are down 2% to Canada, and 3% to Australia.

Export Volume by Country of Destination • In August, for the major markets, exports were down to all major markets -28% to the UK, -15% to Australia and -4% to the USA. Canada was down 2% for the month, while performance of other markets was mixed, with the best performers being Germany +80% and Netherlands +139%.

• YTD August 2013 growth is led by USA +17%, but Australia is down 1% and the UK -10%. Shipments to Canada are up 6%. Germany +124% & Sweden +25% are the other best performers.

• MAT August 2013 growth is led by the USA +14%, Australia is down 7% but the UK is down 16%. Canada shipments are +11% for the year.

Performance of other tracked markets is mixed with Germany +71% the strongest performer.

Export Volume by Packaging Type • Exports of packaged wines MAT August 2013 are 122.4 m. litres up 3.3% (3.9 m. litres) on the previous year and are 71.2% of total export volume.

• MAT August 2013 packaged export growth is being driven by increased exports of packaged wine to the USA +15.8% and Canada +11.1%.

• Exports of packaged wines YTD August 2013 are 23.5 m. litres, up 3.7% on the previous year.

• August 2013 packaged exports were

The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

12.3 m. litres, down 5.8% on August 2012.

• Other (non-packaged) wine shipments MAT August 2013 are 49.5 m. litres down 17.1% (28.8% of export volume).

Non-packaged shipments decline is led by the UK (-38%) & Australia (-18%).

• Non-packaged exports YTD August 2013 are 10.6 m. litres down 0.8% (0.1 m. litres) on the previous year.

• August 2013 non-packaged shipments were 5.8 m. litres, down 24% on August 2012.

Exports by Variety/Style • In August 2013 Sauvignon Blanc exports were 15.6 m. litres, down 12% from the previous year, accounting for 86% of export volume. Of the Sauvignon Blanc exported in August, 13.1 m litres was from Vintage 2013 and 2.4 m. litres was from Vintage 2012.

• Performance of other styles was mixed in August with Sparkling the strongest performer +73%.

• YTD August 2013 Sauvignon Blanc exports are 29.2 m. litres up 3% on the previous year. Performance of other styles is mixed with Sparkling the strongest performer.

• MAT August 2013, Sauvignon Blanc shipments are 145.5 m. litres down 3% from the previous year. Sparkling is the best performing of the other styles.

• Production of Sauvignon Blanc in 2013 is estimated to have been 167.8 m. litres, 27% up on the previous year.

Shipments of vintage 2013 Sauvignon Blanc since release are 31.4 m. litres or 18.7% of estimated production, the highest level at this time since data collection began in 2004.

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

To have your event included in next month’s calendar please email details to tessa.nicholson@me.com NOVEMBER 9 Marlborough Wine Show Awards Dinner 14 Wineworks Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Yacht Race 14 New Zealand Winegrowers Seminar 9-10.30 - Marlborough Convention Centre 17 Toast Martinborough 23 Air New Zealand Wine Awards Dinner - Queenstown 26 Air NZ Wine Tasting in Blenheim (Silver, Golds and Trophy medal wines open for tasting) 28 Wine Marlborough AGM – Marlborough Research Centre Theatre

DECEMBER 2 Dr Peter Margarey Seminar, MRC Theatre 7 Christchurch/South Island Wine and Food Festival – Christchurch

JANUARY 2014 30 – Feb 1 Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration – Central Otago

FEBRUARY 8 30th Anniversary Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

GREAT FOOD, GREAT WINES AND GREAT FRIENDS COME TOGETHER AT HERZOG’S BISTRO! Come and enjoy Marlborough’s stunning Spring days and join us for a casual lunch in the beautiful Bistro gardens or cosy up in front of the open fire for a delicious dinner. All for the love of wine!

And for all you wine aficionados, come and indulge in one of New Zealand’s largest International wine lists!

HERZOG OPENING HOURS LUNCH: Wed to Sun: Main menu, 12pm - 3pm; DINNER: Wed to Sat: From 6pm - late Check out our latest menu online - www.herzog.co.nz CELLAR DOOR: Mon to Fri: 9am to 5pm, Weekends: 11am to 4pm Hans Herzog Estate | 81 Jeffries Road | Blenheim |03 572 8770 | info@herzog.co.nz | www.herzog.co.nz

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News From Home and Away Young Winemaker of the Year Congrats to Alan Peters-Oswald of Nanny Goat Vineyard, who is the only New Zealander to make it to the finals of the Young Winemaker of the Year.

Alan is one of 10 chosen from 69 entrants from throughout New Zealand and Australia. All the entrants had to be aged under 35, and had to be principally responsible for the creation of three submitted wines. There are three awards up for grabs; two popular choice categories (Supporter’s Choice and Finalists Choice), and the grand title of Young Winemaker of the year.

Alan was the subject of Winepress’s Generation Y-ine (April 2013) and is the sole winemaker for three wine brands, Nanny Goat Vineyard, Totara Wines and Clayfork Vineyard, all owned

by Australian company Endeavour Vineyards.

Having studied here in Marlborough at NMIT Alan previously worked at Jackson’s Estate and Cloudy Bay. In its 12-year history, only one New Zealander has taken out the Young Winemaker of the Year title. That was Nick Picone of Villa Maria who won last year.

On The Move Talking of Generation Y-one, another subject from this year, Nick Hunter, is on the move. The former assistant viticulturist for Cloudy Bay Vineyards, where he worked for eight years, has been appointed as the Grower Manager for Giesen Wines. Nick will be responsible for liaising with Giesen’s grower partners in Marlborough and Nelson.

classifieds WANTED clean used white barrels for Vintage 2014. Please email winemaker@avlwine.co.nz or ring Steve (03) 5447585 Bird Netting on Indac Reels, Good Condition $100 +GST PH 035776603 WINEMAKING, BOTTLING & BULK WINE STORAGE Woollaston Estates (NELSON) would like to offer their services for contract winemaking & bottling from 2014 vintage. Modern facilities. Experienced winemaking team.

Uncompromising approach. Contract bottling is available with a very flexible calendar. Facilities are also currently available for bulk wine storage. Contact 03 543 2817, shane@woollaston.co.nz

IWSC Accolades A massive congrats to the two Marlborough companies who won trophies at the prestigious UK-based International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Jules Taylor proved that this region is not just about Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, when her Marlborough Chardonnay 2012 took out the Mission Hill Chardonnay Trophy. It is a massive acknowledgment given the status of this competition. .

“I certainly didn’t expect the wine to score so well in a tough competition of wines from traditional Chardonnay regions,” she said. “But it’s a great recognition not only for me as a winemaker and the brand, but also for Marlborough that produces some outstanding Chardonnays that speak of the region.” (More on this in next month’s Winepress.)

Also congrats to The Crossings which claimed the Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc. Based in the Awatere Valley, the Crossings is a key brand within the Yealands Wine Group portfolio. The trophy supports the huge raps many winemakers gave to vintage 2013.

“2013 was a great vintage for Sauvignon Blanc,” Yealands Wine Group Chief Winemaker, Tamra Washington said. “This is a real testament to the excellent quality fruit coming off our Crossings Vineyards, located in the Upper Awatere Valley.”

On top of the two trophies coming to Marlborough, Gold medals were awarded to; Toi Toi Marlborough Reserve Riesling 2012, Brancott Estate Letter Series B Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012 and Villa Maria Reserve Noble Marlborough Riesling 2012.

Other Accolades Hunter’s Marlborough 2012 vintage Riesling won the Trophy for Best Dry Riesling and the trophy for Best Riesling from New Zealand at the Canberra International Riesling Challenge.

Hunter’s Gewurztraminer 2013 was the Supreme Champion Wine in Show at the Avenues International Aromatic Wine Competition.

Marisco Vineyards won two trophies at the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, for wines matched with food.

The Ned Pinot Gris 2013 won the trophy for best wine matched with Cantonese Dim Sum, while The King’s Bastard Chardonnay 2012 won the trophy for best wine matched with Braised Abalone.

Disclaimer: The views and articles that are expressed and appear in Winepress are those entirely those of contributors and in no way reflect the policy of the Marlborough Winegrowers. Any advice given, implied or suggested should be considered on its merits, and no responsibility can be taken for problems arising from the use of such information.

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The Official Magazine of Wine Marlborough

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