Grape growers pleased

Seen from the Black Rabbit vineyard, where the pinot noir harvest is in full swing, Bannockburn...
Seen from the Black Rabbit vineyard, where the pinot noir harvest is in full swing, Bannockburn is awash with autumn colour. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Grape growers around Central Otago are pretty pleased with this season's harvest, Wine Institute chairman Steve Green, of Bannockburn, says.

"Good dry conditions in autumn have saved us a bit. If that rain we had earlier had fallen when we were picking, it could have been a different story," Mr Green said.

"Since we started [picking] we haven't had to stop. We've had a couple of frosts, but they came through pretty quickly so didn't cause much of a problem.

"If people had done the work in the vineyard, they should be all right."

It is a sentiment echoed by Grant Taylor, owner of Valli Vineyards, in the Gibbston valley. Mr Taylor was concerned by the harvest's prospects till the start of April.

"We'd had so much rain in February and March that I thought all we were going to get was wet, soggy, mouldy grapes. I've never been as nervous before a harvest as this year. But since then we've had two weeks of perfect sunshine.

"I'm pretty happy with [the harvest]. I didn't think I was going to be. The last three years have been stunning and I thought, because of that, maybe this year it was time for a bad one. We've certainly dodged some bullets."

With picking in the Cromwell basin more than halfway through, the season had proven to be particularly strong for chardonnay and riesling grapes, Mr Green said.

"Pinot noir, on the whole, has not been quite as exciting as the last couple of years - but they were outstanding years," he said.

This year's harvest began earlier than usual and is likely to be over sooner as well.

"Usually, we're picking into early May but I expect this year we'll be done and dusted by Easter." Picking in the Gibbston valley was "a couple" of weeks behind Cromwell, he said.

Although it was still early to be predicting this year's total harvest, Mr Green expected it would be bigger than last year's 7500 tonnes. He predicted between 8000 and 10,000 tonnes.

"But that's a bit of a broad brush."

 

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