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Mechanical harvesters start the 2016 grape harvest at the Waipara Hills vineyard in North Canterbury.
Under the sweltering North Canterbury sun the 2016 grape harvest has begun.
Waipara Hills vineyard kicked off this year’s vintage just before Easter when it started harvesting pinot noir grapes to be made into rose and bubble base.
Winemaker Simon McGeorge said with weather permitting they’ll be harvesting their chardonnay grapes in about two weeks.
Waipara Hills uses mechanical harvesters for 90% of the 200ha it has in grapes.
McGeorge says one harvester can cover about a hectare an hour and the fruit arrives in a better condition than what humans can do. McGeorge told Rural News the harvesters also enable them to cover more ground with consistent quality, as the machines de-stem, and remove leaves and leaf litter so only grapes arrive in the vats.
Ironically the harvesters are made in Europe, but many of the vineyards there are too small for the machines to be financially viable for most.
Despite overnight rain when the harvest began, McGeorge said there was about 48 hours after rain to harvest before the grapes began to be affected by the moisture.
The mechanical harvesters have blowers that rid the canopy of water so the grapes arrive dry in the vats.
McGeorge, the season this year had been great: a largely dry February had enabled the grapes to ripen without damage.
With 74 vineyards in Waipara and 1250ha in grapes, it’s about to get very busy in North Canterbury as wineries begin to reap the benefits of the past year’s toil.
Waipara Hills has announced that it will be the national wine sponsor at the 2015 Food Show. The Waipara Hills wines will match dishes prepared by celebrity chefs in the Whirlpool Cooking Theatre across three New Zealand shows.
Sam Pearce, age 25 works as a vineyard hand/tractor operator at Waipara Hills.
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