Mayors give government plan to ease seasonal worker shortage
Hastings District Council has given the government a plan to address the seasonal labour shortage faced by the horticulture and viticulture sectors due to Covid-19.
The eight wineries taking part in the one-day Bridge Pa Wine Festival being held on 24 January are Abbey Cellars, Alpha Domus, Ash Ridge, Ngatarawa Wines, Paritua Vineyards, Triangle Cellars, Salvare and Sileni Estates.
Chris Wilcock says the event, modelled on the discontinued Harvest Hawke’s Bay, will offer hop on-hop off buses, transfers to Napier and Hastings, live music, gourmet food and wine tastings.
Covering 2000 hectares, the Bridge Pa Triangle Wine District was launched just over two years ago by a grouping of 11 wineries and seven individual grape growers keen to promote the area as a premium winegrowing subregion.
Wilcock points out that the major trophy winners in the 2014 Hawke’s Bay A & P Bayleys Wine Awards were all Bridge Pa Triangle wines.
The district, west of Hastings, encompasses Hawke’s Bay’s largest concentration of vineyards. Growing a wide range of varieties that include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Semillon, Viognier, Malbec, Riesling and Albarino, it is a popular wine tourism destination.
“We felt the festival was something we could do as a small area where those taking part didn’t have to far to travel to get from one cellar door to another. From our point of view, we are doing this to showcase the Bridge Pa area as a developing appellation.”
A limited number of tickets will be offered for the inaugural festival.
“We want it to be a sell-out event and for it to be heavily supported within Hawke’s Bay. If it brings people in from outside the region that’s good, but we are putting it on predominantly for the locals.”
