MRC turns 40
A large part of the Marlborough Research Centre’s success over the past 40 years is the communication carried out by those that worked there, a leading scientist says.
Keeping and then using good records helps make better decisions.
Growers can access a range of records to improve production efficiency. The New Zealand Winegrowers sustainability programme provides credentials to markets and organisations such as councils and government. Benchmarking and comparing vineyard data with regional data provides growers an important ability to compare their operation with other growers and identify where improvements can be made.
The weekly VineFacts provides current and historic climate, phenology and disease records. They enable us to anticipate potential changes in the future. For example, a long-term warming trend of 0.82C from 1973 to 2021 (VineFacts Marlborough, no.5, 2022) would suggest that over time subtle changes in wine style may occur, while an earlier flowering and longer growing season will enable growers to produce and ripen larger crops. Comparing seasonal temperatures with previous seasons at key phenological stages can also be used to predict yields (Trought, 2005; Zhu et al., 2020), and adjust vineyard, winery and marketing operations accordingly.
New Zealand Winegrowers’ Vintage Survey Report provides a historic summary of yields by region and variety, and when combined with the Vineyard Register report, average yields can be calculated. However yields can vary within a region and a recent vineyard survey clearly shows yield zones within the Marlborough region (Bramley et al., 2020). Collecting data about yield components (for example, average bunch and berry weights, bunch number per vine and vines per hectare) enables growers to determine how their site relates to the predicted and regional yield, and the analysis of yield components provides guidance on how to manage vines to achieve a consistent sustainable yield. Several seasons of data collection and collation is needed to be useful.
Dr Mike Trought is a scientist with more than 40 years’ experience New Zealand’s wine industry. He is a fellow of New Zealand Winegrowers and was inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame in 2017.
