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Dave Sutton
From Te Kano Estate in the Waitaki Valley, winemaker Dave Sutton offers insights into the year that was.
The Good
A cooler summer and long warm autumn made for elegant wines with lots of flavour concentration at lower alcohol levels.
The Bad
The usual issues around labour created a lot of challenges through the growing season, with rapid canopy growth proving difficult to get under control. This followed through to harvest, with some growers suffering significant losses due to late season botrytis and a lack of available pickers at critical times.
& The Awesome
Once again, the spirit of the Waitaki shone through, with great collaboration and sharing of knowledge and resources between vineyards through the growing season and harvest. For growers who managed to get their fruit harvested in the critical window, the young wines are stunning - explosively aromatic whites and delicate, poised Pinot Noirs.
It has been 20 years since the inaugural Burgundy Exchange, in which a group of young Central Otago winemakers and viticulturists are selected to head to Burgundy each vintage, before French participants travel to New Zealand for a Central harvest.
Vintage 2026 yielded excellent fruit for most New Zealand wine regions.
Te Kano Winemaker Dave Sutton, Chair of Waitaki Valley Winegrowers, looks back.
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Te Kano Winemaker Dave Sutton looks at an excellent growing season against the pressure of competing land use.
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