Billions in booming exports
A burgeoning appetite for Sauvignon Blanc in the United States is helping drive New Zealand wine sales, with exports hitting $2.4 billion in the year to May.
Speaking from his Kerikeri winery on 9 March. 90% of the way through picking, he says they suffered no real damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, with white varieties in before the onslaught. But a cool spring, low sunshine hours and high rainfall are "not a good recipe". A period of improved weather that took the pressure off the end of the harvest was "too little too late", he says. "That's not to say vintage has been a disaste. Fruit has been clean with reasonable volumes, but brix levels have been low."
According to VineFacts, Kerikeri recorded 358.8mm of rain in January, at 319% of the long-term average (LTA). The further north fruit is grown the better the quality this season, "but generally not many parcels are destined for high end reds," Rod ays. "One to remember, but hopefully not one to be relived." He's looking forward to a forecast change in the weather patterns affecting New Zealand. "Bring on El Niño.”
It was also one of the most challenging seasons Man O' War Viticulturist Sam Taylor has experienced on Waiheke Island, where lower than normal temperatures and some extreme weather events have made for a late and slow ripening period. An "extremely wet" winter kept machinery out of many vineyards and a cool, wet and windy November impacted flowering. "Varieties most effected for us were Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and some Syrah blocks," Sam says on 13 March, halfway through the harvest. Higher blocks and those most exposed to wind, were hit hardest, but total yield predictions are near the average annual total.
The wet weather has supported grass and foliage growth, as well as high levels of disease pressure. Downy mildew and powdery mildew could be found in the upper canopy late in the season, and "compromised canopies have been slow to ripe fruit as a result", Sam says.
On the plus side, Man O' War has a great team, made up largely of young travellers on Working Holiday Visas. "It has taken a large amount of work managing all the comings and goings. We offer accommodation and feel that is a big factor in making us attractive."
