New Zealand Winegrower April-May 2026

Grape Expectations Seasonal update

Cool Stuff Insights from ICCWS Growing Legacy James Healy

Singular Vineyards

Unique sites, extraordinary wines and shared stories

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COVER PHOTO

Settlement vineyard’s fruit has always had a strong sense of place, says Steve Planthaber, one of the growers celebrated in this month’s feature on “singular vineyards”. The likes of Two Terraces in Hawke’s Bay, The Wrekin in Marlborough, and Calvert in Central Otago, are typically grower-owned, with their fruit sought after by multiple producers, often small and independent, writes Emma Jenkins MW. Go to page 18

Editorial

Sophie Preece

From the Chair

Philip Gregan

Women in Wine

Lauren Swift

Growing Legacy

James Healy

MW Musings

Emma Jenkins MW

Wine Weather

James Morrison

Vintage 2026

A long, late summer has delighted winegrowers in many regions, in a welcome shift from grey January days.

“What a glorious time, so far,” says winemaker Jules Taylor.

Cool Stuff

The 11th International Cool Climate Wine Symposium nimbly walked a line between academic conference and technical workshop, showcasing the “frontiers” of cool climate winegrowing.

RSE Review

New Zealand Winegrowers is closely involved with the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme Policy Review, including engaging with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help them understand the importance of the scheme to the wine industry.

Te Mata Estate vintage 2026. Photo Carl Gunderson

EDITOR Sophie Preece

sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz

CORRESPONDENTS

North Island

Joelle Thomson

Emma Jenkins MW

South Island

Claire Finlayson

Stephanie McIntyre

Joanna Grigg

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Published by Rural News Group Ltd under authority of New Zealand Winegrowers Inc. Unless directly attributed, opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Rural News Group and/or its directors or management, New Zealand Winegrowers Inc. or its constituent organisations. Published every second month. One free copy is mailed to every member of New Zealand Winegrowers Inc, New Zealand Society of Viticulture & Oenology and the New Zealand Vine Improvement Group, and to such other persons or organisations as directed by the owners, with provision for additional copies and other recipients to be on a subscription.

ISSN 1174-5223

From the Editor

Every vintage has it’s vagaries, and every season I am struck by how nimble viticulturists, winemakers and grape growers have to be, catching, or at least dodging, the curveballs nature throws. Sometimes it’s the season that started so sweetly, with a fulsome flowering and benign summer, then a wallop of weather that turns harvest prospects on their head. This year, for some, it was a warm start that booted the season along, a cool summer that dragged it back, and a beautiful autumn that’s carrying the season home. Throw in every year’s array of challenges, from disease pressure to frost threats, water to waste, labour to fuel costs (an item on everyone’s mind), not to mention supply imbalances and grower-winery relationships, and it’s an industry that calls for cool heads and agile feet.

It’s been heartening to talk to winemakers so excited about the quality of vintage 2026, at a time when we could all do with some good news. For those regions still in the thick of it, or coming out the other side, I hope the golden autumn conditions see you through.

There’s more good news in the feature written by Emma Jenkins MW this month, looking at some of the “singular” vineyards across New Zealand, sharing their fruit, their stories, and increasingly their name, with a widening wine community. “Rather than everyone needing to own land and infrastructure, it allows vineyards to be farmed well and fruit to be shared among producers who value the site,” says Alistair Gardner from Grava in the Wairarapa. “That spreads both the opportunity and the responsibility.”

Despite these good news stories, there’s no doubt that it’s tougher times in New Zealand wine, and that beyond the buzz of vintage there could be pain. New Zealand Winegrowers has updated its Health & Wellbeing page (nzwine.com/en/initiativesevents/health-and-wellbeing), including details for the Rural Support Trust, which offers a range of services, such as support for mental health and working on a plan to get through financial pressures. “We all need extra support from time to time, especially when times get tough,” says NZW’s Nicky Grandorge. “The important thing is to reach out if you need help and also check in on those around you.”

Sophie Preece EDITOR

Contributors

Emma Jenkins MW

In this edition Emma Jenkins MW explores some of New Zealand’s “singular” vineyards, beloved by the growers who tend them, and the winemakers who take a share of their fruit each vintage. This growerwinemaker model is growing relationships and reputations, Emma writes. Go to page 18

Claire Finlayson

Lauren Swift’s brand might be frivolous and joyful, but there’s been a huge amount of work behind the scenes, she tells Dunedin-based writer Claire Finlayson. “Because my brand is fun, people probably think it’s all been super easy. But it’s been sheer grind.”

Read more on page 32

James Morrison

In a news world of Heat Domes, Atmospheric Rivers, Polar Vortex and Weather Bombs, weather expert James Morrison is bracing for the possibility of a new headline superlative: the ‘Goliath El Niño’. Climate change makes it unlikely these labels will fade any time soon.

Read more on page 40

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2020s: the decade of uncertainty? From the CEO

PHILIP GREGAN

2020 unleashed Covid-19, and in 2021 we saw the smallest vintage in the past decade – for many wineries, tanks were largely dry by the time vintage ‘22 came along. In 2022, on the back of shortage and supply chain uncertainty, we saw unprecedented demand for New Zealand wine – one winery described it, late in the year, as “Xmas every month”.

“It looks as though we are stuck with a new dimension of uncertainty – just what growers and wineries did not need in 2026.”

Philip Gregan

In 2023, we saw the flipside of the demand coin, with a second large vintage in a row; with inflation high and supply chain destocking underway, New Zealand wine sales fell sharply. In 2024, despite having wine available, sales continued to drop, reaching their recent low point in December 2024, over 50 million litres below their peak in April 2023. This was easily the biggest fall in our wine sales in a generation, probably ever.

Then in 2025, the world trade rules were upended by the United States, and a 15% tariff was imposed on exports to our largest market. That means $100 million of extra cost is being met somewhere in the supply chain, from wineries through to the final customer.

If all that was not enough, in the first half of the decade our industry also experienced multiple extreme weather events, sluggish economies, rapid changes

in markets and the challenges imposed by the current surplus situation. So, going into 2026, completely unsurprisingly, members were looking for more certainty. Unfortunately, that wish now seems very faint.

In the past month, the US-Iran conflict has burst onto the scene, upending global share markets, disrupting global supply chains, and potentially threatening a new burst of inflation and consumer uncertainty. On that basis, 2026 looks as though it will continue the theme of uncertainty that so far has been the hallmark of the 2020s.

New Zealand Winegrowers’ response to the conflict has been multifaceted. As is usual in such disruptions, the government has contacted us, seeking information about the impact on growers, wineries and the wider sector. That has prompted us, in turn, to contact providers of goods and services to the industry, to understand the impact of the conflict on fuel, agrichemicals, packaging and dry goods, shipping, and insurance services. We are providing all that information back to the Ministry for Primary Industries, along with all our colleagues in the rest of the primary and exporting sectors, which will help the government understand and frame their response to this new crisis.

We are also providing information to members on the conflict and the potential impact on grape and wine businesses. We have established a dedicated webpage and will provide updates as necessary. That webpage provides key information on matters such as the National Fuel Plan, and links to key government and other sources of information.

It is anybody’s guess as to how long the current conflict will continue. But what is almost certain is that the longer it goes on, the bigger the impacts will be. Significant

increases in fuel, shipping and insurance costs are already happening, so there will surely be others in coming months.

One of the overriding concerns at the moment is the availability and cost of fuel. Government Ministers are making reassuring noises, which is good, but any shortage will have significant implications for our sector, as well as across the economy as a whole. Reassuringly, the Government has a pre-existing National Fuel Plan with alert levels that they can adjust as needed (similar to the Covid-19 response) to manage fuel issues. As of 17 March 2026, New Zealand is currently at Alert Level 1 (the lowest level). At higher levels, there may be prioritisation for ‘critical customers’. As NZW did with Covid-19, we will engage with government on the industry’s needs and what winegrowers require in order to be able to operate. Importantly, the criteria for ‘critical customers’ includes reference to agriculture and activities of significant economic export value. We would expect that to include the grape and wine industry, given we are the country’s seventh largest export good.

One piece of advice in the current situation is to communicate openly, and frequently, with the key suppliers of goods and services to your business. Without information from you, they will only be able to guess at your needs for goods and services – whether it be fuel, sprays, shipping containers or whatever – in coming months.

So for the moment it looks as though we are stuck with a new dimension of uncertainty – just what growers and wineries did not need in 2026. In such circumstances, planning for the worst and hoping for the best is probably a good mantra to adopt.

All the best for the balance of vintage.

COWA speaks out on mine plan

The Central Otago Winegrowers Association (COWA) has been invited to provide comment to the expert panel assessing the Bendigo–Ophir Gold Project as part of the Fast Track application. COWA General Manager Carolyn Murray says the opportunity is an important step. “Our members take their role as custodians of this landscape seriously. We welcome the opportunity to present expert evidence and ensure that the potential implications for viticulture are fully understood before any decisions are made.”

The Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project is a major proposed open-pit and underground mine near Cromwell, developed by Santana Minerals. In previous letters to the panel and the Environmental Protection Authority, COWA outlined substantive concerns relating to the potential effects of the proposal on vineyard land, water quality, and the long-term sustainability of the region’s internationally recognised wine industry. They noted that any impacts on the region’s environmental integrity or global wine reputation could have enduring consequences for growers, the regional economy, and New Zealand’s premium wine brand well beyond the life of a mining project. The comments to the panel will be made before 10 April.

Auckland-based sommelier Andrea Martinisi will represent the New Zealand Sommeliers and Wine Professionals Association at the ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2026. The competition, to be held in Portugal this October, will attract sommeliers from 65 member countries, and is a chance for Andrea to test himself at the highest international level. “My preparation will be rigorous,” he says. “Studying wine regions from around the world, regular blind tastings of international wines, developing my own personal set of wine world flashcards and working on my practical service performance under pressure.” Originally from Italy, Andrea has competed internationally since 2019 and represented New Zealand in Japan, Belgium and France.

Organic Conference 2027

Central Otago will host the Organic & Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference from 1-3 June 2027, drawing passionate researchers, practitioners and experts from Aotearoa and beyond. “This feels like a natural and exciting evolution,” says conference Chair Anika Willner. “Central Otago is home to the highest concentration of organic vineyards in New Zealand, so bringing the conversation here allows us to both honour the region and continue pushing the dialogue around organic and regenerative winegrowing forward.” organicwineconference.com

Welcome Changes

New Zealand Winegrowers has welcomed the introduction of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Improving Alcohol Regulation) Amendment Bill. “These proposals will help to simplify the licensing system for many businesses”, says Philip Gregan, NZW Chief Executive. “We often hear from our members about the challenges involved in alcohol licensing. While it is important that there are guardrails in place around the sale and supply of alcohol, many of the current requirements have become overly bureaucratic and technical. The vast majority of New Zealanders consume alcohol responsibly, and the regulatory framework should reflect that.”

GrapeEx

The challenging market conditions being faced by New Zealand’s wine industry also represent opportunities for proactive growers and wine producers, says the founder of a new marketplace for grapes. Michael Selak, from Wine Network, says GrapeEx was created in response to the limits being put on vintage intakes this year, “which means more fruit is going to be available on the open market”. The transparent platform enables grape growers to connect directly with qualified buyers, and allows wine producers to view available fruit across regions and vintages. “In a market like this, visibility is everything,” Michael says. GrapeEx.co.nz

Andrea Martinisi

Confidence in Nga Waka investment

Acquiring a prime site in the heart of the Martinborough Terraces is an exciting move for Nga Waka, says winemaker Paul Mason. Lismore vineyard has “an excellent track record of producing top quality grapes and we are very excited to have the opportunity to own it”, he says, relishing the potential for planting new varieties, including Syrah. Current plantings of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris will be removed later this year, and the vineyard replanted in Pinot Noir in 2027, after some restorative work. Nga Waka owner Jay Short says the new plantings will not produce wine until 2030, reflecting the three-decade-old winery’s investment in the region. “There’s been a great deal of ‘doom and gloom’ reporting of late in regard to the domestic wine industry. However, at Nga Waka, we firmly believe the New Zealand wine industry, and in particular the Martinborough region, has a long and rewarding future and we are keen to keep investing in that.”

On a Mission

Michael Wentworth has joined the team at Mission Estate Winery, filling the “big shoes” of former Chief Executive Peter Holley, who resigned in September last year, after almost 30 years running the storied Napier venue. Michael, formerly Appellation Marlborough Wine Chief Executive, says he’s moving from one incredible organisation to another. “I am so impressed by the work of AMW, driven by wine companies who are passionate about protecting the reputation and quality of Marlborough wine.” Michael says Mission Estate’s 175 years of winemaking tradition, alongside cutting edge sustainability measures, makes it a unique player in New Zealand’s wine industry.

Behind the scenes at Monte Christo

Monte Christo Winery has added educational tours to its historic winery experience, taking visitors “behind the scenes” of winemaking, from grape to bottle to cellar, before a guided wine tasting. “To my knowledge, there are very few winery tours like this anywhere in New Zealand,” says Dr Stanley Paris, who restored the winery, with his family, for a reopening in 2023. “Established in 1864, Monte Christo Winery was once a thriving vineyard. However, it fell into a period of inactivity in the 1880s and it wasn’t until almost 140 years later, when we rediscovered it, that we saw the opportunity to revive it,” says Stanley. “It was always my dream to build an educational winery.” Managing Director Nicholas Paris – a Master of Wine and Advanced Sommelier – says the new interactive experience will appeal to a range of visitors, from curious consumers to corporate groups. “We take a minimal intervention approach to our winemaking, with a deep respect for both our heritage and the expressions of our Central Otago landscape,” says Nicholas. “This is reflected in every step of our winemaking process, from harvest to bottle.” Guests will also have the option to experience Monte Christo’s new Aroma Room, to learn about the key aromas found in Central Otago’s main grape varieties. Earlier this year the family opened a second cellar door in restored historic building on the Gibbston wine trail, to serve as the gateway to Monte Christo Winery’s flagship estate in Clyde, says Nicholas. “We’re absolutely delighted to have opened our doors at this stunning location and showcase our wines to more locals.”

Nicholas Paris MW

Upcoming events

To have events added to our calendar contact sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz

Ormond Nurseries Young Viticulturist of the Year

28 May-27 August

nzwine.com/en/initiativesevents

There are five regional competitions in the 2026 Ormond Nurseries Young Viticulturist of the Year, with Marlborough on 28 May, the North Island regional on 4 June, Hawke’s Bay on 11 June, the South Island regional on 18 June, and Central Otago on 2 July. The finalists go through to the National Final in Wairarapa on 26 August, with the Young Viticulturist of the Year announced on 27 August.

Grape Days 2026

16-22 June

nzw.com/grape-days

The 2026 Grape Days events, on in Central Otago on 16 June, Hawke’s Bay on 18 June, and Marlborough on 22 June, are a chance to hear high level overviews of wine research, with a practical focus for members.

WinePro

23-25 June

winepro.co.nz

The conference segment of WinePro, on in Blenheim this winter, is designed around themes of The Producer, The Innovator, The Seller, and The Drinker. Organised by Wine Marlborough, the concurrent education sessions will delve into the full cycle of wine production, and will also explore the research and development advancements of other industries. In the tradeshow, WinePro organisers will build on the success of the inaugural event, which drew 100 exhibitors, from cutting edge technology to fundamental vineyard services and

equipment. The wine industry is navigating a period of outside influence, “and how the sector responds matters”, says Gary FitzRoy, Managing Director of event organiser Expertise Events. “WinePro is not about dwelling on challenges, but about solutions, energy and fresh thinking.”

The National Wine Awards 2026

29 June

nationalwineawards.co.nz

Entries open for New Zealand’s only national wine awards on 29 June and close on 21 August, with judging from 22-24 September. Jane Cooper returns as Chair of Judges, tasked with identifying and celebrating the very best wines in the country.

Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year

30 June–26 August

nzwine.com/en/initiativesevents

The three regional finals for the 2026

Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year will be held in Central Otago on 30 June and Marlborough on 15 July, with the North Island regional competition on 23 July. The finalists will go to the national event in Wairarapa on 25 August, with the winner announced on 27 August.

OWNZ EcoVineyards Tour

21 July-4 Aug

organicwinenz.com/ecovineyards-tour Organic Winegrowers New Zealand is bringing Dr Mary Retallack to New Zealand this winter for regional workshops in Hawke’s Bay on 21 July, Marlborough on 28 July, and Central Otago on 4 August. Each workshop will consist of a morning of theoretical knowledge on functional

biodiversity, vineyard and soil health of vineyards, followed by a practical session after lunch. Growers will take home knowledge and tools to allow them to start monitoring and use practices to track biodiversity, vine and soil health within their own vineyards.

Wine Business Forum

27 August

Now in its fourth year, the New Zealand Winegrowers Wine Business Forum has become a key gathering for industry leaders to explore the forces shaping the future of New Zealand wine. The 2026 Forum, to be held at Tākina in Wellington, will examine how people and place underpin New Zealand wine’s global advantage while identifying new pathways for growth. Sessions will cover emerging market opportunities, wine tourism, AI-driven marketing, and digital and product innovation, plus commentary on the highly uncertain global environment the wine industry operates in. With a strong speaker lineup, the forum will deliver practical insights to help wineries navigate change and capture future opportunities.

Jane Cooper

Dr Mary Retallack

Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium

17-18 September

hawkesbaywine.co.nz

This collaborative forum, to be held at Toitoi in Hastings, is a chance for the Aotearoa wine community to assess its current standing in the world of Chardonnay, and to chart a path forward. The theme of the 2026 symposium is quality, focusing on the unique features that define New Zealand’s whenua, climate, and philosophy, and how these elements come together to enable the production of premium Chardonnay, says Hawke’s Bay Wine Chief Executive Brent Linn. “Together, we will delve into what makes quintessentially great Aotearoa Chardonnay, and explore how we can consistently craft wines that exhibit exceptional quality, texture and balance.”

Organic Wine Week

21-27 September 2026

organicwinenz.com/organicwineweek

Organic Wine Week is the perfect time to swirl, smell and sip the stunning array of organic wine from Aotearoa. Featuring popup tastings, wine list takeovers, winemaker dinners, retail promotions and more, the week opens a window into the vibrant world of organic wine.

Sauvignon Blanc

New Zealand 2027

2-4 February 2027

sauvignonnz.com

This immersive experience will bring the global wine community together in Wairau, Marlborough, to celebrate what’s new and

A

Breath of Fresh Detail

Heaphy Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc captures Nelson’s relaxed yet vibrant spirit through rich aqua tones reflecting its tropical coastline. Intricate illustrations of indigenous wildlife and native flora are revealed through precise debossing in the negative space, adding tactile depth and dimension. A specialty dieline enhances shelf presence, while refined typography inspired by Art Deco architecture completes the design—showcasing craftsmanship, texture and detail in every printed element.

Talk to MCC New Zealand where every product is labeled with care.

Producer: Heaphy Vineyard

Designer: archival.co.za

what’s next for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. “Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand 2027 is a celebration of collaboration, creativity and the iconic global reputation of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc,” says Chair Natalie Christensen. “We’re inviting the world to be here and experience the people, places and ideas shaping the future, as we explore the depth and diversity of our Sauvignon Blanc like never before.” Expect curated tastings, progressive conversations, breathtaking experiences, and standout culinary moments.

Altogether Unique

Growing the reputation of New Zealand Wine

Charlotte Read NZW General Manager, Brand

Read On…

Despite very challenging and uncertain times for the New Zealand wine industry – both at home and in our export markets – 2026 has kicked off with some real positives, reinforcing the strength of the global reputation for New Zealand wine. Enjoy the read.

Record numbers for latest webinar

We had a record number of registrations for our latest Intel & Insights Webinar, ‘Focus on the New Zealand Market’, underlining just how important clear, dataled insights are for the sector.

Recognising that the past 12 months have been a particularly tough trading environment, the webinar grounded discussion in evidence, while acknowledging that scan data represents only one part of the picture. The session reinforced the view that while conditions are challenging, there are still areas of resilience and opportunity within the category.

The webinar brought together the latest New Zealand Winegrowers Brand Health Tracking results from IWSR, and retail sales data from NielsenIQ, providing a comprehensive view of the domestic market – from consumer perceptions and brand health through to purchasing behaviour in retail channels. We explored how New Zealand wine is currently perceived by regular and premium consumers, shifts in attitudes and purchase intent, early signals of changing consumption patterns, and how wine is performing across categories and price points in retail.

With three waves of brand health tracking now completed, the webinar highlighted emerging trends to watch, including the growing importance of sustainability cues, evolving expectations from consumers, and the need to think beyond traditional drinking occasions as wine competes in an increasingly complex beverage landscape. The session reinforced NZW’s commitment to making it easier for members to stay informed with relevant, digestible intelligence during a busy and demanding period.

Visit our website to view upcoming Intel & Insights webinars: nzwine.com/members/brand/webinars/

NZW was delighted to support husband and wife MW duo Susie Barrie and Peter Richards as they launched their inaugural New Zealand Wines of the Year initiative in February. Over 200 wines were submitted and it took three days of extremely rigorous tasting in the New Zealand High

NZW attended Wine Paris for the first time in February, and it proved to be a very successful show for the producers who came together to promote New Zealand wines. The New Zealand Pavilion was a hive of activity with meetings and tastings, as important buyers and trade gathered from across the globe to explore and learn about New Zealand wines. There were more than 70 New Zealand wineries represented at the event, pouring around 400 wines, making it a great opportunity to promote New Zealand quality and premium positioning. In particular NZW was delighted to welcome Her Excellency Joanna Kempers, New Zealand’s Ambassador to France, in the second day of her new role, as well as Director General of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, Dr John Barker. Despite the challenges our global industry faces, there were many positive reports on the buoyancy of business conversations across the expo, and participating members were happy they chose to invest to attend.

Rosé Day

New Zealand Rosé Day, held on 5 February, delivered a strong year-onyear performance, with a 25% increase in toolkit downloads compared with 2025. Engagement with Rosé Day content across NZW social channels also increased, with campaign posts outperforming businessas-usual content by 32%. These results reflect both the continued growth of Rosé in New Zealand over the past decade and the role of coordinated industry activity in supporting that momentum. Participation from members was evident across all New Zealand wine regions, highlighting broad uptake of the toolkit provided.

Commission to whittle down to just over 100. Only wines scoring 93/100 and above made the grade. The results have been released in a 50-page report, packed full of opinion and information, which is free to download on their website. Accompanying the report was an entertaining podcast on

their award-winning Wine Blast Channel. To quote them: “There’s never been a more compelling time to dive into Kiwi wine –tune in to find out why.” NZW will host an event to showcase this selection in April. susieandpeter.com/new-zealand-wines-ofthe-year-2026-report

Wine Paris

Wine Paris. Photo Andrew Wheeler

Susie & Peter ‘Wines of the Year’

Lance Dobson from NielsenIQ

Sauvignon Blanc NZ27

It’s never been more important to celebrate New Zealand’s world famous Sauvignon, says Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand 2027 Chair Natalie Christensen. The event, to be held in Wairau Marlborough 2-4 February, 2027, will include “insightful, reflective and forward-thinking commentaries”, she says.

This is a key event because… New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is the major varietal for our country. This event is important as it gives New Zealand producers the opportunity to come together to celebrate and share their stories both domestically and with the global wine community.

Our invite list is… impactful, with a wide range of key industry players from key export markets. We have also got non-traditional wine influencers in the mix, who will bring a lot of fun and introduce a wider/new audience to the Sauvignon Blanc story through their following.

The three days will include… insightful, reflective and forward-thinking commentaries from inspiring international and domestic speakers. Participating wineries will be pouring their top drops and we have got a vibrant and exclusive social programme that we are having a great time planning.

In 2037, I hope… New Zealand Sauvignon will be very high quality, highly valued and a national icon for all the right reasons. I hope we have supply/demand in balance and everyone growing/producing Sauvignon Blanc can have a sustainable future.

If I played a Sauvignon Blanc soundtrack in my cellar it would… tap into my interest in sound and vibration and how that interacts with an environment. I’ve actually invited Dr Jo Burzynska to stay for a couple of days during harvest, and she is going to record some Sauvignon Blanc sounds on her visit. So I guess in a way she is making a soundtrack of the cellar! A few years ago, I played the Gayatri Mantra on repeat to some Pinot Noir barrels while the wine was aging to see what effect it would have on the wine. It was magical!

I’m passing the Q&A baton to fellow committee member… Murray Cook. He always says the most insightful things – he is a true legend.

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Natalie Christensen

Vintage 2026

As a harvest buzz rolls down the country, SOPHIE PREECE gets some vintage views. Harvest kicked off earlier than ever for vintage 2026, with Northland growers picking by 23 January, Hawke’s Bay starting a week ahead, and Marlborough’s sparkling harvest bright and early, with a mid-February start date. Central Otago is running behind a typical year, thanks to challenging conditions, but a run of warmer weather has ramped up ripening, says winemaker Matt Connell on 20 March. “I don’t think we’ll be too far behind normal. And when we get started, it will probably be a bit of a condensed vintage.”

“A string of three strong vintages should enable Hawke’s Bay to keep building its reputation at the quality end of the market.”

Ian Quinn

Michael Brajkovoch, from Kumeu River in West Auckland, started with sparkling base wine on 4 February, “which is about normal these days”. Chardonnay’s harvest ran from 16 February through to 13 March, and “the wines are outstanding”, he says. January was quite wet in comparison to most years, but February and March were particularly dry “and allowed for very nice finishing of the fruit on the vine”, Michael says.

Kumeu River also grows fruit in Hawke’s Bay, which was wetter than usual in January, “but with some particularly warm days as well”. Kumeu River’s harvest there started with Pinot Noir on 18 February, around a week earlier than usual, followed by Chardonnay on 24 February. “Harvest was completed under very dry conditions and finished on 10 March,” Michael says, noting that Rays Road in Hawke’s Bay was “superb” for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. “We are looking forward to seeing how these wines develop over the next weeks and months.”

Ian Quinn, from Two Terraces (see page 19), says Hawke’s Bay’s weather offering was “kind” this season, with “a very warm spring

and great flowering, some rain in January, keeping moisture in the soil profile, but relatively dry and settled since”. They had an early start with Chardonnay, on 23 February, followed by other varieties coming on in ripeness “pretty quickly”. Speaking on 20 March, Ian says they finished Chardonnay and Albariño on 15 March, and are working on Chenin Blanc, with Syrah looking “great” for picking before the end of March. A string of three strong vintages, from 2024 to 2026, “should enable Hawke’s Bay to keep building its reputation at the quality end of the market”, he adds.

Te Mata Estate Viticulturist Brenton O’Riley, says fruit quality looks “outstanding” across all the estate vineyards. “White varieties are coming in beautifully, showing great purity, balance and freshness, which is always encouraging early in the season,” he says on 24 March. “That said, the real excitement is building around the full-bodied red varieties, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah all showing excellent concentration, structure and depth as they approach the tail end of harvest. Everything we’ve seen so far points to an excellent 2026 vintage of outstanding wines.”

Wairarapa winegrowers dodged an onslaught of bullets this growing season, escaping spring frosts fairly lightly, a pre-Christmas hail event without major damage, then big warm winds in January, which threatened to dry vineyards out. Rainfall came just in time and freshened up vines, holding vineyard health steady, says Wairarapa Winegrowers Association Chair Wilco Lam. The region had good flowering conditions, but many have controlled their crops this year, following a “bumper” 2025

season, Wilco adds, “and it was really the year to do it”.

There was speculation that harvest would begin very early, in February, but cooling weather slowed things down at the end of January, and dates settled a little closer to a typical season. Wilco’s Oraterra harvest started at the end of the first week of March, along with others, “then really got into it mid-March”. After all that dodging, the region had a “really great” finish to the season with beautiful harvest weather, he says on 24 March. “It’s been magnificent, especially in the last three or four weeks.”

Nature made up for a somewhat absent summer in Marlborough as well, with perfect conditions leading into the grape harvest. “What a glorious time, so far,” says winemaker Jules Taylor on 20 March. “Autumn feels like it has come early with beautiful crisp, clear mornings and lovely warm days.” Flavours across all varieties are “superb”, and acids are holding up well with cooler nights, she adds. “Crops are ripening nicely and I’m super excited to see how the flavours transform.”

Tohu winemaker Bruce Taylor is similarly enthused, talking of the weather “playing ball”, with big blue March days on the tail of a cool summer. Tohu started its harvest on 16 March in the lower Dashwood, followed by blocks in the lower Awatere Valley, then Waihopai Valley. It’s the earliest harvest Bruce has seen in 16 years with the company and, even with a pause until the Upper Awatere Valley is ready, he expects to be done by the end of March, rather than the first week or two of April, as is typical. With fewer grapes coming in, and a long late summer for ripening, the winery is relatively relaxed, he says on 23 March, with

Jules Taylor Wines’ Clone 95 Chardonnay harvest at Meadowbank Vineyard, vintage 2026.

Photo by Fold in the Map Photography

half the harvest done, and a chilled switch to overnight harvesting only. There’s rain on the horizon, but Bruce is relaxed about the clean fruit still ripening in the cooler climes of the upper Awatere Valley.

Managing supply

Tohu has brought forward a vineyard redevelopment in the upper Awatere to help manage supply this season. “We really wanted to respect the contracts that we’ve got with growers, and make sure we’re looking after our long term partners,” Bruce says. “One of the levers that we could pull was bringing forward redevelopment.” They had already started a replanting programme on the 50-hectare Sauvignon Blanc block, with 25ha replanted by last spring. In winter 2025 they pulled out another 25ha, which will be left to fallow under cover crops until 2027 or 2028, depending on demand. That was two years earlier than planned, but helped reduce supply for this harvest and protect grower relationships, while also reducing costs for the 2025 and 2026 pruning seasons.

Bruce says Tohu still has “pretty solid” sales, if not the growth trajectory of the early 2020s. “We realise that we’re going

to need more fruit in the coming years, but we also have lease blocks and other developments coming on stream, including the 25ha we’ve replanted in the last couple of years, which will start feeding us more fruit from 2027 onwards.

Hamish Morrow, a director at WK Advisors and Accountants in Blenheim, has a spread of wine clients, from small growers to vertically integrated wineries. He says the challenging period being faced by the wine industry follows a series of good financial years, so “their balance sheets are in a position where can probably

handle a couple of lower profitability years”.

Many Marlborough growers without contracts are choosing to remove or mothball their vineyards, while others are reducing operating costs “as best they can”, with reductions in labour, sprays and fuels. Meanwhile, branded Marlborough wine companies are performing pretty well, thanks to a “reasonable diversification of customer bases” and the cost of fruit coming down significantly, he says. Companies exposed to the bulk wine market will have felt more pain from the oversupply, but such a dip in fortunes is

Bruce Taylor. Photo Chris Brooks

typical of the corrections that happen in agricultural sectors when supply gets out of balance, he says. “It’s still a fantastic product, and it still performs very well.”

Down in Central Otago, on the cusp of a later-than-typical season, winemaker Matt Connell is similarly buoyant. “It’s that old adage that pressure makes diamonds. So people that have been in wine for a long time and know what they’re doing and are making a good product are finding a home for it.”

“Flavours across all varieties are superb and acids holding up nicely with the cooler nights.”

Jules Taylor

When summing up this season, Matt notes that “Mother Nature has a funny habit of trying to even things out”, Winegrowers were nervous in February, thanks to cooler weather and lower than average growing degree days, he says. “But in my experience, grapevines don’t care too much about

growing degree days. They just want to get ripe.” And that’s what they’re doing. Speaking on 20 March, with two weeks of good weather bolstering ripening, harvest dates are inching closer to average, he says. Vintage has potential to be compressed when it arrives, “because a lot of things seem to be tracking along with the same sort of numbers”.

Matt, who makes his own label, as well as contract winemaking, says 2025/2026 was the most mixed weather season he has seen in his 21 years in Central Otago. Flowering was good across subregions,

apart from Gibbston Valley, which is carrying significantly lower crops – perhaps fortuitously given the season, he says. But that spell of mostly fine weather was followed by more rain and wind than a typical season, and less heat in January and February. “We have had a lot of nice days, but not the block of a month or so of pretty intense heat we normally look for,” he says. “After a good run of pretty consistent vintages, weather wise, it’s definitely been a bit of a change.”

He’s nonetheless positive about the harvest, noting that companies have been

Ian Quinn. Photo Richard Brimer

strategic with crop loads, which are mostly “decent” but not excessive. The spell of improved weather in mid-March improved the outlook and the long term forecast is for a summery autumn, with conditions set to be “a bit warmer and a bit drier than average”, he says. “So I’m pretty optimistic.”

Matt started picking for sparkling wine on 12 March, with fruit riper than he’d expected, and anticipated starting harvest on his own vineyard in Lowburn by the end March, five days later than typical. There’s mixed berry size across the region, along with some hen and chickens, but “really good flavours out there”, he says. Despite challenges, in wine and beyond, the Central Otago wine community remains buoyant, Matt says. “If you have been in it for a while and you’ve got good relationships with your distributor, your agents, and restaurateurs around the world, not just domestically, you need to keep putting effort into that. I think, if anything, some of that’s improved just through honest and open conversations… People are still smiling, and getting on about it, and working hard to sell their product. And we’re doing the best we can to make worldclass wine.”

BRIght Ideas

Harvest is “full speed ahead” at the Bragato Research Institute research winery, with nearly 20 projects and more than 200 ferments for vintage 2026. Viticulture and Innovation

Lead Ross Wise MW says things have been very busy since getting into “Sauvignon Blanc territory” in mid-March, when the winery went into two 12 hour shifts. “The fruit’s been really good,” he says. It’s looking like a great vintage. Some of the flavour we’re seeing on the early Sauvignon Blanc is incredible.”

The main project for the harvest is the second year of the Next Generation Viticulture programme winery trials, which will see 85 ferments in the winery’s 17-litre tanks. The fruit comes in by the crate rather than the truckload, but once at the winery, they mimic the conditions of commercial winemaking. Fruit is destemmed into bins, then left to sit, and occasionally shaken, to emulate skin contact over a truck ride.

As well as a series of commercial trials, BRI is also running its own yeast trials on Sauvignon Blanc, to evaluate the impact of different non-Saccharomyces yeasts on alcohol levels of wine. They will also make some reduced alcohol wine, at around 7-8%, and then trial different mouthfeel enhancers, working to replace the body taken away when alcohol is removed from wine, Ross says. “So sort of two trials in one for that project.”

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BRI has three vintage interns, including Rachel Crawford and Emma Thompson. Photo Sarah Rowley Adams

Singular Vineyards

As New Zealand’s wine regions mature, some unique vineyards are quietly moving out of the background and onto the front label.

EMMA JENKINS MW explores the relationships and reputations being grown on extraordinary sites, shared by many.

New Zealand’s modern wine industry is barely 50 years old. Set against say, Burgundy’s millennium of accumulated understanding of vineyards and varieties, that is a mere blink.

Yet already across the country a particular style of vineyard has emerged. Not one based so much on the classical Old World codification systems but through a more organic process of building reputations and relationships across shared use of fruit.

The vineyards attracting attention, such as Two Terraces in Hawke’s Bay, Grava in Martinborough, The Wrekin, Clayvin, and Settlement in Marlborough, and Central Otago’s Calvert, share certain characteristics: they are typically growerowned, and their fruit is sought after by multiple producers, often small and independent.

“There’s no pressure, it’s all about ideas and collaboration. Shortterm or transactional relationships don’t build growth.”

Ian Quinn

Increasingly, the vineyard names appear prominently on front labels, not hidden in a back-label blurb. The timing of this development is not coincidental, drawing together as it does the threads of vineyard maturity, changing economic models, and the need for diversification and individuality in an increasingly commodified market.

Plantings on many of these vineyards are now old enough to have demonstrated genuine consistency and character across vintages (and winemakers), while the growers who have farmed the same land for two or three decades have accumulated intimate site knowledge. Meanwhile, the regional designations that have built New Zealand’s international reputation have become not only foundations, but in some cases also ceilings. Once a regional category begins to function as a commodity, differentiation has to come from somewhere else.

Subregions and single vineyards are the logical steps along this path, helping create rungs on the ladders of terroir and premiumisation. But the approach of these particular vineyards is not simply an example of New Zealand speedrunning its own version of a Burgundian cru system.

What is actually developing is something more interesting and arguably better suited to our young industry – an approach that could better value both growers and producers, create entry points for a new generation of producers, and provide space for variety and style diversity that volumedriven models tend to suppress.

Hawke’s Bay winemaker Amy Hopkinson-Styles, who owns Halcyon Wines with husband Olly Styles and sources fruit from Two Terraces, says the benefits of this system are myriad, especially for smaller producers. “Access to organic fruit and less common varieties, a recognised vineyard, being part of community, working with a grower who is passionate about wine, and collective storytelling,” she ticks off. “It would be great if we could explore ways for growers to benefit more from their wineries’ successes.”

The model can offer growers something that more conventional contracts rarely do: visibility. Viticulture is to some degree the invisible player in wine, with fruit often disappearing into someone else’s brand; someone else’s story. Single vineyard labelling partially corrects that and, by extension, growers whose names and vineyards appear on an array of premium bottles can gain not just potentially a price premium but also a form of professional recognition that many find genuinely meaningful. Some even use it as a springboard for creating their own labels.

The economics are often more stable than first thought – relationships built on collaboration and shared purpose can prove more durable than procurement contracts driven purely by volume and price. Alistair Gardner, owner of Grava in Martinborough, says in a world where there is already a lot of wine, the grower-producer model feels like a sensible and sustainable way forward. “Rather than everyone needing to own land and infrastructure, it allows vineyards to be farmed well and fruit to be shared among

producers who value the site. That spreads both the opportunity and the responsibility.”

For smaller and younger producers, the significance of this approach is hard to overstate. Land prices have made vineyard ownership increasingly inaccessible for anyone entering the industry without substantial capital, so the grower-producer relationship can become an entry point and a way of accessing high quality fruit, without the barrier of ownership.

Jannine Rickards, who sources fruit for her Huntress label across a wide range of growers, says it’s a positive shift. “It brings the spotlight not just onto the winemaker, but onto site, whenua, and the wider community around the wine. There’s a bit more transparency and connection in that, and I think people are increasingly interested in those stories.” It’s “a slightly chaotic” way to work across regions, she adds, “but I really enjoy it – the people, the places, and the way it lets me explore different expressions of variety and style”.

Blank Canvas co-owner Sophie ParkerThomson MW says the model is a chance to involve the grower more in the winemaking process. “They’re not simply waving goodbye to it at the farm gate.” Meanwhile it enables greater flexibility for the producer. “We know how capital-intensive land is and how many barriers there are to landownership – it enables you to do something high-quality on a small scale.”

It can also help find commercial pathways for grape varieties that might otherwise be blended into obscurity or pulled out. Dominated as we are by one variety, the implications of this for diversity of style and variety in New Zealand wine are significant. Growers with Chenin Blanc, Gamay or Cabernet Franc on compelling sites increasingly have multiple producers interested in exactly those varieties, alongside a story that celebrates them.

Photo to left, a Syrah harvest at Two Terraces. Photo Richard Brimer

Settlement Vineyard

Sometimes they’re unexpected, as with Dan Brennan, owner of Decibel Wines in Hawke’s Bay. “I’d never made Chenin or Albariño before, but I loved Ian and Linda [Quinn, from Two Terraces] so much I took some. Turned out great!” he laughs.

“It does rely on strong relationships and a bit of flexibility - both practically and financially - but when it works, it’s a pretty special way to make wine. There’s a shared sense of purpose.”

Jannine Rickards

Time is the one variable in wine that cannot truly be shortcut. New Zealand’s industry has compressed the typical trajectory, and it’s probably too early to tell what the successes and casualties of that might be. What can be said though, is that increasing collaboration between growers and the producers willing to stake their reputations on their vineyards is creating a durable foundation. As Jannine observes, it relies on strong relationships and a bit of flexibility, both practically and financially. “But when it works, it’s a pretty special way to make wine. There’s a shared sense of purpose.”

Two Terraces, Hawke’s Bay

A former sheep farm spread across two stepped river terraces in inland Mangatahi has quietly become one of the more interesting vineyards in Hawke’s Bay –and a leading protagonist in the growerproducer model. Owned and farmed by

corporate refugees Ian and Linda Quinn, Two Terraces currently works with 19 producers, who are allocated rows within each block. In 2025, 61 picks were made across its six varieties, half of which are five clones of Chardonnay, the balance a medley of Albariño, Chenin Blanc, Gamay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The Quinns purchased the property in 2015, planting one terrace in 2016 and the other in 2018. Most of the vineyard is now certified organic or in conversion, and it is pretty much “fully allocated”, says Ian. “As we’ve acquired producers, we’ve tended to keep them,” he laughs. “There’s no pressure, it’s all about ideas and collaboration. Short-term or transactional relationships don’t build growth.” Producers span established names such as Kate Radburnd and Tony Bish, to tiny newcomers such as Tawhiti and Three Fates, with Two Terraces fruit now underpinning numerous single vineyard wines as well as being a key component in significant blends. The Quinns work closely with producers in the vineyard and clearly relish the relationships –Linda is responsible for now legendary harvest cheese scones. Last year they hosted a Two Terraces trade tasting and masterclass

in Auckland together with 12 different producers. “You get back as much as you put in, and we now have a much richer life,” Ian says.

Grava, Martinborough Winemaking couple Alistair Gardner and Karla Falloon purchased Grava in 2014, having returned from overseas and completed a vintage at a winery sourcing fruit from the vineyard. “I really liked the site and it was for sale, so six months later, we bought it,” Alistair says. Grava, named for the alluvial gravels on which it sits, is a slightly cooler and more wind-exposed site than the Martinborough Terrace proper. Existing supply contracts came with the property, a model they have built on steadily, underpinned by a conversion to organics that increased both fruit quality and the vineyard’s appeal to likeminded producers.

Alistair says they work with their clients to agree on desired varieties and clones early in the season, “setting clear goals with the buyers of the grapes from the beginning”. Winemakers are involved in conversation throughout the season, but day-to-day decisions remain with

A community of winegrowers at Two Terraces. Photo Richard Brimer

Alistair and Karla. “Our clients trust us to manage the vineyard to produce the best fruit we can. It’s fascinating to see the site interpreted through different hands. Each winemaker brings their own lens, but the vineyard character still comes through – the structure, the savoury thread, the sense of place.” The arrangement has also provided stability while the Grava brand itself was repositioned. As for what comes next: alternative varieties are on the radar, he says. “Watch this space.”

“Rather than everyone needing to own land and infrastructure, it allows vineyards to be farmed well and fruit to be shared among producers who value the site. That spreads both the opportunity and the responsibility.”

Alistair Gardner

Clayvin, Marlborough

Clayvin was a pivotal site in Marlborough’s viticultural history, as the first hillside site planted on the clay-rich, north-facing slopes of the Southern Valleys, back in 1992. The 13.4 hectare organic vineyard was originally developed by Swiss winemakers Georg Fromm and Hätsch Kalberer, and Giesen Wines leased a section from 2013, before purchasing the vineyard in 2015. Planted in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah, Giesen Wines’ chief winemaker Jeremy Tod believes its high-density planting –an average of 5,300 vines per hectare – is central to the site’s character, controlling vigour and concentrating energy into fruit rather than leaf growth. He says the result is consistent floral aromatics, concentration on the palate and vibrancy across varieties, something that appears particularly pronounced in Clayvin Chardonnays.

Jeremy notes that the high clay content’s water holding capacity also supports vines through dry seasons, aiding consistency across vintages. Currently, three producers work with the fruit – Giesen, Fromm and Te Whare Ra – with each taking the same parcel year after year, a continuity that Jeremy says allows deep block-level understanding, while permitting each winemaker to express their own style.

“Each producer brings a different vision. But the underlying site character remains a unifying thread across the wines.”

Jeremy believes the grower-vineyard model is gaining more visibility thanks to the likes of Two Terraces and The Wrekin, “particularly through their association with high-end, small-scale producers”. There is a greater focus now on site expression and provenance, he adds, “and grower vineyards with strong identities are well positioned within that shift”.

Wrekin, Marlborough

When Jan and Andrew Johns took over the family sheep and beef farm in Marlborough in the late 1990s, they saw opportunity to diversify into grapes. They were advised to plant Pinot Noir on The Wrekin’s slopes and clay loam soils, well before the Southern Valleys subregional concept emerged. They planted in 2002 and began building supply relationships with a small group of winemakers from their first vintage in 2004. Today, that group has expanded considerably, with around 15 single vineyard wines produced from the site each year by an array of mostly small, premium-focused producers – something that accelerated as they moved into organics and planted Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.

Their daughter Anna Johns says Jeremy Hyland, who manages the vineyard and was instrumental in a shift to biodynamic practices, is central to The Wrekin’s innovation and quality. “His industry connections seeded the original relationships, and he keeps the jigsaw of multiple producers running smoothly.” Different winemakers have developed preferences for specific clones and aspects over time, and the results, while varied in style, share what Anna describes as “the same underlying density, acidity and fruit concentration.”

The Wrekin also produces its own label

(made by Hätsch Kalberer), giving the Johns a direct window into what the site can do. “Being ‘just a grower’ puts you at the mercy of the market and industry challenges,” Anna says. “By diversifying further to the ‘grower-vineyard-producer’ model, we’ve become more resilient in seasons where our producers wish to pull back on their typical allocations. It isn’t a flawless plan but from the start our own production has provided confidence in the value of our fruit – and evidence that the extra work and energy channelled into outstanding viticulture can result in some incredible wines.”

Settlement, Marlborough Credit for Settlement Vineyard has to go to Ivan Sutherland, says Steve Planthaber, “He had the foresight back in 2007, back when there wasn’t a lot of fruit up here, to see what this site could be.” The organically farmed, clay-rich hillside site in the Omaka Valley, dedicated to Pinot Noir, is owned by Steve, his wife Kirsty Sutherland, and the Sutherland family. It supplies fruit to the Settlement label, but also to a handful of other producers such as Blank Canvas and Corofin, who make single vineyard wines from there. “Ivan always had his eye on this site and snapped it up as soon as he could,” Steve says. “From day one, it was planted as a high-quality Pinot Noir site.”

North-facing, with good sun exposure and protected from wind, there’s broad clonal diversity across 20 separate blocks, which are divided across the various producers. Steve regards Settlement fruit as always having had a strong sense of place, something Corofin owner and winemaker Mike Paterson describes as “radiating with a warmth and succulence”. Blank Canvas’s Matt Thomson agrees, noting that the site’s warm, sheltered aspect and clay soils consistently produces fruit with thick skins and abundant tannins, delivering wines with “darkness, size and structure”.

Alistair Gardner at Grava

Sophie Parker-Thomson MW likes the contrasting aspects of Settlement, from a larger east slope to the north-northwest facing Back Block she and Matt take fruit from. “So you’re going to get quite diverse expressions from any given year and not just because of the producer’s winemaking style.”

Calvert Vineyard, Central Otago

When Owen Calvert purchased 12ha of a newly subdivided block on an old sheep farm on Felton Road, Bannockburn, in 1989, it was almost sight unseen. Living in Bhutan at the time, his brother posted him photos and he said, “I like the look of that one”, not entirely sure whether he’d return to plant olives, or maybe stone fruit. But vineyards were going in all around, and in 1999 he planted 4ha of Pinot Noir, alongside smaller parcels of Chardonnay and Riesling. Owen never imagined that some 30 years on, he’d have his name on the labels of some of the country’s most renowned producers. “Whenever I see a list of top New Zealand wines in the world, we’re there as well.”

Having spent the past 40-odd years overseas working for non-governmental

and Bangladesh, Owen was happy when Nigel Greening – who had just purchased Felton Road Wines – approached him in 2001, keen to purchase the fruit and manage the vineyard. It was converted to organics in 2003, and by 2006, Felton Road, Craggy Range and Pyramid Valley all produced Calvert Pinot Noirs. In 2012 Owen sold three blocks to Felton Road and began supplying Cloudy Bay for their flagship Te Wahi. He credits the vineyard’s

reputation to having been “managed well right from the start”, burnished by the calibre of producers who used its fruit. Since 2018, Owen has produced Calvert Pinot Noir under his own label – made by ex-Cloudy Bay winemaker, Sarah Burton – which he describes as a “a true reflection of site and vintage”. With a Calvert Chardonnay in the works, and a move back to New Zealand imminent, a new chapter of Calvert is taking shape.

Jules Taylor Wines harvest at The Wrekin. Photo Lisa Duncan

Birds’ eye view of Marlborough subregions

SOPHIE PREECE

The sky is the limit for Appellation Marlborough Wine, which is honing its understanding of subregional winegrowing, with detailed soil, character and microclimate data, along with new drone footage exploring Marlborough’s unique winegrowing areas.

AMW Chair Sophie Parker-Thomson says the drone imagery, captured by photographer Jim Tannock and drone operator Colin Aitchison, from Skyworks UAS, will be used as part of AMW’s digital wine map, developed by MapHQ. The map offers an interactive exploration of subregions, from the corrugated lines of the Southern Valleys and the green plains of the Central Wairau to the golden hills of the Awatere and Pacificedged vineyards of the Southern Coast.

Jim Tannock says the drone project gives a unique view of Marlborough, including some of his favourite landscapes. “I love the Awatere, which is so rugged, and the cut of the river through the valley, which is still so fresh. And the Southern Valleys in evening light, particularly this time of year when it comes back over the top, is extraordinary.”

For the AMW project, they caught the Southern Valleys cast in shadow, “which means there’s the contrast and the colour,” Jim says. “The deep purples and the shadows are just delicious.”

Sophie says the map, including interactive links to climate and soil data, now enhanced with the drone footage, is a valuable tool for wine companies to use when explaining

the subregional nuances winemakers are increasingly excited by. AMW recently produced a report on Marlborough’s Geographical Indication, using a MapHQ analysis of water catchments and topography to establish a tighter boundary than the current GI, which extends to Picton and south of Kaikōura. Sophie says AMW is hoping to incite wider industry discussions on the GI boundaries, which dictate which wines can claim to be from Marlborough. “It’s positive for Marlborough to be having these conversations. Open, informed discussion about subregions, boundaries and quality shows a region thinking carefully about how it protects its reputation for the future.”

The Southern Valleys showcased on Appellation Marlborough Wine’s digital wine map. Photo Jim Tannock and Skyworks UAS

The Science

Cool Stuff

New frontiers explored at ICCWS SOPHIE PREECE

The 11th International Cool Climate Wine Symposium nimbly walked a line between academic conference and technical workshop, showcasing the “frontiers” of cool climate winegrowing. It’s a balancing act, says New Zealand Society for Viticulture and Oenology (NZSVO) committee member Dr David (DJ) Jordan, who was delighted to see the quality and spectrum of presentations at the symposium, held in Ōtautahi Christchurch in late January, from technical discussions to exciting research to philosophical views on cool climate winegrowing.

“The symposium gave researchers an opportunity to interface directly with those who will benefit.”

Jeff Sinnott

The NZSVO hosted the event for the third time in the symposium’s 42 year history, with the last New Zealand iteration in 2006. DJ says many attendees, domestic and international, will have left with hard and fast ideas of technology and research they could implement in their operations, such as spinning cone technology for low- and no-alcohol wines, robotics in vineyards, and “myth busting” perceptions of yield to quality ratios in Pinot Noir. Others took away insights into more distant “frontiers”, with “high risk, high reward” developments in the field, winery and research labs, such as plant breeding for better vineyard genetics, computer vision for vine management, and the influence of music on wine tasting.

NZSVO Chair Jeff Sinnott says another important aspect of these events is to inform researchers on what industry needs next. “The symposium gave researchers an opportunity to interface directly with those who will benefit.”

Attendees relished the collegiality of the event, with coffee stand conversations at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre often yielding as much as the seminars themselves. “When you’ve got people with a common interest or a point of connection, I think you actually get a very healthy exchange,” DJ says. He notes that cool climate winegrowing is holding up relatively well in the challenging marketplace. White

wine styles made in cool climates, including sparkling wine, are “the shining light at the moment”, making the timing perfect for a deep dive into what’s new and what’s ahead for producers.

Experts take the stage

The programme began with a series of firsthand perspectives from around the world, including Nick Lane, from Defined Wine, based in Kent in the United Kingdom, discussing the challenges and opportunities of contract winemaking in that marginal climate, including easterlies off the North Sea, the heat emanating from London, the growth of hybrid varieties, and the boost to growing degree days as climate change progresses. As that happens, winegrowing areas of England, predominantly east of London, are looking at very similar climates to Burgundy and Champagne, he said. But his talk was named “Extracting the best from a marginal climate” for a reason. “Marginal means that sometimes you succeed, and sometimes you have to adapt. You can’t quite do all of the things that ideally you want to do.”

Anne Escalle, who runs Edmond de Rothschild’s Rimapere and Akarua operations in New Zealand, talked of transplanting her French wine roots into a beloved New Zealand context, and her continued passion for cool climate winegrowing. Jenifer Cugat, from the Catena Institute in Argentina, discussed the science-driven sustainability of Catenamics, including high-altitude viticulture, and research into soils and climate.

Jeff says that was one of the most acclaimed sessions, noting that producing cool climate wines under extreme resource constraints is increasingly pertinent. “Their work really digs into what levers we can use to influence quality. Obviously site plays a huge role, but there are other things they are doing under really tight water constraints, which is something New Zealand, and all cool climate regions, could end up facing.”

The morning sessions were followed by

an afternoon of concurrent workshops, including Nick Lane, along with New Zealand winemakers Jane DeWitt and Andy Petrie, discussing cool climate sparkling autolysis, as attendees tasted a selection of wines and base research wines from around the world. Meanwhile, viticulturist Ivan Sutherland, winemaker Jules Taylor and wine scientist Dr Frank Benkwitz showcased the evolution of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, alongside a tasting that ranged from alternative styles to a high thiol example. Other workshops included an exploration of low- and no- alcohol wine, and a session on vintage resilience in the face of seasonal variation, expertly led by Jenifer Cugat and Dr Amber Parker, Director of the Centre for Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University.

What’s cool right now?

The second day progressed into a more technical portfolio, with Professor Richard Green, from University of Canterbury Computer Vision (UC Vision), updating delegates on a project that started 15 years ago with aspirations for robotic pruning, requiring a perfect 3D vine model with which to make decisions. The model proved far more challenging than he’d originally anticipated, but he hopes to have trials running in vineyards within two years. Meanwhile the UC Vision team has added yield monitoring to its projects, requiring an even more complicated 3D model, with “not just the structure of the canes but all the organs of a vine plant and how they are attached,” he said, talking of the 3D model capturing inflorescences, bunches and leaves, with fortnightly scanning able to show exact growth to submillimetre accuracy. That programme requires very complex coding, but should also be ready to roll in a few years as well, Richard said. “We’re getting pretty close.”

Amber Parker then took to the stage, borrowing The Delorian from 1980s movie Back to the Future to cruise into the past

to left, Coal Pitt Wines

Photo

Dr Kai Voss-Fels

and forward to winegrowing’s potential scenarios. Climate change is reflected in advancing plant phenology, so having a time machine (and/or phenology models and climate models) can help the industry adapt. She also looked at what makes a cool climate, canvassing several metrics used to explain the concept. As growing degree days step up under climate change scenarios, some winegrowing regions will no longer be considered cool climate. Others, such as Marlborough, might not meet the definition in terms of growing degree days, but are nonetheless “easily categorised” as cool, as other factors such as acidity and leaf senescence at harvest may remain, Amber said. “It might be warmer, but many cool climate regions still express wines that we would consider typical of cool climate.”

“It

might be warmer, but many cool climate regions still express wines that we would consider typical of cool climate.”

Dr Amber Parker

Dr Kai Voss-Fels, a professor at Hochschule Geisenheim University, discussed the real-world impact of grapevine breeding using precision

Emission busting

Reducing emissions is a constant battle at Yealands Wines in the Awatere Valley, with nearly 20 years chipping away at carbon. The winery was certified carbonzero at its 2008 launch, but substantial work programmes are still rolling out, Sustainability Manager Andree Piddington told attendees at the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium, offering detailed insights into reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

In 2024, Yealands supplemented the energy from its rooftop solar panels by working in partnership with winery owner Marlborough Lines, which developed a 4Kw solar array nearby, allowing Yealands to purchase clean energy from Meridian. The wine company also purchases Renewable Energy Certificates, meaning their scope 2 emissions – energy emissions – are zero, Andree explained.

Diesel is a “massive” 70% of their Scope 1 emissions, so in 2023 Yealands transitioned away from diesel-powered pumps in the vineyard. Where possible

and prediction tools, enabling selection decisions based on genome profiles. As with all the keynote sessions, the breeding seminar was layered with a workshop later that day, in which Kai was joined by Dr Ross Bicknell, Programme Leader in grape genetics at the Bioeconomy Science Institute (formerly Plant & Food Research), and Dr Darrell Lizamore, Bragato Research Institute Principal Research Scientist, who leads the Grapevine Improvement team based at Lincoln University. The trio discussed “future proofing through grapevine genetics” with engaged workshop attendees, who were keen to traverse the likes of CRISPR gene editing, New Zealand developments in plant breeding, and the impact of regulations and quarantine on both breeding and introducing new genetics, says DJ. New Zealand has “real talent” and it was great to showcase the work of researchers like Darrell and Ross in the workshops, he adds.

Dr Patricia Skinkis, from Oregon State University, talked about research showing that lower Pinot Noir yields don’t always result in higher quality wine, in a seminar followed by a workshop with Amber, and chaired by Dr Mark Krasnow, looking at grapevine physiology in a changing environment. Mark, who is on the NZSVO organising committee, says the workshops offered attendees opportunity to dig deeper into the research topics, with the vine

they combine activities, such as mowing and trimming with one tractor, reducing passes. They also implemented Lean principles, and map out work plans a week in advance, streamlining activities in similar parts of the vineyard to reduce vehicle movements.

Earlier this year they added a 120kw heat pump system to replace a biomass burner in the winery, taking advice from a mechanical engineer who looked at the heat demand required by the winery, including water heating, as well as electricity imported to the winery and exported through solar. They also recently retrofitted two wine tanks into thermal storage tanks, storing hot water generated by solar, which can be used in the mornings and evenings, when there’s no solar energy.

When it comes to Scope 3, Yealands has lightweighted all bottles to an average of 398g, reducing emissions from both freight and glass production, and also ships some wine in bulk to the United Kingdom

Jenifer Cugat, from the Catena Institute in Argentina

physiology workshop delving into vine balance. The “myth busting” of Patricia’s seminar, and the consequent workshop, was a big takeaway for many attendees, says Jeff. “The outcome of cluster thinning does not necessarily always result in higher quality.” Patricia’s sensory research also showed that winemakers were influenced by their perception of yield versus quality, and judged the same wine differently when they knew what level it was cropped at.

That step into sensory science continued in the last session of day two’s seminars, with Dr Jo Burzynska, a sound artist,

and Europe to bottle in situ, resulting in emissions reductions of 25-30% compared to shipping the same volume of wine in glass and cardboard packaging. Next steps include phasing out diesel further, and increasing the efficiency of the winery using the data they are capturing.

Yealands is a member of International Wineries for Climate Action, through which it has joined the Race to Carbon Zero. It also has Toitū Carbon Reduce ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) and ISO 14064 (Carbon Reporting). Andree says a lot of markets, particularly in Europe, are demanding data to substantiate claims. “This means we are one step ahead of the game, by already having the data they need.”

She also touched on a five stage “Nature Positive” plan, including protecting existing tree plantings and adding more. “Long term, the idea of the plantings is we can use them as an inset from an emissions point of view… we can use it as a carbon sink.”

wine writer, researcher and curator, discussing how sounds and music influence the perception of wine characters for consumers and experts alike. In a workshop following her session, attendees, including many winemakers, tasted each wine in silence and then with two different pieces of music, and discussed how the flavour and mouthfeel changed, sometimes dramatically, as the soundscape shifted. In many cases there was a very similar response, with several attendees saying a wine became less or more acidic, for example, or became more balanced with a certain piece of music. Research indicates that the experience is likely to do with “cross modal correspondences” altering the perception of aromas, flavours, and textures when we’re listening to sound, said Jo in the workshop, noting that the complexity of wine appears to make the sound influence more pervasive.

Future focused

Day three was another frontier showcase, with a series of short presentations from researchers, including new insights into the effectiveness of machine shaking, AI forecasting for downy mildew, and high-speed, low-energy cold stabilisation. Meanwhile, Jane Skilton MW, along with winemakers Warren Gibson and Murray Cook, ran a tasting exploring the “next generation” of New Zealand Chardonnay, with a “mosaic of styles”, while Jenifer Cugat and Marlborough District Council Senior Environmental Scientist Matt Oliver discussed the use and protection of water.

A tech session canvassed the potential “applications for robotics and precision tools” in vineyards, with Brock Campbell, Cloudy Bay Viticulture Operations and Project Manager, talking about the success of V3, an inhouse autonomous tractor that has achieved 3,000 hours of work in Marlborough. This growing season V3 was

running 14 hours a day. Brock was joined by Dr Oliver Batchelor and Dr Ritchie Ellingham, from Canterbury University, who discussed the progress of UC Vision, illustrating the technical work behind the 3D model of a grapevine, segmented to separate out the grapes, leaves and vines.

The business part of the day ended with what DJ introduced as “three key components” driving people in the wine industry, with sustainability, understanding the market, and insights into the future.

“I think it’s the energy and excitement of what’s around the corner that energises how we approach the day, what we’re thinking about in that year or that vintage, and what lies ahead,” he said. Yealands Wines Sustainability Manager Andree Piddington discussed the Marlborough company’s emissions journey (see page 26), with detailed insights into how to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions, for which they have control, as well as Scope 3, referring to upstream and downstream suppliers. Jane Skilton talked of “what’s hot” in cool climate wine, and the ever-eloquent Nigel Greening, from Felton Road, approached some “forks in the road”.

Organisers wove together a complex programme of concurrent sessions, with 12 keynote speakers, dozens of workshop experts and facilitators, and an array of “hot off the press” presentations offering cutting edge research. There were also more than 40 posters, revealing exciting early-stage research with demonstrable, repeatable results. “I expect we’ll see some of these researchers as keynote speakers in the future,” Jeff says.

Beyond the technical and coffee cart highlights, social session included Jo Burzynska’s ‘Sonic Aperitif’, pairing musical genres with specific wines at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, access to the extraordinary Banksy exhibition at Te Pae, and a gala dinner celebrating cool

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Lower registration numbers of 260 were originally a concern for the committee, but proved to be a substantial benefit, says NZSVO Executive Officer Stephanie McIntyre. “Participants actively engaged with one another, discussing wines and sharing insights rather than focusing solely on their individual experiences. This collaborative approach enhanced the learning experience for everyone involved.”

DJ says the committee behind the event was driven by the same “cooperation and collaboration” he’s enjoyed since joining the NZSVO 37 years ago. “Everybody just rolls up their sleeves and does stuff to make it happen… There’s huge amount of effort for that group of volunteers to pull off an international event like the Cool Climate Symposium.”

Sessions from keynotes speakers and some workshops are available to New Zealand Society for Viticulture and Oenology members: nzsvo.org.nz.

climate wine and New Zealand kai.

Jo Burzynska revealed the influence of sound on wine sensory experiences. Photo by Babiche Martens

Know Your Limit

Planetary Facts labels reveal product impacts

SOPHIE PREECE

Dr Kate Meyer was stalled in the tomato aisle of the supermarket when inspiration struck. While grappling with the environmental cost of imported Italian organic tomatoes versus the local but nonorganic option, she realised consumers needed something akin to the nutritional labels on packaged food, disclosing consistent environmental data.

“Ideally every brand would publish their Planetary Facts to make sustainable wine selection easy.”

Kate Meyer

By 2018, Kate had completed a PhD and written a textbook on Planetary Accounting, a framework to help people, companies and governments operate within the limits of the nine Planetary Boundaries, established by international scientists. She then founded the Planetary Accounting Network (PAN), a not-forprofit research centre, and began working towards PAN’s Planetary Facts labels, inspired by the tomato quandary. The labels show a product’s carbon emission, air quality, waste, water use and biodiversity score, for example, so consumers can make more informed decisions, and producers can see areas for improvement. Each product assessed is given a “Percentage Daily Limit” score, just as nutritional facts show recommended daily limits. A glass of Marlborough wine, for example, comes in at around 0.35% of a 100% daily limit, which is comparable to a locally produced apple or orange.

PAN has been working with a range of New Zealand primary sector groups, as well as research organisations, and companies in tourism, construction and events. In 2024 they began working with Bragato Research Institute on a Planetary Facts Assessment for Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough and Central Otago wine, to help wine companies

quantify, compare and communicate the environmental performance of their wine production. Planetary Insights software was used to assess Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand data, along with the SWNZ National Plant Protection Report, the New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Report, and an industry study by Clothier & Green, to determine the relative impacts of the wine regions.

While inspired by nutritional labels, the Planetary Facts labels have been designed for simple recognition. A wheel shows each product’s impact in the context of the Planetary Boundaries, with red shading showing impacts exceeding the recommended limit, orange and yellow a lighter impact, and green a positive, regenerative signal. But the key for many consumers is the Percentage Daily Limit tally. A 750ml bottle of New Zealand wine has a score of 1.8%, hovering at a lowlevel yellow. That’s pretty good news for wine, but Kate does point out that a daily limit of 100% will be largely absorbed by shared infrastructure and household impacts, including driving a car. She also notes that not all wine is equal, with light glass bottles and locally sourced wine decreasing the impact score. “Ideally every brand would publish their Planetary Facts to make sustainable wine selection easy.” NZW’s General Manager Sustainability, Dr Edwin Massey, says Planetary Facts is “a really interesting and quite exciting way of presenting the data”, and further evidence

that New Zealand wine “can be consumed as part of sustainable lifestyle.”

Kate says the food and fibre sectors have been enthusiastic adopters of the concept, seeing commercial value in a transparent assessment of their impacts. Silver Fern Farms recently used their results to unlock a major international commercial deal, “which is really exciting”. The construction sector has also jumped in, as has Ngai Tahu Tourism, and an A&P event, which will enable attendees to “tally up” the impact of their day. Companies that go through the assessment can delve beyond the visual wheel and into the Planetary Insights software, to see specifics on their impacts. That makes the accounting a “risk mitigator” for those who want to understand areas that require improvement.

Kate, who wants to see the labels become ubiquitous, says the international market is “suddenly ready” for the PAN framework and Planetary Facts. She’s had calls from major companies in Europe, and was invited to present PAN’s work to the European Commission. It’s an exciting momentum. “If I could have told past-me where this would get to today, I would have been over the moon.”

Read more about Planetary Facts for New Zealand Wine in the December 2025/ January 2026 edition of Winegrower Magazine at nzwine.com/en/media/nzwm. To access more Planetary Facts join the network at planetaryaccounting.org/joinindividuals.

Kate Myers says the Percentage Daily Limit of a glass of New Zealand wine comes in at around 0.35%, which is comparable to a locally produced apple or orange

Planning for change

Modelling climate scenarios for wine regions

SOPHIE PREECE

Making strategic vineyard decisions without reliable climate intelligence is “increasingly risky”, according to the viticulturist behind a free climate modelling resource. “Climate is a massive determinant of wine style and quality, and it’s shifting in ways that are already measurable in New Zealand vineyards,” says Pete Taylor, who launched the Auxein Insights platform in January. “Growers are making strategic decisions like variety selection, site development, irrigation investment, things that will play out over decades.”

Pete, who has a Master of Wine & Viticulture from Lincoln University and a Master of Water Resource Management from Canterbury University, developed Auxein in 2024, having written his master’s thesis at Lincoln on high-resolution, vineyardspecific climate modelling and its impacts on

Pinot Noir quality in New Zealand.

The latest iteration gives growers free access to regional and subregional climate views across New Zealand’s key wine regions, along with historical climate data going back to 1986. “Crucially, it also includes future climate scenario modelling out to 2100 in three time horizons,” Pete says, “Growers can explore how temperature, rainfall, and growing season length might shift under different emissions pathways.”

Understanding climate change trends can help growers plan better, he adds.

“If a grower can see that average March temperatures in their subregion have increased by 0.8C over the past 20 years, and that trend is projected to continue, they can start thinking earlier about picking windows, heat stress management, and even whether

their current varieties will retain the balance and flavour profile the market expects.”

He’s also inviting growers to connect their onsite weather stations to Auxein Insights, to give them “richer local data in their own dashboard” but also to build a more accurate picture of subregional climate variation.

Later this year he will roll out a subscription-based app called Auxein Grow, “an end-to-end vineyard management platform with block-level insights”, but says the Insight platform will continue to offer easy-to-interpret climatic modelling for future planning. “Regional and subregional data gives growers the context to understand whether what they’re experiencing locally is a short-term anomaly or part of a longer trend, and help to plan accordingly.” auxein.co.nz

Science

Snippet

Freezing vines to preserve and protect

A Lincoln University research fellow is working to safeguard grapevine species from extinction, using careful science and liquid nitrogen. Dr Jean Carlos Bettoni is a specialist in cryopreservation, through which a tiny piece of grapevine is propagated in a tissue culture, before a millimetre of material is removed, dehydrated, locked in an airtight container and immersed in liquid nitrogen, where it can stay indefinitely, if topped up. When it’s needed, the vine material can be propagated in the lab with a relatively high success rate.

Lincoln University has some unique grape varieties from around the world, which could be threatened by plant disease and climate change. “We have few plants of some varieties, and we don’t want to lose that biodiversity,” Jean says. “The main goal of cryopreservation is to have a safe collection, in case anything happens, so future

generations will still have the opportunity to take advantage of it.”

Jean is also a specialist in virus eradication, including the use of cryotherapy; which works by exploiting which cells a virus infects. When the shoots are immersed in the liquid nitrogen, the freezing temperatures destroy all of the outer cells, which is where most grapevine viruses reside. The cryotherapy methodology has been successfully applied to eradicate viruses and viroids in diverse crops, including apple, kiwifruit, potato, and quince, Jean says. “We’re 100% confident that we are able to remove the virus.”

Jean has extensive experience working in the field, having contributed to the creation of the world’s first grape species cryobank for

the United States Department of Agriculture at the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation in 2019-2020, led by Dr Gayle Volk. His expertise recently led him to serve as a consultant for the FAO (United Nations), where he helped establish international standards for gene bank conservation through cryopreservation.

He started as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Lincoln University late last year, working with Dr Olaf Schelezki and Associate Professor Amber Parker, and has a long-term goal of developing a cryopreservation facility at Lincoln. “A more immediate and feasible aim is to establish a secure backup in tissue culture and then use cryopreservation as a tool to eradicate viruses.”

Dr Jean Carlos Bettoni

WinePro opportunity to drive change

Robust discussions with other suppliers and wine industry clients are especially important during tougher times, says a sales agent for Hydralada. “We are at the end of the day a community and in this industry together by and large for the same reasons,” says Brendon van der Gulik. “You can’t know what you don’t know, so talking through problems, pressures and potential solutions is really important to provoke thought and hopefully instigate change. This is how the industry evolves.”

“Delivering a consistent and reliable product to optimise quality has always been important, and even more so in the current climate.”

Brendon van der Gulik

Hydralada was at the inaugural WinePro in 2024, and is returning to the trade show and conference event this June, seeing it as an opportunity to talk about “new and exciting technologies” and to network with all levels of industry, discussing innovations, trends and challenges, Brendon says. “It’s also quite neat having all industry players in one place to drive discussions and thought that only this environment creates.”

WinePro will be held in Blenheim from 23-25 June, with a showcase of wine-related products and services, as well as a conference arm, organised by Wine Marlborough, exploring themes of The Producer, The Innovator, The Seller, and The Drinker. Attendees will hear from experts in vines, wines, research and the market, but can also learn from other sectors, including Zespri.

Brendon says there’s pressure on suppliers to ensure they adapt to market pressures and provide innovative products that drive efficiency. “Delivering a consistent and reliable product to optimise quality has always been important, and even more so in the current climate.” He’s also seeing customers wanting to take more control, and reduce operating costs. “If something doesn’t present a clear ROI then it’s not going to happen.”

The face-to-face opportunities of trade events like WinePro “simply can’t be beat”, Brendon says. “Any time we can meet face-to-face is vital to ensuring strong relationships - it’s that simple.”

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WinePro melds a trade show with conference. Photo Richard Briggs

Women in Wine

Lauren Swift’s

joyful

juggle CLAIRE FINLAYSON

You can spot the frolicsome vibe of Lauren Swift’s wine well before it reaches your glass. It’s signalled in the perky-pink feature wall of her cellar door; in the brand’s pun-cheerful tagline, ‘Swift Wines: stop and smell the rosé’; and in the trio of her “silly sausage dogs”, who lend their names and features to some of her wine labels.

Which is to say, Lauren doesn’t take herself too seriously. “I just want to make wines that make me smile as I drink them,” she says. “Someone once described Swift as ‘serious wines for not-so-serious people’ –and we reckon that’s about bang on.”

“Because my brand is fun, people probably think it’s all been super easy. But it’s been sheer grind.”

Lauren Swift

The ‘we’ refers to Lauren’s husband and business partner, Henry Williams. Together they juggle Swift Wines, the aforementioned canine cluster (Florentine, Marceline and Pipi) and two young sons (Finn and Louis) from their home in Hawke’s Bay.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Having spent the school holidays of her youth working on Marlborough vineyards, Lauren took off to Europe for a gap year and came back with one strong conviction: “I returned with no plans but I knew I hated working in vineyards.”

Fate laughed at that resistance and delivered her a job at Clos Henri Vineyard in Marlborough. “I just needed to earn money,” says Lauren. She ended up with far more than a paid-off credit card. “They actually took the time at Clos Henri to educate us around our work and how it improved the end result – so I just really got into it all.”

From there, Lauren’s wine ascent was, well, swift. She moved to Hawke’s Bay in 2009 and racked up a Bachelor of Wine Science and Diploma of Wine Marketing at the Eastern Institute of Technology. After graduation she was snapped up by Ash Ridge Winery as their assistant winemaker and promoted to chief winemaker soon thereafter. Two years later she was crowned New Zealand’s inaugural Young Winemaker of the Year in 2015. She was just 25 at the time.

This back-pat was the perfect validation for someone swimming in a bit of bogstandard self-doubt. “It gave me the confidence that I was on the right track.”

After several vintages in California and the Rhône Valley, she launched her own label in 2016: Swift Wines. It began as an excuse to experiment with one of her favourite grapes – Syrah – around the edges of her full-time winemaking gig. But when Ash Ridge was sold in 2021, Lauren was both suddenly unemployed and three months pregnant with her first child. She chose to use her redundancy money to start growing her Swift wine family alongside her Swift human one.

Five years (and two sons) on, that solitary Syrah has many wine siblings: Albariño (still and sparkling), Chardonnay, Lumière Red, Rosé, Gamay Noir, Cabernet Franc and a Late Harvest Riesling. Lauren and Henry have also recently opened a Swift cellar door and established a contract winemaking facility (Custom Crush Hawke’s Bay) on the original Stonecroft site on Mere Road in Hastings. They currently have 14 small-

batch clients on their books, with room and plans to grow.

It’s not been an easy road though. There have been side hustles along the way: they’ve renovated houses to help fund their business, and their sausage dog sidekicks have pitched in by producing saleable litters. “It’s been pretty insane. Henry and I have funded Swift solely on our own. I still don’t pay myself after 10 years because we’re just trying to grow the business. I ask my accountant to not tell me how much money we’ve put in.”

Lauren was lining up the deal for the winemaking facility when she was 38 weeks pregnant with their second son. “I thought, I don’t want to pull the trigger on this until I meet this next baby because our first was very finicky. I signed the lease at five days postpartum so I never really stopped working. Thankfully Louis is our chill babe. He just got strapped to my chest and accompanied me everywhere. He was on a blanket on the floor in the winery office when he was three months old, kicking around while we were in negotiations to sign up new clients to the winery.”

Working with grapes predominantly grown in Hawke’s Bay’s Bridge Pa Triangle wine district, where she cut her teeth as a winemaker, Lauren follows the minimal intervention route. Her ethos: don’t add if you don’t have to. “I know it sounds a little ‘woo’, but honouring the land and following the grapes’ cues hasn’t failed me yet. ‘Natural’ doesn’t have to mean ‘weird’. Our wines are made with wild yeast and minimal intervention – but they’re clean, fresh and balanced. No funky science experiments here.” Lauren’s approach to winemaking says much about who she is as a person. She says she aims for modern refinement without pretence. “We make vibrant, expressive Hawke’s Bay wines that make life more fun. I think wine should be exciting and about

Photo to left, Lauren Swift

discovery – not just making a product taste the same each year.”

When asked what her most audacious wines are, Lauren says, “I think our Marceline Blanc de Blanc, méthode traditionnelle, zero dosage is a pretty adventurous wine. The Gamay – chilled red – is also a high talking point, along with our 100% whole bunch Cabernet Franc. All very delicious wines made with purpose and so far from commercial wine production in every way.”

Her latest venture, a sparkling Albariño wine made from grapes sourced from the coveted Two Terraces Vineyard, is among the first of its kind in New Zealand. It’s called Pipi (named after her youngest dachshund) and is swiftly becoming the fastest mover in her portfolio. “It’s sparkling, lively, playful and a little disobedient, just like her namesake,” Lauren says. “It’s relatable and versatile. It’s like the best bits of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay all in one.”

When it came to marketing her new sparkling Pipi, Lauren opted to photograph it alongside a plate of fish and chips. A bid to bring some down-to-earth branding into the New Zealand wine sphere? “Yes,

absolutely. I think a big miss in wine marketing is creating an unobtainable vision that just isn’t relatable to the general public. Don’t get me wrong – I think there’s a time and a place for that, but for me, it’s about building a community through real, relatable connection.”

She thinks the perky nature of her branding has caused some consumers to question the seriousness of her winemaking endeavours – and the level of effort

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involved behind the scenes. “Because my brand is fun, people probably think it’s all been super easy. But it’s been sheer grind.” All that hard graft is worth it though. “At times I’ve thought, should I just go and get a normal job and only work eight hours a day? But that’s just not appealing to me. Producing something that I think is amazing and having other people drink it and think the same, is pretty bloody special.”

Henry Williams and Lauren Swift

Wine Art

Wine by Jenny Dobson

CLAIRE FINLAYSON

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more emphatic tribute to family than the one Jenny Dobson conveys via her Hawke’s Bay wines. Each is named after a family member instead of a varietal or vineyard site. The Dobson wine whanau: Francie (Jenny’s mother/ Cabernet Franc), grandmothers Doris (Merlot/Malbec/Cabernet Franc) and Florence (Fiano), Patsy (a favourite aunt/Rosé), and uncles Mac (Merlot) and Alick (Cabernet Sauvignon).

“The support of my immediate family has been very important to me through my winemaking life and I wanted to acknowledge that with my wines and labels.” Jenny Dobson

“The support of my immediate family has been very important to me through my winemaking life and I wanted to acknowledge that with my wines and labels. Much of the character of the person is reflected in the wine, so I decided to portray them on the label,” Jenny says.

She commissioned Hugo Mathias – a New Zealand artist and a friend of her son’s – to create the artwork. Jenny sent him photographs of her family members, along with background information about the character of both the person and the wine. Hugo made sketches from these and added any character-amplifying tweaks she was keen for. Then Max Parkes at Unit Design in Hastings turned the artworks into labels.

Jenny says Hugo’s sketches are photo-faithful in their old-world feel, and likes the fact that they’re reminiscent of mid-twentieth century sewing pattern illustrations in their elegant minimalism and pops of colour. Asked how her mother Francie feels about being immortalised in/on a bottle of wine, Jenny says she loves it.

“She gets excited (and I think, secretly proud) whenever I tell her that I’ve had an order for Francie. She’s turning 97 in May and a glass of red wine is part of her daily routine.”

As for whether that daily tipple is always a Francie (to cleverly bump up sales) or perhaps a Doris, a Mac or an Alick – well, that would be an impertinent question.

Mac by Jenny Dobson

2025 Hawke’s Bay

Patsy by Jenny Dobson 2025 Hawke’s Bay

JENNY DOBSON

Francie by Jenny Dobson

2024 Hawke’s Bay

Doris

by Jenny Dobson

2024 Hawke’s Bay

Growing Legacy

New Zealand’s wine industry lost a beloved winemaker, mentor, colleague and friend earlier this year. Five decades after James Healy was lured into the wine world by food and wine gatherings at university, his daughter SOPHIE MCGILL pays homage to an extraordinary life and enduring legacy.

Food and wine go hand in hand, and that was certainly the case for Dad’s move into wine. The seed of ‘winemaking’ as a career was planted by one of his favourite lecturers at Otago University in the mid-1970s. Hailing from England, this lecturer offered colleagues and senior students evenings full of food and European wines – along with a great depth of wine knowledge. This was a rare thing in New Zealand in those days, and these gatherings of likeminded ‘foodies’ captivated Dad.

“He never completed this course, and has always stood by his mantra that he ‘learned how to make wine by drinking wine’.” Sophie McGill

After graduating with a degree in biochemistry, he propositioned Villa Maria and Corbans to hire him as a cellar hand. But he was offered the job that was actually being advertised – in the laboratory at the Corban’s winery in West Auckland. On this basis, my parents – who had met while both studying in Dunedin – moved up into the Waitākere Ranges. The late 70s and 80s were where Dad got into learning as much as he could about wine, and Mum (Wendy) got busy with us four children. Those days for our family were very free, and not particularly connected with wine at all, growing up in an old bach surrounded by New Zealand bush. There wasn’t any winemaking education offered in New Zealand at that time –Corban’s gave Dad time off and paid for his study via Charles Sturt in New South Wales. He never completed this course, and has always stood by his mantra that he “learned

how to make wine by drinking wine”. He was also very active on the wine judging scene at the time.

Dad’s role at Corban’s had progressed by the late 1980s, and he had met most of the other players in New Zealand wine, as it was such a tiny industry at that time. Kevin Judd needed help at the growing Cloudy Bay and, after a few informal conversations, including with (Cloudy Bay founder) David Hohnen, Mum and Dad decided to move to Marlborough for him to take up a winemaking job. It was a small team, and the job was exciting and all consuming. I think being in a pioneering industry was really exciting to Dad. Professionally, he said ‘yes’ to everything – which meant he was away from home a lot. When he was home he would lead us in wine tastings out of tiny port glasses. He would also cook fantastic laborious meals for special occasions, or because he’d had something amazing on a work trip he just had to recreate at home. I remember a lot of dinner parties, which also suited my Dad’s really social personality.

During the late 90s, while Cloudy Bay, along with New Zealand wine, was growing at lightening pace, Dad and Ivan Sutherland – the viticulturist for Cloudy Bay – formed a strong friendship. Based on this, and an acknowledgment of shared strengths, they started the Dog Point story. In the early 2000s – around the time my siblings and I all began finishing school and moving out into the world – Dog Point celebrated their first vintage. Dad and Ivan worked tirelessly building the business over the next decade, and we would mostly see Dad on work trips that happened to bring him to wherever we were living at the time!

For better or worse, I’m the only one who

has followed my parents into this industry – the rest of my siblings have followed their passions into music, teaching, and medicine. This was an accidental move on my part while living in Melbourne, but was cemented when I met my now husband – Mark McGill. He was a recently graduated winemaker, and so we have held fast in the industry!

With our two young daughters, we moved back from Melbourne and into Mum and Dad’s house in Marlborough. From there we all looked together for the ‘right spot’ in the clays of the Moutere Hills to embark on our shared Chardonnay project. Mark and I had already started making proper cider; fortunately Chardonnay vines and apple trees appreciate the same soils. Dad had already been instrumental in shaping

James and Wendy Healy with Sophie and Mark McGill at Abel

James Healy

wines for two iconic brands, and our project – Abel – which started in 2016, was a low key and more experimental ‘retirement’ project for him. Dad also enjoyed being intricately involved in the full cycle of small scale winemaking – from planting and tending the vines to driving the grapes to the winery.

“Our project – Abel –which started in 2016, was a low key and more experimental ‘retirement’ project for him.”

Sophie McGill

We have been so humbled by how many people Dad touched in his life, from all corners of the globe. As well as being an interesting and passionate winemaker, he was a wonderful friend, colleague, and mentor.

James Healy was featured in the February/ March 2024 edition of New Zealand Winegrower magazine: nzwine.com/en/media/nzwm

James Healy and Mark McGill in the winery

Emma Jenkins’ MW Musings Mastering Wine

EMMA JENKINS MW

Wow, the world is a pretty terrible place right now. I doubt I need to spell out details – take your pick. Closer to home life feelsand is - tough for many. So it might seem a strange time to talk about fun. But there’s a strong case that even – especially – in times like these, maintaining a sense of fun is more important than ever. Dutch historian Johan Huizinga argued that play doesn’t follow culture, it precedes it. Humans didn’t invent games after we built civilization - we built it partly through games and fun. Fun isn’t the reward for serious activity; it’s often how serious things get discovered. This is something wine forgets periodically, and feels in danger of doing so again now.

“Fun isn’t the reward for serious activity; it’s often how serious things get discovered.”

Emma Jenkins MW

Fun helps us experiment. Fun tolerates failure when seriousness often can’t. Fun includes winemakers who play around trying weird things - unusual grapes, unconventional methods, novel packaging. Some fail, but some become movements. Fun is generous and welcoming. When a subject becomes sufficiently serious, the implicit message is that you need credentials,

special language or knowledge to enjoy it. Wine has done this to itself repeatedly and the cost is real, handing market share to craft beer, cocktails, even cannabis, all of which better communicate permission to enjoy without understanding. And without fun, it’s hard to enjoy the thing core to wine’s very existence: there’s evidence that anxiety and self-consciousness suppress sensory pleasure. Someone worried about choosing the wrong wine or saying the wrong thing is probably going to drink less, not more.

Wine is an interesting lens through which to contemplate fun because it contains a clear contradiction. Wine is complex and serious in its craft, production and terroir, yet that complexity was never the original point of drinking it. But somehow seriousness has attached itself to wine like barnacles to a ship’s hull. This has provoked a necessary reaction - natural wine, orange wine, pét-nat – and whatever their flaws, part of their energy and success has come from people deciding to have fun again, to make wine that feels like it was made by humans for other humans. Fun is therefore also risk tolerance. The winemakers who inspire others are just as often the renegades as the classicists.

None of this means depth is the enemy. Fun can devolve into incuriosity - wine that’s interesting as a posture but not as a drink. The goal isn’t to make wine silly. The antidote to excessive seriousness isn’t

Our readers are your customers

New Zealand Winegrower magazine goes to every levy-paying vineyard and winery in the country, with 2,500 magazines sent out every two months, sharing stories that reflect and inform New Zealand’s wine industry.

To get your business in front of the people who research, grow, make, market and sell New Zealand wine, email our advertising team at salesteam@ruralnews.co.nz

Read it online at nzwine/en/media/nzwm

lowering standards, it’s remembering that fun is fundamental to humans thriving. It’s a signal of psychological safety. When we’re having fun, we’re not afraid, not performing, not managing status. A culture organized around fear of getting it wrong is where creativity and pleasure go to die. Something worth remembering when times get tough.

Keeping things exciting, Te Whare Ra is trialing an egg innovation from Tīra for “a very special parcel of 2026 Sauvignon Blanc,” says Anna Flowerday. “Jason has given some input on the design and so we are really eggcited to get to trial this.”

On

your behalf

Advocacy on matters of vital importance to the industry

Taking NZ wine to the world: Bringing the world to NZ wine

Nicola Crennan

Flexibility in recruiting an international seasonal workforce

We are encouraged that employers are already engaging with two new visas for seasonal workforce recruitment. The Global Workforce Seasonal Visa (GWSV) and Peak Seasonal Visa (PSV) recognise the benefits of recruiting skilled and experienced international seasonal workers, and replaced the Specific Purpose Work Visa (SPWV) from December 2025. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) data shared with New Zealand Winegrowers shows there were 359 SPWV, six GWSV and 12 PSV approved for the wine industry ahead of vintage 2026, for winemakers and winery cellar hands.

Both of the new visas require employers to be registered as an Accredited Employer. INZ has recently released videos on their website (immigration.govt.nz) to explain application procedures and give hints and tips on Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) processes. NZW held webinars with INZ to explain these changes and enable members to ask questions directly. You can find the Q&A from these webinars on the NZW member website (nzwine.com/ members). NZW will hold a webinar in late June to review vintage 2026 recruitment and share information with members on preparing for vintage 2027. You can stay updated with Immigration changes by subscribing to Immigration updates on the INZ website.

Updates to National Occupation List

NZW worked with Statistics New Zealand to add two new roles to the National Occupation List: senior winery cellar hand (Skill level 3) and wine laboratory technician (Skill level 2). The recognition of these two roles creates added flexibility for recruitment for the wine industry through the AEWV scheme.

Opportunities to employ New Zealanders

We know that our employers are looking for options to employ New Zealanders first, so we asked the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to update us on

the current opportunities. Regional

Commissioner Craig Churchill says there are a significant number of job seekers with suitable skills and experience ready now for horticulture and viticulture work.

“We’ve got reasonably high unemployment levels and in the current labour market environment there are many New Zealanders who are work-ready and looking for jobs. Seasonal work is a great opportunity for job seekers to get into or stay connected to their local workforce.”

In addition to already-skilled horticulture and viticulture workers, MSD also has a wide range of products and services employers can apply for to help with training or job placement support, ensuring the workers they take on will have the skills required to do the job. If employers want more information on MSD’s employment products and services, they should contact their local MSD service centre or regional office to be connected with a specialist work broker.

RSE Policy Review underway

Following the Minister of Immigration’s commitment to review the Recognised Seasonal Employer policy at the RSE Conference in 2025, the RSE Policy

Review is underway. NZW is closely involved with the review, including engaging with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Policy Team to help them understand the importance of the scheme to our industry. This includes working collaboratively with horticulture industry bodies to identify priorities and positions. Following a survey of RSE employers, the three priorities for the review are a suitable transport cost recovery methodology, ensuring RSE policy alignment and consistency, and implementing workable accommodation settings.

MBIE’s team visited regions to meet with RSE Employers and industry representatives in March and early April, to share potential options and seek feedback. There was also an opportunity for RSE employers and key stakeholders to provide written feedback. NZW’s written submission will be available on the submissions page of the NZW member website.

The outcome of the review will be announced at the RSE Conference in July this year. NZW will keep members updated on any implications for the wine industry.

Nicola Crennan is NZW External Relations Manager

At Clos Henri, Celestin Minchin, son of a winegrower in Menetou-Salon Loire in France, and Sally Waitland, a permanent cellar hand from the United Kingdom

Wine Weather

What’s been going on?

JAMES MORRISON

With the exception of a heat event during early January that brought some record breaking temperatures to the east coast of the North Island, it has been a very average summer and early autumn for most of the country. A moderate La Niña has provided higher than average humidity and reduced sunshine at times for eastern regions. The lack of westerlies has contributed significantly to fewer 30C days in most regions. Rainfall totals have been above average in some regions, especially Canterbury. La Niña generally brings increased cloud cover and milder nighttime temperatures for eastern areas, but a couple of cool mornings in late February did see temperatures fall below 1C in parts of Central Otago on the 23rd and also below 3C about parts of Marlborough on the 23rd and again on the 28th.

A

“super” El Niño?

Superlatives are often an attention-grabbing headline when the weather or climate drivers are pointing to significant extremes. We hear of ‘Heat Domes’, ‘Atmospheric Rivers’ and ‘Polar Vortex’, to name a few. ‘Weather Bomb’ is often misappropriated as a colloquial phrase for a rapidly deepening low pressure system. A ‘Bomb’ low is where

air pressure drops by 24 millibars or more over a 24 hour period and can signal very destructive storms over land and sea. The rising threat of climate change means that the weather events that occur at the ends of the weather spectrum are increasing, and unfortunately it is likely that we will continue to see these phrases dominating the weather news headlines. Without

For all information, please contact Fred fred@vinepower.co.nz – 021 221 6169 www.vinepower.co.nz

Two Terraces

delving too deep into the uncertain future of our climate, there is another weather headline heralding the arrival of a change in weather patterns for New Zealand. That is El Niño, and the possibility that it may develop into what is being termed a ‘Super El Niño’. Even more recently there have been murmurings (ECMWF in Europe) that this El Niño may become so strong that it could be given the moniker of ‘Goliath El Niño’. While its final shape and size is yet to be seen, a ‘Super’ or ‘Goliath’ El Niño would have to be similar in strength to the 199798 and 1982-83 El Niños. These events both lead to significant droughts along the east coast of much of New Zealand. Summer was virtually non-existent in Wellington and Southland in 1982-83, as those regions were battered by constant westerlies or north westerlies. In 1997-98, Wellington saw a much milder summer, which highlights how other climate drivers can impact the weather during a strong El Niño or La Niña. With the latest swing in the Southern Oscillation likely to take place during winter, we should see a windier and often unsettled spring later in 2026. It is still too early to know, but current projections are offering a 33% chance

that El Niño will be strong by the end of 2026. There is also significant variation in long range modelling, so while we have an idea of the primary climate driver for the remainder of 2026, it will be wait and see for the next few months before we can determine how influential it will be.

Outlook for April and May:

Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay – Temperatures should remain near average through April but may remain above average into May, as sea surface temperatures remain above average around the upper North Island. Nighttime minimums are more likely to remain above average, with increased cloudiness at times. As westerlies return, an increase in the diurnal range is expected. Rainfall totals are likely to be near average, but there is still a risk of a late ex-tropical system bringing significant rain to the east coast.

Wairarapa – Mean temperatures remain close to average. April may see an increase in windiness as north westerlies start to return. Rainfall totals again will run close to average or possibly above average for the remainder of autumn.

Nelson – A more persistent northerly flow

should keep minimum temperatures a little above average but it may supress daytime temperatures a little. Rainfall totals are expected to be close to average, with an increased likelihood of meaningful rain arriving from Tasman Sea frontal systems. Marlborough/North Canterbury – Mean temperatures remain close to average. Again it is likely that overnight temperatures will run a little above normal and there may also be an increase in foggy mornings. Rainfall totals are likely to be close to average, especially about Marlborough. North Canterbury also has an increased risk of more significant rain arriving from any late season depressions with a strong onshore easterly flow.

Central Otago – Mean temperatures are likely to run near or above average, in part due to a persistent northerly flow. Colder southwest changes may increase in frequency through May and bring large swings in temperature. Rainfall is expected to be near or below average. West to northwest winds may also increase in frequency through the second half of autumn.

James Morrison runs Weatherstation Frost Forecasting: weatherstation.net.nz

Biosecurity Update

Protecting the places that make our famous wines

Tim Towers

Mothballed vineyards

– what you need to know

The New Zealand wine industry continues to feel and see the effects of the changing economic landscape, oversupply, and ongoing market uncertainty. Growers in many regions are turning to mothballing as a practice that pauses vineyard production and reduces operating costs. This article outlines some important considerations for growers who are thinking about mothballing their blocks or vineyards.

“While mothballing can preserve future options, it does not eliminate risk, and poorly executed mothballing may simply defer costs rather than reduce them.”

Tim Towers

Vine health

Mothballing is a strategic choice rather than a purely technical one. It requires clear objectives, realistic expectations, and ongoing management. One of the central trade-offs in mothballing is the balance between short-term savings and long-term recovery costs. Reducing labour and capital expenditure on pruning, irrigation or nutrition may suppress vine growth and yield, but excessive neglect can compromise vine structure and health, and delay the return to production.

Having a plan to re-enter is therefore a critical part of the decision-making process. Growers are encouraged to consider how quickly they want – or need – to resume cropping. This decision will need to align with the current state of the vineyard, but conditions are unlikely to be the same site to site.

In many cases, considering basic maintenance is essential: weed control, canopy spraying, irrigation or fertilisers are just some of the necessary choices a grower should consider. Application rates and timing of applications will also influence how much faster and more economical a return to production may be. Overall, the

decision to mothball a vineyard can lead to a decline in vine viability in one to two seasons. However, keeping a vineyard in a mothballed state for a longer period will undoubtedly bring about significant costs for a ‘re-entry’ plan.

Pest and disease pressure

A mothballed vineyard can present a biosecurity risk if pest, disease and weed pressure is not actively managed. Inadequate spraying or canopy control can allow insects, plant pathogens and viral vectors to build up and spread into neighbouring vineyards. Weeds and unmanaged growth may also harbour pests or restrict access for monitoring and response. Maintaining baseline surveillance, weed control, and targeted pest and disease management helps ensure a mothballed block does not become problematic for neighbouring sites and a source of wider biosecurity risk. It is also important to note however, that research has shown good management practice in active vineyards can prevent infection by adjacent unmanaged vines. Dr Mark Krasnow, from Thoughtful Viticulture, says a well-executed spray programme, with canopy management for sunlight and airflow, as well as properly timed sprays with a well calibrated sprayer, will protect vines, “even under extremely high disease pressure such as next to an unmanaged block”. Clear communication

between neighbours and ongoing visibility of management practices are key to preventing issues developing while protecting the vineyard’s assets and the surrounding growing area.

“This is a reality for some people, and the best thing they can do is have a plan,” says Karen Peterson from Thoughtful Viticulture. “Is it long-term or short-term parking? The next most important thing is to keep an eye on the block – it shouldn’t be set and forget. There’s quite a lot of unknowns and variables that can affect the health of your vines and potentially the relationships with your neighbours. Knowing what’s going on will help people better navigate this situation.”

Proceeding with care

While mothballing can preserve future options, it does not eliminate risk, and poorly executed mothballing may simply defer costs rather than reduce them.

As market volatility becomes a more persistent feature of the wine sector, mothballing vineyards is likely to remain a topic of active discussion. When approached thoughtfully, it can provide growers with time, flexibility, and a measure of control during challenging seasons – while keeping the door open to recovery when conditions improve. For more information, or if you have any concerns, please contact biosecurity@nzwine.com

Good management practice in active vineyards can prevent infection by adjacent unmanaged vines.

Current research projects

Research Supplement

Bragato Research Institute leads quality research and innovation that enables the New Zealand wine industry to thrive. This regular feature informs and updates the wine industry on research projects being undertaken for its benefit. When completed, each project report will be shared in full detail in the Research Library on nzwine.com.

BRI conducts research in-house and collaborates with other research organisations. The main research provider for each project is listed below. Updates are provided on the highlighted projects in this supplement.

Vineyard innovation

Next Generation Viticulture Programme

Bragato Research Institute

Evaluation of the short-term impact of remedial surgery on grapevine trunk disease and vineyard sustainability

Linnaeus, SARDI, Sutton McCarthy

Rapid early detection of powdery mildew using VOCs to enable better control solutions

Scentian Bio

Central Otago Pinot Noir clonal trial

Bragato Research Institute, Otago Polytechnic, Riversun Nurseries

Elemental sulphur persistence on grapes and mitigation strategies

Lincoln University

Increasing financial sustainability of Chardonnay in Hawke’s Bay through long spur pruning

Eastern Institute of Technology

Long spur pruning as an alternative for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Bragato Research Institute

Grapevine improvement

Sauvignon Blanc Grapevine Improvement Programme

Bragato Research Institute, Bioeconomy Science Institute, Lincoln University

National Vine Collection virus eradication

Bragato Research Institute

Graft-derived drought tolerance: identifying and functionally characterising graft-transmitted elements

Bragato Research Institute

RNAi Virus Relief

Bragato Research Institute

Incorporating genetics and epigenetics into the Central Otago Pinot Noir trial

Bragato Research Institute

Winemaking innovation

Exploring reductive aromas in Pinot Noir

University of Auckland

Single Vine Wine: development of high-throughput oenotyping methodology to support Te Whenua Tupu-Living Lab and SB2.0

Bioeconomy Science Institute

Innovation in bulk wine shipping

Bragato Research Institute

Assessing the effectiveness of winemaking ingredients for the production of no and low alcohol wines

Bragato Research Institute

Targeted inhibition of botrytis cinerea laccases to minimise oxidative damage to wine

Bragato Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington

Sustainable winegrowing

Carbon calculator

Bragato Research Institute

Evaluating water use efficiency and drought tolerance of various rootstocks grafted to Sauvignon Blanc

Bragato Research Institute

Insect frass in viticulture: assessing the potential of a circular solution

Bioeconomy Science Institute

Engineered containment solutions for safe temporary storage of grape marc

Bragato Research Institute

Waste to treasure: using novel chemistry to valorise residual plant material

University of Auckland

Same soil, same rootstock, 12 clones: the Central Otago Pinot Noir clonal trial

New Zealand’s most planted red variety is also one of its most site sensitive, so the practical question for growers and winemakers has never been as simple as “Pinot Noir, yes or no?” but “which clone, on which site, for which style?”

To better understand the planting material available within New Zealand, Riversun Nursery, in conjunction with Otago Polytechnic, developed a Pinot Noir clonal trial vineyard. This site has subsequently been used by Bragato Research Institute to conduct thorough, objective analyses of wine made from the planting material.

The trial is based at Otago Polytechnic’s Bannockburn Road site, which was planted in 2017 and comprises 12 commercially available clones grafted to 3309 on welldrained, schist-derived soils with moderate water holding capacity.

The aim of the trial was to help winemakers and grape growers make informed decisions when planting or replanting vineyards by combining phenological, wine analysis and sensory analysis on Central Otago

The findings show vintage drives most of the wine-to-wine variation, yet meaningful and repeatable clonal signals emerge in ripeness, colour intensity and phenolic makeup –insights that translate directly to clonal selection and crop load decisions in cool climate New Zealand.

“Above all, the study reinforces that clonal choice is not a magic bullet but a lever; the season plays the most important role, the site frames the possibilities, and the clone helps you tune the outcome.”

Methodology

Twelve clones B113, 114, 115, 667, 777, 828, 943, UCD 5, UCD 6, AM 10/5, Abel and MV6 (Figure 1) were planted in a randomised layout, 24 vines per clone, on 3309 rootstock at 2.4 × 1.33m spacing, with consistent canopy management across the block. Harvest

occurred on a single date each season to enable direct comparison of clonal maturity under identical seasonal conditions; baseline yield metrics were captured in 2022–2023, with standardised small lot winemaking in vintage 2024 and 2025. Juice analysis covered juice metrics (°Brix, pH, TA, malic, YAN), finished wine metabolites (alcohol, acids, glycerol), spectrophotometric colour plus CIELab, and GCMS quantification of β-ionone and β-damascenone, followed by controlled trained winemaker sensory panels.

From a vineyard standpoint, the trial confirms useful information, differences in crop load, bunch architecture, berry mass and ripening. Abel and AM 10/5 were consistently higher cropping, with larger bunches and lower ripeness at a common harvest date, an obvious flag for rigorous canopy and yield management on cooler sites or for producers chasing a more structural style; by contrast, 943 and 828 tended to have lower crops with smaller berries and bunches, and tended to ripen earlier, offering a shorter pathway to colour and sugar accumulation in marginal seasons. Berry mass clustered

Pinot Noir in 2024 and 2025.

around ~1.4 g for most clones over four seasons (Figure 2), but B113, UCD 5 and MV6 skewed slightly heavier, while 828 and 943 were lighter; bunch weight had marked vintage variability in some Dijon clones and MV6. Morphologically, bunch length ranged from ~13 cm (943) to ~19.5 cm (Abel), with 943 showing looser, more open architecture and Abel producing more shoulders. Taken together, these vineyard patterns explain why Abel and AM 10/5 often trailed in °Brix, while 943 and 828, with their smaller berry mass and lower yields, reached higher levels of sugar maturity.

“Taken together, the Riversun/Otago Polytechnic clonal trial offers a practical map for matching Pinot Noir clone to site and style in cool climate New Zealand.”

In the winery, despite identical ferment protocols, 943 repeatedly delivered deeper colour intensity and sat among the highest for total phenolics across both vintages, consistent with its smaller berries and greater skin contribution; MV6 was also associated with higher concentration of phenolics. Conversely, higher cropping Abel and AM 10/5 tracked lower in ripeness at harvest and presented with higher malic in juice and, post MLF, correspondingly higher lactic. The norisoprenoids were informative rather than definitive: all wines exceeded sensory thresholds for β-ionone and β-damascenone, but absolute levels varied by season and clone, with UCD 6 trending high in β-damascenone and 943 consistently strong overall. The colour story extended beyond simple intensity: hue values shifted toward more mature tones in 2025, and CIELab visualisations (Table 1) made the comparative depth of 943 and MV6 immediately obvious.

The sensory panels, staffed by experienced Marlborough Pinot Noir winemakers and run under controlled conditions, largely echoed the wine chemistry. In 2024, panellists rated 943, 777 and AM 10/5 higher for dark fruit aroma, while in 2025 the darker spectrum was more strongly associated with 943 and UCD 5. Visually and on palate, 667 and 943 were judged deeper in colour in 2024, with 667 also perceived as less balanced than its peers that vintage; in 2025, 943 and UCD 6 were perceived deeper in colour. When it came to overall complexity, 943 ranked higher than other clones, but only significantly in 2024 when compared to 667; 943 remained a top performer in 2025 even where statistical differences were not present.

Seasonal context, however, was the point of difference, and this is perhaps the study’s most useful take-home for planning and risk management. The first two seasons of measurement (2021/22 and 2022/23) were notably warmer than the latter two (2023/24 and 2024/25), with higher growing degree days and different heat distribution during ripening. This seasonal swing manifested in juice and wine in intuitive and nonintuitive ways: 2022–2023 generally produced higher

°Brix at harvest, while 2024–2025 showed higher juice pH and lower TA, a pattern that could partly reflect sampling method differences between the juice tested direct from squeezing in Central Otago (seasons 2022 and 2023) versus maceration derived juice (seasons 2024 and 2025) due to the well documented influence of cold maceration on acid balance. PCA cleanly separated the 2024 wines toward red fruit/floral/spice with higher glycerol, and the 2025 set toward greater phenolic structure, darker

Figure 1. Experimental layout of the Pinot Noir clonal trial

Figure 2. Average single berry mass, per clone

fruit, body and alcohol (Figure 3). In practical terms, clone effects were additive but secondary to the variances in the two vintages of winemaking. Taken together, the Riversun/Otago Polytechnic clonal trial offers a practical map for matching Pinot Noir clone to site and style in cool climate New Zealand. If your goal is reliably deeper colour, firmer phenolics and darker fruit, 943 is a standout across seasons, with MV6 close by in phenolic strength; expect higher alcohol in warmer years and consider moderating extraction if tannin build-up outpaces fruit. If you’re farming cooler sites or targeting more generous crops, Abel and AM 10/5 will need early and assertive crop load management to close the ripeness gap, or else plan for

later picks. UCD 6 presented higher aromatic weight via β-damascenone and colour stability in 2025.

Above all, the study reinforces that clonal choice is not a magic bullet but a lever; the season plays the most important role, the site frames the possibilities, and the clone helps you tune the outcome. For those contemplating new plantings, the evidence here supports a mixed clone strategy that builds resilience against seasonal variability while giving the cellar options at blend time.

Acknowledgements

Trial vines and rootstocks were donated by Riversun Nurseries; field operations were managed by Otago

Polytechnic, with winemaking and analytical work conducted at BRI. Full methodological details, datasets and references are contained in the final report in the the New Zealand Winegrowers Research Library.

Table 1. RGB visualization of CIELab results

Figure 3. PCA combining all wine and sensory analytes across 2024 and 2025

Targeted inhibition of Botrytis cinerea laccases to minimise oxidative damage to wine

Wayne Patrick & Lyle Cornish (Victoria University of Wellington), Ngarita Warden & Annabel Whibley (Bragato Research Institute)

Botrytis cinerea, the fungus responsible for causing grey mould, can negatively impact wine quality by producing laccase enzymes that oxidise phenolic compounds. This enzymatic activity leads to browning, flavour loss, and spoilage, and ultimately a reduction in wine quality and loss of income. Current methods to control this unwanted oxidation face limitations related to regulation, health, and wine quality.

In a new project, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and Bragato Research Institute are building on their longstanding collaboration to apply cutting-edge genomics and protein-engineering tools to develop a precise, targeted intervention in order to protect premium wine quality. The study is first exploring the genetic

diversity of B. cinerea strains found in New Zealand vineyards. Armed with knowledge of the diversity in laccases, advanced computational tools and biotechnological approaches are being used to characterise the properties of these enzymes and to design mini-proteins that specifically block their activity.

Mapping the genetic diversity of B. cinerea across New Zealand

Last summer, we received samples from six vineyards across Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and Marlborough, from which we were able to isolate and cultivate 11 different strains of B. cinerea (Figure 1A). The BRI team sequenced the entire genomes of these isolates to begin our dive into the genetic diversity of B. cinerea across New Zealand. Our broad

sampling approach is crucial for understanding the complex diversity of the laccases in the botrytis strains that infect your grapes.

In parallel, the VUW team has focused on the three main laccases from B. cinerea, using the sequences from a strain we isolated from a bunch of Gisborne Chardonnay fruit. We established protocols to purify these enzymes and measure their activities in vitro. We also modelled the atomic structure of each enzyme (Figure 1B), which allows us to predict the effects of the strainspecific differences we are seeing in the genome data. Excitingly, the team has also designed three miniproteins that are predicted to bind the laccase shown in Figure 1B. We have produced the mini-proteins…

so watch this space to learn whether they inhibit the laccase!

Our current focus is on expanding our sampling to include more vineyards and grape varieties, in order to capture the full diversity of B. cinerea laccases in New Zealand vineyards. We are also ramping up our design of laccase-specific inhibitors, with an eye on a userfriendly final product.

Call for 2026 samples

Good news for us (but possibly not for you!): it has been a great year for botrytis across the country. We are once again calling for samples of botrytised fruit, so we can culture the fungus and better understand its varietal and geographic diversity. Ultimately, this will help guide future

Figure 1. Characterising Botrytis cinerea and its laccases. (A) Individual infected fruit (centre) was used to culture pure samples of B. cinerea (fuzzy mat) on agar plates. (B) Molecular models of laccase enzymes are guiding our biochemical analyses. The major laccase from a Gisborne isolate is shown, with the enzyme depicted as a green ribbon and the copper ions it binds (which are required for activity) shown as brown spheres.

management strategies. We are particularly interested in receiving samples from as many regions as possible, and we gratefully acknowledge everyone who has

sent us fruit so far this year. If you can contribute, please find postage information at bri.co.nz or email Wayne Patrick at wayne.patrick@vuw.ac.nz.

Season one viticulture results from the Next Generation Viticulture programme

Paul Epee, Ross Wise, Fang Gou, Yuichi Ando, Sarah Rowley Adams, Braden Crosby (Bragato Research Institute)

The Next Generation Viticulture programme (NGV) aims to improve vineyard profitability by adopting innovative, efficient canopy systems that reduce costs and yield variability, enhance sustainability, and safeguard or enhance the premium wine

quality for which New Zealand is renowned. The NGV programme entered its first growing season in September 2024, following the establishment of a network of trials across seven vineyard blocks in the Marlborough region the year prior.

The trials are evaluating new canopy training systems for their potential to reduce the time and cost of vineyard operations (pruning, trimming, leaf plucking, trellis work), to improve yield performance and consistency, and to build resilience to stresses

Figure 1 The four NGV vine training treatments. The control can be 2-, 3-, or 4-cane VSP with 1.8m vine spacing. The 6V, 9V, and 12V training treatments are, respectively, 1.8, 2.7, and 3.6m in vine spacing.

(pathogens, water and nutrient availability) while maintaining grape and wine quality.

In the programme, three alternative training systems are being investigated in addition to the standard training system (Figure 1): six vertical cordons with 1.8m vine spacing (6V), nine vertical cordons with 2.7m vine spacing (9V), and 12 vertical cordons with 3.6m vine spacing (12V). These are compared with the control, the commercial-standard training system at the vineyard site. The control is either 2-cane, 3-cane, or 4-cane-trained vines with 1.8m vine spacing. The number of sites and their locations were selected to account for variability in meso-climate, soil type, grape varieties, and management approaches across the region. Most sites are planted with Sauvignon Blanc.

This article summarises key results from the 2024-25 growing season across the seven NGV conversion trial sites. However, for simplicity, only the data from two sites are presented: the Indevin Toi Downs site, referred to as Awatere, and the Paul’s Road Whitehaven site, referred to as Rapaura, both planted in Sauvignon Blanc. The article presents results covering pre-veraison vegetative growth, berry maturity, yield and

vine balance. A subsequent article will consider winemaking and wine sensory results.

The new training systems encouraged early-season canopy development and moderated vigour The NGV training systems (6V, 9V, and 12V) retained more nodes per vine during pruning, increasing both the number and distribution of fruiting shoots on the vine. As an example, when the control was 4-cane, the average number of retained nodes per vine increased by factors of 2, 3, and 4 for the 6V, 9V, and 12V treatments, respectively. When the control was 2-cane, such as the Rapaura site, these factors were even higher. Across most sites, 6V vines developed their leaf area relatively faster post-budburst until mid-December (Figure 2). These vines carried more shoots per meter of row and had a greater total leaf area (Table 1). This translated into a greater potential to intercept sunlight during the early stages of the growing season.

Shoot morphology and vigour were significantly affected by the training system (Table 1). Shoots of 6V vines were shorter with smaller and fewer leaves (main and lateral leaves) than control vines. Lateral shoots are the hallmark of vigorous growth, resulting in dense canopies and increasing the

need for trimming, topping and leaf plucking. Despite carrying over twice as many shoots as the control, 6V had a similar number of leaf layers. At most sites, 6V vines had slightly higher exposed leaf area and total leaf area (Table 1), suggesting a potential advantage in photosynthetic yield and net carbon gain per vine. The structure of 9V and 12V treatments is still in a development phase; once these vines are fully developed, we will test the hypothesis that they will have lower vigour and lower canopy density than the control and 6V vines.

Sugar accumulation was not compromised in one of the three new training systems

Relative to the control, vineyard yield (t/ha) ranged from 16 to 62% higher on 6V, 35 to 55% higher on 9V and 32 to 65% higher on 12V (Figure 3).

The main driver of yield was bunch number, with NGV vines carrying more bunches per vine and per meter of row. Control vines had the highest average bunch mass, berry number per bunch and single berry mass. The shift from smaller to larger vines impacted the bunch morphology. Sugar (total soluble solids – TSS) accumulation was fastest on control vines, slowest on 9V and 12V and intermediate on 6V vines (Table 2). As vine size and yield increased

Table 1 Shoot vigour and vine leaf area at veraison

Vineyard site

Lateral Leaf Number per shoot

Values within a row for each variable followed by different le6ers are significantly different (P < 0.05) according to Tukey test Ctrl = control

Table 2 DuraCon of berry maturity

Vineyard site Days from TA 35 to 9 g/L

Values within a row for each variable followed by different le6ers are significantly different (P < 0.05) according to Tukey test. The duraDon of the three maturity components was modelled using a logisDc funcDon. Ctrl = control; TA= Titratable Acidity; TSS= Total Soluble Solids.

Table 3 Vine balance raCos

Vineyard site ELA/FM (m

Values within a row for each variable followed by different le6ers are significantly different (P < 0.05) according to Tukey test. ELA/FM = Exposed leaf area to fruit mass raDo; TLA/FM = Total leaf area to fruit mass raDo; FM/CM = Fruit mass to cane mass raDo. Ctrl = control.

(Figure 3), the accumulation of sugar slowed, with the ripening delay being the shortest at the Rapaura site (Table 2). When both control and 6V were harvested the same day as at the Rapaura site, the difference in sugar concentration was less than one °Brix (Figure 3). At the Awatere site, 6V and control were harvested 12 days apart, achieving similar sugar levels.

The rate of decrease in titratable acidity (TA) was similar across all four treatments within the same site. pH levels increased more slowly with increasing vine size at the Awatere site, whereas at the Rapaura site, the increase in pH was similar across vine sizes (Table 2).

Vines can ripen the same quantity of grapes with less leaf area than they currently do on cane-pruned vines

At dormancy, the canes of control vines were the most vigorous; they were longer, had a greater number of nodes, and were thickest. Vine vigour (defined as the total annual wood or total cane mass produced) varied greatly between treatments and sites. At most sites, 6V and control had similar vine vigour. At the Rapaura site, the vigour was comparable across all four treatments. Control vines had the greatest amount of dormant wood removed through pruning, over 90%, compared to about 50% for NGV treatments. The pruned wood represents a significant loss of carbohydrate reserves, which

are essential for driving early spring shoot growth.

The source-sink ratios (Exposed Leaf Area to fruit mass ratio – ELA/FM, and Total Leaf Area to Fruit Mass ratio – TLA/FM) were highest on control vines (Table 3). Those vines ripened their fruit faster. However, at the Rapaura site, despite a slightly lower ELA/FM, 6V vines ripened fruit with sugar concentration similar to that of the control. All treatments with ELA/FM below 0.6 m2/kg required more days to ripen the fruit to a minimum soluble solids concentration of 20°Brix, and in some cases, that minimum was not reached. It must be emphasised that the crop level this

Figure 2 Canopy development over time from budburst through to veraison. The star symbol (*) denotes significant differences between treatments for that month, and the more stars, the more significant the difference with the one-way ANOVA at P <0.05.

Figure 3 Yield, harvest DOY (day of year) and pressed grape juice TSS (total soluble solids). For each site and variable, identical letters indicate no significant difference according to one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test (P < 0.05). The variables “Harvest DOY” and “TSS” were not analysed for statistical significance; thus, no significance letters are present.

season was exceptionally high, and it was decided not to crop thin to let the vines express their full potential. As a result, the accumulation of soluble solids was slower in treatments and sites with heavier crops. This relationship will be explored further in the coming seasons.

Key takeaways of the 2024-25 viticulture results

The new training systems (6V, 9V and 12V) grew significantly more shoots and developed their canopies faster than the control early in the season. At veraison, the vigour of 6V shoots was moderate, as they were shorter in length, with fewer lateral shoots and smaller leaves. 6V vines had relatively lighter bunches with fewer, smaller berries. Other

reproductive variables, such as flower number, flower abortion rate, and fruitset, were generally unaffected by the increase in vine size.

Sugar accumulation was generally faster on control vines; however, the ripening delay was only a few days, and rarely over two weeks for 6V vines. The time for TA to decline and for pH to rise to the target levels was generally similar across treatments. The new training systems produced higher yields and achieved target ripeness at most sites. Vine vigour (annual vegetative biomass) was comparable between 6V and control vines at most sites. A source-sink ratio above 0.6 m2/kg was required to achieve a soluble solids concentration of 20°Brix. The new training systems

encouraged higher biomass retention at pruning compared to control vines, increasing their potential to store carbohydrate reserves.

A critical goal of NGV is to design a training system that naturally manages excess vine vigour and, in doing so, reduces the number of canopy-management operations, such as trimming, leaf plucking, wire lifting and pruning, improving vineyard profitability and sustainability. Early signs of vigour control are already perceptible on 6V vines. As the other new training systems (9V and 12V) develop, grape and wine composition will be closely monitored to ensure quality is not compromised. These aspects will be discussed in the next article.