Winepress - Feb 2016

Issue No. 255 / February 2016

Only Marlborough

GI Act

Crop Counts

Cellar Doors

Photo: Jim Tannock

@marlboroughwine

The Official Magazine of

www.wine-marlborough.co.nz

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In this issue...

Regulars

3

Editorial

4

From the Board

6 Report Tasman Crop Met 22

Gen Y-ine

31

ANZ Wine Happenings

32

News From Home and Away

Features

10 Only Marlborough

The wine industry is increasingly incorporating the Only Marlborough regional brand, through the work of Wine Marlborough and individual wine companies.

12 What’s in a Name?

p9

What could the Geographical Indications Act mean for Marlborough? Jason Yank and Clive Jones answer some key questions.

14 Accommodation Concerns

A move to implement self-audits for RSE accommodation is raising concerns for the industry and Marlborough District Council.

16 Crop Count

Vineyard crops throughout Marlborough appear to be sitting 20% above the long term average, with good bunch and berry numbers.

Editor: Sophie Preece T: 027 308 4455 E: sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz

Printed by: Blenheim Print Ltd. T: 03 578 1322

26 The Block

Winepress is printed with vegetable oil based inks on elemental chlorine free paper which is sourced 100% from well managed forests and manufactured under ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems.

p16

20 Summer Loving

In a hot summer season, cellar doors are sharing the love.

Marlborough

As part of a series on unique and interesting vineyards, Winepress explores Leefield Station with Brent Marris and Anton Rasmussen.

p26 WINEPRESS February 2016 | 1

Battlefield Tactics:

Take No Prisoners Show No Mercy with HML32 armour plate for grapes

Powdery mildew: Kick it hard in the canopy!

Late season powdery mildew in the canopy can produce chasmothecia and hasten leaf drop.

Grape berries are now resistant but immature growth in the canopy is always susceptible.

How effective is it?

In their 2014 hand-sprayed study* Farmlands rated it 10 out of 10:

10

HML32 + Pot Bicarb + Nordox

Spray the canopy with HML32 and additives to: • Kill and disrupt maturing chasmothecia - powdery mildew’s overwintering fruiting body • Help vines build next season’s nutritional reserves For more information, check out Farmlands 2015 multi-product machine sprayed screening trial on our website.

Just one word of caution: Like many other products, do not use HML32 + additives when vines are under water stress.

Leaf Score Effect

• Kill mycelium - the source of chasmothecia

1

Phosgard

Henry Manufacturing non-residual pesticides

For additives and spray programme details, talk to your Farmlands advisor. Or visit us online at: www. henrymanufacturing.co.nz

Protectorhml and HML32: armour plate for grapes

2 | WINEPRESS February 2016

*www.henrymanufacturing.co.nz/latestnews/ farmlandspresentation

For Advertising contact: Ph: 03 577 9299 Web: www.wine-marlborough.co.nz harriet@wine-marlborough.co.nz Produced by: Wine Marlborough Free to all levy paying members Associate Members: $77 +GST

Wine Marlborough Board Clive Jones: cjones@nautilusestate.com Ben Ensor: ben.lisa@clear.net.nz Callum Linklater: callumandsarah@xtra.co.nz Jack Glover: jack.glover@accolade-wines.co.nz Jason Yank: jason@astrolabewines.co.nz Nick Entwistle: nick@wairauriverwines.co.nz Rhyan Wardman: rhyan@giesen.co.nz Samantha Wickham: samantha@ormondnurseries.co.nz Simon Bishell: simon@caythorpe.nz

From the Editor I suspect if you tried hard enough, you could have heard Marlborough’s wine industry take a steadying breath as January shut up shop.

Because, beyond the busy business of grape growing and winemaking, this month is about showcasing Marlborough.

It began with the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration, which brought the world’s greatest wine influencers to Marlborough to talk about the variety and soak up the region.

Sauvignon 2016 put thiols, styles and markets on the table, along with tastings at winery venues, a train trip to Kekerengu and a gala dinner at Brancott Estate.

This is the first time the event has been held, and the team organising it worked incredibly hard, putting in ridiculous hours to make sure guests were dazzled by Marlborough, by New Zealand, by its wine industry and of course by its flagship wine.

Hard on the heels of that nascent event, comes the iconic Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, a party in the vines that’s still going strong into its 30s. Go anywhere in New Zealand and they know about the festival, where great entertainment, sublime wine and fantastic food meet in a gorgeous vineyard setting.

Look behind the good times and there’s another team hard at work, including the committee of volunteers who put their hands up again and again to celebrate Marlborough. Not all of them are from the wine industry, because the event is about far more than the region’s wine; it’s also a massive yahoo for the produce, people and landscapes of our province, and of those nation-leading sunshine stats we hope will prove their truth.

Cellar door staff are also vital to Marlborough’s reputation, and this month they’ll welcome a flood of wine-loving tourists, cruise ship passengers, Chinese New Year travellers, ISBC visitors and people staying on after the festival.

The experience those people get at a cellar door will influence the way they think about the specific wine brand, the region and the country. Lucy Walter from Te Whare Ra (pg 20) says it has been a fantastic season, made all the better by cellar door staff recommending other wineries to visit. “This year there’s been a lot of love around the region,” she says.

All the better for putting Marlborough’s best foot forward.

SOPHIE PREECE sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz

Stuart Dudley: stuartd@villamaria.co.nz Tom Trolove: tom.trolove@framingham.co.nz

WINEPRESS February 2016 | 3

From the Board Stuart Dudley A new year often brings new goals and, with them, lots of changes. Change is something we have all become used to growing grapes and making wine in Marlborough. Although still very young in global terms, we are an industry that has been through many changes and has had to adapt to new challenges as they arise - be it in the vineyards, wineries or the market place.

What is great about all this is we seem to have an ability to change quickly and continue to improve what we produce.

When I began writing this, the growing season’s challenge was going to be water, or more correctly a lack of it.

Heading into Christmas, expecting all “B” class water to soon be cut off in the three main rivers, and a concern that “A” class was not far behind, had growers only wanting one thing for Christmas: rain and lots of it. It was not here by Christmas, meaning Marlborough had endured the driest year on record. However, the rain that fell in the first and third weeks of January provided immense relief in the short term.

Marlborough Winegrowers held one workshop last year and another in January to discuss best practice options to manage dry conditions, encouraging subtle changes that can make a big difference in a vine’s ability to withstand drought. Speaking to various growers in both valleys, many are adopting these changes; to the way they irrigate and manage their canopies, and by installing various forms of water storage if possible. It is unlikely this will be the last time we are faced with water shortage in this province, and changes to viticulture that improve our ability to withstand it will need to continue.

Another example of our ability to make 4 | WINEPRESS February 2016

quick effective change happened in the 2014-15 growing season, which saw changes to the way many of us managed our vineyards. Powdery Mildew, something that had previously been more easily controlled, suddenly emerged as a significant threat.

Growers closed up spray programmes, increased water rates, changed chemistry, opened up canopies and kept a very watchful eye out for the tell-tale white spores.

On the whole, fruit was kept in excellent condition and the vintage produced great wines across all varieties.

The lessons learnt meant that vineyard practices have further improved to keep this threat at bay. Again, regular workshops held by both Marlborough Winegrowers and suppliers, trial work and the sharing and adopting of these techniques allowed us to react quickly last season; and so far this season I am seeing good results from the changes made.

The 2008 vintage possibly brought about some of the biggest changes in our industry. Accurate yield estimation became more common, resulting in vineyards working more closely with their contracted wine companies to determine balanced and sustainable crop levels, ensuring we did not overload our vines while still allowing wineries to source their anticipated demand.

Again these changes were adopted very

quickly, and resulted in the supply/ demand balance being corrected faster than initially anticipated. Our industry’s ability to change is a huge positive, and has enabled it to continue its growth in a competitive and congested international market.

Not all things change though. One thing that has been constant for a long time, is that this region makes great wines and these wines are well received around the globe. This has not happened by chance; it is due to hard working growers, wineries and marketers creating and selling a high quality product. This needs to continue, as this premium positioning should not be taken for granted - it was earned, not given, by pioneering growers and winemakers alike. As an industry we need to ensure that the wines that leave here are all adding to the value of both “Brand New Zealand” and, more specifically, “Brand Marlborough”. This will ensure, as seen with the other great wine regions of the world, demand

continues to increase over time. This will not happen just through scarcity as we run out of plantable land, but by ensuring that the quality of our product continues to improve and we are recognised globally as a high quality wine region.

The international wine market is not going to get any easier, and the only way we can succeed is continuing to grow, produce and market wines that over-deliver on quality and value.

Although sales and marketing teams are typically at the interface between our product and the consumers, it is the growers who are the start of the process. It is the growers who have the choice of how they farm their patch of land and manage their vineyards to the quality targets they wish to meet, as well as where their grapes are destined to go. By aiming high in the vineyards, I would suggest that this industry will not only survive, but thrive for many

generations to come.

With a good base product, the responsibility then passes on to the many talented winemakers who work

need more good people to help us to adapt and improve. With this in mind, I would ask you all to support this year’s Young Viticulturist and Young Winemaker of the year competitions, both of which have regional events, followed by nationals. As a past competitor, I know these events encourage young people to push themselves further, meet new people and understand many of the ins and outs of the wine industry.

If you know of someone 30 years or younger, who is starting a career in this great industry, encourage them to enter. There are only positive things that can come from it. Having young people that can learn from the wealth of experience that now resides in Marlborough is a great way for the industry to continue to grow, improve and change.

All the best for vintage 2016.

Although still very young in global terms, we are an industry that has been through many changes and has had to adapt to new challenges as they arise. in this province, who we know can create wines with individuality and a sense of place. It would be great if our wines were sold predominantly because of their quality offering, not just their competitive price.

In the upcoming years we will no doubt see more change, and we will

WINEPRESS February 2016 | 5

Table 1: Blenheim Weather Data – December 2015

December December 2015 December Period December

2015 compared to LTA LTA of LTA 2014 GDD’s for: Month - Max/Min¹ 184.3 88% 209.8 (1996-2014) 226.0 Month – Mean² 187.6 89% 210.4 (1996-2014) 215.0 Growing Degree Days Total Jul – Dec 15 – Max/Min 510.0 97% 526.3 (1996-2014) 549.1 Jul - Dec 15 – Mean 568.6 96% 592.1 (1996-2014) 612.4 Mean Maximum (°C) 21.3 -0.6°C 21.9 (1986-2014) 22.2 Mean Minimum (°C) 10.6 -1.1°C 11.7 (1986-2014) 12.3 Mean Temp (°C) 15.9 -0.9°C 16.8 (1986-2014) 17.3 Ground Frosts (<= -1.0°C) 0 - 0.1 (1986-2014) 0 Air Frosts (0.0°C) 0 - 0 (1986-2014) 0 Sunshine hours 294.5 120% 246 (1930-2014) 222.6 Sunshine hours – lowest 167.4 2011 Sunshine hours – highest 321.2 1974 Sunshine hours total – 2015 2813.7 115% 2455 (1930-2014) 2527.5 Rainfall (mm) 17.4 36% 48.7 (1930-2014) 31.8 Rainfall (mm) – lowest 0.8 1934 Rainfall (mm) – highest 124.0 1984 Rainfall total (mm) – 2015 381.6 59% 643.3 (1930-2014) 519.3 Evapotranspiration – mm 147.7 107% 138.5 (1996-2014) 126.6 Avg. Daily Windrun (km) 275.8 94% 292 (1996-2014) 244.8 Mean soil temp – 10cm 18.3 +0.6°C 17.7 (1986-2014) 18.2 Mean soil temp – 30cm 20.0 +0.8°C 19.2 (1986-2014) 19.9

¹GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures ²GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures December 2015 was cool, with high sunshine hours and low rainfall.

Table 2: Summary of weekly sunshine, rainfall and temperatures during December 2015

Sun Rain Mean Max Mean Min Mean

(hours) (mm) (°C) (°C) (°C) 1st - 7th 43.6 7.6 21.9 (= to LTA) 11.8 (+0.1°C) 16.9 (+0.1) 8th - 14th 70.5 2.0 22.2 (+0.3°C) 10.0 (-1.7°C) 16.1 (-0.7) 15th - 21st 69.6 7.0 20.7 (-1.2°C) 9.9 (-1.8°C) 15.3 (-1.5) 22nd - 28th 78.5 0.0 21.7 (-0.2°C) 11.0 (-0.7°C) 16.4 (-0.4) 29th – 31st (3 days) 32.3 0.8 18.6 (-3.3°C) 9.4 (-2.3°C) 14.0 (-2.8) 1st – 31st December 294.5 17.4 21.3 (-0.6°C) 10.6 (-1.1°C) 15.9 (-0.9°C) Long-term average 246.0 48.7 21.9 11.7 16.8 6 | WINEPRESS February 2016

Table 3 was presented in Met Report one year ago and it has been updated with the 2015 data. The table summarises the dates of flowering and temperatures over the flowering period for the Sauvignon blanc regional vineyard, at Pernod Ricard’s Squire Estate block in central Rapaura, for the five years 2011 to 2015. Flowering in 2015 began on almost the same date as in December 2014. However, the temperature over flowering in early December 2015 was 1.5°C warmer than over flowering in December 2014.

Hence the duration of flowering was only nine days in 2015, compared to 16 days in 2014. Although December 2015 was below the long-term average temperature, the early part of the month when much of the Sauvignon blanc was in flower in Rapaura, was reasonably warm, leading to good fruit set and potentially high crop loads.

Annual weather statistics for Blenheim for 2015, compared to the long-term average.

Rainfall Total rainfall for 2015 was 381.6 mm.

This was only 59.3% of the long term average (1930-2014) of 643.3 mm.

2014 rainfall was 519.3 mm. (137.7 mm more rainfall than 2015). 2013 rainfall was 700.1 mm. (318.5 mm more rainfall than 2015).

Total rainfall for 2015 of 381.6 mm is the lowest calendar year total on record for Blenheim, for the 86 years 19302015. The previous lowest total on record was 1969 with 398.3 mm.

June was the only month during 2015 to record significantly above average rainfall. Four months recorded close to average rainfall (March, April, August and September). Seven months recorded well below average rainfall (January, February, May, July, October,

Table 3: Dates and duration of flowering of Sauvignon blanc in central Rapaura for the five years 2011 to 2015 and temperatures over flowering

Early Flowering approx 10%

Mid Flowering approx 50%

Late Flowering approx 90%

Mean Daily Temp Over Flowering °C

Mean Daily Daily Max °C

Mean Duration from 10-90% flowering

2011

10% - 12 Dec

35% - 15 Dec

90% - 22 Dec

12th – 22nd =15.3

18.7

11 days

2012

10% - 8 Dec

42% - 11 Dec

90% - 17 Dec

8th - 17th =16.7

22.7

10 days

2013

12% - 29 Nov

66% - 3 Dec

90% - 5 Dec

29th – 5th =17.4

23.4

7 days

2014

9% - 1 Dec

49% - 8 Dec

93% - 15 Dec

1st – 15th =14.8

19.7

16 days

2015

21% - 3 Dec

50% - 6 Dec

93% - 10 Dec

2nd – 10th = 16.3

22.2

9 days

Table 4: Monthly rainfall recorded in Blenheim for 2015, compared to 2012. the long-term average 40 ground frosts and 16 air frosts in 2014 Month Rainfal % of long Long-Term

(mm) term average average (mm) 47 ground frosts and 10 air frosts in 1930-2014 2013 January 4.4 9% 48.6 64 ground frosts and 16 air frosts in 2012 February 15.2 35% 43.4 Average number of ground frosts for March 37.4 86% 43.5 the 29 years 1986 to 2014 is 51.9.

April 52 98% 53.2 Average number of air frosts for the 29 May 20 31% 63.8 years 1986 to 2014 is 19.1.

June 87 145% 60.1 July 35.2 55% 63.6 Wind-run August 49.8 79% 62.9 For the eight years in a row (2008September 54.4 106% 51.2 2015) Blenheim has recorded lower October 6 10% 57.2 than average daily wind-run; i.e. all November 2.8 6% 47.4 these years have been calmer than December 17.4 36% 48.5 average. Average daily wind-run for Total (Jan-Dec) 381.6 59.3% 643.3 2015 was 246.2 km compared to the long-term average (1996-2014) Moisture Deficit for the 18 months November and December). Three of of 258.4 km. Four months in 2015 July 2014 to December 2015 those months recorded 10% or less of recorded above average daily wind-run, The moisture deficit for the 18 months their long-term average rainfall. eight months recorded below average July 2014 to December 2015 was wind-run.

1092.5 mm, compared with the long18 Months Dry Spell term average (1996-2014) of 566.7 mm The dry spell / drought began in July (193% of average).

2014, so at the end of December 2015 it had been ongoing for 18 months. The 12 months from July 2014 to June 2015 Temperature received slightly less rainfall (347.4 mm) Mean temperature for 2015 was 13.2°C; 0.1°C above the long term than the 12 month calendar year of average for the 29 years 1986-2014, of 2015 (381.6 mm).

13.1°C. Eight months in 2015 recorded When we compare total rainfall over above average mean temperatures (Jan, the 18 months July 2014 to December Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Oct, Nov); 2015, with the same 18 month period Four months recorded below average in previous years, the contrast is fairly mean temperatures (Feb, Jul, Sep, Dec). dramatic. These 18 months recorded 114.6 mm less rainfall than the previous The hottest day of 2015 was 11 January with 30.8°C. That was the only day in lowest total in 1930-1931.

2015 to reach 30°C in Blenheim.

July 2014 – December 2015 = 513.0 The coldest day of 2015 was 10 August mm (52% of LTA) with an air frost of -3.0°C. July 1930 – December 1931 = 627.6 mm July 1972 – December 1973 = 634.0 Frosts mm Blenheim recorded 62 ground and 25 Long-term average 1930-2014 = 979.0 air frosts in 2015, significantly more mm than in 2014 and 2013 but similar to WINEPRESS February 2016 | 7

January 2016 Weather January 2016 was slightly warmer than normal, with above average rainfall and below average sunshine hours.

Table 5: Blenheim Weather Data – January 2016

January January 2016

2016 compared to LTA GDD’s for: Month - Max/Min¹ 272.4 110% Month – Mean² 257.8 108% Growing Degree Days Total Jul 15 – Jan 16 – Max/Min¹ 782.4 99% Jul 15 - Jan 16 – Mean² 826.4 99% Mean Maximum (°C) 23.3 -0.1°C Mean Minimum (°C) 14.2 +1.6°C Mean Temp (°C) 18.0 +0.8°C Ground Frosts (<= -1.0°C) 0 Equal Air Frosts (0.0°C) 0 Equal Sunshine hours 232.8 89% Sunshine hours – lowest Sunshine hours – highest Sunshine hours total – 2016 232.8 89% Rainfall (mm) 69.2 144% Rainfall (mm) – lowest Rainfall (mm) – highest Rainfall total (mm) – 2016 69.2 144% Evapotranspiration – mm 140.4 100% Avg. Daily Windrun (km) 244.8 89% Mean soil temp – 10cm 19.4 +0.5°C Mean soil temp – 30cm 21.6 +0.9°C

January LTA

Period of LTA

January 2015

246.8 (1996-2015) 271.8 238.6 (1996-2015) 264.5 791.2 831.7 23.4 12.6 18.0 0 0 261.9 165.2 335.3 261.9 48.1 0 167.0 48.1 140.3 275.8 18.9 20.7

(1996-2015) (1996-2015) (1986-2015) (1986-2015) (1986-2015) (1986-2015) (1986-2015) (1930-2015) 1971 1957 (1930-2015) (1930-2015) 1978 1985 (1930-2015) (1997-2015) (1996-2015) (1986-2015) (1986-2015)

820.9 876.9 24.3 13.2 18.8 0 0 297.0

297.0 4.4

4.4 143.8 221.8 20.8 23.4

¹GDD’s Max/Min are calculated from absolute daily maximum and minimum temperatures ²GDD’s Mean are calculated from average hourly temperatures Temperature and growing degree-days The January mean temperature of 18.8°C was 0.8°C above average and the same as January 2015. However, the January temperature profiles for the two years were somewhat different. The weekly temperatures during January 2015 did not display a lot of variation (data not shown), whereas the temperatures in January 2016 seemed to be all over the place. Table 6 indicates that the first week was quite cool, the second, third and fourth weeks were warm to hot and the last few days were back to cool. The contrast between daily

maximum temperatures of 29 to 30°C on the 25th/26th, followed by daily maximums of 13 to 15°C from 28th to 31st were very noticeable. The end result of high and low maximum temperatures was that the mean maximum temperature for January was almost the same as the long-term average.

The overnight minimum temperatures during January were a lot warmer than normal and this was the reason that the mean temperature was above average.

The seven days from 20th to 26th January were especially hot, with an average maximum temperature of 28.3°C, 4.9°C

Table 6: Weekly temperatures during January 2016 and difference from average Date Mean Max. Mean Min. Mean

(°C) (°C) (°C) 1st – 7th 21.3 (-2.1) 11.5 (-1.1) 16.4 (-1.6) 8th-14th 24.4 (+1.0) 14.0 (+1.4) 19.2 (+1.2) 15th-21st 24.2 (+0.8) 14.8 (+2.2) 19.5 (+1.5) 22nd-28th 25.7 (+2.3) 16.8 (+4.2) 21.3 (+3.3) 29th-31st 18.0 (-5.4) 14.1 (+1.5) 16.0 (-2.0) 1st-31st 23.3 (-0.1) 14.2 (+1.6) 18.8 (+0.8) Long-term average 23.4 12.6 18.0 8 | WINEPRESS February 2016

above January’s long-term average maximum. The average minimum temperature for these seven days was 16.5°C, 3.9°C above the long-term average minimum. This seven day period was the warmest consecutive seven day period since late January/early February 1998, when Blenheim experienced a very hot month.

Rainfall The January 2016 rainfall total of 69.2 mm was in marked contrast to January 2015 which only recorded 4.4 mm. January 2016 received two good rainfall events that brought some relief to the ongoing drought situation in Marlborough. 1st to 3rd January recorded 30.6 mm rain and this was followed two weeks later by 28.8 mm on 17th and 18th January. The main benefit of the rainfall was the boost given to the region’s rivers, thereby avoiding the shutoff of some irrigation schemes.

Water Deficit The January rainfall slightly reduced the need for irrigation of pasture and horticultural crops. However, water lost through evapotranspiration during the summer months is nearly always two to three times as much as rainfall received.

January rainfall 67.9 mm minus evapotranspiration 140.4 mm = -72.5 mm water deficit for January 2016.

So from a pastoral point of view there was still a substantial water deficit for January 2016. Hence the reason that irrigation is always required over the summer months to keep pasture growing.

Soil Moisture Shallow soil moisture (5-35 cm depth) in Blenheim was 15.1% on 1 January 2016.

This is bone dry with virtually all available moisture used up. On 20 January 2016 after 63.2 mm rain had been received, shallow soil moisture had risen to 27.6%.

Field capacity of the topsoil is about 38%, so slightly over half of the potential water holding capacity of the topsoil was restored by this rainfall. The effect of this boost in shallow soil moisture was most easily seen in the fact that unirrigated lawns and pasture started to green up again. However, with only 6.0 mm rain received from 19 to 31 January2016, moisture in the topsoil fell from 27.6%, to 18.9% on 31 January. This indicates how rapidly shallow soil moisture is lost in mid-summer, where there is a cover crop sucking the moisture out (in this case grass).

Rob Agnew Plant & Food Research / Marlborough Research Centre

Vine Science Ultraviolet radiation has surprising impacts on plants, including grapevines.

Ultraviolet radiation could be used to enhance the quality of wine, according to research from Lincoln University UV-B expert Professor Brian Jordan.

For the past 30 years there have been widespread concerns about the ozone layer and the impact of increased UV-B reaching the earth’s surface.

But in 2011 scientists discovered a specific UV-B photoreceptor - one of many mechanisms plants have to mediate acclimation responses.

“Until now UV-B has only been considered as a damaging radiation, but it is now thought to have a more positive role in plant growth and development,” says Brian. “Consequently UV-B treatments are being developed as innovative approaches to improve horticulture.”

Among other benefits, UV-B has been found to reduce pests and diseases and enhance nutritional value in the form of increased antioxidants. The research has been used in a major collaboration with Plant and Food Research, aimed at understanding the quality of New Zealand wines, specifically Sauvignon Blanc. It is now looking at whether UV-B affects the red grape colour and taste of Pinot Noir wine.

Brian’s research focuses on canopy management and the relationship to the biochemical composition at harvest.

The results show a very strong relationship between UV-B exposure and antioxidant compounds called flavonoids, which are important components of wine.

Brian’s research career over the past 25 years has included work on potential UV-B damage to plants associated with ozone depletion leading on to more positive research into the fundamental molecular response to UV-B and the applied aspects for the viticultural industry.

“There are so many questions to answer from predicting the influence of UV-B in a changing climate to understanding the responses at a molecular level,” he says.

“One of the greatest advantages and pleasures of my research career working on UV-B has been the international collaboration that I have experienced. Openness and sharing of scientific knowledge will always be the best way to make progress.”

For Expert Viticultural Property Advice

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WINEPRESS February 2016 | 9

The Brand Stand The Only Marlborough regional brand was launched in late 2014. Sophie Preece takes a look at how it’s being used by the wine industry.

The Only Marlborough regional brand Story”. Wine Marlborough is one of offers a singular focus with which to five ambassadors for the brand and uses successfully promote the region, says the logo – a circle of lenses to represent Wine Marlborough General Manager the region’s many aspects - on its Marcus Pickens. “To give us something to stand behind and really show a bit of pride in Marlborough and communicate a common story.”

But it will take time for people in a busy industry to fully adopt the brand, he says.

“It’s something we need to maintain a focus on for the next Marcus Pickens five years at least, to unite the industry behind it and then the whole province.”

The Only Marlborough website, social media and banners. regional identity was established in In October it updated its Wine Trail November 2014 to communicate the Map to incorporate the logo and fonts, unique character and values of the and has replaced its predominance of region through words, stories and landscape imagery with photos that fit images known as “The Marlborough

“The land is amazing and beautiful here, but I think the people create the brand and the story.”

10 | WINEPRESS February 2016

the Only Marlborough parameters of people and place. “You’ll start to see those images used more and more,” says Marcus. “The land is amazing and beautiful here, but I think the people create the brand and the story.”

Wine Marlborough and the Marlborough District Council are running a video project to illustrate the power of The Marlborough Story, with photographer and videographer Jim Tannock filming the stories of five wine personalities.

The results will give other companies a better idea of how to tell their story in a more modern way, says Marcus. “We hope once people see these five films they’ll come up with their own stories to tell and be able to do it through Jim really cost effectively.”

Meanwhile, individual wine companies are beginning to leverage off the Only Marlborough brand, with the likes of Saint Clair Family Estate using Only Marlborough in social media and brand ethos. At the Saint Clair Vineyard Kitchen, people visiting from other parts of New Zealand and from overseas are served Marlborough wine and wherever possible Marlborough produce.

“All those things add up to promoting Only Marlborough,” says owner

Neal Ibbotson, Saint Clair Family Estate

Neal Ibbotson. It’s part of what we do and part of what Marlborough wineries do whenever people travel. We are always promoting Marlborough and promoting Marlborough wines. It’s a natural fit.”

“It’s part of what we do and part of what Marlborough wineries do whenever people travel. We are always promoting Marlborough and promoting Marlborough wines.

It’s a natural fit.”

Neal Ibbotson George Elworthy is using the Only Marlborough lens on the back of The Better Half Sauvignon Blanc, which is sold exclusively into the United States.

He says it’s hard to find real estate on the back of a bottle, but the lens was “an added endorsement, and an eye catching way of saying this wine is from Marlborough”.

The winemaker believes it would be good to have some rules around the

use of the Only Marlborough lens, so it’s available to wines that fit certain geographical criteria.

The provenance of a wine is very important in the US marketplace, he says. “New Zealand has gained a place in the mind over there with Lord of the Rings and many more tourists having returned from visiting New Zealand.”

They have added together to create quite a positive impression of the country, he says.

“Marlborough at the same time has been on an ascendency in the wine world.

Those two things hooking together have become very important for us, in selling wine.”

There’s “a nice bit of serendipity” in Marlborough producing Sauvignon Blanc with a flavour profile that aligns with people’s impressions “from afar” of clean green New Zealand and beautiful Marlborough, says George. “If we’d been making big heavy reds I don’t know whether there would be quite the same sort of click.”

Marcus says producers may not choose to incorporate the logo into their wine

George Elworthy,The Better Half

labels, which are “pretty sacrosanct” and taken up with obligatory information, but many are using it on social media, or are hash tagging #OnlyMarlborough and incorporating the suggested language and imagery of the brand in their marketing.

Only Marlborough is about much more than the lens, he says. “It’s a lot richer than that. Branding is more than a single brand image. It’s a whole story and I think that’s what the brand has done really well.”

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WINEPRESS February 2016 | 11

What’s in a Name?

If passed, the Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirits) Registration Act 2006 will enable local and foreign geographical indications for wines and spirits, such as Marlborough, to be registered in New Zealand for the first time.

In late January, Wine Marlborough board members Jason Yank and Clive Jones attended a New Zealand Winegrowers Regional Membership Council meeting, where GIs were discussed. Here they answer a few questions about the why, what and when of the bill: Why does the wine industry want registered GIs? The GI Act provides a mechanism for the industry to formalise the GI names and boundaries that it has been using for many years. With a government

12 | WINEPRESS February 2016

supported GI system in place it will be easier to seek IP protection for those GIs in foreign countries. New Zealand is currently the only major wine exporting country that doesn’t have some system for formal recognition of its GIs.

coast. At this stage we see no need to change this.

What is the proposed boundary for a Marlborough GI? This was set in an early round of GI discussions in 2008 and is the historic provincial boundary, which extends down to the Conway river on the east

Is it likely Marlborough sub-regions will be registered?

Eventually yes, but at this stage for the first round we are focusing on the regional GI of Marlborough as this is the most important.

Once registered, who can use a GI? The GI will apply specifically to wine and any wine producer can use the GI, providing they adhere to the rules.

Jason Yank and Clive Jones

Which other GIs are being discussed?

Awatere and Wairau are the next obvious GIs as they are gaining some recognition in the international market place.

How will their boundaries be determined?

This will be done in consultation with the membership and be driven

by Wine Marlborough as the regional organisation.

Will I be able to choose to label my wine with the sub-regional AND/OR Marlborough GI? In New Zealand, yes. But we are seeking some clarification on this as there are some restrictions in some overseas markets.

If my sub-region is not registered, can I still use the area, for example Waihopai Valley, on my label?

Yes, unregistered sub-regions can still be used in conjunction with the registered GI.

What work does Marlborough need to do to prepare the application?

Wine Marlborough, as the representing regional organisation, will drive the application for the Marlborough GI. The application requires evidence of the quality, reputation or other characteristics of wines from the GI and that these characteristics are essentially attributable to the origin of the product. The submission will include information on such things as climate, geology, history of wine production and special characteristic of wine produced within the GI. The fact that Marlborough already has an established reputation in the international marketplace means we believe the application should be relatively straight forward. New Zealand Wine Growers will also be assisting with the initial applications.

What decisions are required?

We hope to meet with the membership in early March to seek endorsement of

our approach and we can then proceed with the application.

When will this all happen?

It is currently expected that the legislation will be passed later this year so we are planning to have the application completed prior to this.

What are some of the pitfalls to avoid?

Registration of a GI is not an ‘appellation’ style system and there is no built-in hierarchy of GIs, nor is there any requirement for rules around yields, varieties or place of production.

It is therefore not a system to solve any issues of overproduction or quality. It is important at this stage not to get fiddly with boundaries and to allow scope for future change in vineyard area. It is not just about the soil, and a reasonably broad brush approach is best at this stage – we don’t want to have the same situation that occurred in the Coonawara district for example.

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WINEPRESS February 2016 | 13

Accommodation Alarm Self-auditing of vineyard worker accommodation could put the reputation of Marlborough’s wine industry at risk.

SOPHIE PREECE The operation and reputation of Marlborough’s wine industry could be threatened by possible changes to the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, say contractors.

RSE Employers’ representative Aaron Jay, of Hortus Ltd, says the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s plan to initiate self-audits for RSE accommodation is a backward step.

“A lot of us have been working really hard to get rid of the stigma around contractors in this region and this industry. Just because things are getting better doesn’t mean it should be easier.”

However, Kevin Finnegan, Regional

14 | WINEPRESS February 2016

Manager Labour Inspectorate, says that as the RSE Scheme approaches its eighth year, it is appropriate to explore ways of giving employers a more central role in the management of their responsibilities.

“There is a level of maturity in the participating employers with recognition from them that access to a pool of increasingly skilled migrant workers is a privilege with attendant responsibilities. There is accordingly a high level of expectation on RSEs from government regulators in relation to compliance with all of the scheme’s requirements.”

Aaron Jay

Industry representatives were told in November, at a Pastoral Care and Compliance Meeting, that inspectors would no longer audit all accommodation, but in some cases would rely on employer representatives ticking off a form.

That’s of great concern to those who believe a more lenient process will attract employers with shoddy practices.

Many wanted stricter inspections instead, says Aaron. “It needs to be tighter and more secure, with more responsibility put back on us, but also back on the government that is auditing it.”

Wine Marlborough General Manager Marcus Pickens also has concerns “that an incredibly important, well vetted and well managed programme could be at risk by changing one of the fundamentals - inspecting and approving accommodation”.

He says Wine Marlborough and the wine industry at large invest much time and energy in helping make the RSE scheme a success, “and I don’t want anything to jeopardise that”.

The RSE scheme allows people from the Pacific Islands to work in New Zealand’s viticulture and horticulture industries for up to seven months of the year. Employers have to be accepted into the scheme, and must meet regulations that ensure good employment practices and pastoral care.

During the summer and autumn there are up to 900 RSE workers in Marlborough, with that number hitting a maximum of 1600 during the pruning season. Aaron expects

RSE numbers to increase sometime in the future. “Then the new houses will need to be monitored by a third party to ensure the RSE workers are staying in approved accommodation.”

The Marlborough District Council was also surprised at the November meeting, after which Mayor Alistair Sowman sent a letter to the Labour Inspectorate outlining council concerns.

They include the potential negative impacts on the wellbeing of RSE workers, social services and the wider community. “As evidence has shown, without monitoring, some contractors will not meet the standard,” the letter stated.

The mayor pointed out the “operational and potentially reputational impact” on the region’s wine industry, of which the RSE workers were a vital component. “I would ask that you would immediately reinstate Archery compliance checks for advert for Winepress (Dec accommodation by labour inspectors,”

he wrote.

The mayor’s letter also responded to a claim the local body should be responsible for accommodation checks.

There had been no discussions about the policy change, and furthermore the checks were not allowed for by either

“It needs to be tighter and more secure, with more responsibility put back on us, but also back on the government that is auditing it.” Aaron Jay capacity or powers under the Building Act. “The RSE scheme falls within the remit of central government, not local authorities, for compliance.”

However, Aaron Jay believes the 11:34 2015)_124mm x 86mm.pdf 1 3/12/15 local council has a major part to play

in helping ensure accommodation standards are kept up to standard, “as they have created the guidelines to which we all have to adhere”.

In his response to Winepress, Kevin Finnegan said the proposed change was being consulted on and had yet to be developed. “We will be engaging with stakeholders in order to understand how and when this could be put in place.”

However, in a reply to the Mayor late last year, Kevin gave assurances that while existing accommodation might fall to self-audit, any new accommodation would continue to be physically inspected. There would continue to be consequences for any employer not meeting standards, and removal from the scheme remained an option in such circumstances, the letter stated.

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WINEPRESS February 2016 | 15

Managing Crops SOPHIE PREECE Vineyard crops throughout Marlborough appear to be sitting 20% above the long term average, with good bunch and berry numbers.

Two viticulturists at last month’s Risk Management seminar, held at the Marlborough Research Centre, said it was important growers maintained a good canopy and fruit balance.

“We need to match our canopy size to our crop size,” said Susan Boyd from Constellation. “You really need to think about the crop you have on and where you’re situated in the valley. Will you comfortably reach your maturity parameters or are you going to be out sitting in the rain waiting?”

Susan did a “sneak peek” of Sauvignon Blanc crops before growers’ yield assessments in mid-January. She presented the results at the seminar, showing above average crops compared to the company’s long term average.

With 32 bunches per metre across all sub-regions, up from a long-term average of 27, she calculates the company is “already 20% ahead of the game”. That’s thanks to a good flowering as well as a knee jerk reaction from some growers, who laid down a fourth cane following the smaller than average 2015 harvest.

With bunch and berry numbers a known quantity, the unknown was berry size, which relied on cell division and cell expansion. January rainfall meant canopies were in good condition, and actively pumping sugar around the vines, she said. “For cell division there is very good potential”.

However, cell expansion would depend on the conditions from here on in. She asked whether rain would continue or vineyards would rely on irrigation,

and, in the latter case, whether water resources would hold out. She also asked whether growers could ripen crop loads if they were sitting on 16 to 20 plus tonnes per hectare, in a dry season.

If vines lost leaves in the middle of February, it would be hard for them to bounce back, with acid levels dropping through the floor, she said.

Viticulture advisor Mark Allen, who demonstrated his technique for crop assessments to the audience, said his counts also indicated crop loads 20%

were close to long term average, but sub-regional vineyard yields depended on when flowering occurred.

There are marked differences in flowering times around the region, and temperatures over the flowering period varied, he said.

Temperature driven yields would be influenced by vine management and other factors, including the number of buds retained, yield in the previous season, the degree of water stress during and shortly after flowering, and frost damage.

Mike said it was important that yield potentials were rigorously assessed for each vineyard and that growers kept good records of yield components, to help interpret inter-seasonal yield predictions.

Val Wadsworth and Peter Davidson from the Marlborough District Council spoke of the positive impact of January rain on the three main rivers, but said the aquifers had not seen much recharge as a result.

Speaking later in January, Peter Davidson said river flows were in good shape for this time of the season. There had been a significant rise in Wairau Aquifer levels close to the Wairau River, but a small response elsewhere.

“Despite this top-up, Wairau Aquifer levels remain extremely low compared to their long-term normal state.”

With bunch and berry numbers a known quantity, the unknown was berry size, which relied on cell division and cell expansion.

16 | WINEPRESS February 2016

above average. “We are looking at 20 tonnes per hectare this year and perhaps more for some vineyards. There are quite a lot of 17s and the odd 28 and 29 around. But not many 12s.”

Berry size could be affected by drought and other factors. “But I think you have to keep that canopy and fruit ratio in balance. To go through the next two months over-cropped is not a very wise move.”

Plant and Food Research Marlborough scientist Mike Trought said his interseasonal yield predictions for the region

Bright Spark When internationally acclaimed wine scientist Mike Trought became a New Zealand Winegrowers’ Fellow in November, he proved a late bloom can be the most exceptional.

SOPHIE PREECE

He predicts crop loads 18 months in advance, knows fruit set and flowering inside out, talks vine balance to conferences around the world and compares science to child’s play.

But when Plant & Food Research Marlborough scientist Mike Trought was growing up in Birmingham, his school principal predicted he’d come to nothing.

“I was an academic failure at school,” he says from his office at the Marlborough Research Centre, surrounded by papers he’s written, models he’s developed and accolades he’s received. The most recent is a gleaming medal announcing him as a New Zealand Winegrowers’ Fellow, recognising 30 years of work helping shape the industry.

It still worries him that kids are “written off ” at school because they’re developing at a different rate to their peers. And some brains are differently tuned, he says. “Don’t ask me to do history or things where I’d need to remember facts, because I’m hopeless at that sort of thing…My brain doesn’t work like that. I have a bright idea and invariably it’s at 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s just churning over in the background.”

Those bright ideas have made their mark on New Zealand’s wine industry over the past 30 years, helping cast a light on understory and canopy management, irrigation, yield predictions, vine balance and Sauvignon Blanc flavour profiles.

It’s an impressive and varied body of work, but Mike says his roles at the Marlborough Research Centre, teaching at Lincoln University, working as a viticulturist at Villa Maria, and as a scientist at Plant & Food, have each offered the opportunity to get paid for playing.

“When children are climbing a tree and falling out of it, or stacking blocks, or whatever, they are trying something out and learning behind that process.

And to some extent that’s what science is all about. It’s trying something out, jumping into the unknown, being sufficiently aware of what’s happening and learning from that process.”

Mike left school at 16, with plans to be a farm manager. “I worked on a farm just outside Stratford-on-Avon, so I have qualifications in tractor driving and maintenance, and combine harvester driving and ploughing.”

It was during an apprenticeship that he realised his brain worked differently to the other students, who struggled to comprehend gear ratios that were “so blindingly obvious” to him.

He went on to Harper Adams Agricultural College in Shropshire, then achieved highly at Aberystwyth University, before applying for a scholarship and working with a “dynamic, internationally recognised group” in Oxford, looking at the soil environment and its influence on plant growth.

Mike studied the waterlogging response

of wheat seedlings for his PhD. But by the time he finished in 1978, science funding in the UK was going into decline, with a number of “very dynamic research institutes” closed down. “The writing on the wall was pretty obvious.”

He applied for a job at DSIR in Auckland, and in 1978 Mike and his new wife Marion arrived in New Zealand – stone broke on a sort of working honeymoon.

They were introduced to the country’s wine industry via a bottle they bought for a special dinner. “I can’t remember what it was, but what I do remember is that it was absolutely disgusting. It was appalling. To the extent that we poured it back into the bottle.”

After two years in Auckland, Mike was offered a scientist position with MAF in Nelson, thanks largely to Marion’s degree in horticulture. Mike recalls telling a major orchardist that he couldn’t tell one apple variety from another, “but I do know about roots and I do know about water”.

He arrived in the nick of time, because the Waimea Estuary irrigation scheme was being developed with trickle irrigation. Mike did some “back-of-theenvelope calculations” and told them that one dripper per plant wouldn’t work for kiwifruit, “so they had to redesign, at the last minute, the entire scheme”.

The job description was to identify and solve the problems facing agriculture WINEPRESS February 2016 | 17

and horticulture in the region, and one of its joys was learning from growers and thinking through issues.

“I think one of the challenges that we have in science is being able to look forward far enough…Today’s problems have got to be solved with today’s information. Tomorrow’s problems have to be solved with research you are doing now. The real test is recognising what those challenges will be.”

In 1984, Mike was asked to move to Blenheim to become the Officer in Charge of the new Marlborough Research Centre, where the focus was mainly on cherries.

A year later the emerging wine industry went into “total collapse”, with overproduction and better quality Australian wines arriving daily, thanks to the Closer Economic Relationship, he says.

The government paid $6,500 a hectare to growers to pull grapes out.

They were tough times, but early research on grapevine irrigation, between row understory management and vine training set the direction for the next 30 years.

As the industry regained its footing, Lincoln University developed its viticulture and oenology course, and in 1992 Mike became a lecturer.

His knowledge of grapes was relatively slender “but I do believe that if the green bit is in the air, and the brown bit is in the ground, then it’s a plant,” he says. “A good background in plant physiology goes a long way.”

With few textbooks on the subject, it was largely a case of keeping one lecture ahead of his students in that first year. He jumped in and over nine years helped create an internationally recognised course, while being rewarded by “great students, great research and a lot of fun”.

When he began, most of the people working in New Zealand’s wine industry had Australian qualifications, he says. “I like to think we turned that around.”

By 2000 he had become a victim of his own success, with much larger class sizes and work load at Lincoln. He moved to a role as vituculturist at Villa Maria in Marlborough, which was a turning point, “because I started to put into practice what I’d been teaching in theory. And I really enjoyed the interaction with the growers in particular”.

Mike at an irrigation association field day in the late 1980s.

18 | WINEPRESS February 2016

It was an experience that stood him in good stead when he took his current position as Principal Scientist at Plant & Food in 2004.

His expertise in carbohydrate physiology, fruit set, flowering and nutrition have been directed to grape and wine research projects that investigate how terroir and vine management influence juice composition and in turn the flavour and aroma of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. He’s also done ground breaking work on grapevine yield predictions, which he and his colleagues continue to refine.

Mike divides scientists into two types, “those that know more and more about less and less, until they know everything about nothing, and those that know less and less about more and more, until they know nothing about everything”.

In a successful research team, you need to have both. “Look at our research team here… Chris Whitefield (at Lincoln University) knows more about molecular biology and the grape chemistry than I will ever know and quite honestly ever want to know. But it is the applied scientists like myself that help tell him why it’s important.”

Mike’s three decades of wine work have seen him made Adjunct Associate Professor at Lincoln University, Associate Editor of the Australian Journal Grape and Wine Research, and a board member of the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology.

In 2009 he was selected as the New Zealand Wine Industry Personality of the Year.

He says one of the reasons for the global success of New Zealand wine industry has been the “collaboration and collegiality” between researchers and industry. “Like a grapevine this needs to be nurtured and cared for to grow and remain healthy. For all great wines start in the vineyard.”

Celebrating Sauvignon Day one of the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration began with wonderful speakers and ended with an idyllic garden party at Timara Lodge.

3000 glasses poured for the International Tasting

The Garden Party at Timara Lodge

International wine expert Oz Clarke at Day 1 of Sauvignon 2016

A line up of eight wines from around the world, for the International Tasting

Guests taste a beautiful array of Sauvignon Blanc wines

Clive Weston introduces the International Tasting at the WINEPRESS Marlborough Convention February 2016 | 19 Centre, with Jane Skilton MW and her panel

Summer Loving In a hot summer season, cellar doors are sharing the love SOPHIE PREECE It’s proving a busy summer for Marlborough’s cellar doors, with a large increase in tourist numbers to the region.

And things could heat up further in the middle of this month, as Chinese New Year brings an influx of nearly 50,000 Chinese holidaymakers to New Zealand.

Scott McKenzie from Marlborough Tour Company says his numbers are up by at least 20%, thanks to the cruise ship market going “absolutely nuts”, Air New Zealand’s larger planes, and new ships for both ferry companies.

“These increases are coming from every direction.”

More than 100,000 cruise ship passengers and crew are expected to visit Marlborough over the course of the summer, and the general rule of thumb is that half the passengers will go on a tour, he says.

“With those ships getting 2000, 3000 or 4000 people, and half of them going on tour, what that looks like is all the tour operators being full.” Cellar doors in a “known part of Marlborough with a known brand” will be inundated, he says.

Lucy Walter, who works at Te Whare Ra cellar door, says it has been a fantastic season. Many people had sought out the label because of its awards success in 2015, and others because of recommendations from other cellar doors. “This year there’s been a lot of love around the region,” she says.

The influx has been great for wine sales, but cellar doors are about far more than a sale on the day, she says. “It’s selling the Marlborough story and then it’s 20 | WINEPRESS February 2016

selling your own story, and I think there’s a lot more of that this season. The fact is when visitors go back home, they might not be able to find your wine but if they find a Marlborough wine, or even a New Zealand wine, that’s a good thing.”

Cloudy Bay Cellar Door Supervisor Mario Dussurget says cruise ship custom is easy to manage, because it is pre-booked, and Cloudy Bay handles large summer numbers by charging for tastings. “We don’t try to maximise the amount of visitors but to ensure our visitors have the best experience possible.”

The summer has been good so far, with numbers higher than last year, and visitors spending more time and money at the cellar door. Mario anticipates a busy February, with the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration at the beginning of the month, followed by an influx of visitors for Chinese New Year.

He says the cellar door experience is about securing the brand, rather than making money. “It’s really important and the reason the cellar door is here. In terms of image and the fact we have a face for the winery, it’s huge.”

The cellar door team had training sessions in early December, starting with a vineyard tour and “master class”, followed by a tour of the winery, including barrel tasting and a méthode traditionnelle class. “It’s really making sure they feel good and understand the good balance between being very professional and being relaxed and convivial.”

Cloudy Bay’s Wendy Healy says the trick to serving up a good cellar door experience is to be both friendly and informative.

Wendy Healy has been working at Cloudy Bay’s cellar door since 1989 and says the trick to serving up a good experience is to be both friendly and informative. “You want them to go away having learned something,

Wine Tourism

A New Zealand Tourism report on wine tourism, released in February 2014, revealed a focus on attracting more international tourists to New Zealand to participate in food and wine based holidays.

Wine tourists are defined as international visitors, aged 18 years and over, who participate in some form of winery visit at least once while travelling in New Zealand.

The report found that group spent significantly more than a typical visitor during their trip, and in particular at the higher end of average spending.

“On average, international tourists that participate in wine tourism spend $3,700 compared to the $2,800 average spend of all visitors.

There is a significant high value segment in the wine tourism market with over 22% of international wine tourists saying they spend over $5,000 on their visit to New Zealand.”

number one, and to be excited about Marlborough wines.”

She tries to find out something about the visitor and to offer recommendations of other places they should visit. “I always think you’re not only selling your brand, you’re selling Marlborough as a destination.”

Karen Walshe of Explore Marlborough, a guided cycle and driving wine tour company, says cellar door experiences can “cement” her guests’ love of a certain label, or for Marlborough wine in general. Cellar door staff are wonderful 99% of the time, and do a huge amount for the brand of

Marlborough Wine, she says.

But a poor experience can render all the wonderful wine, innovative marketing and intensive sales programmes redundant.

“I had a client who had that exact experience – they were expats in Singapore and really loved a certain Marlborough wine brand. We went out of our normal tour route to go there as he was such a brand fan and then they were pretty much ignored at the cellar door. It totally killed the experience of this brand loyalist.”

Destination Marlborough General Manager Tracy Johnston says

Marlborough is recognised for worldclass wine and food so it’s great to see more wineries engaging with visitors, beyond offering a simple wine tasting.

“Some wineries are starting to develop brilliant visitor experiences that engage travellers with their wines matched with local produce,” she says.

“Wineries have an opportunity to develop a wine tourism experience that will convert visitors into lifelong loyal customers and in turn attract loyal customers to travel to Marlborough to visit their cellar door.”

WINEPRESS February 2016 | 21

Generation Y-ine His “spiritual home” is France, he loves making wine in Marlborough, and his future dreams are firmly wedged in China. Sophie Preece talks to Spring Creek Vintners’ Assistant Winemaker Matt van der Spuy about a new world of wine opportunities.

2015 was a big year for Matt van der Spuy, packed with gongs and gambei.

The Rapaura Springs Sauvignon Blancs he helped create won a cabinet of trophies, Spring Creek Vintners oversaw the production of a plethora of contract wines, and the Ningxia Wine Challenge threw him in at the deep end.

Matt’s 2015 “Château Tingbùdong” Chardonnay is perhaps symbolic of the challenges and opportunities of making wine in China’s emerging wine area Ningxia, where he joined winemakers across the world in September last year, as part of a two-year competition.

One day the young winemaker mentioned his love of chardonnay to his host, Mrs Wang of Chateau Luo Shan,

22 | WINEPRESS February 2016

and the next she’d bought him 10,000 litres of juice he’d tasted and admired.

In a region focussed on red wine, with little equipment to work with white, he felt the pressure to deliver something good, so it’s been a relief to taste the Chardonnay, which he jokingly calls Chateau Tingbùdong after the Chinese word for “I don’t understand what you mean”.

It’s a phrase he and his hosts have used a lot in the past six months, during the initial month-long visit, the remote winemaking since, and another trip in late January to check on his wines.

But a mix of Mandarin, French and

English jargon, along with photographs, have ensured the production of Matt’s competition Cabernet, as well as the surprise Chardonnay.

The young winemaker hoped he’d find a wealth of opportunity in China’s emerging wine industry, and wasn’t disappointed. At the start of his trip he was taken around a facility to look at brand new stainless steel tanks, with every bell and whistle, and asked his opinion on their quality. “The next day the two tanks rocked up to the winery. I thought they were just showing me around but I had two spic and span, brand new, polished stainless steel tanks. That’s when I began to see they were really pulling out the stops.”

The competition was also an opportunity to learn about a culture so different to that of France, where he grew up, and to New Zealand, where he has lived since he was 16. On his first night with his hosts, he was invited to dinner and soon learned about gambei, a Chinese toast with which he introduced himself to every person at three huge tables.

“The entire chateau was there - the receptionist, the accountants, the cook – everybody. It wasn’t that I couldn’t hold it – I’m not shy of a drink or two or three - but it was the time consumption involved in meeting every person.”

After the introductions he was asked to sing a song, and reverted to the French nursery rhymes of his childhood.

It was, he says, a character building experience that he went through around a dozen times before leaving China. “I have lived in France and travelled a lot thanks to my parents, but I have got to say, that’s the biggest culture shock I have ever experienced.”

He returned to New Zealand in time for Spring Creek Vintners’ fine finish to the year, with its Rapaura Springs estate label taking two prestigious trophies at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London in November, including New Zealand Wine Producer of the Year and the Sauvignon Blanc Trophy. The Rapaura Springs Sauvignon Blanc 2015 also took the Wineworks Trophy for Champion Sauvignon Blanc at the Marlborough Wine Show.

Matthew is Assistant Production

Winemaker for Spring Creek Vintners and Assistant Winemaker for the company’s estate brands, which means he was part of the group that blended the award winning Sauvignon. It was,

“I have lived in France and travelled a lot thanks to my parents, but I have got to say, that’s the biggest culture shock I have ever experienced.” he says, a wine that essentially made itself.

Spring Creek Vintners has the tanks and diversity in the winery to keep blocks individually through ferment to postferment. The work begins with him and winemaker Michael Bann, along with consultant Sam Harrop MW, blind tasting and scoring individual batches.

The premium brand of Summerhouse was blended first, to ensure an elegant wine for the connoisseur, “with layers and complexity and all that jazz”. The Rapaura Springs Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2015 (which took out the New World Champion Open White Wine at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards) came next. It had to really reflect Marlborough - in particular the more pungent lower Wairau style of Rapaura and Dillons Point - and took the better part of two days to blend, he says.

The remaining high score parcels were directed to the Rapaura Springs $15 “crowd pleaser”, which was described

by IWSC judges as “a complex wine that delivers a tight yet broad spectrum of wonderful flavours and textures”.

Such accolades have helped launch the young brand, with its recognition “huge” compared to just a year ago, says Matt.

Despite growing up in France, which remains his “spiritual home”, and revisiting for the 2010 and 2011

vintages in the Cotes du Ventoux, Matthew is very happy that he learned to make wine in New Zealand. “The proof is in the pudding and we have per capita by far the most medals at these big international competitions.”

He is interested in the use of old oak in regards to ripe Sauvignon Blanc, as with the Summerhouse Monarch, “to bring a bit of complexity and something that you’re not so in control of ”. But his favourite wine from the province is its “amazing” Chardonnay. “It’s not the wine that’s in fashion, but it’s the king of white wines.You can do whatever you want with it and I think Marlborough Chardonnay is the best.”

Something to aspire to for future “Château Tingbùdong”.

Matt’s Pick of the Crop “If I was to choose one style of wine to make I would want Chardonnay from the clay foothills of the Southern Valleys. It’s perfect for your classic, textured Chardonnay, not overly oaked, with lots of lees play.” He would take Pinot Noir from the same soils. “With regards to Pinot Noir I think those clay soils give great mid-palate and with the right clone selection one can achieve well structured tannins. With these two components sorted, we can then in the winery play around and hopefully get those lovely mushroomy, forest floor characters, as opposed to the more blackcherry fruit-forward Central Otago style.” He “dearly misses” the “gamey, savoury, rustic” flavours he got from the Syrah Grenache reds he made in France in 2010 or 2011.

“I hope that one day soon I’ll be working in China, but France will always be my spiritual home.”

WINEPRESS February 2016 2015 | 23

Detective Frost Deducing the causes of vineyard frosts requires something of a detective’s approach, says weather guru Professor Andy Sturman.

SOPHIE PREECE Marlborough’s frost frequency has had tended to go up and the minimum increased over recent decades, despite down. Christchurch was showing a global warming. similar trend, suggesting common That was the message at a Marlborough influences on the eastern side of the Research Centre seminar last northern part of the South Island.

December, where climate experts “The temperature range has gone up by analysed data in the wake of several about a degree or so in the time period major spring frost events. from about 1960 to 2010, so despite University of Canterbury Professor of the message that global warming might Geography Andy Sturman said there eliminate frost, actually this doesn’t had been an increase in colder night seem to be the case in some parts of time temperatures in some vineyard New Zealand.” regions of the country, including He said there had been an upward Marlborough. trend in the frequency of spring “We can’t say goodbye to frosts, because and autumn frosts for Christchurch they are just as prevalent as they were 20, 30, 40 years ago.

And in some cases it seems like they have actually increased. So where do we go from here?”

Andy heads a group researching regional and local scale weather and climate and was programme leader of the Ministry for Primary Industry’s project: Development of advanced weather and climate modelling tools to help vineyard regions adapt to climate change.

Professor Andy Sturman He said Marlborough’s long term mean temperatures had changed little between the 1940s and 2000s, despite NIWA’s and Marlborough since the 1940s. evidence of global warming in other Research done by scientists at NIWA parts of the country. also indicated that between 1972 and However, the data he assessed, taken 2008, some areas, including central from the Blenheim Airport weather Marlborough, had experienced an station, indicated that the maximum increase in frost frequency.

“Whatever is happening to the climate, it is clear that different areas are responding in different ways in terms of the temperatures.”

24 | WINEPRESS February 2016

“Whatever is happening to the climate, it is clear that different areas are responding in different ways in terms of the temperatures.”

To work out why, Andy looked at what weather patterns would produce a greater temperature range over the day, and reasoned that an increase in occurrence of anticyclones would result in less cloud, and therefore warmer days and cooler nights.

Long term trends suggest the New Zealand region has experienced more westerlies, fewer low pressure systems and a corresponding increase in anticyclones between 1960 and 2010, he said.

“Rather like a detective, you can pull all this evidence together to understand the overall picture…So, what is happening in the global atmospheric circulation that’s causing us to get more anticyclones?”

The answer may lie in a southward shift of all the climate zones, as a result of the global warming trend. “So the subtropical anticyclones are moving southward towards the pole, and the westerlies are moving southwards with them. We are still getting a reasonable number, but we are not getting Southern Ocean low pressure systems affecting us in quite the same way as they used to.”

Meanwhile, there is also a trend

to increasing southerlies, he said.

“So effectively, we have more south westerlies more often. And, as you know, as they sneak up the east coast you will end up with a cold air mass…

These south westerlies are generally followed by an anticyclone with clear skies, and you have an air mass sitting in your vineyard that’s already cold. It doesn’t take too much to cool it down further and produce an overnight frost.”

Andy looked at days when minimum temperature was 2°C or less during the 2015 spring and then looked at the weather maps for anticyclones and south westerlies. “This is a very common combination for the production of frost.”

Frost forecaster Stu Powell, of Climate Consulting Ltd, told the seminar audience that the high resolution forecast maps and climatic understanding of regions would enable

better frost predictions. He compared frost forecasting to a pokie machine, where you’ll win (or in frost’s case perhaps lose) when all the right pieces line up.

A frost line-up might include major predictors, such as a clear sky and cold upper atmosphere, and minor predictors such as 3pm temperatures, 3pm dew points, soil temperatures and soil moisture. “Things that are important some of the time, but not all of the time.”

Regional variations will sway the pokie, because in the Waihopai Valley, for example, he needs two major and two minor predictors, while in Rapaura he requires three major and four or five minor. “That’s crudely how I start putting together a forecast in the morning.”

Stu checks several forecast models and his own weather stations to try and

establish a trend, knowing forecast models are correct just 60% of the time.

“You never read a model at face value.”

This spring was problematic because of the strong westerlies, he said. Sometimes a forecast model will suggest a westerly wind will freshen up, but instead a north westerly eventuates. “That 45degree shift throws my temperatures out the window.”

Stu also talked of understanding the impact of the Southern Oscillation Index on frosts, by tracking El Niño, La Niña, and his third phase “El Nothing”.

Assessing his Fairhall weather station for spring events, he said there could be some correlation between a higher number of frost events and El Niño.

-The Frost seminar was organised by Mike Trought and Rob Agnew of Plant and Food Research Marlborough.

The Wave Marlborough has complex terrain, with sources of cold air in the mountains, and the moderating effects from sea breezes, said Andy.

High resolution mapping work done by French PhD student Renan Le Roux, who spoke at the seminar on his work in St Emilion (France) and Marlborough, indicates great variation between sites across the complex terrain of the region. Among the variations is a north-south striped pattern in the temperature field within the Wairau Valley, with alternating warm and cold strips running parallel to the coast between the mountains and the sea.

Dr Marwan Katurji, Lecturer in Meteorology at the University of Canterbury, has been working on the mapping project with Renan, and looked at the effect of the terrain as well as upper level airflow, and found that waves

were often generated at about 2km above the ground.

This work has led the research team to develop a new theory on the stripes. “What appears to be happening is a wave pattern generated by the higher mountains further to the west creates an oscillation that basically works its way down to the surface,” Andy said.

They believe the waves can break down in the valley, as they would in the ocean, to produce “little strips” as the bottom of the wave comes down and impacts on the temperature inversion in the vineyards. So some areas benefit from slightly warmer temperatures, while others remain colder.

There was much more work to be done, but “we seem to be moving towards an explanation of the often complex pattern of frost within the Marlborough region”.

WINEPRESS February 2016 | 25

The Block - Leefield Station Leefield Station is a patchwork of terroir, managed in intricate detail.

As part of a series on Marlborough’s unique vineyards, Sophie Preece finds out about a big operation with a small-block mentality.

Shearers work in an iconic red woolshed, while fat bulls graze paddocks beyond.Vineyard staff check data loggers amid young vines, and a dozen diggers look like Tonka toys at the base of an enormous dam site. It’s a typical spring day at Leefield Station in the Waihopai Valley, where Brent Marris is making his mark.

Swathes of green vines meet lush and rolling lowland pastures, interspersed by a grove of walnuts, enormous gum trees and an intricate winding water course.

Terraced foothills lead to steep golden slopes, with their surprising patches of dew-fed green. Along the high country ridgeline, there’s a hint of the native bush that spreads into a hidden

26 | WINEPRESS February 2016

valley beyond; if the farming of grapes, walnuts cattle and sheep is the business of one side of Leefield, then replanting and hunting is that of the other.

The heritage, stock, hunting and vines add up to a great lifestyle for Brent and his family, and a great marketing story for his brands, including The Ned, The King’s Series, Leefield, and future labels likely to emerge from the station, he says. “We have a story to tell and people are aware there’s something special at Marisco. Then they come here and say: “Oh my God. There’s wonderful opportunity here.”

Brent and his wife Rosemary bought the 2000ha station 2012, wanting more Waihopai Valley fruit for The Ned. “We

love the valley, we love what it delivers,” he says. They also loved the history of the station, which dates back to the 1840s and was considered by Brent’s father John to be one of two “trophy” farms in Marlborough.

The couple developed 80ha of vineyard on the station in 2013, 100ha in 2014, and 120ha last year, with another 300ha yet to be developed. Meanwhile, those dwarfed diggers completed work on a 320million litre dam in December.

“It will protect the whole property,” says Brent. “Water is key and we are protecting ourselves.”

The station is planted according to soil and climate, thanks to more than 100 pits for assessing soil strata;

Brent Marris and Anton Rasmussen on Leefield Station

40 data loggers to map temperature flow, humidity, and rainfall; and the completion of a GIS (geographic information system) map by their daughter Emma, as part of her winemaking and viticultural degree at Adelaide University.

The resulting maps help Brent and viticulturist Anton Rasmussen determine which varieties to plant where, with Sauvignon Blanc on the heavier clays, and Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir planted in the areas where schist and rock were laid down by the retreating glacier 20,000 years ago.

Anton, whose team dug the soil pits and logged the climatic data, says the idea is to avoid surprises, by coming to grips with what Mother Nature has laid down. For example, in one area they expected to find clay, but realised an historic event had brought water through, leaving shingle in its wake, leading them to change their planting plans.

Standing on a hill that overlooks the vineyard development, Anton points out divisions in soil types, with the valley a veritable quilt of terroir, offering different opportunities every 100 metres.

Talk to him about sub-regional variation, and he’ll counter with the sub-block mentality he says is crucial to managing the Marisco and Leefield

operations, where distinct differences give small sections unique attributes.

“Some companies don’t like that variation within their blocks, but for us it’s opportunity.”

Before buying Leefield, the Marrises had already built a state-of-the-art winery at Marisco, just 4km away, as the crow flies. Its size and technology allows Anton to send in fruit with that smallblock mentality in mind, with ten rows here and another ten there.

Brent says GIS technology carries huge opportunity for the wine industry. “It’s

“Some companies don’t like that variation within their blocks, but for us it’s opportunity.” Anton Rasmussen making more and more of an impact, because people are starting to push some boundaries, and people like us are concentrating on a specific site or a specific valley to make wines that can then be taken to the world.”

As well as soil, it has helped them grow a better understanding of the climate that makes Waihopai Valley wine unique, with cool air coming off the Southern Alps overnight, says Brent. “In the valley

at night we are 2-3°C cooler than the main Wairau Valley, and because we’re away from the coast, and protected, we’re actually 2 -3°C warmer during the day. That difference in temperature is huge.”

It brings greater frost risk, and the GIS data has been used to allocate remotely controlled wind machines to blocks, with plans for 100 by the time the full 600ha of grape land is developed. But, from a winemaking perspective, the colder nights and warmer days offer flavours and characters Brent says he’s not seeing from other parts of Marlborough. “The flavours just pop on your palate.”

He recently met with an English buyer, “looking not just for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that had a sense of place.”

Evoking that sense of place is what Leefield is all about, with future plans for a cluster of red sheds, echoing a high country aesthetic, further development of the beef and sheep studs, and nurturing of the walnut grove. A new label has been established for the wine, beef and lamb, but Brent envisions a multitude of brands, thanks to the station’s diversity.

“Because the property has so many wonderful characteristics there will be other labels as well.”

Three Generations A day before he died, Marlborough wine industry pioneer John Marris sat by a young vineyard at Leefield Station, and took a final look.

As a young stock and real estate agent, he’d considered Leefield one of two “trophy” stations in Marlborough, and when Marisco Vineyards bought it in 2012, “he was absolutely blown away”, says Brent.

“He got to see it developed and planted. And to see the mapping out of the dream… We ended up toasting the young vines.”

That same spot now has a memorial rock for John, who sourced the first vineyard land for Montana in 1973,

and played a huge role in the industry in the decades that followed, including working with Brent to create Wither Hills winery.

He lived to see the Marris empire thrive, his granddaughter Emma become a winemaker, and her three sisters all work on the vineyard in holidays.

For Brent, Leefield is about carrying on a legacy and creating the ultimate lifestyle. “It’s dear to our hearts we’re brought up in Marlborough, we’re used to stock, we’re used to hunting, and of course now we’re used to vineyards and winemaking – and here we have it all on one block.”

WINEPRESS February 2016 | 27

Powdery Mildew SOPHIE PREECE Grape growers should consider late-season spraying for powdery mildew on high risk blocks, says a spray manufacturer concerned by the changing nature of the disease. Chris Henry is a director of Henry Manufacturing Limited, which manufactures and distributes Protectorhml and HML32. He says late-season spraying is potentially “unpalatable” to growers, who normally put their sprayers away after veraison, but the change in the way powdery mildew spreads requires a new approach. “We are saying it is worthwhile to bring them out again close to, or just after harvest, on the most susceptible varieties such as Chardonnay.”

Chris has been involved in powdery mildew trials since 2007/2008, when the fungus was clonal and couldn’t breed.

Back then, infection came from a defined early period - from flag shoots and their offspring – and was relatively simple to control.

Now that powdery mildew has the ability to produce fruiting bodies called chasmothecia, which over-winter in the bark, there is potential for sexual spore (ascospore) release directly into the fruit zone. It’s likely that release would be initiated by rainfall after a dry spring, and may well create a significant infection risk in the flowering to veraison period, says Chris.

The ascospores from chasmothecia are thought to act more aggressively in bunches than flag shoot-derived spores, he says.

Chris says screening trials done by Farmlands last year showed that HML32 and additives could eradicate

chasmothecia during their formation late in the season, as could mineral oil and lime sulphur.

Plant & Food Research Hawke’s Bay scientist Peter Wood says the Farmlands research clearly demonstrated chasmothecia could be eradicated during their formation late in the season, “but we need to know region by region when ascospores are released, to determine if they are an important source of inoculum”.

This season, Plant & Food Research conducted New Zealand’s first studies into the seasonal release of this new spore type, on blocks in Hawke’s Bay. Next season, the researchers plan to expand the monitoring to Marlborough, which tends to have dry springs followed by rainfall, potentially delaying ascospore release until the susceptible flowering-to-veraison period, says Peter.

Chris Henry says hot dry areas such as Australia and California are not threatened by chasmothecia, but New Zealand should be looking at experience and remedies from Europe and the East Coast of the USA, which are more climatically similar.

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28 | WINEPRESS February 2016

Vibrant Vine Market SOPHIE PREECE Viticulture is one of the high points in the New Zealand Economy, says a Marlborough real estate agent predicting continued expansion of grape plantings in the region.

PGG Wrightson Tasman Sales Manager Joe Blakiston says vines are continuing their march across the region, thanks to burgeoning overseas demand for Sauvignon Blanc, better frost protection and continued demand for land.

“You only have to drive around Marlborough and see the new plantings in area such as Tua Marina, and the infill of new grapes in the Fairhall area, to realise why many companies are looking at where the next large plantings are going to be.”

It’s a far cry from when he arrived in Marlborough 13 years ago, and an attempt to sell land for vineyards in the Waihopai Valley was scoffed at.

Now there are vines throughout the Waihopai, up the Northbank, and spanning the Awatere Valley, with more than 23,000ha of producing vineyard in

Marlborough. Improved frost protection methods are tempting further development in previously untried areas, “so watch this space”, he says.

Joe believes the focus will soon be on the area south of the Awatere River, depending on the outcome of the Flaxbourne Community Irrigation Scheme.

An irrigation scheme would see larger wine companies eyeing up the area, “which inevitably would see an increase in land values”, he says. “History tells us that once irrigation is operational, farmers take advantage of the increased land values and choose to move on or retire as the property must be more intensively farmed to make the development viable.”

Joe says the land market in Marlborough remains “very buoyant”, and values for established Sauvignon Blanc vineyards in prime areas have crept above the $180,000 per hectare mark, with wide variations due to crop yields, vineyard improvements and location. “The buyer pool is very

active and confidence in the industry continues to attract outside investors.”

It’s likely many vendors will now wait for the post-harvest market, he says.

“All indications from offshore point to continued demand and this will lead to a strengthening in land sales.”

Discussions with agents in other parts of the country, where rural sales are not as positive, bring home the vibrancy of the region’s economy, he says. “We are pretty fortunate really.”

WINEPRESS February 2016 | 29

NZW Export News – November 2015 Key Points • MAT November 2015 export value is $1.504 billion, up 11% on the previous year.

• MAT November 2015 exports are 211.1 m. litres, up 11% on the previous year; packaged exports are +7% for the period and other exports are up 20%.

• Average value MAT November 2015 is $7.06 per litre, up 1% on the previous year; packaged export value is $8.58 per litre up 5% on the previous year.

NB: WECS, which is the source for volume data in this report, moved to a different software system in October 2014. This caused October 2014 packaged exports to be understated by 3.6 m. litres which has a consequential impact on 2015 comparative data for YTD and MAT. Total Export Volume & Value • MAT November 2015 total value of exports is $1.504 billion, up 11% on the previous year.

• Total value of YTD November 2015 exports is $721.1 m. up 12% on November 2014.

• Total value of November 2015 exports was $128.6 m. up 12% on November 2014.

• MAT November 2015 exports are 211.1 m. litres, up 11% (21.2 m. litres) on the previous year.

• YTD November 2015 exports are 98.3 m. litres, up 6% on the previous year.

• November 2015 exports were 18.0 m. litres up 8% (1.4 m. litres) on November 2014.

NB: there can be a difference between the monthly export data as recorded by the Export Certification system and that recorded by the Statistics Department.

Over a year however the difference in the data should be marginal ie < 1% Export Value per Litre All wines • November 2015 average value was $7.11 per litre, up 2% from November 2014.

• YTD November 2015 average value is $7.32 per litre.

• MAT November 2015 average price

30 | WINEPRESS February 2016

is $7.06 per litre, up 1% on MAT November 2014.

Packaged wines • Excluding unpackaged wine from the data, the November 2015 average value was $8.57 per litre, down $0.07 per litre (1%) on November 2014.

• YTD November 2015 average value is $8.92 per litre.

• MAT November 2015 the average price is $8.58 per litre, up $0.35 per litre (4%) on MAT November 2014.

• MAT November 2015 prices are up 11% to the USA, 8% to UK, and 2% to Canada but are down 3% to Australia.

Export Volume by Country of Destination • In November, for the major markets, exports were up 14% to the USA and the UK but were down 2% to Australia.

Canada was up 33% for the month, while performance of other markets was mixed, with Germany and Denmark performing very strongly.

• YTD November exports are up 22% to the USA and 5% to the UK but are down 7% to Australia. Canada is up 14% for period, while performance of other markets is mixed, with the best performers being Sweden and Germany.

• MAT November 2015 growth is led by the USA +15%, with UK +10% and Australia +7% on last year. Canada shipments are +13% for the year.

Performance of other tracked markets is mixed with Germany the strongest performer +30%.

MAT November 2015 are 71.2 m. litres up 20% (33.7% of export volume).

Non-packaged shipments growth is led

by Australia (+26%).

• YTD November 2015 non-packaged shipments are 34.4 m. litres, up 2% on the previous year.

• November 2015 non-packaged shipments were 6.3 m. litres, up 14% on November 2014.

Export Volume by Packaging Type • Exports of packaged wines MAT November 2015 are 140.0 m. litres up 7% (9.4 m. litres) on the previous year and are 66.3% of total export volume.

• MAT November 2015 packaged exports are led by USA +17% (5.4 m. litres) • YTD November 2015 packaged exports are 63.9 m. litres, up 8% on November 2014.

• November 2015 packaged exports were 11.7 m. litres, up 6% on November 2014.

• Other (non-packaged) wine shipments

Exports by Winery Category • November 2015 export growth was led by the large wineries +14% with the medium wineries +13%; small wineries were -14%.

• YTD November 2015 small wineries are +7% with the large wineries also +7%; medium wineries are +5% for the period • MAT November 2015 growth is led by the small wineries +22% with the large wineries +10%; medium wineries are +6% for the period.

Exports by Variety/Style • In November 2015 Sauvignon Blanc exports were 15.7 m. litres, up 8% from the previous year, accounting for 87.1% of export volume. Of the Sauvignon Blanc exported in November, 12.1 m litres was from Vintage 2015 and 3.4 m. litres was from Vintage 2014.

• Performance of other styles was mixed in November with the best performer being Merlot.

• YTD November 2015, Sauvignon Blanc shipments are 85.1 m. litres, up 5% from the previous year. Performance of other styles is generally positive with Pinot Noir +20% a strong performer.

• MAT November 2015, Sauvignon Blanc shipments are 181.9 m. litres up 12% from the previous year.

Performance of other styles is mixed.

• Production of Sauvignon Blanc in 2015 is estimated to have been 162 m. litres, 30% down on the previous year.

Shipments of vintage 2015 Sauvignon Blanc since release are 51.9 m. litres or 32.1% of estimated production.

Wine Happenings A monthly list of events within the New Zealand wine industry.

To have your event included in next month’s calendar please email details to sophie@sophiepreece.co.nz

FEBRUARY 2016 1-3:

International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration 2016 – Marlborough

12:

Nuits Romantiques - Clos Henri Vineyard

13:

Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

19 – 20:

Wellington Wine & Food Festival

21:

Brightwater Wine and Food Festival - Nelson

26:

Nuits Romantiques - Clos Henri Vineyard

27:

The Dog Point/Logan Brown Classic Kiwi Picnic – Blenheim

MARCH 2016 6:

Waipara Valley Wine & Food Festival

10:

New Zealand Wine Fair - New York

11:

Framingham 2016 Harvest Gig – Marlborough

12:

Hokitika Wild Foods Festival - Hokitika

19:

Havelock Mussel Festival - Havelock

APRIL 2:

Waiheke Wine & Food Festival – Waiheke Island

2:

The Great Kiwi Beer Festival – Christchurch

30 -May 1: The Great NZ Food Show - Hamilton

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WINEPRESS February 2016 | 31

News from Home and Away Number one, times two Two wines from Two Rivers of Marlborough took two top spots in Cuisine Magazine’s Dec/Jan issue.

Winemaker and owner Dave Clouston is “thrilled” by the No.1 placing and five stars awarded to both the Two Rivers ‘Convergence’ Sauvignon Blanc 2015 and the Two Rivers ‘L’ile de Beauté’ Rosé 2015. “I take Rose very seriously, aiming for a dry, pure, Pinot Noir Rosé in a Mediterranean style. I was elated to be awarded no.1 in New Zealand for our 2015 vintage,” says Dave. “And then, to take out No.1 Sauvignon Blanc as well was an amazing result. There was such a fine line-up of wines in what are the most competitive categories so I am truly thrilled.” He established Two Rivers of Marlborough 10 years ago, taking the name from the iconic rivers that feed Marlborough’s Wairau and Awatere Valleys.

Saint Clair Flying High The Saint Clair Pioneer Block 20 Cash Block Sauvignon Blanc 2015 is to be served to business class passengers on British Airways’ Asian Pacific routes for two months commencing in April.

Meanwhile, Qantas is to serve Saint Clair Pioneer Block 10 Twin Hills Pinot Noir and Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 43 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc on its flights.

Iceland Air has been serving Saint Clair wines to their first class passengers, with the Saint Clair Marlborough Premium Chardonnay on board for last August, September and October. It brought in the Vicar’s Choice Sauvignon Blanc in November and will continue until April 2016.

Love and Loss Loveblock’s newly released wines carry a bittersweet story. When Erica

and Kim Crawford planted their vineyard on a windy Awatere Valley hilltop in 2009, they reserved the G Block for experimentation.

In November the company released the 2014 Noble Chenin Blanc, along with a dry and a sweet Moscato, all created from a warm 2013 spring that brought ideal early growing conditions, followed by unexpected April rain that brought heartbreak.

Conditions made it so dangerous that machinery couldn’t harvest the block.

“When we returned after the rain, we found the Chenin Blanc grapes were in good condition and had botrytised 100%.

A fortunate accident indeed,” says Erica. Despite that happy outcome, the block has been abandoned, with its difficult soil, extremely cold wind, and “a sustained attack by bronze beetle” making it too hard to handle.

“Hopefully, in future we will be able to redesign plantings for that part of the hill, now we know the conditions and the soil intimately. I guess it is the nature of experimentation.”

The Framingham Harvest Concert Framingham will host some of New Zealand’s top musical talent on March 11, at the sixth Framingham Harvest Concert. The Line-up includes Newtown Rock Steady, Terror of the Deep & DJ Fran, with more acts to follow. Look forward to great live bands, Framingham wine, Marlborough craft

beer and tasty light meals. Tickets are limited to just 400 - available at www. eventfinda.co.nz.You can also follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Romance at the Chapel Clos Henri is partnering with the French Film Festival of the Alliance Française for this year’s Les Nuits Romantiques, the Romantic nights.

The winery has held an outdoor evening screening of an iconic French movie for the past seven summers, with guests bringing beanbags, lawn chairs and loved ones, to enjoy a picnic hamper and film under the stars.

This year Clos Henri is doubling the romance, with one film on February 12, and another on February 26. Arrive at 7pm for a pre-movie aperitif on the vineyard chapel lawn, then collect your bag of French movie treats and settle in for the film, from 8.30pm. No gate sales and no BYO. For tickets, contact Claire Pefau at sales@closhenri.com.

CLASSIFIEDS GRAPES FOR SALE: Hawkes Bay Merlot (40T) and Pinot Gris (8T) free of disease and low cropping. For more information contact John Mob: 027 673 1769 PASK WINERY LTD has grapes from Hawke’s Bay’s renowned Gimblett Gravels region for sale for the 2016 vintage. These include; Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from our SWNZ accredited vineyard. Further historic details (harvest parameters, yields etc) will be available on request.

Included in the price is harvesting with company Selective Process harvester.

If interested please contact our Viticulturist Ph: 021 962 882. Listed for sale; Merlot Clone 181 10T @2200$2500/T - Cabernet Clone Pask 18T $2200-$2500/T 5HA BOUTIQUE VINEYARD near Renwick. Producing Riesling and Chardonnay grapes. Available from July 1, 2016. For further information please phone Francis 021886462

Disclaimer: The views and articles that are expressed and appear in Winepress are those entirely those of contributors and in no way reflect the policy of the Marlborough Winegrowers. Any advice given, implied or suggested should be considered on its merits, and no responsibility can be taken for problems arising from the use of such information.

32 | WINEPRESS February 2016

HILLERSDEN - 654 HECTARES (THREE TITLES)

Marlborough 220 Ballochdale Road

• Strong fertile soils with approx 200ha suitable for viticulture development with the balance easy to medium hill country • Well supported with two dwellings, sheds and outbuildings. Currently a dairy support and intensive finishing unit • The property is held in multiple titles allowing for syndicate purchase or easy on sale of hill country. Pending 1,100m³/day water right • A property that offers a multiple of uses including extensive viticultural development

Tender Closes 4pm, Fri 11 Mar 2016 Bayleys, 33 Seymour Street, Blenheim View Strictly by appointment only www.bayleys.co.nz/4130983

GLENMAE - 861 HECTARES (FIVE TITLES)

Marlborough

• • • • •

Tender Closes 4pm, Fri 11 Mar 2016 Bayleys, 33 Seymour Street, Blenheim View Strictly by appointment only www.bayleys.co.nz/4130985

Large scale dairy farm in the heart of the Wairau Valley 449ha milking platform with the balance hill country used as dairy run-off and support 50 bale rotary dairy shed, numerous dwellings, sheds and outbuildings Extensive redevelopment programme in the past 12 months Significant upside and potential as a dairy farm or an ideal viticultural development with the large water right and scale of flat land. 16,173m³/day at 291.5lt/sec water right • An opportunity to purchase one of the few remaining large scale properties suitable for viticulture development in Marlborough

Andy Poswillo

M 027 420 4202 B 03 578 7700 andy.poswillo@bayleys.co.nz

Andy Poswillo

M 027 420 4202 B 03 578 7700 andy.poswillo@bayleys.co.nz

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Contact your local Fruitfed Supplies representative for details.