The 2008 Central Otago grape harvest is looking good – so far. Central is notorious for early and late frosts, so don’t bet the house on a great season yet. Though it is looking promising, after a very cool start in October that even delayed the new seasons growth of virtually every plant species in the area by three to four weeks.
Rippon Vineyard, nestled on the shores of Lake Wanaka, is still taking a conservative approach, despite an excellent growing season.
“With the exception of the odd rainfall here and there, we have had fine, dry weather since mid November” says Jo Mills, Rippon’s Business and Export Manager. “We don't generally start picking until mid April so there is still a good few months. If, and that is of course a big if, this weather continues, we will be looking at an early harvest”
In the Gibbston Valley the same positive, though cautious, approach is prevalent. Greg Hay, of Peregrine Wines, notes that “the fact we had so much rain in spring has been the saviour as that has allowed the vines to access water that wouldn’t normally be there, so are showing no signs of stress yet”.
Elaine Walker, of Quartz Reef, is equally optomistic, an continues to maintain the cautionary tone. “Our old nemesis Jack Frost was around in early November but no commercial damage was experienced. The grapes flowered under favourable conditions and as a result (we’re) currently looking at a well balanced crop.”
Jeff Sinnott, winemaker at Amisfield, noted that they “were up to two weeks late in the early season but then it all changed. The weather fined up & by mid-December things had cheered up considerably”.
And what does Amisfield expect?
“We can only expect the best this year”, continues Sinnott. “The vines are set up perfectly, canopies green & healthy, growth stoppage is right on target so there are no excuses”.
Love that attitude!
Traditionally, there is no real pattern to how the Central Otago growing season will go. It can be hot and dry for months on end, and then either freeze late in the season, or turn to rain, likewise it can be wet and wild all season.
The most famous season is probably the ‘Big Freeze” of 1992 that destroyed a huge percentage of that years harvest.
Promising comments – keep in touch. We’re looking forward to toasty Pinot Noir over the next couple of years.
PS: We sent email requests to 16 wineries, four replied. We have no problem with this, as it is, of course, an extremely busy time of the year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment