Gladstone

Urlar

Winemaker Carol Bunn (left) with Ash from Salute (right) and the 2016 Pinot Noir fresh from tank

An exciting new era for Urlar with the appointment of Carol Bunn as our new winemaker. So far the Pinot Noir is coming in beautifully with great flavours in the juice and nice sugar levels. The Sauvignon Blanc still has high acid but we are looking at picking this in the next few days. At this stage the vintage is going well and we look forward to releasing the 2016 wines when they are ready.

- Angus Thomson

Martinborough

Palliser Estate

Palliser Vintage Crew

Vintage 2016 to date has been described by Allan Johnson, Chief Winemaker at Palliser Estate as “excellent” and Allan should know as this is his 26^th vintage at Palliser. Fruit set was good with resulting yields around average for Martinborough. The ripening conditions have been ideal with warm, sunny and dry conditions throughout the Summer and early Autumn. The resulting fruit quality is very high with a nice balance between sugars and acidity. The Pinot Noir skins appear thicker than normal indicating we will achieve lovely tannin and structure from these wines. With only a week of picking left and conditions expected to remain settled, 2016 is shaping up to be indeed an excellent one.

- Pip Goodwin

Marlborough

Fromm

Fromm Vintage Crew

Up to January 2016 this was the driest growing season recorded in 80 years and the region was expecting an early start to vintage. After some rain in January, timings were virtually returned to being in line with previous years. We began picking on March 12th with the first Clayvin Vineyard Pinot Noir fruit.

It does need to be said that the crops are potentially very high in the region and, even with serious fruit thinning, most in Marlborough will harvest well above average crop levels. Bunch weights, on average, seem well over 50% on previous years, which could well be one of the reasons the potentially early vintage fell back to normality. Positively, the continued and lingering sunshine we have been experiencing of late has allowed these larger bunches to fully ripen physiologically, and the larger crop levels have enabled us (and other quality producers) to be very selective in the vineyards – picking the best and leaving the rest.

We have had two days of threatening rain, but on both these occasions we were already right up to date with regard to the varieties we could pick. In other words, with a handful of late nights we ensured we weren’t caught out by these rains and the majority of our fruit was already safely indoors. We now only have our Syrah, Malbec & Late Harvest Gewürztraminer yet to pick. They are, as we speak, basking in the Indian summer sunshine that we have been gifted, so importantly this is allowing us to pick totally on our own terms.

- Adam Balasoglou

Marlborough

Huia

Rob and Winemaker Claire Allan with the last harvest of Sauvignon Blanc as the sun rises

Huia has had a wonderful harvest with some excellent flavours across all varieties. Flavour ripeness has occurred at lower sugar levels and we've picked to maximise flavours and maintain fresh acidity after the warm summer.

A very experienced vintage team has meant that it has gone as smooth as silk – although everyone’s ready for a bit of sleep! It’s been a big harvest and the winery is absolutely full – just a couple of tonnes of Riesling to go and they may have to be squeezed into the bath!

- Mike Allan

Marlborough

Saint Clair Family Estate

Saint Clair Harvest Crew

Some good rains in January and February resulted in healthy vibrant canopies. This was followed by a very warm autumn which ripened the fruit earlier than average. Harvest commenced mid-March.

Yields across varietals have been variable with some Marlborough sub-regions being effected by cooler temperatures at flowering during later December.

The Sauvignon Blanc has come from good, strong canopies with balanced crops that have had adequate water. The grapes are looking clean and displaying great concentration of flavours.

Solid Marlborough weather has given us Pinot Noir bunches containing nice small berries, hence good skin to juice ratio and great colour and flavour for the wine.

The harvest is expected to be able to supply Marlborough’s 10% per annum growing export requirement.

- Julie Ibbotson

Waipara Valley

Waipara Springs

32 Year Old Mendoza Clone Chardonnay

Coming into what has been deemed a near perfect growing season, the team at Waipara Springs are very excited about our 2016 Vintage wine and releasing to market.

Dry, hot climatic conditions combined with good rain fall in January, have resulted in exceptional quality fruit. General consensus in the Waipara Valley is the 2016 Vintage and yield is the best the region has experienced for over 10 years and in what is expected to produce top quality award winning wines. A very positive and excited energy by those in the industry and region.

- Katie Morgan

Central Otago

Misha’s Vineyard

Proprietor Andy Wilkinson picking Sauvignon Blanc

Despite a dry and warm season in Central Otago, harvest occurred at a similar time to usual – reflecting the heavier crop with bunch weights generally above average. However, this year we found that some of the usual measures of ripeness were quite different: we had lower Brix (sugar) levels which is positive in terms of not getting excessive alcohols; acid levels were lower which particularly reflects the extra heat from the season; and our malic acid levels were some of the lowest we'd ever seen. Even with low acid levels, we also had low pH levels in the fruit which helped maintain the fruit condition as we waited for flavour and tannin ripeness before picking. We believe we’ll see very good open and fruit-expressive wines across the board this vintage.

- Olly Masters

Central Otago

Two Paddocks

Red Bank Farm at Clyde – picking finished there on Tuesday 12th April

We're about half way through vintage and at this point very excited about quality – great colour, flavour concentration, balanced acids, albeit we're slightly down on yield due to a very windy Spring, which reduced shoot numbers. It's still warm and sunny and thankfully no harsh frosts to date but the canopies are starting to shut down.

The crew have picked nearly all the Alexandra fruit (The Last Chance) and all The Red Bank Farm. Today the picking crew are at The Fusilier in Bannockburn and will finish there tomorrow. Interestingly we will be able to keep the crew going and pick The First Paddock in Gibbston immediately after Bannockburn. That's rare as often there is a 7-10-day wait/lag period for Gibbston to ripen – this reflects the favourable and consistent ripening conditions we've had this summer across the three sub-regions that Sam has vineyards – Gibbston, Bannockburn and Alexandra. 

In the winery, most ferments are only just starting to ferment after a long 7-10-day cold soak – except for the trial "No Add" pinot ferment that has started fermenting already. Watch this space for a winemaker's report on how this trial wine, (no sulphur and minimal intervention (non)practices taken to the extreme) evolves.

- Jacqui Murphy