They worked hard to keep things moving seamlessly from vineyard to crusher. Congratulations to everyone involved! Now fo
Belo w the Equator A K i w i ’ s E y e V i e w f r o m N e w Z ea l an d Ne w Ze al and 2012 Harvest Up date While all harvests are intense, 2012 was a little less stressful than in previous years thanks to the great teams we have in place in our wineries and vineyards. They worked hard to keep things moving seamlessly from vineyard to crusher. Congratulations to everyone involved! Now for a few details on the vintage. Overall, crop levels were down for Martinborough and Marlborough. Cool, damp weather during pollination impacted the flowering and fruit set, reducing the estimated crop throughout New Zealand’s winegrowing regions by a total of 8-10%. Martinborough was particularly affected with yields down 20-30% in some vineyards. The cooler temperatures did produce a longer, slower ripening period, which is better for balanced flavour development in the fruit. While it’s still too early to make a final pronouncement, 2012 appears to be an extremely successful vintage for our wines from Marlborough and Martinborough. Our Marlborough Winemaker, Stu Marfell, summed this up early in harvest, commenting excitedly “the fruit is amazing!” With ferments complete in Marlborough, and nearing completion in Martinborough, things are progressing well. M a rtinborough
Te Kairanga Vintage Team Te Kairanga has a great harvest team this year! We have interns from the U.S., Great Britain, France, Hungary, and even a couple of Kiwis. Meet the team (Left to right): Zach (Oregon, U.S.A.), Luke (Mt. Maunganui, NZ), Marty (Martinborough, NZ), Jaymie (TK Lab Staff), Chris (Great Britain), Craig (Assistant Winemaker), Aurelien (Northern Rhone, France), Csaba (Hungary), Wendy (Chief Winemaker)
New Zeal and Newsletter AUTUMN 2012
M a r lboro ugh
Vavasour Vintage Team 2012
This is our Vineyard Manager, Mat Duncan, viewing the action and making sure operations run as smoothly as possible.
While her son works hard in the winery, Di Marfell (our winemakers Mum) works in our Vineyard year round. During harvest she takes charge of fruit quality during picking – ensuring only the best gets through.
Our viticulturist, Allan Crocker, takes regular samples of each vineyard block to determine the maturity of the fruit and ultimately when it is ready to be harvested.
In t roduc ing Ru st y: Our New W i n e D o g
The morning shift during harvest starts bright and early. Rusty arrives at the winery with his human, Winemaker Stu, at 5:30 am to relieve the night crew.
Rusty checks the fruit for quality several times throughout the day. The first several hours the fruit is off the vine are critical to the quality that ends up in the bottle.
Before the wine gets put into barrels, they need to be prepped to ensure the best environment for the wine to age.
In the afternoon, it is time for Rusty to head to the office and catch up with the Assistant Winemaker, Susan, who works the 1pm-1am shift. They go over the notes from the day, review the analysis of the crushed fruit, and plan out the tasks for the night crew.
After about fourteen and a half hours of work, it is time to call it a day. Rusty heads home for a few winks before starting again the next morning!
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