Short back and sides...

Time to give the vines a haircut. Vines are a bit like weeds in a way, they are quite hardy and give want to keep on growing. We need to manage the vine so that the vegetative growth is in balance with the fruit development.

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Trimming also opens up the canopy which is beneficial for the fruit on the vine. It allows increased light into the canopy and onto the bunches. Airflow within the canopy is improved and so disease pressure is reduced.

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Timing can be an issue as trimming too early in the season can promote excess lateral growth (ie: more leaf area). Also too much sunlight on bunches can cause sunburn. And trimming must be timed in with netting so as not to cause too much regrowth through the nets.

Off the beaten track...

Ive been trying to write something for the back label of our 2008 Waipara Riesling which we are about to bottle. And let me tell you its not easy to be informative, appealing and entertaining all in the space of 30 words or so.

This Riesling will be a special wine for me. A wine I tried to make as naturally as possible and with the minimum of intervention as possible. Great fruit from probably New Zealands best region for Riesling, whole bunch pressed, settled, natural ferment, which naturally stopped, the wine then on full lees for 6 months followed by a light filtration, a little protective sulphur and into the bottle. No enzyme, no commercial yeast, no cooling, no cold stabilising and no fining. An individual, one-off expression of Riesling.

As a winemaker individual expression should be highly prized. Each small producer has their own point of difference and story behind each wine they sell. Somebody has to make Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc but it isnt me.

The photo above is the cover of 'Real Wine', a book by Patrick Matthews who also wrote the excellent book 'The Wild Bunch'. Both looked into the world of natural and individual wines and the people who make them. His new book 'Burgundy:How to find great wines off the beaten track' looks to be more of the same. Great stuff.

Busmans Holiday...

A few photos from my recent 'holiday' in Central Otago. Its been a good hot dry summer from all reports and, apart from a few early frost issues at the start of the season, the grapes look good. There has been a noticeable increase in new vine plantings too, especially along the Wanaka-Cromwell road areas of Lowburn and Pisa.

Scorchio!

Its been HOT here in Canterbury with barely a drop of rain since Christmas Day. Temperatures in the Garden City (that's Christchurch) hit 41C yesterday. Its unusual but the long range forecast (if you can believe such things) for the remainder of the summer is for drier and warmer conditions than usual.

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The grapes are loving it but they have needed an extra drink of water lately. Without that the leaf stop photosynthesising and basal leaves start to yellow and die. Which in turn would halt berry development. Not wanting to put the commentators curse on things but this season is really starting to look very very good indeed.

Hello Singapore...

New Zealand - Land of the Long White Cloud

In anticipation that this blog is to be screened at a wine tasting in Singapore on Wednesday, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your support of Sandihurst Wines and sincerely hope you enjoy the tasting.
Kirk Bray, Winemaker

A plea for 09...

John Forrest has likened it to standing on the edge of a cliff. Read more about the 2008 Marlborough grape glut and current reaction as we head towards the 09 harvest. Is Marlborough in danger of ruining its reputation, and by implication, the image of all New Zealand wine abroad?

The Marlborough Express has the story here.

Growing season nearly halfway through

Great shot that

Indeed we are almost now in the back half of the growing season. Here in Canterbury the grapes are rapidly growing and are approaching (or in some cases are there already) bunch closure. From here the grapes will rapidly grow, the hard berries will soften as they accumulate sugar and colour. The vines will be trimmed of excess growth, crops will be thinned and bird netting will be applied. More on that as it happens.

The weather since Christmas has been brilliant - hot dry days where the temperature got close to 30C often. We probably havent had a start to summer like this since 1998 (a great vintage year). The only rain to speak of came down on Christmas Day (brief) and Saturday just gone (torrential-30mm in 2 hours) which interupted the one-day cricket match between NZ and the West Indies. The season continues to shape up as potentially great.

For the record the West Indies won the rain shortened 28 over game, scoring the winning runs off of the second-to-last ball of the match.