Weather for ducks...

Its winter time here of course in New Zealand, or at least the tail end of it, but without question this has been one of the wettest winters in recent times. In the last last two days we have had approximately 140mm of rain which, at this time of year, is about what we normally expect in two months. In fact as we approach the end of August we have already had the amountof rainfall that we normally receive in an entire year ! - about 600mm.

This is a photo of a 'river' just north of Christchurch. Most of the year it is dry and during winter is usually only a small trickle at best.


But what is all of this doing to the grapes. Not much we hope. Replenishing local aquifers at best. The soils are quite saturated and I suspect when the decides to shine, the heat will push weed growth through the roof. Some vineyards in low lying areas on heavier soils have certainly been submerged but all in all it seems to be draining away quickly.

Perhaps more crucial could be the fact that local skifields still have a 3m base at present. Too much snow on the hills at this time of year could very well signal the prospect of damaging spring frosts. Bud burst is approximately 3-4 weeks away so unless we get some warm nor-west winds soon there could be trouble. Fingers crossed.

World Sauvignon Congress

Today sees the start of the first ever World Congress on Sauvignon Blanc in Graz, Austria. Sauvignon is grown all over the world from its traditional home in the Loire, to Chile and of course New Zealand, whose distinctive style of wine arguably resurected the grapes current popularity worldwide. It is the second most planted white grape variety behind Chardonnay but doesnt seem to have anywhere near the acclaim. This conference aims to give the grape some of the credit it deserves.

Looking through the Congress programme there is a real range of topics and it would be amazing to be there. Not to mention the city of Graz itself which looks like a classic European city. As always though conferences usually throw up many more questions than there are answers. There is such a wide range of presentations some of which are only 20-30 minutes in length, not including time for questions. Surely not long enough to really cover any one topic in depth.

Good news for the blog reading world though, Jamie Goode of Wine Anorak fame, is attending the Congress and should be reporting on the goings-on and all the tastings in his blog here.

And just in case I havent mentioned it to date, Sandihurst will be releasing its first Marlborough Sauvignon on October 1. More on the winemaking aspect to that later.

From the toy cupboard...

Heres our Labelling machine, an Enos Euro Mach 1. Often at bottling time you will be unsure of the quantities of wine each market will require. Each country has its own labelling requirements with regard to what needs to be declared or stated and so you usually have to do a separate run of labels for each different market. The last thing you want to be doing unlabelling bottles by hand, believe me.

Therefore after bottling our wine is stored flat on Cella-Stac sheets, unlabelled, until we need to send it out. Then we pass it through the machine above which first puts a tin sleeve over the neck then rolls it tightly onto the bottle. The bottle then passes through the labelling section and is ready for packing.

Its works well with 2 or 3 people operating it but is equally easily done by a single person if there isnt any major time pressure. The capacity is around 1200 bottle per hour and the machinery runs on compressed air.

Bottle Shock

Heres the trailer for 'Bottle Shock', the next big wine film to come out of the States after Sideways. Based on the now infamous 'Judgement of Paris' tasting in 1976 where US Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons beat their French counterparts in a blind tasting.

Hard to see it having the charm of Sideways but should easily eclipse A Good Year. In other semi wine related film news, Decanter recently reported that a film is to be made of the book French Women dont get Fat (based on the French Paradox)

Kiwis and Wine

Heres a message for New Zealanders who, I see from recent per-capita consumption figures, drink about 16 litres of wine each year. Thats 300mls per week, maybe 1 or 2 glasses max. Compare this to the French or Italians who are putting away 55-60 litres annually. Thats what you get when wine & food are a large part of your culture I suppose.

But who drinks the most ? Interestingly, its The Vatican City on nearly 70 litres. Hmmmm....must be all that communion.

Gibbston Valley - Central Otago

Heres a photo of where our Central Otago Pinot Noir comes from. Its the Gibbston Valley area. The climate is often described as the only area of New Zealand with a Continental type climate as opposed to the NZ norm which is a Maritime climate. Nowhere in NZ is too far from the sea but this is about as far as it get and the area is surrounded by mountains.

The typical seasonal weather pattern here is for a long season with hot summer temperatures and frost risks at the start and finish of the season. Gibbston its traditionally the coolest of the Central Otago sub-regions where harvesting can be as much as 3 or even 4 weeks after hotter areas like Bannockburn. As a result of the long season the grapes easily attain high levels of sugar ripeness together with well structured tannins and reasonable levels of acidity.

The resultant wines are often darkly coloured with highly perfumed aromas and intense fruit flavours married with a good tannin and acid structure. It is undoubtedly one of the more beautiful wine regions in the world and has attracted a large amount of foreign investment on the back of the growth of NZ Pinot Noir internationally.

In this photo our vineyards are on the gentle slopes here which flow down to the main Queenstown-Cromwell highway. On the other side of the road you can make out the Peregrine Winery on the left of the photo.

Another piece of the seasonal jigsaw...

A few posts earlier there was a photo of Daryl Ashby, the Crossroads vineyard manager, pulling out the cut wood from the vine. Well heres the result - he dumps it in the middle of the row. At this point we have two choices in how we deal with it. Clearly it cant stay where it is, the row middles will need to be mowed during the season and the vine cuttings may carry the spores of disease such as Powdery Mildew or Botrytis which could then infect next years fruit.

If we have time, and often we dont, we would like to remove all these cuttings from the vineyard and then burn them. But more often than not we will use our Mulcher (attached to the tractor) and drive down each rows and turn these sticks into a thousand pieces of mulch which then acts as a kind of nutritional compost for the vine.

Just another piece of the seasonal jigsaw to complete. Every task takes time, its usually done manually and theres a particular order to adhere to. Its all working towards the wonderful conclusion next harvest.

Cutting remarks...

Pruning, as I may have mentioned previously, is one of the tougher jobs in the vineyard. Faced with pruning as many as 20000 vines over a 2-3 month period in winter can be a real challenge. Sore backs, arms and wrists are all common ailments.

So despite the somewhat hefty pricetag, electric pruners such as the one above, can be a real lifesaver. The battery pack lasts at least a full day, they are light to hold and easy to use. In addition, a person pruning is generally able to prune more vines and be less physically affected by the end of it all.

The numbers game

Although there is, of course, no substitute for actually being in the vineyard to know whats going on its good to keep a handle on the seasonal statistics. We use information as shown by the graphs above to help us make better viticultural decisions.

These graphs are derived from an onsite weather station and can be viewed in realtime via the internet (harvest.com). They show a number of valuable stats - temperature, rainfall, windspeed and direction, humidity, soil moisture and leaf wetness. Knowing these figures can assist with spraying timing and frequencies, irrigation scheduling, seasonal GDD, and disease pressure for example.

The information can be graphed daily,weekly or monthly and is really useful to build up a picture of how the current season is progressing. In addition you can then build up a library of historical data which can also help with current decision making.

It might be a bit too small to see but from the graphs above it appears to be cold and wet. No pruning today then.

August in the Winery...

Vintage 2008 saw approximately 50 tonnes of Pinot Noir harvested from our vineyards in Waipara and Central Otago. This has translated into 140 barrels of wine. At this stage of the year the wine is in maturation mode and is awaiting warmer temperatures in the winery so that the secondary fermentation, the Malolactic ferment, can begin. Ideally the temperature for Malo needs to be in the 18-22C range but below this barrels do tend to kick off on their own. MLF can be innoculated with commercial bacteria but traditionally was left to start under its own steam in the spring following vintage. This is the approach we are using.

In the middle of the above photo you just might be able to make out my temp/humidity gauge sitting on top of a barrel. One reason I need to monitor these levels is to make sure the evaporation from the barrels doesnt get too high. Over the course of a year you might expect to lose around 2-5% to the 'angels share'.

As a result of this loss I need to top-up all the barrels on a regular basis. At this stage of its like each barrel of wine, whilst waiting for MLF to complete, is not protected from oxidation and bacteria by sulphur dioxide so they need to be kept as full as possible to elimate any ullage.

Vineyard Weeding

This great piece of equipment has been a revelation in our Crossroads vineyard. It is our mechanical weeder. Using it has meant the elimination of spraying for weeds chemically. It is mounted on the side of the tractor and basically works by cutting through the soil at a shallow depth to remove all weeds. The side blade turns the soil over.

This is great news for reduction in the use of chemicals on the land, especially in light if the NZ wine industries goal of 100% sustainable viticulture for all vineyards. Its also a great aid to the vine which doesnt have to compete with weeds for nutirents.

Great wine can only come from great fruit. Great fruit requires a high level of attention to detail in the vineyard. Tools like this go along way to acheiving that.

As scarce as hens teeth...

As I mentioned before its not easy getting vineyard staff. Heres a few freeloaders who turned up after the mechanical undervine weeder had been through the vineyard. If we keep feeding them like this they should be about ready by Christmas !

Meanwhile, out in the vineyard...

From the end of harvest (around early May) until the start of budburst (early April) the major job required in the vineyard is pruning. It is one of the most time consuming and therefore most expensive tasks in the vineyard calender. And theres no getting away from it - its just hard physical labour.

Most of our vineyards are pruned to 2 canes, each cane having 8-10 buds. The first task is to use the loppers to make the heavy cuts which eliminates most of the previous years wood. In the photo above Daryl Ashby, the vineyard manager for our Crossroads vineyard, is pulling out the cut wood.

From here the next pass through the vineyard will be to select the 2 spurs and the 2 canes which will tied down for the new season. Pruners will trim up each cane, tie it down to the wire and cut off any excess canes not required. Its time consuming and if the vineyard rows are longer than about 200 metres then it can be quite soul destroying for the pruners if they cant finish too many rows in a day.

And into the mix it is winter so it can be cold and miserable. No wonder the industry has labour shortage problems.

Tannin taming...

Ive just attended the NZSVO Pinot Noir Tannin Management Workshop. There was a really good mix of topics covering everything from the vineyard to the winery, from chemical analysis to practical solutions. The event was attended by around 150 people from practically all Pinot producing wineries in the South Island.

The keynote speaker was James Kennedy from Oregon State University who outlined work they had been doing on skin and seed tannin management in the vineyard and its extraction in the winery. Among the other interesting speakers were Matt Dicey from Mt Difficulty with practical insight into Pinot Noir maceration and Gareth King of Felton Road who spoke about understanding vineyard soils and influencing fruit exposure and crop load.

There was also a great tasting session which directly compared the influence of differing soil types, clones, yields, maceration techniques and harvest methods on levels of tannin found in the wines.

This kind of event can only be good news for NZ as we strive to increase the overall quality of Pinot Noir. Everybody seems to be on the same page, as they say, in this regard.

David Jordan summed up the conference by saying that NZ pinot Noir is well on track to eclipse Sauvignon Blanc as the countries flagship export varietal within 5 years. And so it should do, especially with vintages like 2008 not doing SB any favours (a can of worms to I wont open here but of which Im sure we havent heard the last of it yet)

Dogs that havent made it to Decanter yet...

BELLA
(Georges Road Vineyard, Waipara)

Appearance: Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No, or as one of the penguins from Happy Feet. Guard Dog Ability: None, shes a puppy! Favourite Food: Pigs Ears, Biscuits. Likes: Chasing cows, jumping, haring around the vineyard. Dislikes: Electric fences, cold windy days. Would like to be remembered for: Her fantastic side-step.

USB Wine !

USB Wine - a true classic. I could have posted the English version but it just sounds better in French.

Gary and Gru-Ve...

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV is about as far removed from the image of a stuffy wine reviewer as you can get. He has an insane enthusiasm and clearly loves wine. Very 'American' if there is such a thing. Very entertaining.

Heres he is reviewing some Gruner Veltliners. Brilliant.

Feeling Gru-Ve...

Gruner Veltliner is being planted in Canterbury ! In a climate where Riesling excels, this is a really exciting development. GV has certainly taken off around the world in the last few years and there is fledgling interest here in NZ too. When released, the Sandihurst Gruner Veltliner will certainly be amongst the first.

GV is a variety often made full bodied and dry with a firm mineral backbone. Citrus/peach flavours are common as well as its trademark peppery characteristic. The wines usually are a naturally high acid structure and, like Riesling, have a great ability to age, developing intriguing petrol and honeycomb notes as it does.

If you havent tried a Gruner before then Terry Thiese (one of the US's more well known and passionate importers of German and Austrian wine) sums it up well

“If sauvignon blanc and viognier had a filthy weekend, and their evil
spawn was loosed upon the world, grüner would be the result”

Six of the best...

For our 2008 vintage and beyond, we have changed our packaging to use a 6-bottle case. Its light, easy to handle and, unlike the 12-bottle case, it doesnt require an inner, only a layer board between each set of 3. The sides merely fold inward to provide a separate compartment for each bottle in the case.

But not only that, it looks really great too.

Vineyard Series - Georges Road, Waipara

This is the first in a series of posts profiling our contracted vineyards. Georges Road Vineyard is in Waipara, which is about 45 minutes north of Christchurch. The Waipara Valley region is one of the countries fastest growing viticultural areas and has the climate and soils well suited to quality Riesling and Pinot Noir. There are around 80 vineyards in the region.

The Georges Road Vineyard is located on the western side of the valley where the soils are light, free draining and largely of gravel and loam. The photo above shows the Riesling block. There are 12000 vines here, planted in two stages in 2006 and 2007. Largely frost free due to the vineyard sloping away towards the Waipara River. Planted in the Geisenheim clones are 198 and 239 on 101-14 and 3309 rootstock. Row spacing is 2m and vine spacing is 1.5m with 10% of the vineyard at 1.0m. North-South row orientation and trained to VSP trellis.

This is our newest vineyard and we will be harvesting for the first time here next year. For all our vineyards the fruit is hand harvested into small 10kg bins and transported to our winery here in West Melton.

Riesling is a naturally vigorous and high cropping grape. In order to get the best out of it I believe it needs to be afforded the same attention and care that we give Pinot Noir - ie: intensive vine management and lower crop levels. Its also the ultimate in terroir grapes , in expressing where it comes from, so more wineries in this country should be encouraged to make more single vineyard wines. It can only be good for everyone.

The mighty cork

Heres a short video showing the harvesting of a cork tree. All trees are harvested this way and have been done so for nearly 1000 years. Its completely sustainable too as the tree will grow a new coat of bark over the next 9 years or so. Cork production accounts for about 50% of the economy in the north of Portugal and a huge amount of people are employed and earn their living from it. I love the traditional and natural aspect to this product. It seems a perfect fit with the handmade and natural image of wine.

No one would deny there were major issues associated with cork taint. Of course it prompted a number of wine producers to change to alternative closures such as screwcaps. Utlimately though, this reaction may have proved the catalyst that the cork industry (a monopoly) needed in order to improve. Already the quality Diam (http://www.tcafreecorks.com/) closure goes some way towards that.

In NZ producers went mad over the screwcap as some kind of wine saviour. Practically the whole country had adopted screwcaps in a blink of an eye. This occured largely before any research on screwcap issues related to bottling and wine quality had been undertaken or released. You have to wonder if so many wineries would have changed over so quickly had the price of screwcaps not been so cheap.

Just so you know...

Yes, we have a Cellar Door where you are most welcome to come and taste the wines. As well as our current release wines we also have a number of older vintages for sale. In addition, our tasting room also features art works by a number of local artists.

More often than not I should be next door in the winery so please feel free to come in and have a look around.

Heading out of Christchurch on the main road to Arthurs Pass you will find us approximately 2km past the West Melton garage/pub intersection on the right hand side. You cant miss us !

And any day is a good day to taste wine. As it says on the sign in the photo above, we are open 7 days a week.

Decanter Magazine

The upcoming September issue of the UK's Decanter magazine includes a New Zealand Pinot Noir panel tasting. From the table above you can see that the panel tasted 154 wines. While the overall comment about NZ Pinot from the tasting was a little reserved we were delighted as our 2006 Canterbury Pinot Noir was Highly Recommended. A great result for us and for the region.

I'd be the first to admit these tastings can be a little subjective and its not uncommon to receive mixed reviews from differing sources within the industry (especially in this country!) BUT when you do get a mention its nice to know someone else out there thinks you are on the right track, especially from a respected source as prominent as Decanter.

Well done us !

New Release - 2007 Central Otago Pinot Noir

A new wine for us , our 2007 Central Otago Pinot Noir. Grown in the Brennan/OVO vineyards in the Gibbston Valley (on the other side of the road between the Peregrine and Watiri Creek Wineries for those in the know).

The grapes were hand harvested during the day and each days pickings were transported late afternoon to our winery here in Canterbury. This means grape receival at about 10-11pm at night and we start processing straight away so its a long night for everyone involved.

As to wine-geekery - 100% destemmed and partially crushed to small open top fermenters. All

clones kept separate. Ambient cold soak of 5 days. Hand plunged and fermented by a mix of natural and cultured yeasts. Ferments lasted 6 days on average. Post fermentation maceration of up to 2 weeks before pressing. Free run and Press fractions kept separate. Matured in French oak barriques (where innoculated MLF took place) for 10 months. The new oak portion was 35%. The wine was not racked at all during maturation until blending took place just prior to bottling. The wine was also unfined. Bottled early April, together with our 2007 Waipara Pinot Noir.

They are both superb of course, but then I would say that. I'll try to post any independent reviews of the wines when I can. Stay tuned.

Roll out the Barrel...

Every year at Sandihurst we order a number of new French oak barrels from a variety of cooperages for our Pinot Noir. The amount is usually around 25-35% new oak in each wine (about 40 barrels), depending on the blend. Barrels from any one cooper differ in the forest the wood comes from (all forests are on a strict 160 year rotation), their control over the wood selection process, the grain of the wood, the method of drying the oak, the level and length of toasting and most importantly the style of each cooper in respect putting all these components toegther.

One cooperage we use here at Sandihurst is Claude Gillet. The small Gillet cooperage is in the village of Saint Romain, in Burgundy. They produce around 9000 barrels per year. Gillet barrels are very good for showing sweet pure fruit. They dont dominate the wine and help create a fuller mouth feel while staying elegant and balanced.

Heres a short video showing how Gillet barrels are made.