Buyers should beware of storm damage when sourcing New Zealand's 2014 wines

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 30 September, 2014

New Zealand's 2014 vintage resulted from "near perfect" conditions, but winemakers have warned buyers to take care as some Marlborough estates battled to harvest before Cyclone Ita hit.

The harvest was one of the earliest and largest on record, coming in at 445,000 tonnes of grapes - up 29% on last year.

Winemakers said a warm, dry spring and "near perfect" conditions during flowering made for ripe, aromatic and well-balanced grapes.

But the tail-end of Ita hit New Zealand's Marlborough region with gale force winds and heavy rains in the second week of April 2014, at a time when many producers were just finishing harvest.

Marlborough vines Marlbourough’s vintage suffered some damage from Cyclone ItaWhile producers hailed the ‘near perfect’ conditions for Marlborough’s 2014 harvest, some were caught out by Cyclone Ita, which damaged up to 10% of the grape crop.

According to a vintage report in New Zealand Winegrower magazine June/July issue, Marlborough got 288% of the long term average monthly rainfall in April 2014. After a fortnight of rain, it also picked up the end of the cyclone. In unharvested vineyards this meant "a lot of the fruit dropped to the ground, or remained on the vine, disease ridden". Anecdotal reports indicate many wineries "left or dropped up to 10%" of their crop.

Winemaker Matt Thomson from Delta Vineyard and The Paddler said he had never seen a vintage with such a range of qualities. He warned that "buyers will need to be careful and work with trustworthy producers".

At Tinpot Hut in Marlborough, winemaker Fiona Turner said the estate was fortunate enough to complete its harvest early. "At about halfway through harvest, there was an early warning of very bad weather that was due to hit about the middle of April. From then, it became a race against the weather to get as much fruit harvested in time. Those growers who had managed their yields well had ripe fruit that was ready to pick."

Kevin Judd of Greywacke added: "Magnificent, ripe Sauvignon Blanc rolled in the door under clear skies and cool night time conditions at the start of April". But the tropical storm brought more challenging conditions, he said. "It brought wide-spread rain across Marlborough and reminded us that we're making wine on a tiny and remote South Pacific island where weather can be unpredictable. Despite the nerve-wracking finish, the overall quality of the 2014 harvest is superb."

New releases from Greywacke, Tinpot Hut, Delta and the Paddler, among others, are on show at Liberty Wine's Diverse Landscape of New Zealand tasting which takes place today, September 30, at Dartmouth House, London

Printer friendly version