Vintage Report 2011

“It could have been bigger than Ben Hur”

The 2011 vintage in Marlborough was characterised by the challenge of keeping the crop at a low level to maintain the quality focus.  Weather again was kind and after a fast start, cooler conditions eased the vintage over several manageable weeks into April.

Starting with shoot thinning ,counting, dropping bunches onto ground ,more counting, then more bunch dropping ,more counting we came to a consensus on cropload.

Estimates were spot on and we harvested our fruit early in the vintage.

We commenced harvest of the Sauvignon Blanc on the 23rd March and followed with the Pinot Noir on the 25th March.

Excellent ripening conditions continued up until we had finished all blocks. We wound up on the 19th April with our Viognier.

Despite the industries and especially the growers efforts to prevent overcropping the Marlborough vintage was up a whopping 30% with Sauvignon Blanc now accounting for 75% of New Zealands total production.