Vintage 2021 & public harvest update

As we are approaching our 31st vintage, it's good to take a moment and look at all the events which have influenced us over the past year.

Of course, the major event was the arrival of Covid, the subsequent lockdowns, and the closing of our borders to all but NZers. Our oldest son, a professional sailor, came and went twice last year, quarantining each time. He is currently in Mallorca, where Covid is rife. And our youngest son, who was living in California, returned last March with an American wife and 2 year old. Because of a combination of Covid, bush fires, and politics. They have now decided to stay here permanently. So we now have 3 generations living on our property! As someone recently said to us- this was not unusual several generations ago. Particularly on farms. Whatever the reason, it's a great thing for Mary and me....

Cellar Door

We have moved our cellardoor to our winery. And this is working well. Visitors seem to like to see the production side of winemaking. To make this space more permanent, we are building a small adjacent building- connected to our winery. This will have large decks to allow visitors to sit and take in the view over our vineyard. We are also applying for an on-license, which will permit visitors to also have a glass of wine while they relax. We have the resource consent for this. We are just waiting on the building consent. We hope to have this up and running in a few months. Until then, our cellardoor operates within the winery.

This new facility, and on-license, requires us to have food. But we are not planning on a kitchen or 'cafe'. Rather, we are working closely with Philippa, from Village Picnics in Matakana. She puts together an incredible range of picnics utilizing all the variety of local products. And so we will have a range of these available. One particular one, which I think is amazing, is what she calls her 'mystery picnic'. It's like a scavenger hunt, where people start at one place and get a clue to the next place. And pick up things from each place, ending with a full picnic at some location. For more information about this, have a look at https://villagepicnic.co.nz/product/mystery-picnic-date. 

What of our upcoming vintage?

At the moment, the summer is turning into the second very dry one in a row. Ironically, people always think, me included, that grapes like the very dry. But as I am discovering- up to a point. We have vines that are under such stress, they are beginning to turn colour. We are out spraying a concentrated seaweed to feed the vines and help alleviate this stress. It's all interesting- and we are still learning after all these years!

We traditionally make our first day of harvest, which is for our rose, a 'public' harvest. This means we invite about 20 people to help pick the grapes, ending with lunch. This is always very popular and we are always over subscribed. I anticipate that this harvest, of our Dolcetto, will happen around the 2nd or 3rd week of March. I will let everyone know closer to the time. I will start a list now, though, with no obligation. Just letting me know the interest this year.

Leon

We always employ at least one full-time person to help me in the vineyard and winery. Over the years we have had many interesting people, some very experienced. Many of you may remember Stefano, the very knowledgeable winemaker from Tuscany. He was here for about a year in 2015, when he became ill with motor neuron disease. He is currently living in Dunedin, with his wife Anna. He is very active on his computer and regularly sends me information on grape growing and winemaking. He is a great teacher.

Since 2012, we have also worked closely with Danny Schuster. Danny is an icon in the wine world, not only in NZ, but in Italy and California. He also helped set up the winemaking department at Lincoln University, the first in NZ. Some years ago, he suggested that we employ a young person, not experienced, but one whom both Danny and I could train up in the particular ways we operate our vineyard and winery. Four years ago, Leon did a 'work experience' programme with us when he was in his final year at a local high school. When he finished school, we offered him a job and he has been with us since.

Not quite 21, he now has the knowledge and experience to take responsibility for most aspects of the vineyard and winery (he is spraying the seaweed on the vines while I am writing this). He is also responsible for all the casual staff we have. Eg, we had 4 people of varying ages help over the last fortnight with our bird netting. And he is responsible for them - even though many are considerably older. He also helps in the winetasting - so if you visit, particularly during the week, Leon may be your guide through our wines...

Wines on-line

Remember that all of our wines are easily available on-line. The Dolcetto 2019 has been very popular since we released it at Christmas. Rich with good fruit character, typical of Italian Dolcetto. And the Amphora Sangiovese 2019, is truly amazing. I always open bottles of this over weekends for visitors to sample.

We also sell some of our wines to both the Scarecrow Grocer in Mt Eden, and to most of the Glengarry stores. Over the years, we have always sold about half our wine to restaurants throughout NZ. But out of the Matakana area, we have struggled to have a retail presence. Having started to sell the wines in Glengarrys, I can see one of the issues of retail: where do they put the wines? Italian varieties are very uncommon in NZ and therefore, retail shops don't have a shelf for them. This was brought home to me over Christmas when a manager of one of the Glengarry stores came to learn more about our 'backstory'. I asked her where they placed our wines. She said- well, that is a problem. They decided to put half in the Italian wine section, thinking that anyone looking at the section may know what Sangiovese is. And the other half they put on the Pinot Noir shelf! For no other reason other than they had to put it somewhere. What this means, of course, is that people who are either browsing, or actually looking for them, will seldom find them. Interesting, isn't it? If anyone has a solution, I'd love to hear from you...Otherwise- ask the staff!

Anyway, I have been rambling long enough.

Good wishes to you all. And I saw a t-shirt recently with the phrase: 'A day without wine is like.....no, just kidding. I wouldn't have a clue!”

 David