MARLBOROUGH VINTAGE HALF WAY POINT – LOWER YIELDS, HIGHER FLAVOURS

Phil Parker operates wine tours around Auckland New Zealand

Herewith - edited press release from Wine Marlborough:

Vintage in Marlborough may be slightly behind the long term average in terms of ripening, but that’s not concerning growers and winemakers in the region.

At the halfway point of vintage 2010, the general consensus from winemakers and growers in Marlborough is that the fruit flavours are superb, the vine balance excellent and the yields below average.

Chris Simmonds a grower in the Southern Valley sub region of Marlborough says some of the fruit flavours are the best he has ever seen.
“The fruit is excellent, clean and particularly in the Chardonnay and Riesling there are some wonderful flavours,” says Chris.

Fromm Winery’s winemaker William Hoare says the cool weather in December means crops are lighter than average, but it also means growers haven’t had to intervene as extensively as in 2009 to remove excess fruit from their vineyards leading into harvest - “The vine/fruit is in perfect natural balance and we are getting riper flavours with lower alcohol.”

Nick Lane, winemaker at Cloudy Bay agrees saying the fruit has benefited from the very hot March temperatures,resulting in “nice flavour ripeness, without excessive sugar levels. Yields are down on previous years, particularly in the earlier ripening varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But there is some real phenolic ripeness in the Pinot and the Sauvignon Blanc has the classic flavours it has become world famous for.”

Marlborough is renowned for its high sunshine hours and cool night time temperatures that help lock in the zesty flavours and give the signature crisp and fruity structure to the wines. The vintage so far reflects this perfectly.

While some smaller wineries have almost completed harvesting their fruit, the majority are still waiting for specialised parcels of Sauvignon Blanc to come in. Much of the regions fruit is being strategically harvested so the profile of flavour
is just right allowing the expert winemakers to develop on and extend the world famous Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc profile.

The vast majority of the harvest is expected to be complete before Anzac Day on April 25 th .

Last year Marlborough processed 192,000 tonnes of fruit. Even with more land coming on stream for the first time this year, predictions are the eventual yield will be below that figure in 2010.