High hopes for 2010 vintage

Picture Gallery: Ti Point Vineyard - Photos by Marc Herbulot.

While winegrowers in the Matakana region may remain reserved about this year’s vintage, there is little doubt that they have had a near-perfect harvest.

Teams of pickers were in vineyards from early March until the end of last month, with winemakers working long hours to keep up with the quantities being picked.

Winemaker Michael Reid, whose label is Michael Ramon, says harvesting starts when the brix (sugar) and acid level tests on berries and bunch samples indicate that the variety is reaching its optimum ripeness.

“Essentially, we are trying to capture summer in a bottle,” he says.

Michael says Matakana is known for its boutique or artisan wines and 2010 is looking like one of its better vintages.

“There is a huge focus on quality here and our wines are highly crafted. It’s a very hands-on process.

“A lot of the grapes are picked by the owners of the vineyards, their families, friends and colleagues. It’s a lot of work for a few weeks but it is exciting and, by and large, enjoyable.

“Good wine is made in the vineyard, when the vines are under the care of the vineyard managers. But it’s the winemakers who have the responsibility of turning clean, ripe fruit into the wonderful variety of product you see on the shelves around Matakana.”

The grapes are picked by hand as early as possible in the morning to keep them cool. Winemakers are looking for optimum ripeness, with fruit delivered as soon as possible to the pressing rooms. The fruit is processed on the day it’s picked, which means that work often continues well into the night. Michael estimates that most grapes grown in Matakana are pressed locally.

The first whites from this year’s vintage are likely to be released around September/October, with the first reds out about this time next year.

John Crone, of Hyperion Wines, says the long dry spell lowered the pressure from disease, and ripeness levels were on target.

“The dry weather meant we could choose our harvest days,” he says. “Brix levels were about where we wanted them and I think quantities were generally up.”

David Hoskins, who has been growing grapes at Heron’s Flight for 20 years, said he didn’t want to be crowing too loudly when farmers who relied on rain at this time of the year were doing it tough.

However, he said he was potentially looking at one of his best years.

“The quality is very high and it will be an opportunity to make some of the more interesting wines which NZ is known for,” he said.