Two grape-growing areas and two different sets of weather conditions. 

That’s the word from Montana, whose chief winemaker, Jeff Clarke, says grape growers and winemakers often remark that no two seasons are the same, A great case in point is the differences between this year and last.

Clarke says back-to-back La Niña weather patterns in 2008 and 2009 have brought very different weather conditions to New Zealand’s grape-growing regions.

Here's his report.

Marlborough
After last year’s bumper sauvignon banc harvest, 2009 has been all about yield management to ensure quality is at the highest level and that our wine supply is in tune with demand.

A very wet winter, which saw parts of our vineyard flooded and soil profiles filled to capacity for the start of the season, set the vines up for a great budburst. A benign spring with relatively few frost events and increased frost protection in place for when those frosts did occur, meant that all of our Marlborough vineyards escaped without damage.

Early season yield management began with an extensive programme of shoot thinning in pinot noir and sauvignon blanc blocks, reducing shoot density and enhancing cluster exposure. Weather over flowering in November and the beginning of December was fine and settled for all varieties and fruit set was good.

The summer kicked in hot and strong for December and January, assisting fruit and flavour development - then someone turned off the switch in February, which was unseasonably cool and wet with more than twice our usual rainfall. 
However, as is often the case in Marlborough this turned out to be a temporary blip and March rainfall (the critical month for ripening) was well below normal and fine, warm weather returned.

Harvest started on March 10, the same as in 2008 with the first sauvignon blanc being picked on March 23, four days later than last year. 

As at April 14, Marlborough was 70 per cent through its expected harvest. Montana sauvignon blanc is coming slightly below crop reduction targets, however pinot noir yields are significantly lighter than expected.

While it is still early days, the winemaking team have a sense of eager anticipation as the grapes have finally started to match expectations. 
Certainly the efforts from our viticulture team and the growers have seen the early signs of the Montana Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc fruit at the winery, delivering intense flavours with typical cool climate pungency. 

Pinot noir for Montana Marlborough Pinot Noir is now in the fermenters with good colour and ripe flavours. The balance of the Marlborough fruit should be with us in the next few weeks. 


Hawke’s Bay
Like Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay has had a season of two halves. Considerably drier than Marlborough through the winter, the Bay escaped most (but not all) of the swpring frosts relatively unscathed. 
Minor areas of damage on unprotected areas affected some vineyards but nothing like the devastating frosts of the 2007-2008 growing season.

Fine, warm and dry weather, ideal for balanced vine growth and fruit development, persisted until well into late February, when a period of cool, wet conditions took the gloss off some blocks of ripening chardonnay on heavier soils. 

These blocks required some very selective picking to ensure the highest possible quality. Chardonnay on lighter, free-draining soils was unaffected as were later ripening varieties. Our Matapiro vineyard continued its run of producing full-flavoured and ripe pinot gris.

At just over 94 per cent through harvest, the pick of the bunch from Hawke’s Bay this year would have to be the Bordeaux varieties of merlot, malbec and cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. These varieties have reached their full ripeness and flavour potential across the Bay’s vineyards and are likely to produce some stunning wines.

The Hawke’s Bay harvest is shaping up to be a very good vintage for sauvignon blanc and pinot gris, and possibly a stunner for the Bordeaux reds. 

Cropping levels were lower this year, which has led to intense flavours from the aromatic whites, especially the Montana Reserve and Montana Classic Pinot Gris. The red grapes are now in the care of the winemaking team and results to date for the fermentations give rise to strong confidence for another great Montana Reserve Merlot and Montana Classic Merlot Cabernet vintage. 


Gisborne
Gisborne has had the most consistent growing season of the major regions for the 2009 vintage. 

A fine warm spring following a relatively dry winter meant that soils were drier than normal as the vines began their new growth cycle. 
The dry weather continued through the season with Gisborne missing the February rains experienced by the more southerly regions.

Most vineyards in Gisborne are not irrigated, growing on silt and clay loam soils and the below average rainfall throughout the season coupled with high sunshine hours and warm temperatures has meant that vignerons have been able to achieve great control over vine vigor. This has meant the season has produced modest crops of well-ripened, great flavoured grapes.

Harvest began on February 19, a week earlier than in 2008, with chardonnay for sparkling wines and is now virtually complete. Gisborne’s signature varieties of chardonnay, gewürztraminer and pinot gris have all been harvested in wonderful condition and are on their way to being excellent wines.

The 2009 harvest is likely to be an outstanding one for Montana sparkling with some excellent chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier being harvested. Chardonnay table wine fermentations are now in barrel and look to be of the same excellent standard as the last few years. Gisborne continues to produce excellent examples of this classic grape variety.

One of Gisborne’s claims to fame, has been its luscious, aromatic gewürztraminer and this year looks to follow in a great lineage. Also completing this years harvest has been the winery teams work on a number of new and exciting aromatic white varietals such as pinot gris, viognier and arneis.