Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

Unlike 2017, the numbers really do tell the story of the 2018 growing season and vintage. The early part of the season was unremarkable, slightly dryer than normal and next to no frost events. Flowering conditions were perfect and, in the absence of strong winds, a potentially very large crop was set. December and January were the hottest of either month in the last ten years and with average rainfall keeping the vines ticking over, excitement was mounting that an outstanding, and large, vintage was in the offing.

February remained warm but, with three times average February rainfall and high humidity, we saw some crop losses to fungal infections (botrytis). Fortunately, March reverted to normal rainfall allowing the affected berries to dessicate and drop off, leaving the clean fruit to keep ripening. Temperatures in March continued the above average trend and it was clear that harvest would be early.

We started harvesting on the 17th of March (our earliest ever start) and finished with Home Block Chardonnay on the 5th of April (when we would normally be only just getting going!). The early finish was fortuitous as the rest of April was very wet. Quality-wise, the 2018 vintage is a significant step up on 2017 with ripeness at the higher end of the range and more expressive flavours. The February rain did knock the edge off phenolic ripeness so not quite the masterpiece we were hoping for earlier in the season but a very good vintage nonetheless. I’m expecting generous-fruited, juicy wines to characterise the 2018 vintage.

Cheers.

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

July 2018

Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

Looking at the numbers above you might think the 2016-2017 season was slightly wetter and cooler than average but nothing too out of the ordinary and you would be dead wrong! Hence the old Mark Twain quote (attributed in the first instance to British PM Benjamin Disraeli) about there being three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.

While the 2016 half of the growing season was unremarkable, the second half was anything but. Looking at the growing degree days, which measure accumulated heat above 10 degrees, the numbers certainly don’t tell the story of an exceptionally cool and cloudy Summer (if indeed Summer it was). Fruit set was patchy and the potential crop at the lower end of the range. Normally smaller crops are not something to enthuse about but this year, with the cool Summer, it meant ripening was not as delayed as it might have been.

After the cool,cloudy Summer we were hoping for a typically dry, warm Wairarapa Autumn but it was not to be. We picked our first grapes (Pinot Noir) in perfect conditions on the 2nd of April and then for the next 12 days we watched 125mm of rain drop out of the sky. The condition of the grapes held up remarkably well over this period but there is no doubt that dilution of sugars and flavours was a factor. Once the rain stopped picking commenced at pace to ensure we got grapes into the winery in the best condition possible – this was not the year to leave grapes hanging out in the hope of a late Indian Summer!

Replacing sugars from dilution is easily achieved in the winery (thanks Chelsea) but concentration and structure are another matter. Fruit flavours, while not as concentrated as usual, are correct and clean so the vintage will produce wines of good flavour but probably for earlier consumption. That is particularly true of the Pinot Noirs which have some lovely, bright berry flavours but not the tannin and structure we normally expect. Overall, a very challenging season and probably a better season for the white varieties than Pinot Noir.

Cheers,

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

September 2017

Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

After the small 2015 vintage we were hoping for a bounce-back to more normal yields in 2016. Frost was an issue again in Spring but the wind machines proved their worth and we sustained minor damage but only in our Pirinoa Block.

Temperatures in the first half of the season were typical with not much wind. Flowering proceeded in benign conditions with a high proportion of flowers setting fruit, suggesting that a good crop was likely.

Rainfall was even lower than the dry 2015 making 2016 the driest growing season we’ve had in our 28 years of growing grapes! Coupling drought with the warmer than average temperatures of January to March meant that irrigation was absolutely essential to maintain a healthy vine canopy capable of ripening the crop. The 40mm of rain we received at the beginning of April was welcomed as much by grape growers as it was by farmers, setting us up nicely for vintage.

April saw the onset of harvest and cooler temperatures. Harvest proceeded without weather  or disease pressure and a generous, high quality crop was received by the winery. Across the  varieties, ripeness, flavour and balance were impeccable continuing a remarkable sequence of high quality vintages.

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

August 2016

Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

There’s always a danger with catch phrases like “small but perfectly formed” that somewhere in the past I’ve used it to describe a similar vintage. If I have, mea culpa!

The “small” part of the equation was established during the first half of the growing season with very cool and windy conditions prevailing right through until close to Christmas. If you compare seasonal Growing Degree Days, the heat units for October – December 2014 track very closely to the 2011-12 season which produced our last under-sized harvest.

Happily, the second half of the growing season was almost the opposite of the first half with some of the warmest, and certainly driest, months in recent history. Again, using the comparison with the 2011-12 season, for the first half of the 2014-15 season, heat units were behind 2011-12 but by the end of the season had reached 1148 compared to 988 for 2011-12. The smaller crop was further depleted by a couple of extreme wind events in January which hammered the vines and broke several posts. Irrigation was essential to maintain the vines ability to ripen the grapes and to help them recover from the wind damage. The latter part of the season was very benign and with the second half warmth, we commenced harvesting at our normal time, around the beginning of April. With the dry Summer, disease pressure was minimal and, despite some rain falling over harvest, the small crop of grapes came into the winery in perfect condition. Juice parameters (brix, pH, TA) were straight out of the text book and, more importantly, the juice flavours were both expressive and concentrated, “perfectly formed”.

There will only be small volumes of wine from vintage 2015 but, when released, they will be well worth seeking out.

Just a reminder re the Growing Degrees Days table above. Prior to 2013 I used the nearest dedicated weather station to provide the data for our Growing Degrees Days summary. It turns out that, due to its proximity to other structures, this weather station was likely to be over-stating temperature. The Growing Degree Days figures since 2013 are sourced from another local weather station that is set up in accordance with the rules that Metservice specify for siting weather stations. I haven’t re-calculated the earlier seasons but it is likely that, excepting the cold 2012 vintage, they will be ranged around the 2013 figure.

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

August 2015

Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

The two key statistics from the 2013-14 season are that we matched our earliest harvest date (24 March) and that the 2nd and 3rd weeks of April produced more rain than recorded for the entire month of April over the last 30 years. The early harvest ensured that the rain, which fell right when we would normally be picking, did not bother us, but it was certainly a close call.

The origin of the early vintage was a mild, frost-free Spring following on from a mild winter and the absence of any prolonged bouts of North-Westerly gales. The benign conditions had us a week to ten days ahead of normal throughout the season. Rainfall was minimal from Dec-Feb and, excluding a 40mm downpour in March, that month was dry as well so we had no disease pressure leading in to harvest. Flowering and set were exceptional and when our crop estimates showed some startlingly high potential crops we bit the bullet and thinned heavily, up to 30%, to ensure the vines would be able to ripen the crop and to protect fruit quality. Temperatures were slightly ahead of the very good 2013 season so we had every reason to be optimistic about vintage 2014. That optimism was not misplaced as we harvested grapes in perfect condition and in perfect weather.

It is unusual to have two outstanding vintages in a row and in my time here I can only recall 2000 and 2001 as comparable. As with those earlier vintages the latter of the pair, in this case 2014, looks slightly the better at this stage but it’s a quibble as both are excellent. Rain started falling heavily on the 8th of April and persisted for the next two weeks so we were grateful to have everything (one exception) under a roof by then. The only casualty was a few rows of Riesling we left out in the hope of producing a late harvest wine. Sadly the rain overwhelmed that plan and with ignoble rots substantially outnumbering noble rot (botrytis) the birds were given a late present.

Just a reminder re the Growing Degrees Days table above. Prior to 2013 I used the nearest dedicated weather station to provide the data for our Growing Degrees Days summary. It turns out that, due to its proximity to other structures, this weather station was likely to be over-stating temperature. The Growing Degree Days figures since 2013 are sourced from another local weather station that is set up in accordance with the rules that Metservice specify for siting weather stations. I haven’t re-calculated the earlier seasons  but it is likely that, excepting the cold 2012 vintage, they will be ranged around the 2013 figure.

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

May 2014

Growing season (Oct-Apr) data:

Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

I will remember 2013 as a “Goldilocks” season and vintage – yields slightly above long-term averages and weather not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry (while we had an extended dry period a look at the monthly rainfall figures will show that we were never in drought). If there is a Martinborough winegrower who wasn’t happy this season they’re probably never going to be happy.

Having enthused about the season I find I have to start with a Mea Culpa. In previous seasons I have used the nearest dedicated weather station to provide the data for our Growing Degrees Days summary. It turns out that, due to its proximity to other structures this weather station is likely to be over-stating temperature. The Growing Degree Days figures for this year are sourced from another local weather station that is set up in accordance with the rules that Metservice specify for siting weather stations. I haven’t yet re-calculated the previous seasons shown above but it is likely that, excepting the cold 2012 vintage, they will be ranged around the 2013 figure.

The other point to note is that, due to the way it is calculated, the Growing Degree Day model tends to over-state effective heat in seasons with a high proportion of warm nights (typically La Nina years) vs. seasons with more cool nights. 2013 was definitely a “cool n ight” year so the 1105 units, while not particularly high, were extremely effective.

In sharp contrast to the 2012 vintage, which provided a stern wine-making challenge, the wines of 2013 practically made themselves with the condition, sugar/acid balance, and flavours of the grapes near to perfect. 2010 is still, for me, the outstanding vintage of recent memory but 2013 is likely to give it a run for that title. Time, as always, will tell.

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

June 2013

Rainfall (mm)

 Growing Degree Days (heat units)

I’ve been scratching my head for some time trying to make sense of this season and I’m still largely clutching at straws to explain how the seasonal data above can have produced the quality of grapes, not outstanding but certainly good, solid quality, that came in to the winery at harvest.  Small crops were a help but with growing season rainfall at nearly twice average and the coolest year since atmospheric ash from the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption chilled the 1992 and 1993 vintages, the ripeness attained is remarkable. To further emphasise how cool this season has been, 2012 is, after 1992 and 1993, the only vintage not to reach 1000 growing degree day heat units, with the recent 10-yr average being closer to 1300 heat units.

Going back to the start of the season, the late winter chill, with snow on the ground for several days, left us nervous about a frosty Spring but  we needn’t have worried as we barely had to warm up the frost fans over the critical Oct-Nov period. Cool, cloudy, damp conditions prevailed right through the growing season and by the end of March we were on a knife-edge as to whether we would keep the grapes in sound condition and whether they would ever ripen sufficiently to harvest. Thankfully, the cavalry arrived from the start of April with a beautiful 6-week spell of dry and, perhaps most importantly, sunny weather. If one short but heavy downpour of rain is excluded, April 2012 was the second driest April of the last 10 years. Heat units were still lower than average for April but the procession of clear, sunny days was the catalyst for the late season ripening that got the harvest over the line.

Botrytis was an issue in the Riesling block (and one Chardonnay block) but the dry spell allowed that to progress favourably for the production of our first “sticky” since 2004;  it looks every bit as good as the excellent 2003 . Other than those two blocks Botrytis was not present and clean, ripe grapes were able to be harvested in the absence of disease pressure. Flavours in the aromatic varieties (S.Blanc and Riesling) are very expressive while the Chardonnay and P.Noir show good typicity and should produce balanced, elegant wines. A glance at the acid levels at harvest in the table below show the impact of the cool season; some deacidification was required and malolactic fermentation will be at higher levels than usual.  I’m still amazed that sugar levels hit our target range naturally and that no chaptalisation was required, a small miracle.

Perhaps a small miracle is the best summary of vintage 2012, we certainly dodged a bullet and for that we all have cause to be thankful.

Cheers,

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

August 2012

Growing Degree Days (heat units)

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional” – Hunter S. Thompson. The season of weird got underway with a Spring devoid of frosts, the first for many years. Having finally installed a wind machine in the Home Block last year the frost gods had the last laugh as it sat idle, mocking our $50K extravagance. Ah well, there’s nothing surer than that we will need it in the future.

A strong La Nina phase of the Southern Oscillation Index was the dominant feature of the growing season. La Nina years are typically less windy, warmer, more humid with increased risk of late season rain, and so it proved to be.  I have looked back at the daily temperature numbers and what is clear is that while daily maximum temperatures were slightly higher than average, it was exceptionally high minimum temperatures (warmer nights) that elevated the seasonal degree days figure. These warmer night temperatures are consistent with La Nina years which do tend to see warmer, humid air from the sub-tropics drawn further south.

So, we experienced a warm, dry, yet humid season with above average March-April rainfall. The effect of this in the vineyard was average to above-average crops, an earlier-ripening season but an extended harvest period as we worked around rain during harvest. As the grapes were healthy leading in to harvest, and rainfall was intermittent over that time, botrytis was only a minor issue with small losses of grapes selected out at picking. Optimal flavours arrived at lower sugar levels this year but, somewhat surprisingly, acid and ph were ideal and seemingly unaffected by the warmer nights which typically reduce harvest acid levels, all part of the weird theme. Overall wine quality looks likely to be above average; not the exceptional vintage we were anticipating before the late season rain intervened but still plenty to look forward to.

Cheers,

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson

June 2011

The season got off to a very slow start with cool temperatures prevailing through October and November. The combined heat units for those two months is the lowest we have recorded since the frigid 1992-1993 season when suspended fine ash from the 1991Mt.Pinatubo eruption was the culprit.

Despite the cool daytime temperatures the frequency and severity of spring frosts were at the lower end of the range. Flowering was a good 2-3 weeks late and rather patchy as the variable yields at harvest demonstrate. The middle period of the season was average with respect to rainfall and temperature so we started the key ripening period of March-April still a good two weeks behind. In mid-March it would have been a brave person indeed who would have predicted the vintage to be any better than average.

From the middle of March through to the end of April there was negligible rain and, more importantly, a seemingly endless succession of fine, warm autumn days which ensured that the grapes would ripen properly and in perfect condition. Harvest started two weeks later than normal, in mid-April. Thanks to the exceptional autumn weather the quality potential of vintage 2010 now looks well above average. Considering the precarious position we might have been in without it, we have much cause to be grateful for the April sun ………….

Cheers,

Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:

Roger Parkinson
May 2010