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Harvest 2006: Early Season Could Be Good for New Zealand

Winemakers from north to south harvested ripe fruit from a dry year

Eric Arnold

Posted: Friday, June 09, 2006

New Zealand's vintages typically vary from island to island and region to region--often in substantial ways. Yet in 2006, many winemakers are telling the same story: It was a warm, dry year with an early harvest, bracketed by brief spells of rain in January and March. Vintners throughout the country are very excited about the year's potential.

"We had an advanced season, but quite a moderate late summer, early autumn, without the heat," said Simon Waghorn, winemaker for Marlborough brands Whitehaven, Tohu, Koura Bay and Astrolabe. Although sugar levels built up quickly, winemakers had to wait for the grapes to reach physiological ripeness. But after that, Waghorn said, "we were able to pick on flavor, depending on house styles."

Marlborough's signature variety, Sauvignon Blanc, is "average to above average in quality--good characteristic flavors, nice balance of acid and alcohol," Waghorn said. "The flavors look the way people expect Marlborough Sauvignon to look." He added, though, that there are some subregional differences. "Going around the valley you have all sorts of variations on a theme. I think some of the drier blocks … have performed a bit better this year because of those early-season rains. On some of the heavier soils I've seen quite a lot of the attractive, passion-fruit style."

Dog Point winemakers James Healy and Ivan Sutherland are optimistic about Marlborough's up-and-coming variety, Pinot Noir. "With controlled cropping, we get excellent balance," said Sutherland. "The flavors are magnificent--definitely that red berry, cherry, plum kind of character."

Farther south, Central Otago may also be set to deliver on its potential for high quality Pinot Noir. Normally the region's crops are very small, the growing season is short and frosts are constantly threatening, but this year saw a warm, early season with a substantially bigger crop. There was even a four-day stretch of temperatures of more than 100° F, which forced Peregrine winemaker Peter Bartle to drop some damaged fruit. However, without inclement weather, the harvest at Peregrine lasted a full seven weeks, allowing Bartle to pick blocks as they ripened rather than to pick ahead of rain.

Therefore, Bartle is expecting Pinot Noirs with a blend of earthy and red fruit flavors, with good tannins due to the grapes’ ripe seeds and thicker skins--products of the warm, sunny weather. "It looks solid, and I'm pretty happy with what we have in the barrel, but you know what Pinot is like. It can look fantastic, and then you wonder what you were raving about."

Up on the North Island, Hawkes Bay producers often struggle to ripen their Bordeaux-variety reds. But this year, "everything looks really good," said Te Awa winemaker Jenny Dobson. "We got quite a lot of spice and pepper, and that's coupled with black fruit flavors. … At the moment it really does look like we don't have any of those green, herbaceous characters. It's fairly early days, but if you're going to see them, you see them straight away."

In Martinborough, at the southern tip of the North Island, Pinot Noir and cool-climate whites typically perform well. But with cool weather early in the growing season, Dry River winemaker Neil McCallum said his crop was down almost 30 percent, because of poor fruit set. As the weather warmed up, he became concerned about attaining the right phenolic structure in the grapes before sugar levels rose too high. "Then the rain came and slowed us down," he said. "It was exactly what we needed. It was almost a rerun of Burgundy in '03. By picking after the rain, things got into balance." He said that this year’s wines have structure and balance, "maybe slightly riper than average," though the whites may be less floral than they often are.

Overall, New Zealand winemakers are optimistic about 2006. "It's all vintage BS until it's in the bottle," said McCallum. "But there is reason to be excited."

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