There’s a wonderful video of the 2010 NZ harvest done by the talented Lisa at Lovewine. http://www.youtube.com/user/lovewinemedia The music by Gin Wigmore is fantastic. It’s the perfect accompaniment to all the harvest pictures. The video includes about 10 shots of harvest at Misha’s Vineyard – can you spot them all! The photos were all taken by Tim Hawkins – our ‘visual historian’. Hope you enjoy watching this happy video – it’s got a real ‘feel good’ factor! (And thanks again to all of our 2010 harvest team). Follow Lovewine on Twitter @lovewineNZ
Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category
A Musical Celebration of Harvest in New Zealand
Posted on May 1st, 2010Autumn Colours as Harvest Progresses
Posted on April 24th, 2010
Autumn colours and winter skies over the vineyard
An update from Andy:
At the end of week two of harvest we are about half way with 54 tonnes of grapes now in the winery for processing. These have not been full work weeks as Olly carefully selects sections of the vineyard that are just right for picking and we anticipate about 6 days more picking spread over the next two weeks to complete the season. At this stage all of the Gewurtztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc is picked, we are part way throught the Riesling and have taken some sections of Pinot Noir. The remaining Riesling, all of the Pinot Gris and most of the Pinot Noir is still enjoying a warm Autumn. The canopy on the vines in most of the vineyard has held up well this year so flavours continue to develop in the fruit. Picking by taste and not by brix and acid numbers is to me a wonderful expression of art rather than science.
Morning tea break at Ah Foo's
Our harvest crew has been fantastic and although some of our French workers have left to return home, and Ken – from China – has also moved on – we are looking forward to some great new crew joining the team next week. I’ve been working with the team each day driving tractors and running buckets – and my aches and pains are testimony to the steepness of the slopes and heavy buckets. We are really thankful to the effort our whole team, both permanent staff and casuals, have been putting in and appreciate their care and attention to picking. Our focus on quality has been applied by every member of the team.
The word from the winery is wow! They are really delighted with the quality of fruit coming in and even my limited palate is enjoying the wide range of tropical and berry flavours from the early stages of juice and ferments. The most frustrating part is now waiting until late 2011 or early 2012 before the Pinot Noir from this vintage gets released!
Almost Ready for Harvest
Posted on April 11th, 2010An update from Vineyard Manager Rich Williams
Ripening has progressed solidly in the last month and we are just a couple of days from harvest.
Gewurz ready to pick
Now that the vineyard has been covered by bird nets and all our green thinning has been completed, we have been enjoying a quiet spell for a change. This gives us the opportunity to clean bins and prepare for the pick. Once we start bringing in fruit, it will be non-stop and so everything must be organised and ready to go. Workers for harvest have been recruited and I am looking forward to working alongside the team chosen to work with us through the harvest weeks.
Andy checking the grapes
Andy and Misha are here in Central Otago now to ensure things go smoothly and there are no unripe bunches picked – our quality control team!
It is always a tedious wait for the Vineyard Manager and team until that call comes from the Winemaker to start picking. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for those mysterious flavours to arrive and we continue to send off samples to the winery to test for brix and acids. So far the numbers are looking good enough for us to make a start next week. There is not a lot of work we can do now to increase quality and we have thrown everything at the vines to achieve a high standard this year. It is now up to Mother Nature finish off the ripening process.
Another stunning April in Central Otago
I am really happy with how things have progressed lately and it’s hard to imagine that the vineyard season will be over soon and we can start again with the next one. So far the season to date has recorded 1061 Growing Degree Days (GDD) which is slightly higher than last year and slightly less than 2008. March was a real cracker a provided just over 200 of those GDD’s. Already though the temperatures are feeling a bit cooler and the foliage is showing signs of Autumn. It is a reassuring feeling once all the fruit has been taken off and sent to the winery to be processed and then Olly can work his magic!