Misha's Vineyard

From the 13th to the 16th of January Misha’s Vineyard hosted presenter Yvonne Lorkin, Director Carolyn Sylvester, cameraman “Scotty” and sound recordist Donna as they filmed an episode for the upcoming Food Channel series “Thirsty Work”. It was an amazing experience working with such a professional and fun team as Misha, Andy, Rich, Olly and Jill all turned into actors for their roles in telling the Misha’s Vineyard story.

After weeks of fine sunny days the weather was looking a little foreboding just as the team arrived, but a dusting of fresh snow (yes it is summer!) on the mountains across the lake provided an amazing backdrop for the filming.

The stunning scenic footage they shot will provide the setting into which the interviews and stories will be woven.

Misha and Andy rode to the vineyard on the Harley Davidson with Scotty and his camera in the back of one of the vehicles so he could film along the way. The lake and vineyard were bathed in sun as they rode past the second camera on several passes to get different angles.

Yvonne did the introduction interviews with Misha and Andy in the vines, asking how they had become interested in the wine industry and developing Misha’s Vineyard Wines.

Then Vineyard Manager Rich Williams – filmed working with the tractor – talked about the land and soils that give the wines their special characteristics.

During the interviews Yvonne delved into the Chinese history of the vineyard, looking at the areas that had been preserved to show the gold panning and sluicing that took place in the gullies, and discussed the occurrence of the number 8 – considered very lucky in Chinese culture.

The wines of course also took centre stage with winemaker Olly Masters talking about the wines in a tasting at Ah Foo’s House, our recreated goldminers stone hut in the top block of the vineyard. The team also went through another tasting segment on the last day when we completed a shoot on the lawn at Misha and Andy’s house where Yvonne interviewed Olly on each of the range of Misha’s Vineyard wines. The wines were also filmed being poured into a glass with an array of “sensory” items around the glass to show the flavours and aromas each wine varietal shows.

The Misha’s Vineyard team, assisted by Yvonne, had the challenge of preparing a local dinner on camera for the Sunday night meal. Rich cooked his favourite Whitebait Fritters – which given he caught them himself seemed to be the perfect starter. Andy, along with Yvonne and Jill did a Hare Wellington main course served with locally vegetables from Goodies on the Gorge. All washed down with some fantastic Misha’s Vineyard Wines.

Our Visual Historian – genius photographer Tim Hawkins – was there to capture the process of filming and interviews in a portfolio of photos.

The whole experience of filming the episode was quite amazing – and the production team are such wonderful people we all felt we have made a lot of new friends. Now we wait until the editing is complete and the episode goes to air – expected around mid-year.

Tags: Andy Wilkinson, central otago pinot, Food and Wine, Misha Wilkinson, Misha's Vineyard Wines, mishas vineyard, Olly Masters, Rich Williams, Thirsty Work, Yvonne Lorkin

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Vineyard Manager Rich Williams gives an update of early summer activities on the vineyard

So far the start of the 2012 season at Misha’s Vineyard has been really mixed. In my last update, rain was falling and we received over 40mm in one day – which is not typical of Bendigo. The dry and even start to the season quickly changed to being varied and wet which more than topped up our soil moisture reserves. Since that rain, the winds have picked up and kept the vineyard crew on their toes ensuring all of the emerging vine shoots are safely tucked up in the trellis where they would be safe…we thought! They survived a powerful south-west wind gusting almost 90km on the 25th of November But then in the early hours of the 28th of November, a big norwestly hit with the intensity of a high-pressure water blaster and it knocked out a few large shoots and damaged some of the leaf structure. We will compensate for this later in the season by manipulating the cropping level to some degree although the vines have a way of repairing themselves by pushing secondary growth to replace lost spur position. This will mean extra work tucking and thinning later. We have also stepped up our irrigation yet again as the ground dries out to evaporation with the winds.

Shoot thinning has progressed very well, starting with the younger vines of the House Block, moving up the vineyard from early areas of advancement. We moved back down from the Top Block to complete the Sauvignon Blanc on the 24th of November. This year we had a team of 15 people who handled the pressure well and since then we have dropped the staff number back to eight (our lucky number!). The crew is predominantly French and I’m hoping they are not here to sabotage our wine! Just as a test, they were given the task of bud rubbing all the suckers from the base of the vines which is really back-breaking work. But these battle-hardened veterans completed the job and I’m now very confident of their best intentions! So with the vineyard now all tidied up, we’re about to carry out our second herbicide spray.

Our organic trial blocks have given us mixed results and we have learnt a lot since heading towards this spray-free regime. We believe that it’s mainly the age of our vines that are not handing the environmental stress of both the weather conditions and the fragile soils they are on. Perhaps the large area we chose was a little bold for our first trial but we soon narrowed it down to a more manageable area as soon as it was evident that some vines were not performing as well as others. There are marked differences row to row when comparing our two methods of farming. (And the jury is still out on whether organic grapes make better wine anyway!) We have found one of the organic trial blocks has given us some very good control on one of our more vigorous areas – Olly’s prized Abel Pinot Noir vines – and this has lead to less lateral growth and less wind damage as the vines had less turgidity to them hence they could handle the wind a little better. The variation in our soils has been the largest challenge; they just do not have the fertility and structure to support the vines during times of stress. The biggest learning – do not do partial trial blocks of organic vines as it leads to greater variability in the block and is hard to manage! Used as a tool to devigorate those vines in a block where the spring growth has resulted in very fast growth, could be very successful but it is very difficult to give some vines more water and Nitrogen than others and it means that either some will get too much and others not enough. As soon as we saw that some vines were suffering we went through the rows and sprayed the under-vine area with herbicide, removed suckers and dropped bunches on the short shoots to focus the vine’s energy in the right areas but unfortunately they still suffered a little in the process. There will be improvement as flowering finishes and the vines go into a period of accelerated shoot growth but they will not benefit from the same healthy start that the herbicide-treated vines had. Lesson learnt!

We are over half-way through flowering now and things have gone slightly differently this year to last year. Pinot Gris seems to be flowering much earlier than normal but in general the vineyard has flowered consistently from the bottom of the vineyard up to the top. I have found that vines that were cropped slightly heavier are behind the vines that were not. Overall temperatures during flowering have been on the warm-hot side suggesting big bunches which we remember well from last year. The younger blocks have already had bunches on short shoots removed and we’ve also done that on some of the blocks that do reach full canopy height. This should give these vines more strength and energy to promote stronger shoot growth.

We have been on the ball with our sulphur spray regime given the weather conditions – it pays to have your own canopy sprayer so you can spray when you need to. I am happy the vines are receiving the appropriate coverage given the growth, although I will always remain on the edge of my seat after last January’s overcast conditions which required real vigilance to protect against disease. We have begun some lateral thinning and minor leaf plucking on some more advanced blocks to refine the openness of the canopy which will aid in light and spray penetration. So far it is going well but will continue to tuck up growing shoots as required. Generally across the board we have 2 – 3 wires up and just starting to get the wire to the fourth clip height. We may start trimming just before Christmas but I would say the majority will be done after Christmas/New Year. Also this week we will have everything mown and tidy and will be very much up-to-date. I’m looking forward to a stinking hot summer this year! Generally given the weather conditions, the vineyard is looking very good. Fingers crossed for the rest of the season.

All the best for the festive season on behalf of the vineyard staff at Misha’s Vineyard.

Tags: central otago, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Misha's Vineyard Wines, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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The Season has started! An update post Bud-burst from Vineyard Manager – Rich Williams

Bud burst is finally here on the vineyard. We had our first buds appear on the 23rd of September which is pretty much on schedule. Starting in the usual spots in the House Block Pinot Noir, Lake Front PN Abel/ 6, and the Ski Slope PN 6. From here has progressed evenly up the vineyard over about a week. Sauvignon Blanc was the last to push but this is very normal for this variety. Growth so far looks relatively even on both spurs, cordon extensions, and canes.

It was a cracker start to the Spring with warm temperatures and less wind than usual. The soil was very dry for this time of year so the irrigation was on early on some of our blocks with light soils ensuring the vines had plenty of moisture to the rootzone. Our Aquaflex soil moisture sensors help us understand our different soil types and improve our water use on the vineyard so as to not over irrigate and cool down the soil which is a fine balancing act. As I speak, rain is pouring down and temperatures have cooled down considerably giving a typical yellow look to the leaves as growth slows.

Work disbudding canes and extensions during pruning has paid off with improved growth overall in these sections. Comparisons of the different techniques are clear to see in the images below. This will inevitably give a better and more even start without the pressure of immediate shoot thinning to take the pressure. We have started removing lower buds on the underside of extension canes to ensure they catch up early but the advantages of early bud removal during winter dormancy has its merits. Inflorence position has a close basil proximity indicating smaller sized bunches for the season ahead which is what we want for concentrated wine flavours.
This last month we were audited by Sustainable Wine NZ and passed with flying colours. The auditor was very impressed with the amount of detail we had gone into and we did more than enough to fulfil our obligations towards the scheme.

Work has progressed very well with the internal roading and drainage around the vineyard. We have tried to improve water runoff from the steep vineyard faces and direct it into guttering away from the roads. This will improve erosion if we get large amounts of rain like we are now experiencing. I intend to apply a liberal layer of gravel to these areas in the coming days to permit a safer and more enjoyable drive around the perimeter of the vineyard and stop the dust blowing onto our precious fruit once it is harvested. Irrigation has been installed around Ah Foo’s hut which was trenched in under the road from a redundant water line. This enabled the first native planting of Kanuka, Kowhai, and native tussock around the old hut. Once established it should increase shelter in the area and the Kowhai will eventually encourage native birds to feed – though hopefully not grape eating ones!

We have also taken our first step towards organic viticulture. This year will be a learning year to see what works best as far as weed management techniques are concerned. While our canopy spraying regime is straight forward, it is our weeds that need to be tamed in order to take that leap and be chemical free. So far we have used the weedeater to maintain the undervine area on our blocks which will go into our top tier Verismo Pinot Noir. While this was a slow process by hand, it will allow us to undergo some further investigation into the best under vine mower to use so that we can eventually move the rest of the vineyard into that program over time. There may be many rocks to pick up and the irrigation line may need to be raised however it will be in the best interests of the soil and our sustainable environmental involvement.

So we are all on track for the coming season. Our wires have been dropped ready to cater for growing shoots. All damaged posts have been repaired with some minor maintenance to the wind shelter rows. Irrigation lines have been flushed to remove excess build-up of silt and grime within the pipes to stop the dripper emitters from being blocked up to permit more even distribution of water to the vines. Herbicide spraying has been carried out on all sections other than our organic trial blocks. Our first application of sulphur to prevent powdery mildew has been done and will look to do our second this week if the weather will allow.

Sadly we say good bye to Sue who has been with us for 2 years now and will be heading across the Tasman to Perth for a bit of a change in lifestyle. Next month we will be appointing a new caretaker to the team who will help out with some of the rabbit control, maintenance, and tractor work.
Other than that, we’re ready for whatever the season will bring.

Rich.

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Misha, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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Vineyard Manager Rich Williams give an update on the pre-budburst activities on the vineyard

Pruning on the vineyard is all but finished. We just have a few touch ups and blocks we are getting just right. It’s been an outstanding winter this year. While we have had plenty of snow low down on the vineyard, it hasn’t stayed around for long. We’ve had plenty of cracker frosts early on in the morning, but as the sun pops up above the mountains, it thaws to be a lovely day. The best thing about this winter is that we have not had the weeks and weeks of fog that we normally get.

This year we are two people down for pruning. Ryan has moved on and Ernst has been away since before harvest so we have been forced to cope with our small team of 3 and do our best under the circumstance. Thankfully our new Felcotronic electronic pruners have performed outstandingly and allowed us to speed up our work while protecting our now ageing joints from the burden of repetative strains which is common with pruning.

This year we have used a tractor mounted pre-pruning machine to trim off all last seasons growth to a shorter length so that the crew can follow up behind and tidy the spurs to 2 buds. It has been a lot easier to not have to pull these old shoots out by hand. The Sauvignon Blanc which is cane pruned has come up very well. At first I felt there may be a drastic yield reduction in order to get some strength into some of these vines on light soil. This year I have reduced the bud number considerably to force the vines into producing better apical region shoot growth to allow for stronger canes to be laid next year. Also using the disbudding technique to space out the buds on weaker canes accordingly and has come up better than expected and there will still be a sizable crop.

The young House Block has progressed well with the Pinot Noir completed early on and the Riesling just. This was a little more time consuming with additional laydowns and disbudding, and all fruiting wires being strained up to accommodate the vines now permanent form. I am very pleased with the amount of wire fill through here and the strength of the vines going forward. The under vine area has filled out with suitable low growing weed growth that is holding the ground together well preventing soil erosion.

Fertilizer this year is being applied via a tractor mounted spinner rather than a fast but expensive helicopter application this year. Using the tractor takes a lot longer and calibration is tricky, but I am satisfied it is going on well and even. This year we continue to improve on our base elements as well as some vital trace elements.

Both Dress Circle and High Wire blocks are looking great with full wire fill. These blocks struggled as their exposure to the wind can leave them a bit ragged but are now at their full potential. They are finally gaining good strength to cope with the elements. Spur spacing and bud number through here is spot on. The Top Block, being slightly older is at a consistent level and gaining in strength every year. In the Fruit Bowl block I have experimented with some Scott Henry style of pruning in the vigorous middle section of the block whereby 2 additional arms have been laid in order to further increase variability.

We have had 500 sheep in around the vineyard for the last month tidying things up. They have done a great job providing valuable manure for the vines. The next month on the vineyard will be all about maintenance. There are plenty of posts and end assemblies to fix. We also have some work to do on our internal vineyard roads where plenty of January rain has washed things out. Fixing some of the drainage will be on the priority list followed by a nice coating of gravel. Also some planting of Kanauka around Ah Foo’s house.

So lots to do – never a dull moment on the vineyard!

Take care – Rich

Tags: Ah Foo, central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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The kōwhai is one of Otago’s best known and loved indigenous trees and is ingrained in our history and Maori culture. Kōwhai trees once flourished throughout Otago with golden flowers lighting up the hills in spring, attracting visitors and birds. Over time the agricultural development reduced the number of kōwhai to just a few stands in some of the less developed gullies and hillsides.

Project Gold is a Department of Conservation (DOC) initiated project dedicated to the protection and enhancement of kōwhai trees in Otago. In September Vineyard Manager Rich Williams and owner Andy Wilkinson attended a session by Department of Conservation on the process of establishing new stands of kōwhai in Central Otago and decided to purchase seedlings for spring planting.

Two areas have been initially identified – Ah Foos House – our replica gold miners hut on the rocky outcrop in the Top Block, and the entrance road into the vineyard. Ah Foos seemed the ideal starting point. A new irrigation line was installed and trenched into the hard rocky ground to ensure the kōwhai along with some other native bush species also planted in the surrounds would be able to get a good start. Rich and vineyard hand Sue Reid planted a perimeter of plants around the outer boundary and some more plants in alongside the walls of Ah Foos house. We hope the gradual development of these small stands of native plants will enhance the natural look of the vineyard and encourage native birds – tui, bellbirds and kaka to the hills.

As DOC has stated in its literature, this is a community program to encourage people and businesses to plant small stands in their gardens or on their properties. Just a few trees planted in every part of Central Otago in support of the larger programs along the Central Otago Rail Trial and in public areas will bring a new interest in this spectacular New Zealand native.

Tags: Andy Wilkinson, central otago, Kōwhai, mishas vineyard, Project Gold, Rich Williams

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A Post-Harvest update from Vineyard Manager, Rich Williams

The 2010/11 harvest this year, I was very happy with. We had an enthusiastic team of about 15 workers who could easily pick 12 tonnes a day and ensure only quality fruit picked. On the whole I was very happy with the standard in a season that was full of challenges but came through with some stunning results and free from disease until the very end. The autumn brought about relatively settled weather after a very wet Summer. 1120 GDD were recorded this season which was slightly lower than last year even though our daily average temperature was 3 degrees warmer. This allowed for good flavour development and lower than normal acid levels across the board.

It was great to see the young House Block produce some amazing fruit for the first time this year. The 198.19 Riesling Clone was a real jaw dropper as well as the Pinot Noir 114. I was even quite happy how the unusually fickle Clone 4 turned out in the end as it trailed the 114 by quite a bit at one stage and was very different in flavour comparison. I thought the Sauvignon Blanc turned out extraordinarily well this year providing nice grapefruit and mango tropical fruit flavours with a hint of red pepper.

The hill slopes of the Highwire Block and Block 2 performed well, as did the Abel and Clone 6 in the Lakefront Block. Clone 5 in the Top Block that was taken back to 1 bunch per shoot also came through outstandingly well. I can’t wait to taste the wine that Olly and the team at the winery can come up with.

Nets are finally off the vines. Always a tedious time dodging the wind and rain and the relative humidity has been high, meaning nets stayed wet. The workers got a little cold and wet in the process but battled on in the conditions. This now marks the end of a successful 2010/11 season. Many thanks to the team and all those that gave a helping hand in this year’s vintage.

Pruning is now underway in the vineyard. I am trying a different tact now that the majority of the vineyard is fully established with almost complete wire-fill. We are targeting the odd spots that still need a bit of TLC such as areas like the Horse’s Head in the Top Block and the Pinot Gris in the Dress Circle where wind has prevented the vines from developing a full wire.

Giving the vines some extra strength by one on one pruning is the key this year. Correct bud number per vine is up to the skill of the pruner that will inevitably give the vines balance as the plants develop in maturity. We have always grown them a bit close to the hip on these lighter soils and just a little bit more vigour will promise a more even and fuller canopy, promoting fruit ripening and plant strength. As soon as we complete lay-downs in some blocks, a tractor mounted barrel pruner will trim last year’s dormant canes close to the cordon. This will enable the team to do a follow up pass and prune the vines back to a determined number of buds/spurs. This year we are blessed with the purchase of some of the most state of art battery powered Felcotronic pruners. A real investment into the prevention of worker repetitive strain injury which can hinder the even strongest pruner.

Last year I trialled a disbudding technique through the cane-pruned Sauvignon Blanc and this made a real difference in vine strength. Because the younger House Block this year struggled with power early on in the season. I intend to carry this idea through and try to gain some strength on these young vines, establishing a strong and uniform cordon using this disbudding technique. It will also buy some time come Spring and will mean some of the shoot thinning will already be done.

This year I also intend to assign the workers different blocks and will be assessing the work closely. This will hopefully produce more even pruning and will be allow each worker to put additional effort into their own patch.

Sadly we say goodbye to our Japanese friend Ken who has been with us since last November and plans to return back to Japan and start an online wine buyers site now that he has a good understanding how wine is made. Also we soon say goodbye to Ryan who has been with us for a complete year. Good luck to them both.

Tags: central otago, Central Otago Pinot Noir, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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The 2011 season continues to produce its challenges as the weather shifts between warm summer days and cold wet ones that make winter seem imminent. The fruit however seems to be handling the changing conditions well and with the extensive crop thinning to ensure only the right fruit is retained now completed, we are very confident in having a very good vintage. Vineyard Manager – Rich Williams – has provided another comparison chart to show how the various varietals are developing and it provides an interesting perspective when looking back to the chart from three weeks ago.

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Misha, misha's vineyard video, mishas vineyard, pinot noir, Rich Williams

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We are getting ready to head into the next harvest. It will be our 5th harvest at Misha’s Vineyard (if you count our first trial harvest of just 1.5 tonnes of Pinot Noir that was made into a Pinot Noir aptly named “The Audition”). We are looking to harvest 150 tonnes of grapes this year – our biggest harvest yet – with 2/3rds of it being Pinot Noir and the rest comprising our aromatic whites.

Generally this period pre-harvest would be the ‘quiet before the storm’ but it seems that’s far from reality as we’re busier than we ever have been, which is not surprising if you consider where we are in terms of building our brand. In November 2009 when we officially launched our range of wines, we announced distribution in 4 markets. Just over a year later, we have added another 7 markets and by mid-year, we expect to have 15 markets in total operating!

Some of the highlights of this past year have been to expand into China with our wonderful Hong Kong distributor, Jebsen Fine Wines, who also represent an amazing collection of brands including Bollinger, Penfolds, Robert Mondavi, Frescobaldi etc. Jebsens Fine Wines Portfolio This is a great step into an exciting market although at this stage, we’ll just focus on the five star hotels in Beijing and Shanghai. Another highlight was our launch in the UK market at Harvey Nichols earlier this year – the most exclusive retailer in the UK. We deliberated long and hard about the best distribution option for us in the UK and are delighted to be working with Indigo Wines. We have also just concluded a deal with an amazingly successful restaurant group in the US and will be working with them over the next 18 months to roll out a special blend of our Pinot Noir to their portfolio of restaurants.

When we first commenced ‘the vineyard project’ we never expected we would be launching our brand at a time of the Global Financial Crisis and also at a time when New Zealand was producing a surplus of grapes. The difficulty of getting a brand established and building distribution channels has never been harder for wineries. For us, launching a brand during these hard times is the only thing we have known – so it’s the ‘normal’ and we’ve managed to overcome the hurdles and barriers. We set the bar high at the outset (our ‘no compromise’ strategy is firmly in place with respect to all aspects of our sales and marketing) and I think the more challenging times have only made us stronger and will certainly hold us in good stead moving forwards.

We’re excited about the year ahead. We have our established markets to support, new markets in which we need to build a brand, and even newer markets to explore and enter. Our adventure is really only beginning and we’re so lucky we have an amazing team with us. We couldn’t do without Olly – our humble genius winemaker – and we certainly couldn’t do without Rich, our amazing vineyard manager/viticulturalist and our very committed and hard-working vineyard crew.

Later this week, Olly and I will be officially launching our 2009 Pinot Noir and our range of 2010 aromatic whites to the media. It will be exciting to show our new release of wines and we’re doing it in style at The Grove in Auckland. Quite simply, it’s Auckland’s best restaurant (and one of the best in the country) and it’s actually the third time we’ve held our new release media event there – no compromises, right?

Misha

Tags: central otago pinot, Harvey Nicholls, Indigo Wines, Misha, Misha Wilkinson, mishas vineyard, Olly Masters, Rich Williams, The Grove

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Vineyard Manager Rich Williams provides an up-close view of the varietals on Misha’s Vineyard as we go through the last month of the ripening season.

Hi All, Last year the regular photo comparison updates were very popular with wine industry ‘insiders”, sommeliers, wine enthusiasts and people just generally interested in seeing how the grapes develop. We hope this provides a good pictorial view of how the various varietals develop over the last part of the season. If you wish to look back on last year – these posts are still available in our archives. As you will see, they are a lot different to last year and out of interest I weighed each bunch before I tossed them away. The weight of each bunch is listed after the photos.

Top Block
PN 5 180g
PN 115 200g
PN 667 186g
PN 5 220g
PN 667 178g
PN 777 150g
PN 5 257g
PN 115 175g
PN 777 174g

High Wire
PG 2/15 223g
PN 777 166g
PN 667 245g
RS 239 180g

Fruit Bowl
GWZ 456 165g
RS 239 130g
GWZ 456 185g

Dress Circle
PG 2/15 308g
PG Barrie 234g
PG 2/15 213g

Lake Front
PN 6 225g
PN 667 290g
PN 6 248g
PN Abel 252g

Ski Slope
PN 6 259g
SB MS 197g

House Block
RS 110 124g
RS 110 104g
RS 198.19 95g
RS 110 98g
PN 114 209g
PN 4 125g

Regards

Rich Williams

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, Misha, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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It has been a while since my last update and I’m hoping everyone’s Christmas and New Years was an auspicious one… so very sorry about not keeping up to date to let you know how the vineyard is going.

Things have been moving along up here on the Bendigo terraces. But when I left for my Xmas holidays up north, I’m sure the vines were looking green and healthy. I heard rain had fallen but didn’t think much of it… when I return 68mm had fallen and gale force winds had been thrashing my poor vines around. They were in need of some real TLC.

So what happened to that great start we had? With the onset of one of the hottest flowerings on record, we have been gifted the most enormous crop of delicious grapes. That La Nina, hot summer weather that was due our way has not eventuated. Instead the summer has been grey and more windy and wet than the spring.
With every year there is a certain amount of balance needed between leaf area and fruit. Achieving this balance is needed to ripen our tasty grapes and produce great wine. Therefore off comes a large number of bunches down to one bunch per shoot. With such a sizable crop on still relatively young vines, and around 40% of nitrogen reserves are sent to fruiting parts of the vine which is why I believe some of the vines have lost their colour lately; well that and the grey days we’ve had. Now that most of the canopy management side of things has been taken care of, we are doing an all-mighty job removing bunches.

The vines have come out of their lag phase and have progressed into Veraison whereby sugar begins accumulating in the bunches and they change from green to their designated colour. We have completed the final wire tuck all round followed by a trim both sides and top to remove any lateral growth pertaining to shade. The dark side of the canopy has had a combination of lateral thinning and leaf plucking to allow light to penetrate the interior. Suckers have also been removed for the second time and the vineyard has been tidied up with a lawn mow. The crew today were 10 Misha’s crew leaf plucking, 20 Ni-van workers bunch thinning, 4 French exchange visitors with guest photographer snapping, 1 consultant milling, 1 Mainfreight truck delivering new bird nets, 1 fuel truck filling the diesel tank, a tractor trimming, and a very busy vineyard manager trying to coordinate it all.

Anyway how are the blocks looking after all that. Lake Front looking very nice with full green canopy, large bunch conformation. Ski Slope is going well with a good sized crop of Sauvignon Blanc this year. No need for much bunch thinning and all well open and trimmed nicely. Dress Circle Pinot Gris is looking quite good but will feel more comfortable after crop thinning has been done. There is plenty of fruit on here with a dark green canopy and good vine health. They are slightly wind-blown on one side of the block as with High Wire block but comes right up to Pinot Noir clones. The Riesling is looking really healthy and freshly trimmed today. Bunch size varies from quite big to very small so should be quite interesting. As with Gewurtz in the Fruit Bowl, my pick this year – I’m very happy with it! Nice and healthy with good crop of grapes, well in balance. House Block Riesling is also looking up to scratch. I was a bit worried early on there would be much fruit on these young plants but still need to do a bit of work opening things up and looking good what’s underneath. Pinot Noir down there is actually quite a bit heavier than first thought so we’ll get in there soon given the chance and cut it back to 1 bunch per shoot. Interesting to see the unusual bunches on the new clone 4 fill out. Block 2 is looking really healthy and green but a little patchy though improving on last year. Still some work to do in here. The Top Block is coming along very well. There are some real differences in clones when compared to last year. 667 and 777 seem to have produced a much smaller range than their Pommard counterparts. And YES I will provide a clonal comparison in due course. The canopy is full height with limited lateral growth this year but with large crop that is being worked on currently and coming up very well. Our High Note target is around 5 – 5.5 tonnes per hectare of which about half of the crop dropped on the ground. Looking to do nets late next week as the birds have already had a bit of a peck at a vine in the Abel and I’m not giving them the chance. Still I want everything finished and up to date before then so we’re busy, busy.
Anyway, that’s enough for now. We’ll be harvesting before we know it.
Rich

Tags: central otago, central otago pinot, Central Otago Pinot Noir, mishas vineyard, Rich Williams

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