2009 Vintage Report

Henderson - Auckland

Excellent weather at flowering lead to one of the best fruit sets in years and a resultant good yield. The summer was warm and dry, though not as dry as 2008. A bout of rain in February caused some concern with earlier ripening varieties but most of the chardonnay came through well, later ripening reds were in excellent condition as the autumn rains waited until harvest was complete, just. A series of early frosts has got pruning away to a good start.

Hawke’s Bay

A heavy frost in early spring caused considerable crop loss at Gimblett Rd with minor effects at our Fernhill Vineyard on Korokipo Rd. The summer temperatures and rainfall were about average, with the exception of a week of 35C highs. The weather at harvest was mostly kind though cooler than average requiring us to leave fruit out longer so that ripeness was achieved. Highlights from the vintage are the Fernhill Chardonnay and Viognier – looking very ripe and weighty at this stage – bursting with fruit – vindication for removing so much fruit from the vine at veraison. From Gimblett Rd the red varieties all look very good – in particular the Cabernet Franc and the extremely low cropped (due to spring frost) Syrah.

Marlborough

Marlborough in 2009 had an excellent flowering and a very good fruit set. The season was slightly cooler than average and wetter, (after a wet winter and spring). Favourable weather from veraison till harvest was the perfect antidote to the above average rainfall over summer with all our vineyards in excellent condition at picking. Due to the good flowering and fruit set extensive bunch thinning was required across all varieties. This was an excellent vintage for Sauvignon Blanc, in general they are very pungent and concentrated due to crop control and perhaps the slightly cooler summer temperatures. The other whites, Riesling and Pinot Gris are also very high quality. For Pinot Noir the season has produced red fruited and savoury elegance with some darker cherry notes coming from our Cowslip Valley vineyard in the Waihopai. Exciting new releases for this vintage are a range of Single Vineyards Sauvignon Blancs from three of our own estates – including an organically grown and made wine from the Organic block in our Headwaters Vineyard. 

Adam Hazeldine
Winemaker