Thursday, 19 November 2015 07:00

VineFacts Newsletter - coming your way

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This October, VineFacts will transition from a popular Marlborough newsletter into a national publication for the New Zealand wine industry.

What began as a grape disease management programme back in the 1990s has morphed into a national climate and phenological database that now incorporates Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Waipara, Central Otago and Marlborough. The transformation is part of a New Zealand Winegrowers’ Research Project, co-funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Farming Fund. 

VineFacts Newsletter has been a part of the Marlborough wine scene for close to 20 years. While originally the data collected helped growers move from a calendar-based to a target-based spray programme, two decades on it has become the go-to for local growers. Weather conditions, growing degree days, phenological information, yield component data at harvest and disease information are now part and parcel of the weekly newsletter sent out to all subscribers. That information provides growers and wineries with a heads up on what the season could have in store.

Rob Agnew from Plant & Food Research in Marlborough has been involved since its inception. 

“We are now monitoring 28 blocks in the five largest wine growing regions in the country,” he says. “We are establishing a phenological database in each of those regions, which will allow historical comparisons to be built up.”

A weather station in each region will provide climatic conditions, with records going back to 1990 for comparison. Agnew’s colleague Victoria Raw has already compiled long-term climatic summaries for the regions, which will be integrated with the phenological data.

In terms of why they chose the five regions, Agnew says they wanted to establish a network of reference blocks that would span 90 percent of New Zealand’s vineyard area and 90 percent of the varietal mix. Therefore each region will have a number of blocks representing the major varieties.

In Gisborne there are two blocks of Chardonnay monitored, one at Hexton, the other at Patutahi. 

In Hawke’s Bay six blocks are involved. Two Chardonnay, two Merlot, one Pinot Gris and one Sauvignon Blanc. The vineyards are spread throughout the district, in Crownthorpe, Maraekakaho, Bridge Pa, Gimblett Gravels and Te Awanga.

Fourteen blocks are monitored in Marlborough throughout the entire region. Two are Chardonnay, two Pinot Gris, two Pinot Noir and eight Sauvignon Blanc.

In Waipara two blocks, one Pinot Noir and the other Sauvignon Blanc are part of the monitoring programme. 

In Central Otago, four Pinot Noir blocks, in Gibbston, Pisa, Bannockburn and Alexandra will complete the national database

graph1

So what can you expect from VineFacts? 

Basically, it provides you with details of the weather from the week just gone, and compares that with the past three seasons and the long-term average.

The weekly newsletter also has graphs providing details of current growing degree days (GDD) against the long-term average, so you can quickly determine if the current season is warmer or cooler or on par with the average.

This temperature data allow Agnew and Raw to run a flowering prediction model for Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough.

“We use temperature information from previous years,” Agnew says, “and from 50 percent budburst, we can predict the date of 50 percent flowering of Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough. Being able to give a heads up six or seven weeks before flowering is an important tool.”

The weather data also allow the scientists to provide information on disease pressure.

“One of the things that has become increasingly important in recent years is powdery mildew. We use the Gubler powdery mildew risk model as a guide to where the risk sits in any particular year. We also do early season botrytis risk for each region.”

In terms of collecting the phenological data, Victoria Raw says they select four bays in each block. Within each of those bays, one vine is targeted and one cane or cordon  becomes the focus of all monitoring.

“We monitor the buds as they go through budburst, from dormancy through to just when the shoot tip becomes visible,” she says. “This is done every week. Later on, using the same cane or spur, we monitor the flowering progression of each inflorescence twice a week. We can then look at the growing degree days when the vine has reached 50% flowering, which allows us to compare the regions and sites for the same variety.”

graph2

The two graphs show examples of how regionality impacts on flowering for Chardonnay.graph-3

Given the information is passed on to growers and wineries immediately, there is plenty of time to make decisions should they be required.

“We will begin to understand varietal performances, site differences, regional differences and hopefully seasonal differences as the years go on,” Raw says. “So this is a unique New Zealand dataset and it will be available to everyone within the industry.”

The first weekly issue of Vinefacts for the 2015/2016 growing season is due out on 1 October 2015.

While you no longer have to be a Marlborough resident to reap the benefits, you do have to be a subscriber. As the publication gears up for its seasonal launch, existing readers are invited to renew their subscriptions. And, for a limited time only, new readers outside the Marlborough region can take advantange of a special offer and subscribe for free.

For more information on how to subscribe, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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