A 1,000-year care package at Craggy Range

At Te Muna vineyard in Wairarapa, that’s meant an organic conversion enhanced by biodynamic practices, regenerative viticulture, soft pruning, native plantings and new technologies, with positive outcomes for the soils, vines, wines and biodiversity.

It’s also meeting the changing demands of markets, Jonathan told attendees at Pinot Noir New Zealand 2025, speaking during a day devoted to Kaikiakitanga, Caring for our Place.

In 25 years of winegrowing there’s been “a massive evolution” in the care taken in vineyards, he said. “From learning that dirt wasn’t dirt, it was a whole ecosystem beneath my feet, to Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand becoming a world class vineyard standard.”

Vineyard organics and biodynamics (“the icing on the cake”) has dominated his thinking for a long time. “But in recent years, we have had to think to the bigger future,” Jonathan said. “What is our footprint and how do we make that global difference? The main things I have learned in this evolution is that we always have to keep moving forward and we always have to challenge the status quo.”

Jonathan explained the care plan for Craggy Range’s Te Muna Estate Pinot Noir vineyard, with 54 blocks over 53-hectares – each one farmed and vinified individually.

Those blocks run over a series of terraces, with soils that include ancient loess from the winds, alluvial from the river, and layers of ash from volcanic eruptions. It’s a “bloody hard place to grow”, with a fairly typical growing season serving up a dozen frosts, including one in January in the 2024 harvest. Winds are another danger watch, and in Jonathan’s first year on Te Muna Road, 15ha of Pinot Noir flowers were blown off the vines in one night. “It can also be extremely dry,” he explained to attendees at the conference.

But for all its challenges, the land is beloved, including for its ability to grow Pinot Noir, and converting it to organics is a “fantastic fit”, Jonathan said. He and Craggy Range winemaker Ben Tombs “truly believe” that growing the fruit naturally, without synthetic inputs, is the best opportunity to make wines that express the “amazing site”. Meanwhile, market gatekeepers are asking for their wines to be organic and biodynamic. “Really, the boomers are not going to live forever; this aligns with the values of our future customers.”

The owners of Craggy Range, the Peabody family, formed a trust under which Te Muna cannot be sold outside the family for 1,000 years. That shows a determination to get things right, and gives the team the time and space to cherry pick the best options for the land and wines, Jonathan said.

The biggest fundamental change at Te Muna has been under vine mowing, with no cultivation of the soil. With ample winter and spring moisture, the vines do well with some competition, and the soil structure has vastly improved. There are no problem weeds, “and winter grazing is a great tidy up”. Meanwhile, a regenerative programme includes mixed species planting of cereals, legumes, herbs and flowers, designed to improve soil structure and organic matter, as well as water holding capacity and biodiversity, while also adding to biocontrol.

In terms of care for the vines, the most positive change has been soft pruning, with more respect for the vine, creating structure to improve vigour and resilience, Jonathan said.

The results of this buffet of recipes include less trimming, more open canopies, and more dappled light into the fruit zone and, to date, good yields. The fruit has thicker skins, improving tannic properties, and slower sugar accumulation, with better aromatics. While picking at lower brix, there is better physiological ripeness, Jonathan said. The company will lean into new technologies and innovations as it expands its plantings, with automation and precision agriculture allowing them to continue to farm the area better, and with less impact. Subsurface irrigation is already a “must have” in new blocks, and is being retrofitted in existing ones.

Genetics are also in the mix, and Craggy Range is honing on massal selection to exploit the epigenetics of their vines. “We are 25 years young, but we know our vines are adapting to our environment, and we have the chance to amplify our expression of the site.”