Hawke’s Bay celebrated its inaugural biodiversity field day in early February, with grower Xan Harding leading a posse of viticulturist utes on a tiki tour around the wider Bridge Pa area.

When Anthonius and Leonarda Ham emigrated to New Zealand from the Netherlands in the 1960s, there were probably no thoughts of establishing a wine business.

A 19-year soil monitoring programme in Marlborough is showing viticultural use is leading to more compact soils, increased nutrient loss and a decrease in organic matter.

Winegrowers in Central Otago are embracing organic practices at a rate that “punches above their weight”.

In the first Sommeliers Choice Awards held in the US, a Marlborough winery gained medals for every single wine they entered in the competition.

Since graduating from Lincoln University in 2004, Central Otago viticulturist Nick Paulin has been on a steep upward trajectory.

The summer of 2019 is not the first time Marlborough has suffered from a big dry. 

It’s high in price, small in production and set to grow following high quality grapes from the 2018 vintage.

Te Hera Estate Vineyard is small by anyone’s standards and its output is destined to become even smaller this year after a spring frost wiped out approximately half of its potential grapes for the 2019 vintage.

Central Otago grape growers and orchardists will continue to face labour shortages at critical times like harvest, if the region can’t provide enough accommodation for seasonal workers.