What’s it looking like?
Winegrower takes an in depth look at how the season has gone for growers across the country.
“If your vines are not producing as they should, ask yourself ‘is it the variety, the site or the management practices?’ ” says Knight who took over the leadership of the association for a two-year term on August 13.
“Some growers are stubbornly committed to what’s in the ground, regardless of the results,” he says.
“Growers need to look at their varietal mix, see what the market is demanding and be bold and forward-thinking in their decisions. It requires courage to take a critical look at your operation and see what’s going well and what’s not. There’s nothing wrong with doing the same thing if it’s working well . . . but it’s unsustainableto continue on a path that’s not productive.
“Some businesses that have diversified into horticultural crops, probably don’t look at their specific crops in enough detail. Growers need to examine each entity, not just treat the operation as a whole,” he says, speaking from experience as the operations manager of Vigneto, a company that owns and manages vineyards, kiwifruit and a labour contracting operation.
“New Zealand only supplies around 1 percent of the world’s wine market but there is a huge opportunity out there and we have so much to offer. We just need to keep lifting the bar on the regional perspective and concentrate on quality and consistency.”
Knight is looking forward to being a spokesperson for the region and ensuring the focus is on the sustainable growth of Gisborne’s wine-growing industry.
He has served seven years on the Gisborne Winegrowers’ Association committee and was elected as vice president of the group in 2012. He’s an alternate on the New Zealand Winegrowers’ board and also on the Sustainable Winegrowers’ committee.
Knight says his broad career experience and the wide range of crops he deals with equip him well for the position.
He is working with a larger committee (15 rather than 10) than his predecessor Doug Bell, and says this shows the huge enthusiasm for winegrowing in the Gisborne region.
“It’s a youthful committee sprinkled with experience,” says the 44-year-old.
“It’s so heartening that people want to be on the committee and do their bit. Sub-committees will be formed to cover marketing, seminars and training, research and financial aspects.”
Looking ahead, Knight says the relationship between wineries and growers needs to be strong in order to ensure that Gisborne as a region can demonstrate its quality and diversity.
“The partnership goes both ways. We need to make sure our growers are well-educated and informed so that we can deliver a quality product to the wineries. And from a vineyard perspective, production needs to be economically sustainable.
“Gisborne is unique because we can grow so many diverse varieties, and grow them well. Our winemakers are well-versed in different varietals. We do aromatics and Chardonnay well, and have top-quality Merlots,” he says.
“We need to unify and pull together as a region while aligning ourselves with the objectives of NZW, not going off on our own tangent.”
Knight says New Zealand wineries are now in position to fulfill and grow export markets on the back of 2014’s 445,000 tonne vintage.
“With enhanced marketing initiatives and New Zealand wines building a reputation for delivering on quality, there is increasing optimism that the record vintage won’t be detrimental to the industry overall. In my opinion, we should see grape prices at least stabilise heading into vintage 2015. And I would imagine there will be some increases across some varieties and regions.”
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
