Harvest 2019: New Zealand
2019 has been quite possibly the best vintage ever for New Zealand winemakers. Each of our producers has reported practically perfect growing seasons, with low disease pressure, lovely weather and an absence of major weather incidents. It seems we have some exciting wines on the way!
“It isn’t often you receive glowing reports from every major wine-producing area in a country for one vintage,” says Bibendum buyer for New Zealand, Jamie Avenell. “New Zealand has been climatically fortunate this year and it seems our amazing producers are making the most of it. Fantastic concentration, balanced acidity and impressive opulence will be the hallmarks of the 2019 vintage.”
Hawkes Bay and Martinborough
The best vintage EVER
Craggy Range had a warm, dry ripening period across each of these two regions. With only minor rain events through vintage, picking decisions were based purely on the optimal ripeness of the grapes. The resulting wines show incredible depth, concentration and balance. “To say that vintage 2019 will go down at Craggy Range as one of our greatest ever is potentially underselling it,” enthuses chief winemaker Julian Grounds.
Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay
Long, dry sunny days, without being overly hot, produced stand-out Syrah in Gimblett Gravels this year, while the Chardonnay is looking very expressive, with balanced flavours and acidity. The Merlot was clean, intense and perfumed and the Syrah was “majestic”, according to Julian, with less pepper character this year but lovely fruit purity and intensity.
Martinborough
A combination of lower crops and small berries has resulted in some exciting Pinot Noir in Martinborough. There was no disease pressure and “days of open, sunny skies”, says Julian. The prestige blocks produced intensely-flavoured grapes, and a larger portion than usual will be whole-bunch fermented this year. The Sauvignon Blanc grapes were nothing short of perfect, with great phenolics and acidity.
Gisborne
Epic, to say the least!
Winemaker James Millton is hailing 2018/19 the best growing season since 1998. With no frosts to disrupt flowering and warm conditions for fruit set, there was huge excitement in the winery during the lead up to their 35th harvest. Watch out for this year’s Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Viognier from the steep hillside site of Clos de St Anne is “like we have not seen for many years: full, rich, and saline” says James.
Summer was warm in Gisborne, with high heat in December, but early January moderated by the cooling sea breezes flowing in from the east. The vineyards suffered little disease pressure, but powdery mildew remains a challenge and requires vigilance. Sulphur and silica are used for general vine protection, but these are supplemented with lees from the cellar, bentonite and seaweed.
Harvest began when the moon moved into the constellation of the fire sign Aries, and the grapes were at optimum phenolic ripeness. The fire signs are associated with fruit/seed cultivation and so for biodynamic winemakers this is the best time to begin harvesting, grape seeds being a crucial source of polyphenols in wine. The Pinot Noir was exceptional, with a small crop yielding 25hl per hectare. The Viognier fruit was ripe and apricot hued, coming in with an ABV of around 13.4%. The Chardonnay was beautifully ripe, with balanced acidity. The Chenin and Riesling both have crisp acidity and full phenolic flavours, despite heavy bird pressure which led to earlier picking and therefore, slightly lower ABV. The reds are looking exciting too with small, intense bunches of Malbec producing some delicious juice already.
Marlborough
Could 2019 be Marlborough's best ever vintage? It's certainly looking that way, with each of our producers sending glowing reports from their vineyards and wineries. Look out for beautiful ripeness, perfect sugar-acid balance and great concentration in 2019's Sauvignon Blancs!
Clean wines, low yields
Paul Bourgeois, chief winemaker, cites 2019 as a dream year for any winemaker. "We had very dry and warm conditions leading into harvest, which led to the earliest picking dates for most blocks that we've ever had!" he explains.
Their Sauvignon Blanc is looking perfectly balanced: both ripe and fresh, with lovely depth of flavour. The Pinot Noir is intensely pronounced, with very low quantities and perfectly clean fruit. Both varieties are deeply concentrated, Paul is excited to report that they are fabulous wines in the making!
Expressive, flavoursome and fresh
A dry summer resulted in low disease pressure and optimal hang time. The vines produced intense varietal characters at lower-than-normal sugar levels, which enabled the team to pick grapes with beautiful crunchy acidity. The wines are looking expressive, flavoursome and fresh. A very exciting year in short!
Wines that will age gracefully
"The dry 2019 vintage has created a bounty of intense flavour and quality" says chief winemaker, Nikolai St George.
From veraison and throughout the growing season, the hot, dry conditions suited Giesen's vineyards to a tee. Consistently sized bunches of grapes ripened evenly and more loosely than usual, meaning air circulated easily and there was no disease pressure. "It was the vines' vintage to shine, and they really did," says Nikolai.
The wines so far can be described as concentrated, textured and structured. As Nikolai explains, "This structure, coupled with intense aromatics, means the 2019 wines have freshness, full flavour and good acid, a guarantee that they will age gracefully."
*Please drink responsibly
You may also like:
Jessica Broadbent
Jess cut her teeth in the drinks industry throwing muddlers around behind the bar at Be At One. After a brief stint as an education journalist she found her way back to booze in the rather more sophisticated arena of wine, and was shown the ropes by the very best wine educators at Bibendum.