On the verge of vintage year

HARVEST HOPE: Kerikeri grape grower and winemaker Rod Macivor checks pinot gris grapes he hopes will produce his best vintage.

Winemakers in the Far North could enjoy the vintage of a lifetime thanks to the long, hot summer.

Grape grower and winemaker Rod Macivor said last week that dry soils at his four hectare Marsden Estate vineyard near Kerikeri were ideal for fruit ripening.

"The vines are shutting down and all that energy and sugar is going straight into the berries."

He expected to harvest grapes with more intense flavours and stronger tannins next month thanks to record low rainfall in November.

"We can actually have two to three reasonably heavy periods of rain and still only get back up to normal soil moisture levels."

Heavy rain at this time of year would normally result in grapes swelling up with water.

"When you get heavy rain towards harvest it dilutes the flavours and sugars."

Mr Macivor hadn't seen pre-harvest conditions as perfect as these in the 17 years he has been growing grapes at Marsden Estate.

"We've had dry months before, but we didn't have it starting to dry off in late October."

Far North winemakers could enjoy the harvest of a lifetime if the mainly dry weather continued.

"The resurgence in the wine industry here has only happened in the last 20 to 30 years.

"It's probably the first time in that new cycle that we've got a harvest that's quite exceptional."

He was hopeful of producing reserve wines from a smaller-than-usual crop of high-quality chardonnay, syrah and pinot gris grapes.

"The harvest could be worth an extra $200,000 to $300,000 if weather continues like this, because of the quality of the wine."

Kaitaia grape grower and winemaker Monty Knight was cautiously optimistic about the quality of grapes he expected to harvest from syrah grapes at Okahu Estate in March.

"We will probably get a smaller berry size. Getting a little bit of rain before we pick would give us concentrations of flavour."

He agreed that pre-harvest conditions were exceptional.

"A little bit of rain looks like it's coming. If it's a little bit, we may experience a one in 100-year vintage."