Hawkes Bay winegrowers set to take a break as rain moves in

Nicholas Buck

After a fortnight into the Hawke's Bay 2011 harvest pickers and winegrowers are preparing to step back for a couple of days as belts of heavy rain are set to move across the region.

That would then lead to an assessment of what, if any, effects the rains will have had on the fuller-bodied varieties not set for harvesting for at least another five or six weeks, Hawke's Bay Winegrowers' Association chairman Nicholas Buck said.

However, there appeared to be no immediate major concerns.

"These things happen," was Mr Buck's summation.

The rain, turning to occasional drizzle by Thursday, is forecast to hang around until Sunday when fine weather and sunshine is expected to return.

"We've had five to six days good harvesting. It's a wait and see thing now - we'll work around it."

Any effects it would have on the harvest depended on several factors - everything from skin thickness through to location.

"You have vines on the hillsides, and they will drain better, and vines on the flats," he said.

"And it varies variety by variety." He estimated about a quarter to a third of the vintage had been picked so far, in a harvesting season which will run through to the first week in May.

Smaller production varieties like Semillon Blancs and early reds had been picked and Mr Buck said the quality appeared "extremely high".

The region's winegrowers had been fortunate in getting a good midsummer period of heat from Christmas through January which had developed fine flavour.