Bulk of Marlborough vintage beats bad weather

Most grapes in Marlborough have been harvested and winemakers are hoping for a good end to the vintage despite heavy rain during the past four days.

Plant and Food Research scientist Rob Agnew said close to 50 millimetres of rain fell in Blenheim from 9am on Friday until Saturday night. Rarangi recorded 62mm and the Dashwood, in the lower Awatere Valley, 40.4mm. Temperatures were 12.5 to 13 degrees Celsius but plunged this morning to 5C-6C, with a further 2.2mm of rain recorded in Blenheim.

The MetService last night also issued a severe weather warning for Marlborough, the Wairarapa and Wellington.

Forecaster Gerard Barrow said southerly gales about the Kaikoura Coast, Wellington and the Wairarapa south coast were expected to rise to severe gale in exposed places, with gusts of 120kmh likely.

However, the harvest is all but over for Marlborough wine companies but some good quality grapes remain on the vine.

St Clair Family Estate senior winemaker Hamish Clarke said forecasts for rain on Saturday meant the company worked hard to get grapes off the vine that might not last. Anything that would hang in there with no effect on quality was left. Grapes yet to come in included sauvignon blanc off heavier soils in the Lower Wairau Valley from Springlands east, a block of gewurztraminer with no disease pressure and merlot from Rapaura.

"There is no way we will walk away from them. On these fertile soils they have a fabulously long hanging time, Mr Clarke said.

Constellation New Zealand viticulture and winemaking manager Darryl Woolley said the company was about 70 per cent through vintage and expected to finish after Easter. Rain put vintage about two days behind plan but there was no panic, with the outlook fine for the coming week.

Mr Woolley said this late in the season canopies were shutting down so dilution of flavours by vines taking up moisture from the soil should not be a problem.

He anticipated problems getting harvesting machinery onto two hillside blocks with clay soils might be difficult.

Lawson's Dry Hills senior winemaker Marcus Wright said the weather was ideal for later pick pinot noir, gewurztraminer and late harvest riesling. He hoped the moisture would encourage botrytis which caused grapes to shrivel, concentrating honey and stonefruit flavours.

Villa Maria chief Marlborough winemaker George Geris said getting trucks into a pinot noir block being hand-picked in the Awatere Valley could be difficult. The company was yet to start picking late blocks of sauvignon and riesling from the Dashwood in the lower Awatere Valley and still had some sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and riesling grapes to come in from the Wairau Valley. Grapes were in good condition with excellent flavours.