If you had a Central Otago monopoly board, who’d be your Old Kent Road and who’d be your Mayfair?
I’ve had a few Old Kent Road Pinots but I shall spare them the Hall of Shame today. However, Felton Road (the road, not the winery) is probably the Mayfair - or “Park Lane” – says Duncan Forsyth, ‘the big cheese’, at Mount Edward.
Likewise, according to Matthew Jukes’ official classification, two of New Zealand’s top three Pinot Noir producers are based along this Bannockburn roadway: Mt Difficulty and Felton Road.
While Mount Edward is a Gibbston Valley-based producer, it bought an orchard here in 2007 at an “exorbitant” price (lucky there were no houses or hotels or it would’ve cost even more). But it’s worth it in Forsyth’s eyes.
“As time goes on I think it will vault ahead of everyone else,” he says. “It is the Park Lane of Central Otago.”
The first vintage of ‘Muirkirk’ Pinot Noir (well, all 65 cases of it) has already been released, made from existing vines planted in 1997. It’s more Oxford Street at the moment but as the vines get older, you can imagine that it could move up to Park Lane.
Despite a recession and a halt to planting throughout the rest of New Zealand, Forsyth planted another 4ha there last year. “I think we were the only fools to plant last year,” he laughs. Well, you’ve got to be a little bit crazy to become a winemaker in the first place.
It’s only been a week since I arrived in Marlborough to work part of the 2010 vintage but I’m already in need of a rest!
I thought I was fit before I arrived at Jackson Estate but pulling hoses, plunging unyielding caps and working 12-hour shifts is a real test of stamina. The cellar boys have worked 12 days on the trot and I don’t know how they do it. If you wanted to get fit but hated the gym, taking on a cellar job would do the trick.
I’ve talked to the boys in the winery today and the hours are certainly the worst part of working vintage but the flip side is meeting people from all corners of the globe and seeing those grapes turn into the delicious final product. A glass of wine at lunchtime also makes life more bearable.
It’s back to the day job for me now and while I’m looking forward to resting my aching limbs, I’m sorely tempted to stay on for the vintage party, complete with a pig on a spit.
Winery dogs are so last year. The ultimate winery accessory this season is…a hen.
In a strange turn of events, one of the cellar hands at Jackson Estate turned up for his shift with his pet hen, Beaker, which clucked around the grape press to pose for a few photos.
There have been two ‘Winery Dogs’ books published already, and I’m sure there’s room for spin offs.
If there’s time for hens then things must be slowing down in the winery. Indeed, all the fruit is in the cellar. Those working the graveyard shift will return to day walking next week and the staff’s free hot lunches will come to an end (much to their disappointment).
The last batch of Sauvignon Blanc for the Grey Ghost is waiting for a wild fermentation to kick in, the barrel-fermented Chardonnay is almost dry, and the first batch of Pinot Noir, which arrived at the end of March is about to come off its skins after extended maceration. Something’s going on in most of the tanks but there’s a sense of calm after the storm (or is that exhaustion?) in the winery.
Check out my latest interview with John Stichbury, founder of Jackson Estate on why Marlborough needs to tighten up its labelling laws.
Harvest time is all about the weather. And in true British style, I love talking about the weather so I’m in my element. It continues to turn out nice every day in Marlborough and, for those producers with grapes still to come in, that’s great news. But for the crew at Jackson Estate, a nice bit of rain would be ideal.
Today the last of the Sauvignon Blanc came in for the Grey Ghost label so the boys have now got their eyes on making a few sweeties. Off we went to the vineyards to see if any noble rot was taking hold of the Riesling. There’s a little bit, as you’ll see on today’s video (below) but it’s going to take some rain or dewy mornings for it to really take hold. If it does manifest itself, it will be the first time since 2006.
Mike Paterson, winemaker at Jackson, said, “We might make three Rieslings this year. We’ve picked some Riesling already and we will see how that goes. Then we will do a late harvest pick when there’s about 50% botrytis followed by a full botrytis pick. The intention is to bottle them all separately.”
If botrytis did take hold this year, it would be impeccable timing following the EU’s decision to allow New Zealand to export its sweet wines to the UK late last year.
I have never seen 3000 empty cartons of milk in a vineyard but I had to believe my eyes this morning at Jackson Estate’s newly-planted Pinot Noir site.
Viticulturalist Geoff and I headed down to one of its Lower Waihope vineyards this morning and there were the So Good Soya Lite milk cartons in their new life as vine guards, stopping rabbits from getting their hungry paws on them. Best of all, they’re biodegradable.
The naughty rabbits and hares have been getting stuck into the irrigation lines too after a remarkably dry summer. “They must have been thirsty,” said Geoff. It’s more spurt than drip irrigation where those rabbits have been chewing the pipes, giving the vineyard team even more work to do.
How to solve it? Rabbit stew. I’m sure it would go lovely with a glass of Pinot. Geoff likes his slow cooked with duck – or if you need a good recipe for Thai chicken rice, he’s your man.
Back in the winery, all the Pinot Noir is now harvested. The final parcel has come in and there’s just a little Sauvignon Blanc to follow. There’s a chance Jackson will make a botrytised Riesling for the first time in four years plus its first-ever botrytised Chardonnay, so we’ll probably head out into the vineyard to see how that’s going later in the week.
I’ve been enjoying stirring the lees of the Shelter Belt Chardonnay again today and am finding it quite therapeutic: 15 stirs forward, 15 stirs back, breathe (not too deeply or you’ll get woozy from the CO2), and on to the next barrel. Who needs yoga when you’ve got wine?
