February / March 10
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REGIONS – GISBORNE
Early retirement, but not hanging up secateurs
Debbie Gregory
A prominent figure in Gisborne’s wine industry is taking early retirement but he is not ready to hang up his secateurs yet.
Pernod Ricard’s Gisborne regional viticulture manager Warwick Bruce has spent close to four decades in the wine industry doing what he describes as an exciting 39 years of his life. “I have travelled to many different wine producing countries, made many good friends and worked with great people.
“Every season and vintage is a challenge - none are ever the same and it is very satisfying to sit down at the end of the day with colleagues or friends and drink the fruit of one’s labours… a good Gisborne wine.”
He has seen many big changes in the Gisborne wine industry over the years. In the late 60s and early 70s there was rapid expansion of vineyards in Gisborne. Unrooted cuttings were pushed or water jetted into the soil at a cost of about 10c a cutting. There was some Chardonnay but Muller Thurgau and Chasselas were the main varieties.
In the late 70s and early 80s the insect pest phylloxera devastated vast areas of vines that required replanting using mainly SO4 and 1202 rootstock. “This was a tough time. Some growers had their first crop on the vines and then phylloxera attacked resulting in no crop to harvest.”
Total replanting using grafted vines was required, costing $2-$2.50 each.
In 1985 the Ngatapa floods caused widespread damage to grapes around the region and impacted on grape quality.
The next big change in the industry came in 1985 and 1986 when, in the face of an over-suppply, the government of the day set-up the vine pull scheme paying growers up to $6000 a ha to remove vines. “The problem with it was that they did not tag the money and a percentage of growers used the money to buy grafted vines and replanted.
A positive of the scheme was that the area in vines was reduced and the last of the hybrid varieties such as Siebels and Baco were removed. “While the hybrids cropped well and were reasonably tolerant to pest and disease, they made sub standard quality wines.”
Two years later came another big challenge - 300-600mm of rain over 72 hours – Cyclone Bola hit the region in early March 1988.
“The vintage had just started. Rivers took their shortest course and some vineyards were totally devastated, some vines were completely covered with flood water and when waters receded, were covered with silt.” Many vines had silt covering their graft unions and this all had to be removed.
“Harvesting in the wet silty conditions was also very challenging. Not so much for the harvesters but in some cases two tractors were needed to get the gondolas down the rows.” Some fruit had to be hand picked as the ground conditions were excessively wet for machinery.
“It was difficult not just in the vineyards – the silt content in the fruit was extremely harsh for machinery and processing equipment in the winery.”
Whatever vineyards that could be, were harvested and overall it was a good response from all involved in the industry, that pulled together to make the best of a bad situation.
Montana buys own vineyards
Also in 1988 Montana, which owned only 42 ha at Ormond, started changing direction and buying land. The first land to purchase was contract growers Geoff and Sheila Burland’s 20 hectare block in Brunton Road . “It was selected as we knew it is prime site for growing quality Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer.”
Six years later, land area increased to 272 hectares and Mr Bruce’s role changed from field officer to regional vineyards manager.
In 2000 Montana bought Corbans, adding another 110 ha to company vineyards. The following year Montana was bought by Allied Domecq and in 2005 Pernod Ricard bought the business.
In 2007 there was a new challenge for the Gisborne Montana Winery as a 6.8 scale earthquake hit the district causing extensive damage to tanks.
Mr Bruce says this was a time when everybody pulled together to make sure the winery was ready for the 2008 vintage.
Many tanks have gone back and forth to Hawke’s Bay for repair and some are still having repairs.
The latest significant event affecting the industry here was the grape oversupply that saw Pernod Ricard (and other wine companies) cut back on its growers.
This was a difficult time for everybody and it is the second time Mr Bruce has experienced it.
The oversupply is affecting all wine producing nations and the recession has given it a “double whammy” effect.
There have been a lot of changes in the industry aside from the switch from unrooted cuttings to grafted plants. In the early 1970s the Gisborne region predominantly produced cask wine and this has now changed to being a producer of top quality award winning table wines.
Montana’s successful sparkling wine Cold Duck in the 1970s and early 1980s was made mostly from a table grape called Albany Surprise.
“In the height of the Cold Duck days product demand was so great we used to advertise in the paper for anyone with the grapes.
“We would drop bins to them on Friday and they would pick over the weekend and we would send a truck and bring them in for processing. It was a lot of work but that was how important that wine was.”
Other sparking wines such as Cold Duck, Pearl and Muscato were later replaced with the very successful iconic Lindauer brand that has gone from strength to strength.
Changes in vineyard management
The Gisborne region started out as the largest planted region and is now the third largest in the country. “It is fair to say the Gisborne region set the whole base for the industry. It was used as an area to generate income for wine companies to expand into other regions.”
Over the years Mr Bruce has seen major changes in vineyard management with mechanisation making the biggest difference. It has gone from hand picking to machine, hand leaf plucking to the majority being machine plucked and only ultra premium done by hand, single sided trimmers replaced with double-sided and complete two row trimmers, single row sprayers have gone to two and three row and cane strippers to reduce pruning costs.
In the vineyard, inter-row cover crops are sown to attract beneficial pests and deep rooting plants (chicory and fescue) with high demand for nitrogen and water compete with the vines, slowing the vegetation process.
Radical leaf plucking in the fruit zone started with one of his mentors, Joe Corban back in the early 1970s. “It was for disease control and everyone thought he was mad. No one really took it on board till a lot later, now it is common practice.”
The adoption of sustainable wine practices has been another change and fits in well with New Zealand ’s clean green image, he says. Montana got on board with SWNZ at the start about 12 years ago when it was voluntary. “Now those sustainable practices are seen as necessary for the industry. It’s not difficult to adopt and the benefits make it certainly worth while.”
New grape varieties planted in the last few years in the Gisborne district are exciting. It has gone from Muller-Thurgau and Chasselas to Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris and more recently Arneis, Marsanne, Gruner Veltliner, Albarino and Tempranillo.
A highlight has been his involvement in the production of the award winning Montana Terroir series, the Chardonnay from the Stuart and Waihirere blocks, Gewürztraminer from the Riverpoint and McLoughlin vineyards and the successful letter series of ‘O’ and ‘P’ premium wines.
“It has been great to be part of a team of like-minded people who believed and wanted to see Gisborne produce premium wines.”
It was a team effort but all started in the vineyard with a lot of canopy management and reduced crop loading. These wines have constantly won awards, which has been very satisfying, Mr Bruce says.
Gisborne can and does produce the best Chardonnay in the country. “Chardonnay is having a down time at the moment but it is only a matter of time before it is back in favour.
“The region’s particular style of wines, being up-front and fruity and a pleasure to drink on all occasions should be promoted as such. I see a very positive move by the Gisborne Winegrowers in promoting the region’s wines through the appointment of a marketing person.”
Mr Bruce has some off shore viticulture consulting and a couple of on-shore options under consideration as he takes early retirement from Pernod Ricard.
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