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Vintage 2014 – ‘Very early, very good’
Spring of 2013 was unusually dry and mild leading to budburst a good two weeks early.October was warm and dry with half the normal rainfall and November continued to be very warm with six days over 25 degrees and one at almost 30 degrees – summer temperatures! The early trend continued with Chardonnay flowering in full swing on the 13th compared with the usual first week of December. Flowering went well in all varieties. By late November soils were beginning to dry out although 70mm of rain on the 26th and 29th replaced soil moisture keeping the vines happy.
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Vintage 2013 – ‘The Stuff of Legends’
Spring of 2012 was cool and very dry. November warmed up nicely, with many days around 25 degrees. By late November, there were signs of things to come. Grass on the hillsides and the drier parts of vineyards began to die off early, due to less than half the normal rain falling over the three months of Spring. December was warmer again, with eight days into the 30s, and again, less than half the usual rainfall. The timing of flowering was normal, starting with chardonnay late November and finishing in red varieties mid December. Drier vineyards were receiving some irrigation early in December.
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Vintage 2012
Spring was drier and cooler than usual, delaying bud break and subsequent vine growth by about two weeks. The rest of the spring, and until late March, temperatures were mild to warm, with no rain to speak of. Rain forecast for late March and early April kept us focused on picking and we finished our white grapes on 1 April – the shortest harvesting period for white grapes!
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Vintage 2011
It has been a real roller coaster ride to coin a phrase but we have smiles on our faces. After being spoiled for settled, warm, dry, vintage conditions for most of the last 10 years we finally got some weather in 2011. November was very dry with only 20 mm of rain and December below average at 50mm. The many overcast days and cloudy nights gave us average temperatures but the bonus of no frosts.
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Vintage 2010
The 2010 season began very early. The hottest August on record was followed by a warm and dry September making budburst two weeks early, amidst thoughts of a “global warming” vintage. However, October turned out to be the coldest on record and, with greater than usual rainfall, led to a slowing down of vine growth and reduced bunch numbers on some varieties. By early January many of our vineyards were dry enough to require irrigation. This drying of vineyard soils by midsummer is crucial for red vineyards in particular as it leads to good ripening and concentration.
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Vintage 2009
2009 was the hottest growing season for the last ten years with the second lowest rainfall ever recorded since 1980, giving a superb vintage. Mild spring weather lead to budburst occurring 10 days earlier than usual. The rest of September continued mild and dry, with some days reaching 25 degrees. The warm to hot conditions carried on through October and November, with only one day of rain.
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Vintage 2008
2008 was an early, warm and dry growing season and our fifth consecutive high quality vintage. Two frosts in October caused problems on the Heretaunga Plains, but our Woodthorpe and Havelock Hills vineyards were unscathed. The Bullnose and Isosceles vineyard were touched in places by the frost, but our vineyard crew removed all frosted shoots which ensures that the remaining crop ripens normally and evenly.
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Vintage 2007
Good sized crops ripened to perfection in almost every case, so 2007 is one of those rare vintages of good quantity and high quality. After a wet winter, spring was settled, warm and dry. November was also dry and one of the warmest on record, leading to a rapid flowering and excellent fruit set giving full bunches. December was cooler than average but, again, without much rain, so that more arid blocks required irrigation by late in the month.
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Vintage 2006
2006 was a third very high quality vintage in a row for Te Mata Estate, following the excellent pattern established with 2004 and 2005. Bud burst was about a week early, following a dry end to winter 2005 and warm spring conditions. As we went into December, the soils were retaining good spring moisture and this, with the warm weather, lead to even and healthy shoot growth.
