Yields in Marlborough will be down significantly in 2010, if things at Jackson Estate are anything to go by. The crop here is down 25-30% on initial estimates. Ask around the region and the story seems to be the same.
A really cool spring limited the potential crop size and with little rain since mid-January, the average bunch is much smaller than expected. Geoff Woollcombe, chief viticulturalist at Jackson, explained that Sauvignon Blanc bunches were picked at around 150 grams last year and just 110g this year; it’s a similar story for Pinot Noir, falling from the usual 120g per bunch to less than 100g.
But it seems good things do come in small packages: the Pinot Noir heading into the destemmer looked really healthy, and they were tasty. Unfortunately, there were a few pesky earwigs, which made their way from the bunches and down my top: it was certainly a safer place than the destemmer.
The small crop has brought vintage ahead of estimates and the winery should finish picking this week: a fortnight ahead of 2009.
Predictions are that the 2011 harvest will be small again: buds destined for next year’s cane have been hit by the cold spring.
The word on Blenheim’s streets is that nature could resolve the region’s oversupply situation in the next 18 months in Marlborough.
