Amid tales of falling profitability, receiverships and deep discounting, it’s interesting to see a winery expanding with the aim of increasing its production by 150%. Wither Hills in Marlborough currently has the capacity to process 6000 tonnes of grapes, which is fairly significant, but building work has already started on increasing that volume to 15,000 tonnes in the coming years. The local council is expected to give resource consent to Wither Hills to do this in the next few days.
The banks are not lending money at the moment and most companies simply don’t have the money to be able to expand on small scale let alone 150% but that’s where being part of a multinational corporation, Lion Nathan (owned by Japanese brewer Kirin), helps.
The expansion will rejig the company’s varietal mix. Ben Glover, winemaker at Wither Hills since 1998, says: ‘We think we are at risk if we are selling 80% Sauvignon Blanc. We need the facilities to drive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.’
But Pinot Noir often lacks something in Marlborough – often it’s juicy, sweet and not particularly structured. Glover claims: ‘It’s quite difficult here because we have got people making lolly red wine to pigeon pair it with Sauvignon Blanc.’
‘I think Marlborough should have more kudos. We are a big region and I think Pinot gets missed but there are six or seven producers who make great Pinot Noir.’
With more vine age, and experimentation with stems in the ferment, the structure is starting to come but there are still plenty of ‘Wimbledon wines’, as Glover calls them – that’s strawberries and cream.
