Di's Pinot Blog

Good friend and vineyard consultant Gerald Atkinson helps with harvest 2013. Gerald is an renowned ampelographer and a mine of information on Pinot Noir and its myriad clones. We're curious now as to whether our small planting of B777 is actually true to type? Whatever it is, it's really good. Our star clones this year look like our B115, B667 and Abel. We start to press of in a week and then we'll be in a better position to comment.

Ian and I are beginning to get excited. We haven't met our new puppy Diva but she sure looks cute. Her nose just turned from pink to black. Her parents are Australian, just like Panda's were, so she will probably look a lot like him when she grows up. I hope she becomes as good a cattle dog as he was! This time we hope we have a stronger genetic line.... hated watching Panda become les and less mobile and arthritic. His happiest time was racing around the vineyard, chasing birds away and rounding up the chickens and guinea fowl. Diva has a huge vacuum to fill. 

Just before harvest we said goodbye to Panda. RIP. I miss him terribly. Harvest without his enthusiasm had such a different feel. Poor TinTin misses his buddy and is still behaving depressed and is off his food.

Tried to move the cattle without Panda yesterday. His instincts were so strong and he made the job so easy.

TinTin is a useless cattle dog but a great rabbiter. 

Our new border puppy, Diva is 3 weeks old. Cute but couldn't ever replace Panda in our hearts. 

Preparations for harvest are well advanced. We racked 2012's wine from barrel yesterday and today I'm giving all the barrels a thorough clean. I'm weighed down by a heavy heart. My constant companion in the vineyard for the past 10 years, Panda, is critically ill: his liver and heart are failing as I write. He probably won't see this year's harvest in... unless he turns the corner today 

As soon as we see the chooks start to jump up into the canopy we know it's a go for netting! They seem to be able to sense precisely when the grapes are ready to turn from green to burgundy and they begin their jumping exploits. They can keep going all day plucking individual berries from bunches. 

After a few years flying below the radar, Fancrest Estate felt like the princess at the Pinot Noir 2013 "ball" in Wellington this last week. Our great new label has been introduced for all vintages after 2009 and looks great. The timing is perfect as these wines are now beginning to soften and reveal multiple layers of complexity and charm. The 2009 our current vintage was a firm favourite with the public on Thursday evening.

Waipara Valley wines in general made a big splash and confirmed its position as the premier Pinot producing region in NZ. 

On Tuesday we brought in just over 100 Polwarth ewes to see if they can provide a sustainable solution to leaf plucking the vineyard. so far they simply prefer the lush herbal ley on the vineyard floor. I've spotted a few nibbled bunches and need to be sure they don't do too much damage.

Here's our latest addition on the farm. A black Angus steer. Born yesterday morning, his mum's still very protective. He's cute as can be and looks strong and healthy. No more births expected this year. Our first born Angus x Hereford steer is about a month old and is robust and growing fast.

Our second cow went into labour this afternoon but the calf presented backwards. These are high risk difficult births at the best of times. Even though we called the vet in to give her a hand, the calf was still-born. Never easy dealing with these moments...

Unimpressed by the long truck ride from South Otago, our three young polled (hornless) Highland heifers settle down with a good feed of newly harvested hay.

They're supposed to be very gentle and quiet but not today. I'll give them a few days to settle into our herd of Black Angus.

Next few days could be interesting. One of the cows looks like she could deliver her calf any day now.

This Review Article entitled "Teratogenic Effects of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides: Divergence of Regulatory Decisions from Scientific Evidence" makes for sobering reading. How influential are the major pesticide lobby groups to have whitewashed these findings?

See the full article here:  http://www.omicsonline.org/2161-0525/2161-0525-S4-006.php?aid=7453&goback=%2Egde_2310847_member_189433721

Since the 1970's it's been understood that phenol is the sex pheromone for this Costelytra Zealandica or the Grass Grub Brown Beetle (Henzell & Lowe 1970). The phenol is produced by bacteria in glands of females beetles (Hoyt et al. 1971). Aqueous phenol solutions were shown to be attractive to male beetles (Henzell 1970). Other phenol compounds have been shown to be even more effective so why is there no commercially available pheremone mating interrupter on the market. Used in conjunction with other methods like organic pyrethrum, to stop beetles eating vines, we could actually get these blighters under control within a couple of seasons in organic vineyards.

Spraying night after night is leaving us feeling exhausted beyond description!

The smell of freshly cut organic hay lingers over the vineyard. This is our neighbour Ian helping us out with his tractor and mower. Our tractor is way too small to do any traditional farm jobs.

The quality of the hay this year is superb: thick and full of red clover and plantain. We've grown so much of it I hope there is strong demand later in the season so we can get a reasonable return.

Our cows rest contentedly on beautiful lush fresh pasture while the hay readies for baling in the two big paddocks. A couple of our Angus cows look ready to deliver their calves any day now. They waddle when they walk. Can't wait!

It's been a long time in the making but finally the new and improved website is taking shape. Hope you like it! I've had fun building it step by step on my rain days out of the vineyard and in the evenings while catching up on TV. I love talking wine and especially Pinot Noir so I hope you'll interact with me through my new and improved blog platform. The website launch coincides with Fancrest Estate's complete rebranding. Next step is to get our new gate signage up and finalise the artwork on the 2010 and 2011 labels. It's been a long road but worth the wait...

Spring activities in the vineyard are progressing well at Fancrest Estate. The devastating frosts that hit last week left us alone. Buds have been rubbed and the spray schedule is on target despite the frequent rains.

In a few days we'll be ready to start tucking shoots between the foliage wires and removing extra shoots.

It's evident that the cold summer last season has had an impact on this years crop. Instead of the usual 2 infloresences per shoot, many shoots this season have either no infloresences or just one. That means the size of this year's harvest will be down. Just hope the quality makes up for it!

The first of the annual grass grub  or brown beetle (Costelytra zealandica) flights began last night at nightfall.

A light flight, as they go, but to be on the safe side, Ian and I went out to spray the outside rows of vineyard blocks with organic pyrethrum. They fly to the silhouette of the vineyard against the night sky so outside rows always get the heaviest population.

They mate on the leaves and shoot tips, then eat (this is where they do the most harm), before falling to the ground to lay their eggs. 

As luck would have it the wind sprung up just as we got out into the vineyard and we both ended up wearing most of the pyrethrum! But we felt good for having stopped another cycle at least for that flight.

Ten or more flights still to come before their annual mating cycle is over.

Our 2007 Pinot Noir has been awarded "The People's Choice" Red Wine at the Amberley A&P Show 2012 (along with a silver medal). The show is supported by most of the Waipara Valley Winegrowers and producers. 

I always knew that it's youthful tannins would soften in time to reveal the wine's true nature, and that it would reward patient cellaring. 5 years on, it seems to be on track to realise it's full potential as a food-friendly wine of substance. 

Growing in limestone with high levels of active lime inevitably produces Pinot Noir with firm structure and hence, good age-ability. Being one of the warmer sites in these limestone hills also allows us to produce wines with plenty of bright pinot noir fruit to clothe the structural elements.

Balance and poise is what I personally seek out in fine Pinot Noir, and our own 2007 delivers in spades. I especially like pairing our Pinot Noir 2007 with venison or lean beef with roasted root vegetables to complement it's earthy and spicy characters.

In March this year Swedish winewriter Ursula Hellburg visited the Waipara Valley as a guest of NZ Wine and Waipara Valley Winegrowers. She took the time to give Fancrest Estate a special mention here: http://www.finewine.nu/res/PDF2012/finewine112sv.pdf. This full article is in Swedish but here is the translation of her comment about Fancrest Estate.

"Fancrest Estate only makes Pinot noir. The vines have a tough upbringing in the vineyard's hard limestone ground. The result is all but harsh. Di is the woman behind these wines and her Di's Pinot Noir 2009 is an example of Pinot Noir at its best. The model is Gevrey Chambertin."

We already have shoots over 30cm in the early clones like UCD5 and B115/B114. The mowing, thanks to Don, is under control. And thanks to Ian, the small number of replacement vines, are planted. Their loss was mainly due to "tractor blight" while a few were J-rooted. I have just 12 rows of drippers left to check. With the incessant wind it's been hard to get the spray program off the ground and the regular rains are beginning to concern me. With the cold conditions the leaves are showing signs of "spring chlorosis" (they have a pale yellow appearance) which should resolve after the temperatures warm up. Tomorrow a lull is forecast so I should be able to get some seaweed, fish and sulphur on. That should give the leaves a more normal colour.