By CHRIS DANIELS AND NZPA
New Zealand winemakers are talking up the prospects of the 2001 vintage, saying some top-quality grapes are about to be picked.
Canterbury vineyard Giesen Wines says the hot temperatures and low rainfall will provide a good flavour concentration for their 2001 wines.
"We have high expectations for this [2001] vintage," Giesen Wines spokesman Andrew Blake said yesterday.
Giesen's Riesling 2000 won the trophy for the best aromatic wine at the Sydney International Wine Competition at the weekend.
Nearly 30 New Zealand wines made the top 100 wines in Sydney, up from 18 last year.
Giesen is doubling production this year to meet export demands.
The wine industry further north expects a reduced harvest this year, but hopes for good quality to make up for the drop in volume.
President of the Hawkes Bay Grape Growers' Association Robin Sage said the hot, humid weather of recent months would definitely mean fewer grapes.
Cooler weather in the past week had been welcomed by the growers, who were just starting to harvest grapes for the bulk wines.
It was too soon to speculate on the degree of decline, but there was no doubt the harvest would be lower than last year, Mr Sage said.
For wine fans, however, there is good news. Mr Sage said fewer grapes did not mean poorer quality, and many of the vines he had seen in the past week were in very good condition.
The Hawkes Bay harvest, which began last week, will continue until the end of April.
Montana Wines communications manager Zirk van den Berg said the 2001 vintage had just begun, so it was difficult to give any firm indication of how it would progress.
Grapes for sparkling wines and the "lower end" of the market had been harvested, but other varieties took longer to ripen. He had, however, heard that the Marlborough vintage was looking "very, very good."
Montana has vineyards in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Marlborough, which allows it to spread the risk if there is poor weather in some areas.
The chief winemaker for the Nobilo group, Darryl Woolley, said Marlborough grape-growing conditions had been perfect. Dry, warm days and cooler nights were helping the sauvignon blanc grapes mature well.
The quality of grapes was excellent, with an expected average yield.
Marlborough sauvignon blanc grapes will be harvested in late March through to early April.
Grapevine toasts a quality harvest
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