District’s vintage looks highly promising: Gisborne Winegrowers

The district's grape growers are looking avidly to a harvest in 2025 that has tonnes of promise. Photo / Paul Rickard

The district’s grape growers and winemakers are looking forward to a successful vintage next year with great fruit making for great wines, Gisborne Winegrowers chairman Mark Thompson says.

The rain this week has increased the soil moisture content and set up growers for warm, settled conditions into the New Year.

“The beginning of the 2024/2025 grape-growing season brought generally settled weather with some rain and northwesterly winds,” Thompson said.

“Two southerly blasts on September 5 and 11 resulted in two early-season frosts.

“Chardonnay and pinot gris [grapes] had already budded so were most at risk,” the GisVin chief winemaker said.

“Helicopters and frost bosses were deployed across the district, but to date no obvious damage has resulted to the crops.”

Thompson said the winter was wetter than normal, but also warmer.

“Spring conditions were generally warmer than the long-term average with predominant northwesterly winds drying out the soil from a wet winter.

“There have also been two isolated hail events - one in Patutahi and one up the Ormond Valley. Both of these, while locally severe, did not cause excessive damage to grape crops.

“Despite this, the predominant northwest to westerly flows have brought warm, dry conditions to the Gisborne region. This has helped a great flowering and fruit set, which augurs very well for a great season.”