Tony Bish said his grape harvests had been getting earlier and earlier in the last few years. Photo / Richard Brimer
Tony Bish said his grape harvests had been getting earlier and earlier in the last few years. Photo / Richard Brimer
The 2026 grape harvest is the earliest Hawke’s Bay winemaker Tony Bish has seen in his 45-year career, with other vineyards noting a similar story.
The first of Bish’s grapes, grown for his chardonnay wines by contract growers at Kokako Farms, were picked from vines and squeezed into barrelsthis week.
That was nine days earlier than his 2025 harvest, when grapes were picked on February 20.
“I called it in November, I said, ‘it’s going to be an early harvest, we need to get ready earlier than we anticipate.
Hawke's Bay winemaker Tony Bish crushes his 2026 grape harvest with his feet. Photo / Richard Brimer.
“We have had to move everything forward two weeks.
“We’re certainly from zero to 100 miles an hour with the early season.”
When Hawke’s Bay Today spoke to Bish on Friday morning, 21 tonnes of premium grapes had already been hand-harvested ahead of forecast rain with 70 pickers on Wednesday and Thursday alone.
“The fruit is fantastic, it is what I call pristine, what we have picked on Wednesday, yesterday [Thursday] and we are picking right now [Friday] is impeccably clean, beautiful condition and ripe, and ideal maturity.”
He said the earlier harvest could be attributed to the warm climate.
“Climate change can not be ignored. The seasons have been getting consistently earlier, particularly for the last five years and then this year it’s verging on ridiculous how early it is.”
Sam Bish, left with father Tony Bish, and brother Oscar Bish started their wine harvest at Kokako Farms in Hawke's Bay earlier than in 2025. Photo / Richard Brimer.
“I’ve been making wine in the Hawke’s Bay on and off for 45 years and other parts of New Zealand, but I have never ever seen a harvest this early.”
The spring heat was reflected in the Earth Science NZ Seasonal Climate Report which outlined that Hawke’s Bay’s cities experienced their hottest springs in 135 years of recordings, with experts saying it’s a sign of a “new normal” emerging.
The report for spring said Hawke’s Bay temperatures, like most of the country, were “well above average”.
Tony Bish said he was pleased with the grapes, describing them as impeccable. Photo / Richard Brimer.
“It’s just insane how warm and early this season is this year,” Bish said.
He suspected other growers across the region would be in a similar position, given that chardonnay grapes were the first variety to ripen.
“I won’t speak for the rest of the industry, but I think some people are going to get caught on the hop a bit.”
John Loughlin, owner of Askerne Estate Winery and life member of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers, is also expecting an earlier harvest.
Loughlin said he typically harvested the first of his 17 varieties, the pinot gris and chardonnay, in the last days of February or early March.
“We think we will be a week earlier than we have ever been before.
“We are just watching the fruit and watching the weather and the weather forecast, and we are very close, but we haven’t quite started yet.”
He also said the warmer temperatures, coupled with judging the fruit’s readiness, determined when the picking would begin.
“Nature holds the patent, and as a grower, you live or die by nature.”
Loughlin said the earlier harvest meant growers had more certainty around the potential of the wine and less risk.
“As you start to harvest fruit and have it in the winery, the pressure comes off bit by bit, so it’s always a really nice feeling to have some really good fruit and be working your way through it.”
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
