Wine: Nature vs nature

Montana Living Land Series, &co Sauvignon Blanc, Dolbel Estate. Photo / Babiche Martens

A band of hungry baboons rampaging through South Africa's Franschhoek region have scoffed their way through a sizeable portion of some growers' grape harvests this year. Primate attacks may not pose a threat in New Zealand, but there are still plenty of betes noirs that our winegrowers must do battle with on a daily basis.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's birds that are the main menace to our grape growers. Just as the sugar levels of our grapes start making them exciting to winemakers, they also become appealing to the likes of blackbirds and starlings. These gobble up whole grapes while - to the vexation of many a viticulturalist - wax-eyes just take a quick peck, which then allows disease in.

"One vineyard manager of a large Hawkes Bay vineyard stated that bird control was the single biggest item on her budget," notes Lincoln University's Dr Valerie Saxton, who has been involved with substantial research in this area. "Paying for nets, the labour of putting them on and taking them off, paying for shooters and vehicles to patrol vineyards are major costs."

In recent years bird control with wider environmental benefits has been investigated, such as the two-pronged plan of the Marlborough Falcon Conservation Trust that has been working to lure the New Zealand falcon back into Marlborough's vineyards to frighten away smaller pest birds.

It's hoped that finding homes in the vineyards will build up numbers of the falcon, which is close to extinction. A similar scheme is also under way in Hawkes Bay for harrier hawks.

Creepy crawlies can be another curse, or they can be a boon if growers attract beneficial ones. A little louse that has been the scourge of winegrowers since it almost wiped out the vineyards of Europe in the latter part of the 19th century is phylloxera. Now present in most of the wine regions of New Zealand, it can only be conquered by grafting the top part of European vine varieties to more resilient American rootstocks.

Other bugs that bring disease and destruction include the leafroller caterpillar and mealybugs. Once combatted chemically, now natural controls are being explored following the growing interest in more environmentally friendly practices.

At the forefront of this research is Lincoln's Professor Steve Wratten. He's been promoting the planting of buckwheat between rows of vines, as it provides the nectar to attract a species of wasp that spells the end of the leafroller caterpillar.

Another serious troublemaker is the mealybug, which spreads the grape leafroll virus destroying hectares of vines in the North Island. Until a very recent breakthrough by Lincoln PhD student David Reid, there was no biological solution. However, Reid discovered that if you see off the ants that mealybugs feed on and remove the broadleaf weeds to whose roots mealybugs cling, their population plunges.

New adversaries will always be winging their way into our vineyards. But rather than engaging in chemical warfare, our winegrowers are now more likely to be enlisting the assistance of nature itself.

PEST FREE

FUNDING FALCON
Montana Living Land Series Pinot Noir Marlborough 2009 $19.95
Montana is donating a dollar from every bottle sold of their Living Land series to the Marlborough Falcon Conservation Trust. The very well priced pinot noir from this new range, whose wines are either organic or in conversion, offers a lush mouthful of smooth black cherry fruit, rum truffles and spice. (From leading wine retail outlets.)

CROWNING GLORY
&co Sauvignon Blanc 2009 $21
This weighty sauvignon with rich tropical papaya fruit juxtaposed with zesty grapefruit and mineral is from new Hawkes Bay estate, &co who've added an extra twist in stoppering it with a crown cap. (From Kemp Rare Wines, Wine Direct, Farro Fresh.)

TRES BELLE
Dolbel Estate Hawke's Bay Merlot Cabernet 2007 $29.95
An elegant and well-structured merlot dominant blend with juicy, fragrant and rich dark berry and plum fruit, plus notes of freshly roasted coffee and an attractive touch of herb. (From Meadowbank Wines and Spirits, Caro's, Wine & More, Point Wines, Millar & Co, Advintage.)