Veraison and bunch thinning of grapes

It is getting time to watch out for the birds here in Matakana Valley!!!. Our Grapes are starting to turn red and that attracts the sharp eye of all the birds. Veraison is the term used to signify that the grapes have changed color and when that occurs we know we are getting on well with the ripening process. In these two photos you can see some of the grapes are still green and some are redish already. In the wider shot if you enlarge it and look closely you can see we have thick bunches of the Malbec. Soon we will have to bunch thin. That is when we walk slowly along and cut and thus drop off certain bunches of grapes that are imperfect due to smaller grapes or bunched too close together. It is sad to see the grapes lying on the ground after you finish each row but it is for the better for the future of the wine. If too many bunches are touching each other they will get skin breaks and most likely fungus when ripening. So, we must "cull" some now to give us full growth of the better remaining bunches. I hate to do this job myself as it requires lots of little critical decisions. "does that bunch die or does it live to make wine????" Decisions, decisions, decisions--how I hate that. Alas, as in the animal world is it really "survival of the fittest" when it comes to hand crafted fine wines.

Once we do the bunch thinning we have to apply bird netting. Actually we don't "have to" use nets but if we don't we either have to pick before full ripeness or accept a very low yield at harvest. That is because we have many many birds in Matakana Valley. We are coastal with lots of sea birds and our grapes ripen at a time when other area fruits are not quite ripe enough to suit the bird's taste buds. Thus they really hammer the ripening grapes. Our ratio of birds to acres of grapes is highly in the favor of the birds. Also, locals do not poison birds here as they do in many grape growing regions of the world. New Zealand is not just nuclear free but also bird poison free (mostly!) Thus we net.

SO, next time I will talk a bit about netting and show some photos of that process.
Until then keep drinking Hawks Nest Matakana Red wine and thinking of summertime in the God Zone!!!!


Dr Jim downunder

Alert!!!!!! We now have two NZ themed wine dinners set for Middle Tennessee in April after Tennessee Easter Break. One will be at Watermark on April 12th and for those of you in Williamson County or elsewhere south of Nashville we plan a dinner at Red Pony on Main Street in Franklin. That dinner will hopefully be on April 26th!!!!! Pass the word!!