Vineyard pruning wraps up

BY MICHAEL BERRY

Pruning of Marlborough vines is starting to wrap up after a wet winter.

Provine managing director Ken Prouting said, with one or two rainy days each week, it had turned into a rush to get his contracts finished before his workers left the country at the weekend.

Mr Prouting employed 100 Kiribati and ni-Vanuatu workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme.

He had finished his contracts and had picked up another block of work for his workers last week.

There were still some vineyards that had not been pruned and it would have been good if the workers could have stayed a bit longer, he said.

Auntsfield viticulturist Ben Cowley said some vineyards finished pruning later because of location or resources.

Auntsfield had a later budburst because of its altitude in the hills of the southern Wairau Valley and family members who owned and worked the vineyard did as much as possible before getting contractors to finish what was left, he said. About three-quarters of the vineyard had been done so far.

There were more workers around and there seemed to be less of a panic toward the season's end to get blocks pruned, compared to previous years, he said.

Pernod Ricard regional manager Peter McLeod said it had been wetter than vineyard managers would like, but it was affecting workers rather than the vines.

"[The rain] just slows down the work programmes, but, to be fair, pruning's gone well, with a good supply of labour and mechanisation in the vineyards."

The company's Marlborough vineyards were almost completely pruned, he said.

"We're just wishing it will stop raining and dry out a bit."

Most vineyards aimed to finish pruning by the end of August, but it was usually around the second week of September that everything was tied up, he said.

Villa Maria Estate Marlborough viticulturist Mike Croad said the company's pruning was almost finished and it had been a good season.

The amount of labour needed had dropped by about 40 per cent due to higher use of stripping machines this year, he said.

With fewer staff needed for shorter periods, costs went down while quality went up, he said.

"It's a good thing – it means that you can do the important parts with better-trained workers."

However, it was difficult to get spring vineyard jobs such as weed spraying and under-vine cultivation done with so much rain, he said.

Wet conditions were a hindrance to workers rather than a problem for vines, he said.

The conditions could affect some plants with vine decline, where the plant shuts down soon after budburst, but it would not have much effect, he said.

"These types of trunk disease show up when the soil is a bit wetter," he said.

He expected bud burst was about three to four weeks away, depending on the variety.

- The Marlborough Express