The start of the vintage and the COVID-19 pandemic

In New Zealand, the grape picking season begins in some wine regions as early as the end of February. The most important phase of the grape harvest then takes place in March. Just this year, in the most critical phase, when the grapes begin to be picked in most vineyards, a "lockdown" occurred in the country. Since the end of March, the entire country has been in the 4th (highest) level of the alert system, which was put in place by the government to manage the pandemic. What did this mean for winemakers?

Just before the announcement of the lockdown on March 25, 2020, this mainly meant uncertainty and fear as to whether winemakers would receive an exemption and thus be able to complete the grape harvest. The New Zealand government eventually designated food and drink production and processing as an essential service, and the wine industry was allowed to continue harvesting and processing grapes. However, it required stricter measures to comply with all regulations. Mechanical grape picking didn't mean much of a change, but with manual grape picking, winemakers had to plan more. Employees and collection crews were not allowed to meet, they had to take turns in shifts and maintain social distancing.

Winemakers and vintage 2020

We asked 3 wineries, whose wines you can find on our e-shop , how they perceived this season.

• Craggy Range 

At Craggy Range Winery , which grows vines in vineyards in 3 areas - Hawke's Bay, Martinborough and Marlborough - they rate this year's vintage as the best they can remember in recent years. The conditions were ideal for grape ripening, there were no significant temperature fluctuations like in 2019, and April this year was generally drier. Therefore, one can expect some of the most phenolically ripe and intense flavors in the Syrah variety grown in the Gimblett Gravels vineyard. In Marlborough, which is located on the South Island, all the local winemakers mark this year as one of the best seasons. The cool start to the growing season contributed to smaller berry sizes, which thus contain more fruit intensity.

• Black Cottage/ Two Rivers

Winemaker David Clouston rates this year's vintage in Marlborough as the best since 2015. Grape quality was average, with good summer rains at the start and then a long, dry Indian summer. He thus expects purity of wines with good finesse and structure.

What did the lockdown mean for his winery? As David told us, they had to learn to work as a small team and double-check all procedures. From a marketing point of view, they focused on not having all their eggs in one basket and not just focusing on selling abroad.

According to David, we can expect sparkling, intense wines that will "jump" out of the glass and age very well, as they all retain great acidity.

• Seifried 

Even for the Seifried Estate winery , this year was not the easiest due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Chris Seifried, they were under increased pressure due to the procedures in place at the company to follow all harvesting precautions and protect employees from possible contagion. In September of this year, at the Mundus Vini International Summer Tasting, they received the gold medal "Best in Show - New Zealand" for Sauvignon Blanc 2020. For Seifried, this award is a great satisfaction for the work done by the entire team, who worked hard to achieve maturity with depth and complexity. And what wines can be expected from this winery? According to Chris, the wine shows a beautiful minerality while maintaining the spiciness and a bright "twist" in the finish. And that is exactly what we should be looking for in a good Sauvignon Blanc.

What will the wines be like in 2020?

Winemakers agree that this year has been one of the most challenging seasons. The wineries and their restaurants had to close for guests for more than 2 months. Social distancing measures have completely stopped or significantly slowed local consumption. In addition, the border closure reduced the flow of foreign visitors. Everyone was under enormous pressure to harvest the grapes on time, aware that an outbreak of Covid-19 could put them at risk. It was only thanks to the setting of strict rules and their observance that the vintage was managed without incidents associated with the infection of Covid-19.

Some parts of the country, such as Otago, experienced cooler summers, but Marlborough, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay had great weather, which contributed to excellent ripening conditions for the vines.

For example, winemakers from the Marlborough region rate this year as one of the best in terms of conditions, where the growing season was slightly longer and the temperature was cooler towards the end, which meant that the grapes had a fuller fruit flavor.

A total of 457,000 tons of grapes were harvested. This is 11% more than last year. Everyone agrees that 2020 will be exceptional in every way. We are already looking forward to being able to taste the wines from the new vintage!