Story: Marlborough region

Page 8. The grape revolution

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Yukich’s hunch

Grapes were first planted on a large scale in Marlborough by Montana Wines of Auckland in 1973. At the time, vineyards were concentrated in year-round warm areas like Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Auckland. Marlborough was thought to be too dry and too cold for grapes. Ivan Yukich of Montana recognised that the Wairau valley had favourable grape-growing and winemaking conditions – in particular, a summer combination of hot sunny days and cool nights.

Ahead of their time

Marlborough’s first wine cellar was built in 1873, a century before the first of the new-era vines were planted in the region. David Herd, the manager of Meadowbank station, planted vines on around 0.4 hectares, naming his vineyard Auntsfield and producing a red muscatel port-like wine. The vines were removed in 1931 but the cellar built to store the wine survived. In the 2010s the property was owned by the Cowley family, who had restored the wine cellar and were making wine under the name Auntsfield. They planned to replant Herd’s vineyard with the original grape varieties.

Blenheim has a January mean monthly temperature of 18°C, with a daytime high of 24°C and a night-time low of 12°C. It is this 12-degree range which gives grapes a crisp, herbaceous character and intensifies the colour of the pinot noir grape.

Montana’s commitment to grape growing and winemaking was emulated by local landowners. In 1992 Marlborough’s vineyards covered 1,744 hectares; by 2012 the area had increased more than tenfold, to 22,600 hectares. What started as a venture by one company transformed the Marlborough economy – although lower prices between 2008 and 2012  challenged growers.

Vineyards and grapes

The biggest concentration of vineyards is in the lower Wairau valley. Plantings are also found in the north-facing valleys that open into the Wairau, and in the lower Awatere valley. These areas have cooler climates than the lower Wairau; grapes take longer to grow and ripen later. The soils are typically fast draining, which is ideal for the vines.

Well over three-quarters of New Zealand's sauvignon blanc vines are to be found in Marlborough. In 2013 around 76% of Marlborough’s vineyard hectarage was sauvignon blanc. The pinot noir grape, increasingly favoured in Marlborough, accounted for 10% of hectarage in 2013.

Industry structure

The biggest vineyards and winemakers are corporate, with outside investors. Substantial investment has enabled Marlborough to grow more grapes than the rest of the country combined. In the 2000s, most of the biggest vineyards and wineries were operated by overseas investors.

A second tier of companies are owner-operator businesses such as Hunter’s Wines. There is also a mixture of Marlborough locals (often landowners who have converted to grapes) and outside investors, plus some who have come to the area for lifestyle reasons. Tohu Wines is Māori-owned. Viticulturalists and winemakers have come from many northern-hemisphere grape-growing countries and also from Chile, Australia and South Africa.

A third tier of the industry comprises those who grow grapes but do not make wine. Many of these are members of the Marlborough grape-producers association. Most of their output is sold to one of the big winemaking companies.

Illegal workers

Marlborough’s wine-industry boom led to a high demand for workers, making it difficult for some vineyards to find enough staff. Some unscrupulous contractors hired illegal migrants as workers, paid them less than legal rates and provided substandard accommodation, knowing that many of them spoke little English and were unwilling to go to the authorities in case they were deported.

Workers

In winter and spring, when pruning and other labour-intensive tasks are carried out, the seasonal demand for workers is at its peak. Overseas-recruited workers make up the numbers. In recent years most such workers have come from the Pacific, in particular Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, under approved schemes set up in 2006. This has curtailed some of the more blatant forms of exploitation of migrant labour that previously took place.

The ‘downstream’ labour force includes those working in numerous vineyard and cellar-related restaurants and cafés and in the accommodation industry. It also includes those who provide or serve in new or expanded hospital wards, retail outlets and classrooms, including those who teach viticulture and oenology (winemaking).

How to cite this page:

Malcolm McKinnon, 'Marlborough region - The grape revolution', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/marlborough-region/page-8 (accessed 19 March 2024)

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 12 May 2012, updated 1 Nov 2016