Roadwork reshuffle clears way for smoother Marlborough harvest this year
Wednesday, 23 February 2022
No, Marlborough Roads won't be able to tell you when harvest will start this year.
What used to be a joke in Marlborough is no longer the case as roadworks won't disrupt vintage 2022.
Wine Marlborough manager Marcus Pickens said roadworks during the busiest time for the wine industry had been an issue for a long time in the region.
To bypass the additional stress, Pickens started the discussion with Marlborough Roads last year.
**READ MORE:
* Winegrowers frustrated over Government Covid update as harvest looms
* Vintage 2021: Marlborough down 21 per cent, smallest harvest in six years
* Harvest a stop-go affair as roadworks add stress to winemakers' plates
**
“After last vintage, we made time to meet up and work out our plan, and they have delivered on that, touch wood it all goes according to plan, but I am very impressed.
“Sometimes that's all it takes: a bit of encouragement to see outside the picture.
“When you live in a town of this size, you should be able to get together and solve those challenges pretty easily.
'It is good to be heard, and hopefully we've got a good template to follow for future years.”
The Marlborough resealing programme usually starts at the end of October and is completed by March 31.
Marlborough Roads manager Steve Murrin said its planning was getting better than in the past.
“We've prioritised the vintage traffic, so we are still resealing, but we have got all the main roads to the wineries done.
'There will still be resealing happening around the district until the end of March, but a lot of that is going to be in urban areas around town and some quiet roads,' Murrin said.
As the next resealing season is currently planned, Murrin said they will keep making sure roadworks are completed around wineries before vintage.
A QR code has been developed to assist the wine industry, showing a map with all roadworks sites across the district.
While first grapes have been harvested, the wine industry is hoping for a larger vintage than last year to address an ongoing international demand.
Harvest 2021 was down 19 per cent compare to the previous year, leaving wineries with low stock levels.
Marlborough’s wine vintage was down 21 per cent, the smallest harvest since 2015.
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said that it has forced wineries to draw down on stock to maintain their place in market over the past 12 months.
“New Zealand wine sales for 2021 were 324 million litres, meaning they were 48 million litres more than was actually produced in the 2021 vintage.
“Many New Zealand wineries have faced tough decisions over who they can supply in their key markets, and the ongoing increase in international demand has placed huge strain on already depleted stocks.
'For some wineries, there has been quite simply just not enough wine to go around,' Gregan said.
Increasing production costs and the ongoing effects of Covid-19 on the border, markets, and supply chains had continued to impact the industry.
“The introduction of Omicron into the New Zealand community on the cusp of vintage 2022 is a very serious concern for growers and wineries, as this is our busiest time of year, and we are already facing a critical labour shortage in some regions,” Gregan said.
'The unavailability of skilled workers due to the ongoing closure of New Zealand’s borders means undoubtedly this vintage will be more difficult to manage than normal.”
Gregan said the top priority for the industry was to keep people safe during this uncertain time.
“We are looking forward to another harvest of excellent quality, and believe an optimistic approach and helping one another will get us through,” he said.
New Zealand wine exports for 2021 were $1.95 billion, down just 3 per cent on 2020, despite the 19 per cent fall in production from the 2021 harvest.