Wet ’n’ wild weather has stormy forecast for winemakers

a myrtle. So are introduced feijoas and eucalypts, both important economic species.

On May 2, Kerikeri nursery owners Tom Lindesay and his wife Julia Colgon saw similar looking yellow marks on juvenile pohutukawa.

They instantly alerted the MPI because they recognised by the telltale signs that it was myrtle rust. The fungus had reached the mainland.

Project Crimson director Gordon Hosking has advocated for some years that New Zealand plants should be grown in Australia to see if they were susceptible.

He believes that myrtle rust will likely be ineradicable, and the key now will be to hunt out genetically-resistant strains.

Julia Colgon says MPI staff began destroying all host species on Thursday, whether or not they had been infected. Manuka, kanuka, pohutukawa, rata – all gone.

If the disease is contained, she feels the disruption will have been worth it.

‘‘It’s been dreadfully difficult. We’ve been in this business for 25 years. But we will rebuild the nursery.’’ IF you’re partial to a glass of homegrown wine of an evening, the dreadful weather over the past few months might have you a bit worried.

Although NZ Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan, said he won’t have all the figures until the end of June, he admits ‘‘it’s been challenging’’.

‘‘The vintage will be smaller than the industry expected. Unfortunately some years we get grapes left on the vine,’’ he said.

While some growers have done relatively well, it’s no secret some growers lost entire blocks.

Bayleys vineyard expert John Hoare says there’s ‘‘a lot of hurt’’ among Marlborough sav blanc growers.

‘‘Nobody is panicking but everyone is watching. It all depends what arrangements people have with their banks as to whether we get a few growers who decide they’ve had enough.

‘‘To take one hectare of grapes from winter to the next harvest costs about $8000 to $10,000. It’s a lot of money if you haven’t had any income from the last harvest.’’

The chief executive of Marlborough Grape Producers Cooperative, Craig Howard, confirmed volumes would be down but there was a lot of variation - ‘‘everyone has their own truth in the wine industry’’.

Some Gisborne and Hawkes Bay growers have reported better results. .

North Canterbury Waipara grape grower Pete Smith of LongSmith Partnership, said the bad harvest helped him sell all his available pinot noir.

‘‘No-one’s got clean grapes, there was quite a bit of disease. Mine were clean until the rain in late March, but I managed to keep on top of it with disciplined spraying.’’

Smith said he had been unable to harvest any of his reisling grapes because they were hit with botrytis. ‘‘A lot of starlings are having fun at the moment.’’

Sam Weaver, wine maker at Mount Beautiful in Waipara said north Canterbury missed the worst of the weather and ripening had been late.

‘‘Towards the last 10 days of harvest, however, we picked some excellent fruit across most varieties. In some respects that later picked fruit was better than some picked in 2016.

‘‘We picked all blocks and came through remarkably well. Yields in pinot noir were significantly down, but other varietals were near previous years.’’

The picture in Otago was similar with yields lower than expected, according to Glenys Coughlan, general manager of the Central Otago Winegrowers Assocation.

‘‘But our winemakers ... are enthusiastic about the quality of the vintage.’’