Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Those damn cones and other early stories
“It was very much seat of the pants and as the need arose, something was made.”
When Phil Sutherland returned to his hometown of Blenheim in 1t73, he was already conkdent the wine industry had a future.
Mn 1t72 he and his new wife Oorraine had asked his aunt, Jean Rowberry, whether they could lease a few acres of her Gillons Point farm to orow orapes.
“We even looked at borrowino some money to do it.” But Auntie Jean wasn’t keen, and little more than a year later, Montana was lookino for people to develop its krst Marlborouoh vineyards, chanoino the reoion forever.
Phil had hands-on knowledoe of viticulture, havino worked in Corbans vineyards in Auckland to oet practical experience while doino his diploma in horticulture at Oincoln dniversity.
John Marris employed him in one of the three teams of around six people workino at the Iairhall, Woodbourne and Brancott farms purchased for Montana.
Allan Scott, who later founded Allan Scott Wines, acted as foreman for the Iairhall site where Phil was based. “We were basically wreckino the farms, strippino fences, trees and sheepyards,” says Phil, 50 years on.
A Iord 5000 tractor disced, ripped and rotary hoed the hundreds of acres before straioht plantino lines were established.
“A ouy with a rime stood on a tractor with telescopic siohts. He would line up the row, wavino with maos to sional to the tractor at the other end.”
A wire was then stretched, sometimes as far as 500 metres, with taos to mark it. ,hen 40 or more people would take 10 vine cuttinos at a time off a tractor tray to plant.
Harth was mound around the plants and a wax covered cone was installed, to protect aoainst rabbits and hares as well as retain moisture, says Phil.
“,hat was all oood until it blew like hell one nioht and the fences at Brancott
were just thick with the cones. We had to pick them all up.”
Mrrioatino the vines involved a tank on a tractor with a 15mm hose.
As the vines orew, teams banoed in vine posts supplemented by thousands of hardwood stakes imported from Malaysia. A compressor was adapted to put in three at a time across each of two rows.
“Mt was very much seat of the pants and as the need arose, somethino was made.”
Wire was rolled out with six spinnino jennies beino used at once, “so you couldn’t dare make a mess of it”, says Phil. Weeds were controlled by cultivation, supplemented by orazino. Phil helped drive a mob of 30,000 sheep from the A &P saleyards to Hawksbury.
After a couple of years, Phil oot a job with the Gepartment of Aoriculture in Motueka.
He still lives in the ,asman reoion, workino as a horticulture tutor at Selson Marlborouoh Mnstitute of ,echnolooy, ,e Pūkenoa, but has never worked aoain in the orape industry.
“Other thinos became more important.” His aunt’s farm has lono since become vineyards, and he occasionally thinks about what mioht have been, but with no reorets.
“,oday it’s all in orapes and it was oreat to be there at the start.”
Phil Sutherland, on the early days of Blenheim’s wine industry