I always get asked, "What's news" at Murdoch James?

Well, there is certainly some fantastic news to share today.

In an exciting development that reinforces Martinborough’s prominent position as New Zealand’s premier Pinot Noir producer, and our profile as a leader in the region, we recently announced that we are removing 10 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc vines and replacing them with Pinot Noir. In all, more than 25,000 vines will be replaced at a cost of over $300,000.

Chris Shaw cutting out the old SB vines

This is not a decision for the faint-hearted. Not only is there a significant cost involved; we also had to accept it can take up to 3-5 years for the new vines to return a full crop.

Does not mean we don't like Sauvignon Blanc; it just means we love Pinot Noir more. We will still be keeping around 20% of our Sauvignon Blanc vines, but the Pinot Noir plantings will nearly double.

Roger Fraser contemplating the change

The decision was made as we have not able to meet the export demand we have for Pinot. Every year we have to ration our customer orders. Against that background, using prime Pinot Noir vineyard land for Sauvignon Blanc did not make sense in either economic or strategic terms.

Easy to say that in the office, but when I went out into the vineyard today, it was a very emotional time. To see thousands of vines that have served us well being removed was heart-breaking.

What taking out 25,000 vines looks like

I just had to remind myself, this is the start of an exciting journey, where will capitalise on the strengths of our team and our terroir. 

Over the next three years we will tell the story of these vines, as they are planted and mature. So, watch this space for lots of updates.

Bargain Pinot Noir?

Birth of a Wine Blogger has been in hibernation for a while, a bit like our dormant vines. 

Recently I was woken from my slumber by a colleague in the industry sending me a link to a Facebook post he had published. He was making the point that a certain Pinot Noir (see link) is on promotion in supermarkets for just $10 a bottle. He went on to say that it must be made from wine at the lower end of the spectrum, sourced from the countries featured on the label, to retail at that price.  He asked, in a world of commoditised, characterless wines, is this something we really need?

Check out: http://tinyurl.com/nesvbh2

What concerns me about this, as a dedicated Pinot producer, is that Kiwi consumers will buy this wine thinking it is a bargain, try it, may not have a great experience, think all Pinot Noir is the same, and be turned off the variety forever. 

Why did he conclude that the wine must come from the "lower end of the spectrum"? 

Let's dissect the $10 and see where he is coming from. Of the ten dollars, the government collects $3.66 (the ALAC levy of about 3 cents, plus $2.13 excise duty and $1.50 GST); pretty good return for the government! 

Then, assuming the retailer takes a 30% margin ($3) and the distributor a 20% margin ($2), that leaves $1.34 for the winemaking! Let's be conservative though and say the winery sells direct to the retailer, so no fee for the distributor. In that case the remaining sum is $3.34. Let's see where we end up if we consider that.

What's left to cover the wine component after allowing for bottling costs, freight and distribution, warehousing, marketing and other related expenses? Say these add up to $1.80 per bottle. That leaves $1.54 for the wine. Say my analysis is too tough. Add another $1 back to cover that. That leaves me to ponder the quality of wine you might buy at $2.54 per bottle? 

Contrast that with the cost per litre of our 2015 Pinot Noir. That was over $13 per litre, before bottling, taxes, etc. So even if my costs are high, we can safely assume it is not top quality, hand-picked Martinborough Pinot Noir in the wine we are discussing. 

Disclaimer: I have not yet tasted this wine. I will as soon as I can get a bottle though, then I'll report back. If I have wronged a good product I will admit that. However, my comments above are based on experience and general principles. I can say with confidence is that I have learned in my 30 years in the wine industry is that it would be an absolutely amazing achievement to deliver a 'Premium Pinot Noir' (which is what the label claims) for $10, let alone $2.54. 

Bud Burst 2009

A stunning day here today - warm and dry. And, we have bud burst which is great, but about two weeks earlier than anticipated. With bud burst the cycle starts all over again – it is very exciting, and now we’ll watch over the vines as the grow foliage and then grapes!

Meantime, for the next 3 or 4 weeks, all we have to do is worry about frost! We had two severe ones yesterday and today, both reaching minus 5 degrees C, which had all the Martinborough wineries running their frost machines, flying helicopters, lighting their frost pots and anything else that they can do to avoid risk of frost damage. Fighting frost is an incredible task, and very interesting – if you want to know anything about it, drop us a note at info@murdoch-james.co.nz

We use water sprinklers on our Waiata block, and in the morning the frozen water is a beautiful sight. At our Blue Rock vineyard the sloping ground protects from frost. Why? Because frost behaves water, and so runs off sloping ground. We are very fortunate to have the only large vineyard in Martinborough planted on a hillside. Not having frost risk on our largest block is a very valuable benefit, and saves tens of thousand of $’s each year.

Weddings and High Tech Vineyard Mowers!

Sunday here at the vineyard - a lovely mid-winter day; cold and clear.

We have had a lot of people through over the weekend looking at using the vineyard as a wedding venue - we have a lovely facility that seats up to 120 people for functions and wedding. We hosted 24 weddings last year, so it is an important part of our business activity. The cafe also operates from September to May and that also brings a lot of visitors as well.

Other than the wedding couples, it has been pretty quiet though - not many customers for Cellar Door, so a chance to catch up on the administration.

We have been letting our export customers know about the new wines and getting them up-to-date with what to expect when they see them. It reminded me that one of the big expenses for a winery is samples. We have to send them all over the world to new and prospective customers, as well as to wine critics and reviewers. The freight costs are enormous, but it’s just an expense we have to bear. And, if someone tastes and loves a wine, then it can lead to increased business.

In the vineyard next week, we will be preparing for pruning, which should start in a week or two. Pruning is not the favourite job: cold weather and sharp secateurs are a combination that makes for lots of small cuts, and winter is never the best time to be working outside either!

We have had a local farmer put his sheep into the vineyard for winter grass and weed control. This avoids using the tractor to mow grass which would compact the soils, and also saves a lot of money in fuel costs. And, the sheep fertilise as they go! I call them my high-tech vineyard mowers!!

Hand Harvesting

Wednesday 16th April


Another beautiful day – will it last? We are all hoping so. We harvested Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc today, so I have attached images of the team picking the grapes, as well as images of the fruit and the processing. I hope you find it interesting. There are more images in our website gallery too. Click on this link: http://www.murdochjames.co.nz/gallery/simpleviewer/index.html

We pick everything by hand, and train the team to only collect the best fruit. Anything with mildew or unripe fruit is left behind for the birds (did you know one green grape in 100 will have an impact on the taste of the final wine!). Only with the best fruit can you hope to make world class wine. That’s why we never use a mechanical harvester. They are like big vacuum cleaners that suck everything up; ripe, unripe and diseased, together with bits of leaf and stalks. Then we sort one more time at the winery before the fruit goes into the press. There is a great image of the Sauvignon Blanc being gently pressed below

We were thrilled with the quality of the Sauvignon Blanc this year, and were also fortunate to have a small part of the crop which developed botrytis. Known as the 'Noble Rot' this mould shrivels the berries and concentrates that flavour, so we have decided to keep that fruit separate and a desert wine which we will call 'Noble Sauvignon'.