The colours of the vines have turned from green to autumn-yellow and the wines are aging in their barrels or patiently waiting to be bottled. We will be releasing the new vintages very soon, which grants us the perfect opportunity to shine a little light on Harvest 2026! In short, it was a great Marlborough harvest!
The growing season kicked off in late 2025. Especially the early part of the season was exceptional. The budburst was even and a little earlier than average. The bets were off! In the left corner Winemaker Enrico and in the right corner Viticulturist Sara. Enrico claimed that we would start picking the first Sauvignon grapes on 4 March 2026 and Sara counter attacked that statement with 12 March.
The sun shone fiercely and rain was well spread. Just before Christmas the vines were well ahead of historical benchmarks and all looked set for possibly the earliest harvest ever recorded. The odds seemed in Enrico’s favour, but as the holiday season started, the sun decided to take a break too. Disappointed holiday makers mirrored the vines ripening progress as things just slowed down and rode out a dreary January. Sara was kept on their toes as challenging conditions arrived. What initially looked like an abundance of fruit evened out with the cooler conditions and crop-loads ended up closer to average.
Harvest approached closer and the cooler and dryer weather pattern in both February and March resulted in more classical ripening conditions: cool nights and mild, sunny days, combined with a distinct lack of rain. Ripening was extended and there was an unexpectedly relaxed pattern of waiting for desired flavours in each block and variety before picking. The acid retention was very good, along with intense flavours, and all varieties picked up flavours early in the fruit ripening window. These slowly evolved as ripening progressed, meaning each block could be picked when showing its best. For our sparkling wines this meant at the end of February, and for the Sauvignon grapes? Drum roll… 4 May was when our troops got out into the vineyards to harvest the new vintage. Making Enrico the winner of this year’s bet!
Harvest 2026 proved to be a classic season of 3 parts, ending on a high with superb flavours and acid balance in all varieties. Sauvignon Blanc in particular was showing a fantastic, expressive range of flavours from our different vineyard blocks and we cannot wait to share the new fantastic wines with the world.
A special thank you to our talented team of grape growers, winemakers, cellar hands and back-of-house staff for an outstanding vintage!
