Nearly all the major wine growers in the Far North have picked their grapes by now - both red and white varieties - although what week of the month they picked depends on where the vineyard is situated and, like all farms everywhere, was weather dependent.
If it's near the sea like Omata Estate in Russell, picking of the thin-skinned grapes like pinot gris, flora and chardonnay was completed early because it's generally warmer than in inland parts of Northland. Winemaker, Bruce Soland, says the thicker-skinned syrah was picked a little early because the weather forecast for the 15th and 16th March was foul.
Yet nowhere in Northland is the sea more than 50 kilometres away and coupled to the humid, sunny climate means the total amount of heat available to the vines to ripen the grapes during the growing season is greater in Northland than in any region in the country.
It's worth remembering that the first vines in New Zealand were planted in the Bay of Islands by the Reverend Samuel Marsden in 1819. James Busby later planted vines at Waitangi from which wine was made. He went on to govern New Zealand from Sydney and from there established the famous wine-growing region of the Hunter Valley.
And if the foundation of the New Zealand wine industry can be traced - it belongs to the Croatian gum diggers who arrived in Northland in the very early part of the 20th century and brought with them their European tradition of wine making. Many of today's successful wine companies can trace their lineage back to Northland. But, back to the present.
