New Zealand’s wine capital has formed many traditions throughout the years - part 1

Each winery has its own, slightly unique harvest traditions, but for the most part the idea remains the same: to celebrate the arrival of fruit from the vineyard into the winery, as well as the people behind tending to the grapes both throughout the year and during vintage.

For the most part, celebrations have been social in nature, and as such have seen some changes since the arrival of covid-19 on New Zealand shores in 2020.

We caught up with a few of the region’s wineries about what’s important to them each vintage, and how they’ve adapted amid socially-distanced times.

Dog Point Vineyard

As with most wineries across Marlborough, and likewise the world, Dog Point Vineyard has historically welcomed staff from across the globe for vintage.

Thanks to the influx of international workers, and indeed their own Kiwis who have travelled the globe, the team fell into a tradition of sharing a bottle of wine from one of the world’s different wine growing regions to finish off the long harvest days.

Dog Point Vineyard General Manager Matt Sutherland says the tradition, while being a way to explore different wines, was also a chance to unwind as a team.

“At the end of the day, when we can, we will always open something international, or it could be something domestic, and we share that with the team from both the winery and the vineyard; whoever is around,” he says.

“It’s good to see what other people are doing and get inspiration on style and influence, but it’s also nice to have a glass of wine at the end of the day with the team. It’s good to get everyone involved.”

Once shared as a collective team from the winery and the vineyard, the tradition has been upheld but with a more distanced, ‘bubble’, approach over the last two years.

One tradition that the winery hasn’t changed, however, is the ‘weighing in’ of the team prior to, and again following vintage.

“We do a weigh-in every year, where everyone’s weighed on the scales, and then we weigh in after vintage,” Matt says.

“Everyone is quite happy to have their weights read out, it’s quite fun. Whoever loses the most weight wins a meat pack or something to help them put the weight back on.”

With good meals on the menu, it’s not unusual for some of the team members to put weight on, including the winery labrador!

“We just do small, fun things. We like to be inclusive and get everyone around the table because people get tired. At the end of the day it’s nice to just relax a bit and discuss issues,” Matt says.

“With everyone [now] in pods and a team lockdown in the winery, it always makes that stuff a little bit harder, but we try to keep it going within the parameters.”

Framingham
Framingham Wines’ biggest tradition has not just been one for the Framingham team, but for staff working at wineries from across the region.

Traditionally a pre-harvest event to kick off vintage and welcome the hundreds of international workers to the region, covid-19 forced the cancellation of the event in 2021, and has this year turned it to a ‘post-harvest’ event to be held on May 7.

Internally, the winery has a few traditions it shares with its workers each vintage, including ‘beer fines’ for mishaps like sleeping in and general ‘non engagement of the brain mistakes’, ones that are quite forgivable but will cost a beer shout for the team. The beers, of course, are enjoyed responsibly, with low alcohol options in place and excluding pregnant team members!

Each year, the vintage team adds to a list of ‘Framingham Rules’, on the cellar wall. The list has attracted rules such as ‘Sleep is for the weak’, and ‘If you don’t like Riesling, leave now…’ over the years.

Despite the pandemic forcing social distancing measures into play, the team at Framingham still does their best to keep the team morale high with a socially distanced beverage following each shift, and an online team quiz.

The pandemic has also forced a few new traditions, including the logistic manager taking part in this year’s harvest, alongside the general manager threatening to do so due to lack of international team members…

Cloudy Bay
For Cloudy Bay Wines, the pandemic put a quick holt to their major harvest tradition.

In a bid to document history, the company has long staged a team photograph, featuring everyone involved in that year’s vintage.

In 2020, the team photo was swapped out for a collage of selfies instead, creating a true sign of the times for years to come.

In 2021, the team managed to have their group photo, but with the arrival of the Omicron variant this year it’s expected another ‘distanced’ photo will be taking place.

Historically, the team has also toasted the last bin of grapes with a glass of bubbles, however that tradition was abandoned in 2020, also to return in 2021. It’s expected the celebration will be sans bubbles once again this year (hopefully for the last time!)

One tradition that hasn’t had to change is the decoration of each team member’s high-vis vest with their name and where they’re from, alongside pictures and such like which represent who they are.

No.1 Estate
No.1 Estate owner and winemaker Daniel Le Brun draws on hundreds of years of traditions when it comes to his work.

A 12th generation champagne maker from France, it was only natural that he introduced many of those traditions to his winery here in Marlborough, not least of all during harvest.

A major tradition for the team working vintage at No.1 Estate has been the ability to enjoy a four-course meal each evening, consisting of an entrée, main, cheeseboard and dessert, organised by Daniel’s wife Adele.

Thankfully, due to the implementation of team bubbles (not the drinking type, unfortunately) during harvest, the meal is still able to take place in a covid world, within the guidelines of the settings imposed at the time.

Astrolabe Farm

Hand-pickers at Astrolabe Farm have been lucky over the years to enjoy home baking for their morning teas during harvest.

Since the arrival of covid-19, the team has instead had sausage rolls and cake delivered contactlessly, with the addition of masks and an awkward wave.

The traditional glass of bubbles to celebrate the first grape drop each vintage also had to be paused, but is a tradition the family hopes to be able to reestablish in 2023.