El Niño 2023/24 and Central Otago Pinot Noir

The 1997–1998 El Niño was regarded as one of the most powerful El Niño–Southern Oscillation events in recorded history and we now know the 1998 vintage produced some of the greatest and longest lived Hawke’s Bay red wines.  NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Ass) states in a Dec 2023 blog, “There’s a 54% chance that this (2023/24) El Niño […]

Hailstorm 16 Nov 2019

A thunderstorm on 16 November released small marble sized (10+mm) hail onto Grasshopper Rock damaging young shoots and florets. Fortunately, the outcome is only light damage and long term effect negligible. Hail of this severity is not something we have experienced before. With the potential to create significant damage in the vineyard, especially if hailstones […]

Climate change

Climate change – Central Otago’s story Since we established Grasshopper Rock in 2003, I have flown many times between Auckland and Queenstown. I always sit in a window seat to make the most of the high-altitude views of this beautiful country. The flight path is usually just west of Aoraki/Mt Cook and when the weather […]

The big snow of August 2011

On the evening of 11 August snow swept the vineyard and by day further snow fell. Nothing unusual about snow, but this was of the most significant snow falls in many years, leaving the vineyard completely blanketed. In Queenstown it was claimed to be the biggest snow fall in 50 years.People were confined inside for […]