2024 vintage report

2024 – a good vintage for Grasshopper Rock With a strong El Nino event confirmed in spring 2023, the 2024 vintage felt a little more unpredictable than normal. Fortunately, cold snaps, frosts, wind, and a hail event fitted nicely around a warm dry flowering and a dry and sunny, albeit cool, ripening period. We were pleasantly […]

2023 vintage season report

2023 vintage season started and finished cooler than average but summer was warmer than average. Overall it was a warm year. When the last grapes are picked for the season, we take time to reflect on what the vines have delivered and try and understand what the defining moments for the vintage were. This 2023 […]

2022 vintage report

2022 was the most enjoyable harvest for many years with no weather pressure and perfectly clean and ripe pinot noir grapes. Everyone is excited about the 2022 vintage. The vintage was slightly warmer than average. 972 growing degree days versus our average of 942. However, as always what really matters is what happens month by […]

2021 vintage report

2021 vintage, in summary, was a cool spring and January followed by a warm dry autumn which perfectly ripened a smaller than average crop. The grape volume was down by 20% as was the average bunch size. We picked a week earlier than normal due to the excellent ripening period and a smaller crop. Covid-19, […]

2020 vintage report

SummaryThe 2020 was one of the more difficult vintages due to the cold weather and the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Spring started normally but weather events turned against us. An unusual atmospheric phenomenon known as Sudden Stratospheric Warming turned everything upside down. A hailstorm hit the vineyard on 16 November and contributed to some flower damage. […]

2019 vintage report

Another excellent vintage 2019 vintage season was overall a warm year but started with hard frosts in September and October and ended with hard frosts in early April.  The 13 October frost during budburst was particularly hard but the vines were well protected from damage by our sprinkler frost fighting system.  Flowering and fruit set […]

2018 vintage report

Summary.  An interesting and very successful season. 2017/18 was our most extreme season yet. Serious frosts in the weeks before budburst followed by unprecedented heat mid-season and finishing with a -5° C frost in mid-April. Not every year thanks! One of the hottest Central Otago summers on record. The heat, early flowering and ripening and […]

2017 vintage report

2017 was the coolest vintage for at least 15 years. The unusually warm September was followed by a good October and then a period of below average temperatures through until late February. Fortunately flowering was good but the cooler weather during berry development meant bunch sizes were below average. 90 gram average bunch weight which […]

2016 vintage report

Summary:The strong El Nino produced more cool south and southwest weather than normal in the spring and early summer. Fortunately the weather was fine during flowering and fruit set was good. The cool spring meant bunches were a little smaller than recent years, which is not a bad thing. In February the heat really picked […]

2015 Vintage Season

Summary The 2015 vintage season has again produced some excellent fruit in good quantity. The season started cooler than normal with October and November temperatures below average and a number of frosts requiring frost fighting. The cool conditions slowed flower development. December warmed up and provided a small but perfect window for the critical flowering […]