Can we "grow" wine?

This issue has come up a few times in my circles recently.

We have used in various documents the word "winegrowing" or the phrase "winegrowing industry" to describe the grape and wine industry. More than a few people have come back and said that no such word exists because cannot grow wine, and suggested alternatives such as grape growing, wine producing etc.

I did a bit of searching to see how commonly used it is - I already knew it was well-used in New Zealand, as the national grape grower and wine maker organisation is called New Zealand Winegrowers (http://www.nzwine.com/) and their national publication is called the New Zealand Winegrower magazine (http://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/winegrower).

Most of the regional grape grower and wine maker organisations include "winegrowing" in their name New Zealand Winegrowers and is used in the popular press, e.g. in New Zealand, and article in Stuff.co.nz and it's associated publication the Marlborough Express, as well as the New Zealand Herald.

Overseas it's used in the popular press, too: The Wine News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The Independent....

As well, there are several organisations overseas that incorporate the word into their names:

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Program

The Valais Museum of Wine and Winegrowing

The wine company Krauthaker in Croatia

And in the Texas Wine Regions web site

(did you know that Texas ranks Fifth in wine production in the USA?)

Surprisingly to me, it is also not a new term, being used in the popular press back in the 1960s and 70s

An of course, there's even a Facebook page about it:

So a bit of research finds that yes, it is a common term and that it isn't a new one (at least, in the English Language - I haven't checked for translations of foreign words that might mean the same thing).

This all makes sense, as in essence, we do grow wine. Wine quality comes about to a very large extent from where and how the vines are grown, as this affects the composition of the grapes and the wine that is made from them.

Winegrowing as a term has come about, in my opinion, from the recognition of the importance of the grape, and how it is cultured, to wine production. The essence of wine comes from where the grapes were grown and the manner in which the vines were managed.

And this is what keeps most wine from being a commodity!

New Zealand should concentrate on red wine more than it does. Plus, the secret menace!

Master of Wine Steve Smith, who is also the Director of Wine and Viticulture at Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay, was recently in the news saying that New Zealand should stop for a moment and concentrate on making its reds even better, rather than going off on all these new "fashion" varieties making the rounds (Grüner Veltliner, anyone??).

There's a lot of merit to that sentiment -New Zealand can do great reds, starting with Pinot noirs, Merlots, Syrahs and even overlooked varieties such as Malbec. As well as his mention of Craggy Range and Felton Road, some other noteworthy producers of reds in Aotearoa are Fromm Estate, Forrest Estate, Mount Difficulty, Millton Vineyard, Kumeu River, Te Mata Estate and a host of others on Waiheke Island. And in one fell swoop, I have left out loads of other wineries that produce great tasting reds on a consistent basis...

It will take more work in the vineyard to get this right, starting from the beginnings of site selection and all the rest that goes after it. But done right, and in suitable places, it should be possible to consistently produce great quality reds right here in our little patch of land in the Pacific Ocean.

Let's go to it, guys!!

However, Steve Smith also lets loose a huge cannonball, which is probably the one that should be making headlines in the eyes of viticulturists in New Zealand:

"This year would be the last for the Les Beaux Cailloux [one of their best Chardonnays, ed.] due to the onset of leaf roll virus which is threatening to spread to neighbouring vines with red grapes."

 Grapevine Leafroll associated Viruses, in particular, the Type 3 variant, are insidious beasts, which are working their way through our vines - slowly, but surely becoming something that we will have to manage much more actively in the near future.

It's primary means of spread is via mealybugs or less often, scale insects. The habitat range of mealybug in particular is spreading, and so goes Leafroll Viruses with it.

So far, there is no way to cure infected vines, so control is limited to pulling out infected vines (and often the neighboring vines as well), planting with virus-free stock, and trying to prevent the mealybug vectors from coming in again.

The latter point will be crucial for eventual effective management of the disease - much more research into how the virus and its vector(s) can be controlled is needed, and here in New Zealand conditions - we can't rely on overseas work alone.

Here's hoping that some virologists and entomologists out there and eager to take up the challenge!!