Localised production versus importation .

1. Localised production versus
importation
Assignment 1 - intro to Wine Business - Kate Jensen

2. Introduction
My aim in this assignment is to compare
two regions within New Zealand to
demonstrate the way in which regions that
do produce wine compare socially and
physically with regions that do not. First I
will discuss the historical growth of wine
production in Central Otago. Then I will
compare Central Otago with Westland.

3. Central Otago
History of local Wine Production
For a long time Central Otago was not
given serious consideration as suitable for
grape production despite having a long
history of grape growing.
In 1964 the Frenchman Jean Desire
Feraud planted his first vines near Clyde,
and then won a prize with his ‘Burgundy’
in Sydney in 1881.

4. In 1895 Viticultural expert Romeo Bragato
tasted his first local wine at Arrowtown,
and saw that gold miners had planted
vines at Clyde and Cromwell. He found
grapevines flourishing outdoors at
Cromwell and he commented that “the
summer climatic conditions here are
conductive to the early ripening of the
fruit”.
He concluded that “Central Otago, was the
best place on earth for the production of
Burgundy grapes”.

5. Bragato’s comments did not have
much effect, it was not until almost
100 years later in the early 1980s that
the first commercial Vineyard in
Central Otago was established by
Alan Brady and his wife in the
Gibbston Valley.

6. Vineyards on the Edge:
Producing Wine in Central Otago has much the same constraints
as Gold Mining once had, water is the key to success in this arid
landscape. Photo: Hilok Vineyard in the Alexandra Basin

7. Central Otago -
developing an export wine industry
At the end of the 1980s and into the
1990s the first plantings of Pinot Noir
in Central Otago occurred in the
Kawarau Gorge. Now extensive
plantings have also been made
throughout the Cromwell basin and
the Alexandra Basin.

8. Central Otago benefits from being
surrounded by mountain ranges
which increased its temperature
variations both between seasons and
between night and day making the
climate similar to a continental
climate.

9. The terroir of Central Otago shares
similarities with that of wine growing
regions such as Burgundy, as Dave
Cull has written, “Central…[has]
conditions uncannily like those in
Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. It is one of the
few places in New Zealand ideally
suited to Pinot Noir growth”.

10. Beppi Crosariol, columnist from
Wednesday's Globe and Mail, writes of
Central Otago’s Kawarau Gorge; “This is
high ground that’s as far south as Niagara
(Upstate New York/Canada Border) is
north, after all, and pinot loves sweater
weather when the moon comes up, the
better to preserve acidity and give the
wines lift and balance. Well-drained
alluvial soils also produce a naturally low
yield of grapes per vine, concentrating
flavours in the bunches.”

11. Gradually the fame of Central Otago’s
wines has spread until nowadays wine
critics worldwide laud Central Otago
wines.
New Zealand’s extremely small population
base makes exporting wine necessary,
our population simply cannot absorb all
the wine that we make.
Central Otago exports wine to the Unites
States, Europe and China, amoung other
countries.

12. Central Otago is an example of regional
specialization.
The giant fruit sculpture at Cromwell
dramatically portrays the fruits historically
grown in this region, but neglects to
celebrate the wine industry that is now the
most significant fruit based industry and
earner for Central Otago.

13. A New Cromwell Fruit Sculpture that celebrates
the Wine Industry in Central Otago!

14. Westland
a Region without Wine Production
The Te Ara Encylopedia of New Zealand
states that Italian immigrants arrived in
Westland between 1875 and 1876, “a
group of 53 being dispatched to grow
grapes and mulberries at Jackson Bay
near Haast. Thick bush, swampy soil and
torrential rain ruined any chance of taming
the land; to survive, they had to work on
government roads”
.

15. Westland has a maritime climate with extremely
high rainfall and low sunlight hours per year.
The soil is not free draining, dominated by clays.
Diurnal temperature variation is not as extreme
as in Central Otago because temperatures are
mitigated by the coastal location.
For these four reasons alone grape growing has
not succeeded in Westland.

16. Typical Weather in Westland

17. Industries on the West Coast include
“mining for coal and alluvial gold, forestry
and fishing, as well as tourism and
farming.
The West Coast lack of a wine industry
necessitates importation of wine from
other regions in New Zealand, as well as
from other countries.

18. Social Differences due to Industry
Westland Vs Central Otago
A wine producing area moves to a different
time table than other regions. Harvesting the
grapes in Autumn, pruning and wine making
over winter, thinning in summer,
putting bird netting on as the grapes mature,
and, as autumn comes around - harvesting
again …very much in tune with the seasons.

19. Seasonal workers come to Central Otago
to help with harvesting grapes, and to a
lesser extent, thinning and pruning. These
workers enrich the society in Central,
bringing with them their music and
customs. When the Solomon Islanders
who work in our vineyards play at the local
markets to raise funds for their villages
back home, locals enjoy the music but
also find out that the Solomon Islands are
in need of our help.

20. The lack of seasonal workers means that
the communities of Westland are not
enriched socially by contact with people
from other countries working alongside
locals to the same extent as occurs in
Central Otago.

21. Tourism is an industry that is
shared by both Westland and
Central Otago…

22. A further spin off from wine production in
Central Otago is the tourism potential
afforded by Wine Tasting and Vineyard
Tours. Central Otago is in a prime position
to capitalize on this potential, in stand
alone operations and also by combining
these activities with other tourism
possibilities which the rugged landscape
offers, such as skiing and guided tours.

23. Most of Westland’s industries do not follow
the seasons in the same way. Coal
Mining, Tourism and Forestry are all year-
round activities. While Coastal Fishing
may be halted due to savage winter
storms, storms occur throughout the year,
so Fishing does not have a seasonal
rhythm as such.
Tourism does fall off over winter, so there
is some seasonal variation in this industry.

24. Conclusion
As a region develops a wine industry
and it’s wines become successful, the
wines of that region become known
outside that region and, due to the
need to find other markets for the
product, and demand for their wines
from outside the region, they are
exported to other regions, and
eventually to other countries.

25. Westland and Central Otago have
different climates and physical
resources, as a result different
industries have developed and
succeeded. This has resulted in the
regions’ having different rhythms, for
the most part seasonal in Central
Otago and for the most part year-round
in Westland.

26. Westland and Central Otago also have
some differences in social structure
which have led on from the differences
in their industries, such as the influx of
seasonal workers into Central Otago
and the way in which this contact with
overseas workers has enriched Central
Otago communities.

27. I’d say the folks in
Westland need a drop or
two of Central Otago wine to
help them through those
rainy days….