Maaliskuun uutiset
Jännittävä viikko edessä … Viinintekijämme, Alan, tulee katsastamaan viinitilat tiistaina (sadonkorjuuseen ehkä noin 4 viikkoa), uusi Pinot Noir vuosikerta 2012 pitäisi olla valmista pullotukseen lähiaikoina ja viimeiset 2013 Sauvignon Blancit pullotetaan perjantaina. Niin, ja sään pitäisi olla aurinkoinen ja lämmin koko viikon! 
Vintage 2012 in NZ
Vintage 2012 statistics just arrived.
* A total of 269,000 tonnes of fruit was harvested (in NZ), which is 18% down on last year. Marlborough was 23% down (56,000 tonnes).
* Sauvignon Blanc is still by far the most dominant variety, making up just under 70% of the country’s total production.
* Close to 72% of the vintage came from Marlborough, with Hawkes Bay contributing 11% of the total yield, Gisborne 4% and the rest of the wine regions combined making up 10%.
Vicarage Lane’s own vineyard produced 86.65 tonnes of Sauvignon Blanc.
Another harvest done
Vicarage Lane’s 2012 harvest is done! The crop was smaller than expected, as are most in the whole region.
Harvest weather has been sunny and beautiful, but we are expecting to get some rain in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
Vicarage Lane Wines turns 10
Today is the 10th anniversary of Vicarage Lane Wines! Let’s pop the cork off a bottle of Vicarage Lane Bubbly and have a toast!
Vicarage Lane Bubbly Sauvignon Blanc
Just labelled our very first bottling of Vicarage Lane Bubbly Sauvignon Blanc! We are really excited with it and although this is a limited edition of 2500 bottles destined for Finland in April, we’re really hopeful that a future vintage may see another run!
Award For Pinot Noir
New Zealand’s Royal Easter Show wine awards has recognised Vicarage Lane’s 2010 Canterbury Pinot Noir with a bronze medal in results released this week. 
Air New Zealand Wine Awards
Vicarage Lane’s 2011 vintage Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has been awarded a Pure Silver medal at the prestigious Air New Zealand Wine Awards, the countries premier wine awards.
The Pure Silver medal recognises not only the quality of the wine, but also that the wine is sustainably produced during all stages of it’s creation. 
Marlborough Wine Festival
The date for the 2012 Marlborough Wine Festival has now been confirmed as 11 February.
The Marlborough Wine Festival is New Zealand’s longest running and most successful wine festival, with a unique selection of Marlborough wines along with some delicious local produce and gourmet cuisine. The festival has something for everyone, including wine tutorials with the regions leading winemakers and viticulturists, the Fashion in the Vines competition, the food and wine matching competition and fantastic entertainment from some of New Zealand’s leading performers.
Be sure to get your festival ticket when tickets go on sale on 8 October 2011.
Winemaker Visit
Today John, Alan and I visited the vineyards, looked at growth on the vines and discussed the coming season.
Our Winemaker, Alan McCorkindale (centre)
