After a challenging growing season, grape growers and contractors across Tasman and Marlborough say a late weather turnaround has delivered where it counts – in the glass.
Elite Viticulture contractor, owner-operator and vineyard owner in Tasman, John Selwood, describes the 2026 harvest as a season of contrasts.
“It’s been an exceptional season with fruit quality, but it certainly didn’t feel like it early on,” he says.
“Up until February, it was a really hard growing season. We had a heap of rain, which made vineyard management challenging. Around Christmas we were all wondering if summer was ever going to arrive.”
That uncertainty lingered until mid-February, when conditions finally improved.
“From mid-February into March, the weather was magic,” John says. “March was incredibly kind to us, and that made all the difference.”
The late run of settled weather allowed fruit to ripen cleanly, with John describing quality around Nelson as “phenomenal”. Harvest was also largely undisrupted.
While some vineyards saw reduced yields, John says that has helped balance current market pressures.
“Reduced yields have helped balance things out given where the market is at. But it’s tough out there for a lot of people.”
He says premium wines are still selling well, and his own fruit, supplied to a local winery for domestic and export markets, met expectations.
Now in his 26th vintage, John remains cautiously optimistic.
“If we can continue to manage crop loads to match what the market needs, I think we’ll be all right. But it’s a difficult environment to predict.”
In Marlborough, contractors also faced a compressed season. Valley Harvesting manager Neville Gander says modern harvests are increasingly intense, with most vineyards growing the same variety.
“More than 80 percent of vineyards are growing the same variety, and everyone wants it off at the same time. That makes it difficult.”
Neville says this year’s harvest was shorter than in previous years. “We started off slowly with a few early varieties, but the bulk of harvest was 24/7,” Neville says. “Normally we might be going for around 21 days, but this year it was closer to 14.”
“The weather was great. We didn’t have significant issues with botrytis, and we didn’t have to stop often due to weather. That makes a big difference operationally.”
However, reduced workloads reflected the ongoing oversupply of grapes. “We’re paid per kilometre, and with the oversupply of grapes, we simply didn’t travel the distances we normally would,” he says.
“Some fruit wasn’t picked at all,” Neville says. “We used significantly less diesel but paid significantly more for it.”
Fruit quality across Marlborough was strong, particularly in the Awatere and Lower Wairau valleys.
Concerns raised by contractors and vineyard owners spoken to by Top South Farming Monthly highlight uncertainty for contract growers, many of whom may not have secure outlets for their fruit next season.
“There’s still a risk that many contract growers won’t have a home for their fruit over the next few years as their supply contracts run out,” Neville says. “At the same time, there are companies picking up fruit very cheaply, or even for free, and using it to produce bulk wine. That’s part of how we ended up with oversupply in the first place.”
Despite market challenges and rising input costs, the mood across both regions is one of cautious optimism.
“New Zealand wine isn’t about bulk,” Neville says. “We’re a boutique industry; we need to keep focusing on marketing ourselves as a premium product.”
Back in Tasman, John agrees. “We produced great wine, and I’ve been hearing positive feedback around sales from some of the wineries I deal with. The general consensus is that higher-quality wines are still moving well. So I’m quietly positive,” he says.
