Waimea Estates' vineyard was established in 1993 by orchardists Trevor and Robyn Bolitho with the 2ha Hill Vineyard, and further planting of the 27ha Annabrook Vineyard in 1994 was followed in 1995 with the 11ha Hunter Vineyard. In 1998 a 41ha vineyard was developed in Hope and this was then sold in 2000 in order to finance winery establishment. During the winter of 2000 the fourth 8ha vineyard was planted with newer pinot noir and sauvignon blanc clones. Even though they can produce more grapes than they need, they also buy in grapes from 7-8 growers in the Nelson region to increase the range of fruit flavours in the wine.
Waimea Estates belong to the Integrated Wine Production (IWP) scheme, a holistic and reduced-spray approach to grape growing which aims for continued improvement towards sustainability.
However when circumstances arise Tasman Crop Protection supply Waimea Estates with chemicals, fertiliser and advice, and in the last two years have provided them with Gro-Chem products such as Trichoderma. Phillip Hutchinson, co-owner and marketing director of Gro-Chem explained that Trichoderma are a species of fungi which feed on pathogenic fungi, therefore having a beneficial effect on soil. It also appears to produce enzyme complexes that promote plant growth and provide better disease resistance.
"Last year we ran a trial in Nelson, where grapevines were treated with Trichoderma and compared with the untreated controls, growth was double the cane length and vigour," Phillip said.
Chris Prattley from Tasman Crop Protection explained that the Wellington based company Gro-Chem offered flexibility in the manufacturing process with the advantage of targeting specific deficiencies with liquid and foliar fertilisers. "That's a big advantage they have, the ability to tailor make a fertiliser to suit a given situation," he said.
Trevor Bolitho has used Gro-Chem products mainly as a calcium supplement on his pipfruit for many years and has recently used other formulas on grapes and found them very good, easy to use and a consistent product. "Basically as a nutrient based product which we use in our spray programme. Sometimes when you have deficiencies, you need to take steps to get them right and that is one of the products we use."
