Vintage 08 begins

Our belated investment in a couple of frost fighting wind machines paid big dividends in 2008 after we got through a couple of scary cold mornings at the Eyrie Vineyard.. With their big diesel engines getting through over $1000 of fuel a night and costing over fifty grand a piece they were not a cheap fix, but certainly better than losing a hundred ton of fruit like we did in the 2007 harvest.

The flowering period in spring 2007 was perfect and most the flowers set meaning that despite having about the same numbers of bunches per vine as last year the crop was always going to be a bigger one.

The dry warm autumn put us on target for an early harvest and at Lake Chalice we got harvest underway with some young Sauvignon Blanc blocks by the 17th March and into the Pinot and Chardonnay by the 20th. It was quickly apparent that crop estimations were out by 15 to 30% and this put pressure squarely on the winery for sufficient processing space.

Fortuitously South Pacific Cellars, our joint venture winery, had anticipated a big harvest and had taken the precaution of hiring 10 transport tanks, around 400,000 litres, capable of holding the juice from 600 tonnes grapes. This gave them the breathing space to handle the harvest in an orderly manner. We were able to pick all our blocks when the fruit was ready even when a couple of rain events occurred in April, including the 'drought breaker' 64ml overnight on the 14th/15th .

In fact we took the last of our Merlot from the Falcon Vineyard on the morning of the 14th April to avoid that forecast rain (yay!). Our last block of Savvy in the Awatere Valley was taken on the 19th . Normally we would be harvesting into May so for the winery to be able to handle both the bigger volume and a condensed time period is a credit to its efficient operation and good pre vintage planning, well done Graeme, Sana, Kane, Drea and the team.

So how is it all looking? As always the proof will be in the pudding, I mean bottle, in a few months time. Those wineries that were able to harvest when they wanted (like us) and whose crops were not overly large (like us) are going to produce some fantastic wines. Stand by for the Lake Chalice 2008 Savvy due out the 1st of July. Yahoo!
- April 2008

Harvests begins

We are gearing up for harvest 2008 which will begin for Lake Chalice on Thursday March 20th at our Falcon Vineyard with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. On the same day Phil will be very happy to see the harvest of Pinot Noir from his Pinot Envy vineyard.

The home block always takes a hammering from the birds, as it is surrounded by white grapes and therefore sticks out as being ripe and ready for pillaging.

Plus it is always a relief to actually get harvest underway, especially as the weather has been so kind. Long may it continue!

Crop estimates are creeping upward as our ripeness tests include checking bunch weights, so the year could be a beaut, but we'll let you know after the grapes are safely in the winery. Cheers!
- March 2008

Trade Me features falcon chick

This is a posting about a New Zealand falcon - NZs fastest bird, and is on behalf of Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust.

The NZ falcon is found nowhere else in the world, and there are not many left! Considered that there are just 4000 remaining in the wild. Wingspan is the only bird of prey centre in NZ; without government or local body funding, it is a community, charitable effort to save these iconic birds.

One of the falcon pairs at the Wingspan Centre in Rotorua are good at laying eggs and natural incubation. On Sunday 11 Nov 07, the pair hatched 1 chick, the nest was checked the following day, full of anticipation to see at least 2 chicks. Disappointment was an understatement when there were no eggs, nor chicks, in the nest. On checking camera monitors it was found that one chick was killed and eaten by the parents, the other removed from the nest to be eaten later.

After a search of the aviary, full of disappointment, about to give up, a faint, very weak cheep was heard, by share chance, the body of the young, lifeless falcon was found cached behind stones and long grass. With a weight of just 20 gms, he barely had energy or strength to open his beak, and was minutes from body shutdown and dying. He was placed immediately in an incubator, and given a morsel of feed.

This falcon chick, a male, is a little fighter with a strong will to live, has endured round the clock monitoring, temperature control, and feeding every 3 hrs. It has been an intensive time. Today, marked the first day that he was removed from intensive care, and he can now thermoregulate and feed independently.

This falcon is likely to be held long term, and while not for sale, Wingspan is offering sponsorship for his care and associated naming rights, complimentary visits to see him and sponsor acknowledgement. The winning bid will be a donation for his care, considered a unique gift for life that may well appeal as a gift sponsorship for Xmas, a corporate initiative, or simply in support of a unique conservation effort.

To put in your bid, go to
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farming-industry/Other/auction-129674231.htm
- November 2007

Cracklin' Rosie ready to fly

Latest release is our Cracklin' Rosie Pinot Rose, ready and waiting for those warm summer days and nights. Let Lake Chalice add a little zing to your next al fresco lunch, BBQ , beach lounging and general summer fun.

Cracklin' Rosie has a slight spritz to tickle the taste buds, and a crown seal for easy opening. Chill it,flip the lid and enjoy.

Available by mail order on this website, or from the cellar door, or from Glengarry stores in the North Island. Phone 0800GLENGARRY

walk tall, fly fearless, savour Lake Chalice
- October 2007

Seaweed Saga

When the average person gets rung up and offered, for free, 34 tonnes of frozen seaweed they say, "Thank you but no thank you". However, Lake Chalice's vineyard manager, Ged Boekholt, is anything but average. Immediately visions of composting and fertilizing liquid gold to feed his 50,000 hungry grape 'babies' started swirling in his head. Within a few days in early September '07 the seaweed arrived in 20kg frozen plastic bags.

The seaweed was not just any old kelp or beach drift either, but specially harvested and imported from Tonga. It is a variety called Limu and known as Tongan Royal Weed. It is extremely fine and resembles sphagnum moss. It is known to contain some pretty special compounds including fucoidan a "potent anti oxidant and immune system enhancer", apparently. The importers had stored the Limu at minus 18°C intending to extract these compounds but the technical practicality and costs had proved too difficult and they had decided to dump the product as the storage costs were mounting.

Next: what to do with this defrosting 'gold' mine. To the rescue came Graeme Paul at our winery, South Pacific Cellars, with seven stainless steel vats. Normally, they are used for small batch Pinot Noir fermentation, but now the intended brew was a little more basic.

Phil and Ged had the fun and very messy job of transferring the now defrosted, smelly and very slimy Limu into the tanks ("add that to my list of never again jobs, Phil"). Topped with water they are now happily 'stewing' away at the back of the vineyard. In a few months Ged will have the resulting liquid analysed and it will be used in either the fertigation system or as a foliar spray. The liquid will be high in NPK (Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus) and more importantly, a myriad of other trace elements and minerals.

It is another step in our efforts to recycle and reuse any waste product on the vineyard to build up the vine health using organic matter. From vintage 2007 all our grape marc (grape skins, seeds, leaves, stalks, etc. left over in the presses), which normally goes to waste dumps or is used as animal feed was returned to the Falcon Vineyard. The marc was mixed with fine lime and sawdust and spread onto some of the stoniest areas of vineyard. For the 2008 vintage we will take all the grape waste from South Pacific Cellars, not just our own, and compost it on a specially developed pad with a proper leachate collection system.
Healthy, vigorous vines equal great tasting grapes making outstanding varietal wines.
- September 2007

Natural Weed Control

A few of the flock of woolly weed eaters that have done a fantastic job at both the Quarry Block and Falcon and Eyrie Vineyards this winter in keeping the inter-rows clean and tidy. In a win-win arrangement the sheep get new grazing while we get nice short grass and fertiliser (in pellet form). It has also meant we have not had to mow or use chemical weed killer over the winter.

This shot was taken in the notoriously stony Quarry Block where a stone ‘mulch’ under the vines makes it appear there is very little grass to eat but I can assure you there is a 1.8 metre grass strip in the 2.7m space between each row.
- July 2007

The (Red) Raptor takes wing

Good news on the Pinot Noir front, as our first release of The Raptor Marlborough Pinot Noir is bottled and ready to fly. Lake Chalice's Raptor label celebrates the craftmanship of our winemaking team, led by Matt Thomson, as they pinpoint superior batches of wine as it makes its way through the winery.

We are especially pleased with the Raptor Pinot Noir, which joins its stablemate (should that be nest-mate), the Raptor Sauvignon Blanc. Both wines embodying the best of the best from Lake Chalice. Fly fearless!
- May 2007

Vintage 2007 is underway

30th March

Harvesting at Lake Chalice commenced on March 22nd 2007 with the first batch of Sauvignon Blanc, from our Falcon Vineyard. Over the following week we have taken all our Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and started the Chardonnay.
Fruit quality and flavours have been exceptional so far. Quantities are, as expected, on the low side. This follows the poor weather experienced during Spring flowering, leading to a low fertilization rate and smaller berries and bunches.
The weather in March has been drier and warmer than usual, so we started picking 4 to 5 days earlier than average.
Graeme, Sanna, Kane and the rest of the team at our winery, South Pacific Cellars, have had a nice relaxed start to the vintage but are anticipating big volumes over the next week as the vintage gets into the larger Sauvignon Blanc blocks.
Already we are excited at the prospects of the wines from this vintage….stay tuned.

- March 2007

Jack Frosts Untimely Visit (10th November 2006):

Our Eyrie Vineyard was one of many Marlborough Vineyards to be affected by a frost that hit the region overnight the 9th and 10th of November 2006. With temperatures down to minus 1.5 degree Celsius and at least below zero for three and a half hours the sensitive growing tips on the vines were frozen and subsequently died back destroying the primary flower heads.

The photos show our Pinot a week after the frost. The flower heads are clearly brown and will not pollinate and form bunches.

Interestingly a frost exactly a month earlier on the 10th of October was harder (-3C) and longer, over 6 hours below zero, but did not have any visible effect on the newly emerged shoots. Go figure that one....we are working on a few theories.

Loses at the Eyrie are still to be fully evaluated but we expect to have lost all of our Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc and 75% of the Pinot Gris grown for the 2007 vintage ( bugger!). A total of 100 tonnes of fruit or around 7500 cases of wine ( bugger, bugger.....).

Not a happy event but one that is always a possibility when you grow grapes in these cool climates. It is Lake Chalice’s first significant frost on one of our own vineyards since we began harvesting in 1993. Contract growers being hit in late 2002 affecting the 2003 vintage.

On the up side none of our contract growers or other vineyards were affected and total overall expected tonnage will be about the same as 2006 as some of our younger vines will be producing full crops for the first time. Also the first significant crops of the Quarry Block Merlot and Falcon Vineyard Pinot Gris become doubly valuable. Pinot lovers need not despair as we have a signifcantly larger volume from the 2006 vintage, to be released in March 2007 and will be looking to top up our supplies of 2007 Pinot with contract fruit.

- December 2006

latest review of Sauvignon Blanc

2006 Lake Chalice Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand -- I generally love SBs from New Zealand, and this one doesn't disappoint. The color is pale silver and yellow, the aroma a fresh burst of grapefruit: POW! The taste is what we love about wine from this country ... all there, big but balanced, tons of grapefruit citrus and a little smoke on the finish. 90 points.

Mark Tarbell, Arizona Republic

- November 2006

Order using our secure website and save

Our latest Goblet Gossip newsletter is available for an update on Vintage 2006, our current wines available and the definition of giraffiti and Karmageddon.

For secure ordering, use our website and until August 10th, we will send your order freight free. (Don't worry, the order page adds freight automatically, but I can deduct the freight charge before processing). Orders of 6 bottles or more are welcome, for delivery to addresses within New Zealand.

Hope to hear from you soon.
- July 2006