Other News

Mud House & Emirates Team New Zealand Proud As Competition

Mud House in association with Emirates Team New Zealand, have an amazing prize pack to be won which is a trip for two for four nights to see the Louis Vuitton Cup racing in San Francisco. Look for our bottles on the shelves with the 'Proud As!' Necktags and Promo Stickers.

THE PRIZE PACK INCLUDES: Return airfares for two people to San Francisco from Auckland on Wednesday, 21 August 2013 and return on Sunday, 25 August 2013; b) return airport transfers c) four nights for two persons (twin share or double room) at the Hilton San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco; d) a day on the water to watch the Louis Vuitton Cup Racing; e) a Mud House dining experience; and f) NZ$2,000 spending money.

HOW TO ENTER: Purchase any promotionally stickered Mud House or Mud House Estate wine and enter by texting your unique 7 digit code to ‘811’.
All entries received by text will receive a free confirmation text by return indicating that your text has been successfully received and you are entered in the draw.
The promotion starts 12.00am 4 March 2013 and closes 11.59pm 26 May 2013 (Promotion Period).

The Prize will be drawn on Wednesday 29th May 2013 by random electronic selection from all valid entries. There will be one winner drawn. The winner will be notified by phone call to the phone that they entered from. Please note the competition is only available to New Zealand residents.

The full competition page with the full details is located at proudas.co.nz good luck!!

Marlborough Update - The Woolshed Vineyard December 2012

The growing season has started well at The Woolshed Vineyard with warm weather leading to great shoot development and very even budburst on the 27th October. The first half of November saw the arrival of cooler than average weather which slowed vine growth and that distinctive yellowing of vines was evident around Marlborough. Frost damage to vines on the Woolshed block was minimal compared to some blocks in the region.

The last week of November saw a distinct increase in temperatures resulting in some major growth spurts in the vines. We only recorded 6mm rain for the month so irrigation is underway as ground has dried very quickly, a huge turnaround from August /Sept when we had flooding through the blocks and sheds.

Hill Block 6, our young Pinot Noir, has started flowering and I would predict that the sauvignon blanc won’t be far away with all this warm weather.

Bud rubbing and 1st foliage wire lift has been completed so we are running on target timing wise. We were stoked to see the arrival of our new sprayer, it’s a relief to know we can get those important canopy sprays applied at the most crucial times.

Waipara Valley Update - Home Block, The Deans & The Mound Vineyard December 2012

Spring started in Mid-September for Waipara with the Chardonnay first to bud burst, followed by the Pinots, Riesling and Sauvignon.

With bud burst we are on high alert for spring frosts and have had 17 events this year. The last time the helicopter flew was the 8th of November, fighting hard to keep the frost at bay.

Spring so far has been rather cold and growth slow. The weather is looking to improve from now on just in time for flower.

We have a large crew of seasonal workers in the vineyard, about 30 people from all over the world. They are working their way through the shoot thinning, bud rubbing and wire lifting.

Central Otago Update - Golden Terraces Vineyard December 2012

There have been testing times in Central Otago, with 12 recorded frost events to date (the highest number in the past 4 seasons). As widely reported the frost event on the 4^th of November was particularly damaging across the Central Otago region. Initial indications were for a loss of 100 tonnes of fruit, although this has now been scaled back to 60 tonnes, we are certain it will still have a significant impact on the local pinot noir supply.

Bleak October weather resulted in slow growth on the vines, with the second latest bud burst in 7 years of recording. Thankfully late November saw the return of some much needed warmth!

The vineyard is now bustling with life as our 12 staff are kept busy thinning shoots, lifting wires, spraying, fertilising and mowing. The addition of our new dual purpose mower/mulcher has been very well received, minimising any spraying to keep our vineyard as sustainable and efficient as possible.

Waipara Valley Update - August 2012

In spite of the coolest summer we have experienced in nearly 20 years in New Zealand, we have harvested some beautiful fruit due to the fantastic autumn. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris fruit looked and tasted particularly splendid.

It was a very condensed harvest for us not starting until after Easter and most of the picking concentrated over the last two weeks of April, first week of May. The last of the Riesling was not done until the 27 of May by which time we had already started the pruning.

Just halfway through the winter months and we have progressed well with our pruning. In addition to our fulltime staff, we have around 40 casual pruning staff. A real mix of nationalities and languages in the vineyard! Chillean,Uruguan,French,English,German,Chinese and Kiwi!

June was very cold, recorded -13 at The Mound one morning which was another first! Grape vines in their dormant, winter state will cope with up to – 16, the pruning staff complain about the frosty mornings (think of them with frozen fingers trying to tie Sauvignon Blanc canes to a frosty wire.) but love the sunny days that follow.

90% of our vineyard is cane pruned to 2,3 or 4 canes depending on age and fruit destination, the remainder is spur pruned including our older block of own root Pinot Gris from whence comes our reserve Pinot Gris.

Jean-Luc Dufour, Waipara Valley Vineyard Manager

Central Otago Update - Golden Terraces Vineyard, August 2012

Pruning began 1^st week of June. We adopted a slight change to past seasons with “crew” numbers which resulted in a smaller precise crew being employed – 7 people in total. This seemed a huge task as we have 91ha to prune but the rationale behind it was to allow the crew to have continuous work through to end of September (or thereabouts), along with the major fact that the supervision of this small crew would result in the job being conducted nearly to 100% of expectation.

Weather at this time of the year always has a huge impact on productivity & morale – past seasons have been recorded where we have periods of up to three weeks with no visual vitamin “D” – the sun!! Well no surprise but early July delivered the norm. For seven days our average daily temperature was negative 2 degrees Celsius!!! Tough going for the crew!! However, since then we have now had a truly spectacular run of great sunny weather, cold frosty starts, but day temperature rising to the mid “teens” – quite surreal. Some days we have seen a temperature difference of 14-15 degrees. The vineyard turns into a “clothesline” – three layers of warm winter clothes become removed to one as the day warms with the layers being “hung” on the wires in each person’s row. One has to remember where your clothes are as retrieval by end of day is a necessity – the three layers will be needed for the start of “tomorrow”

Productivity is on schedule, we should complete our cane pruned portion of the vineyard by 3^rd week of August [58ha] with the 33ha of spur pruned area to complete the season. Tractor mulching of the pruning’s is an annual task – one that is only conducted once the crew have completed a sizable area.

Central Otago has a “unique” rabbit problem, this year being no exception – quite the reverse. Regional Council conducted a “count” of rabbit numbers & our local area, Bendigo, was instructed that a poisoned 1080 carrot drop would be requirement – cost to the relevant land owners. Two dummy carrot drops are done a week apart with the third being the poisoned carrot. This drop was done at the start of the month (see photo). The weather is imperative, which delivered. The following day, the rabbit numbers was the difference between night & day – great result for all. The poisoned carrots are applied by aircraft, efficient way of covering a large area of undulating terrain.

Ducan Cramp, Central Otago Vineyard Manager

Marlborough Update - The Woolshed Vineyard, August 2012

Flooding at the Woolshed Vineyard - August 2012

The later than normal harvest was followed by a big frost on the 25^th April and we were able to start pruning straight after harvest. This allowed us to get all the major cuts completed and utilize theKlima Stripper to its maximum and get the whole Woolshed block stripped before sending machine to Waipara to strip out down there.

The month of May was dry and 17 frosts were recorded. Temperatures were down to as low as -5 degrees Celsius on three or more occasions. These cold mornings resulted in some beautiful Marlborough Sunny days. June was very wet with 182mm rain recorded on the block.

As of the 3rd August the whole block has been wrapped down ready for the new growing season.

Marlborough has experienced some flooding with the vineyard not escaping either; we have had a lot of water flowing through the block as you can see in this photo. Let’s hope the next couple of months produce a warmer and dryer spring.

Nev Gane, Vineyard Manager

Mud House Single Vineyard Wines - A Range Worth Finding

Fancy a walk on the wine side? Whether you're looking for an aromatic Pinot Gris, elegantly oaked Chardonnay or fruity Sauvignon Blanc, embrace bold, exciting flavours with Mud House Single Vineyard Wines - a range that is truly worth finding.

Created exclusively for the Mud House Single Vineyard range, the inspired new wine releases include the 2011 Mud House Taggart Vineyard Pinot Gris; 2011 Mud House Hungry Hill Chardonnay and the 2011 Mud House Neal Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.

With an inherent sense of place that stems from small parcels of grapes carefully selected by the Mud House viticulture and winemaking team, the Mud House Single Vineyard Range boasts vitality, flavour and individuality.

Please download the attachement to read the full press release.

NZ Winery Finds Favour with International Airlines

They may be rivals on the ground and in the air, but when it comes to knowing good wine it seems some of the world's best airlines are in agreement on which wine to serve their passengers.

A number of The Mud House Group's internationally honoured vintages have been selected for in-flight dining on several prestigious airlines for Asia Pacific routes and as far afield as Denmark, Norway and Sweeden.

Please download the press release to read more...

Mud House Winemaker Nadine Worley a Finalist in Young Winemaker of the Year

The Wine Society has released the names of the finalists for their Young Winemaker of the Year award and Mud House Winemaker Nadine Worley has made it through. These prestigious and industry-leading awards, now in their eleventh year, are held annually to recognise and reward the talents of the most exceptional young Winemakers in Australia and New Zealand. The winners will be announced at the Young Winemaker of the Year gala evening, held in Sydney on November 18th.