Esk Valley

Just three months before harvest, some Hawke's Bay vineyards are completely flooded, with long term consequences for the industry predicted.

However, dry days, a lot of sun and “good drying winds” were needed to dry out vines after the floodwater subsided, he said. A total of 41,600 hectares of wine grapes were harvested last year, the outlook said. There would be a “long reaching effect” on the business, he said. The stocks of wine would probably also be underwater because they were stored on the lower levels of a building, Den Boer said. There was a person living on vinyard who had reported there was “a few feet” of water running through the winery and the cellar door, he said. Some vineyards in Esk Valley in Hawke’s Bay are completely flooded and there will be a long-lasting effect on the wine industry in the area, a grower says.