TE MATA VINEYARDS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 550, 3 July 1909, Page 10

TE MATA VINEYARDS.

A FLOURISHING HAWKE'S BAT INDUSTRY. v (Prom Our Special Correspondent.) Hastings, July 2 Hastings nnd its immediate neighbourhood foim essentially a fruit-producing contro, i and to tho south of Hastings, near Havolock, ttis particularly applies. Tho hills to a ccr-. [tain ortont shelter tlio trees in Winter, and jet do not rob them of tho sun's rays, and tho season at Havclock is much earlier than at Hastings. Now hero is such warmth and shelter more needed than in a vineyard, and at To Mata tho situation would eeom to bo almost ideal. Leaving 'Hastings, one passes orchard after orchard, with its lons linos >of fruit trees. Each tree appears to bo pruned exactly liko its neighbour. Hardly a bough appeals in a difforent place, and tno trees are almost of uniform height. Now and then an orchard is passed completely covered—both sides and on top—with rnro netting , , showing dearly the need to guard against tho orcnardist's most aotivfl onemy._ Nestling in a lovoly hollow beta eon the hills, tho outbuildings <ind cellars surrounded by tall massive biiiegum trees, intermixed with the graceful weeping willow, and approached by a long winding walk, lies To Mata vmoyards. To Mata is one of the largest vineyards in Now Zealand, and your representative was wolcomod and conducted over the establishment by>>the genial managor, Mr. Craike. Thirty-five Acres: 38,000 Vines. A vineyard is not to be commended to the man who wants to tnako a fortune quickly. The ground has to be selected first, and much depends on the situation. Then there aro the Tines. Even if rooted vines are put in, it is fully three jear& before thoy bear to any extent. Tho wmo can then bo made, but here again aoothor three , years must elapso before it is fully matured. That is to say, that it 19 six years, (Under the most favourable conditions, before tho viticiiltunst gets any return for his mvestmont. The area under cultivation at Te Mata is 35 acres, and tho vines number some 36,000, just over 1000 to tho acre. The favourite vines grown aro Hermitage, Cabenet, Malboc, and Pinot skin) • and tho Chasselais arid Riesling (white ekm). Tho two first-named are the favourite varieties, and the last (the Riesling) is the vino from which ,tho famous Rhine and Mosollo wines nro made. Atpresont three wmos are made at To Matar—Hock, Claret, and Madeira-jand the harvest last year yielded 11,300 gallons. , Making Wine and Maturing It. ' ,Tho actual making of tho wine- from tho grapes may be briefly described. Tho grapes aro gathered _in boxes, baskets, and barrels, and brought into the crushing-room in drays. Thoy aro then put into an elevator, and liftod np to a crushing and stemming machine. This machine is immediately ovor five largo' concrete and brick vats. After boing crushed and stemmed, the "must," as the crushed grapes are called, then fajls into a shoot, which can bo adjusted to fill the vat desned. When the vate aro all full, fermentation starts almost immediately, especially if the gripes are warm when gathered. This fornient&tioa goes on for from four to sis days. After tnat tho "must" 19 put into a press. With o. pressuro of eomo 60 to 60 tons upon tho broken berries it can be imagjned that thoy aro squeezed until thero is little but tho skins left. The juice mns out on to a table, at one sido of which is mi ot|tlot to a tub, on which rests a sieve to stop any seeds coming through. Prom theiico it is pumped intoj.be collar, put up in largo ciske and" dated, \Gvory two months or so for tho Ufst yeai it, is "racked." "Racking" simply moans drawing tho clear wine off and loaving the sediment in tho old vat. This sediment is removod bv a man who enters the cask, and thoroughly cleanses it water. Tho massive casks dosorvo special notice. Tlioy tire /made'm' tlireo riizos— 300 gallons, 600 gallons, and 750 gallons, and tho staves are two inohes to two and a half inches thick, of either Baltic or American 'oaE. Those casks, when greeted, are. north * (empty) eomo £30 to £35 each. ■> Kauri 'has boon tned instead of the oak, but is not suitable for the purpose ' Tho wine, after being 6tered for three jears, is read} for bottling. Te Mata wine is never sold in bulk, bnt is all bottled and cased on the epot. There aro three cellars, each built of bnek and concrete, ono having been recently added. In one cellar there arc thirty 600-gallon. to '750-gallon» casks. Another contains eighteen casks of the same BiKo, while in thd third are thirteen casks of 850 gallons A stall, has just been erected for tho purpose of distilling brandy for fortifying tho sweet wines. A Handicap: The Cask Duty., Tlio Government have taken an interest in viticulture, and an experiment station was oatablished Eomo five years ago by Mr. Bragate, the (Jovernnient Viticulturist.' ,It Has set up to detoimino tlio best varieties of' vines on resistant stocks suitable for Now Zealand, and particularly Hawko's Bay vmeyaris It is far from complete yet. and it was only last jear that a callusmg-house was erected, and a deep well sunk to ensure a good supply of water for tho nursery. The Government at first chargpd £4 10s per 1000 for its vines, but now, for some unexplained reason, tho charge is £10 per 1000. With New Zealand wines competing against Australian, and Continental, it might bo expected that the Government would encourage the lndustrj Such, however, hardly ippoars to bo the case. In the matter of oasks, Vfhich aro imported from Australia, the dutj is 30 per cent Iho wood required, Baltic or Ainoncan oak. Is two to two and a half inches thick. This to be properly seasoned must stand for at least two >ears New Zealand coopers havo no particular call for this class of timber, and tho cisks rannot be mado satisfactorily locall}. Mr. Craike had au interview with tho Hon. J. A Millar, Minister foi Customs, and also the Hon. A. W Hogg on tho subject of remitting, or at least reducing, the duty, but was unsuccessful m securing, their support When a new crusher was put in, he again_ raised the question, as most agricultural implemonts come in duty free. Mft CraiLe wrote to the I Minister, asking that the duty of 30 per cent, bo removed. After eome- oorrespoild- | ence, ho receivod a reply to tho effect tliat the crushei was wine-making,'and hot viticultural, maohinery. In the present stage of the industrj. the two aro co closely albed as to become almost tho same thing, and it hardly appears as if the Government aro encouraging the making of wine in Now Zealand at present.