A HAWKE'S BAY VINEYARD.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 930, 24 September 1910, Page 19

A HAWKE'S BAY VINEYARD.

■ 9 — TE MAT A. DESCRIBED. ■ Te Mata, which is just now attracting considerable interest on account of the .very fine Quality of its claret, hock, and 'Madeira, lies on the Havolock Hills, .within a few miles of Hastings. Tho vinery is well worth a visit; from anybody who may bs travelling through the dis:triot.. Thero . arn threo vineyards within half a'mile of .each other,, the total area under the grape , being thirty-five acres. A Hobby Turned to Profit. It is interesting to note that'when he. commenced the i wine-making industry some fourteen yeajs ago, Mr. Bernard Chambers, tho proprietor; merely did so as a hobby in order to use up the fine grape yields nhich are so characteristic of: the district. The wine made found admirers, so. much so that Mr. Chambers decided to. go right int<> the business. _Witli this object in view, he procured the services of Mr.' J. 01 Craike",: of "Victoria, some seven years ago. Mr. CTaike had had considerable experience in wine-making in Australia, and ho has put his knowledge into such' good use tfeit to-day the

To Mata win© . finds a demand which. It cannot supply. This,, notwithstanding thefact that last season .its vigncron turn-, ed ..out' thirteen thousand gallons. The wines made;are claret,', which has ft very big sal?; hock and "Madeira. The latter is much, recommended by. doctors 'for invalids. . , , . . .' Te Mata Wines Win Gold Medals, 1 To Mata wines have taken five -gold medals during the last .four years:'at the 1906 New ; Zealand Exhibition; 1903 Franco-British -Exhibition;; and at 190 ST Imperial/International Exhibition. These wines are made..from pureVgrape juice, : and they are always held for three or more years for maturing purposes before being placed before the public. The Havelock North climate is something like that where is mado the fine French claret .".-V,;.- i.-i.r;. rV :ir.>./|; '■

—cool but not too cold—and the .wine-, is described as having more body than tlie. ■foreign- mado -article. :'JDhe;hock is like th© German, wliite/ wmes, . while . the Madeira.. has it / most . pleasing palatable flavour. 1 The'.To Mata]winb cellar's are' the feature of the district. There are: about four-of them, and h'jre arc ais- ' played the 'great. oak :whic'k. hold ; the liquor. . Teii of these casks hold | twelve hundred gallons each. . Thoy li© I bright "and' fresh ]ooking"bn "their' oaken l.sides, ,and-are about nine feet. high, and without the .aid of. steps cajinot be entirely washed' inside by. the longest' -mail in the place. - In-another' cellar' there eye' 30 six-hundred, gallon casks; and,-in still ; another 18 six-hundred gallon, casks, and, finally, there are the three hundred and fifty gallon receptacles from "which tho wine is . drawn into the, sirty-four gallon hogsheads, clarified and then bottled.- The temperature of cellars is, 55 degrees. There, aje five fermenting vats,,,.but two more are' to be-added:this year. ] • .. Wine-Making. In making,the wine the grapes are,first picked by men and boys, and are brought in from ■ the ■ vineyards in barreb and .boxes: Thpy are then, thrown-on a. table, and sorted,. and 'the 'good grapes -are fed. into an-'elevator. w'hich delivers them ~to' a crusher and. stemmer. . ]These latter strip .the- grapes . from the. bunc.hes and allow' tho juioe and crushed berries to goinfo, the .fermenting vats. : The average amount of stuff put. through is t\yo tons an houT, %nd. during the season, .ithich lasts /from. the: middle of ■ March to the ■'>--'die of May; there', are usually put through one hundred tons. The best wine grapes ' are cabernet; liormitage, .;malbec, nr.d pinot meunier. After being placed in . the fermenting vats, fermentation commences immediately, and goes on,for five or six days, or. if the weather is cold, seven days. .The stuff, is then bailed into a, press:-and'.the juice that comes but is wine. It. is placet! in the casks, where it is-racked'or distilled, being shifted from one.cask'to another for about six weeks. Great care is' taken in. all the preparations by' the:vigncron, and. this, is probably one of tho reasons why the wine has such a good , name throughout' Now Zealand. : . : . In the vineyards: about . per. acre is spent", in . labour/. alone -each season, thus-showing - the., amount. of.-work- engendered by. the industry, and 'demonstrating; what ■ money might : he spent if the 'wholctbiisiness were properly developed 'i.ii the. wine-growing districts/of New Zealand. Two distinguished Oversea scientists will read .papers at the British Association Congress,' which, opens at Sheffield •. on August 31. Professor Grafton Elliot Smith, F.R.S., formerly of Sydney University,, and now of Manchester, will discuss the racial affinities of tho. Egyptiana from the earliest times. Professor Smith spent somo years in Egypt -as-Professor of Anatomy at the Government , School of Medicine, Cairo. Mr. A. Iv. Newman, of Wellington, New Zealand, will read 'an interesting paper on the origin and racial affinities of the Maori. " '