Murdoch James Estate, Vineyard

Photos >>> http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc311/rtwilli4/

New Zealand is quite famous for its wines. Cameron has a friend of the family that owns a vineyard in the southern part of the North Island near a town called Martinboro. We decided to check out the vineyard and see if they had any work for us to do. Mr. Frazier is the man that owns the vineyard and was happy to put us to work, as well as put us up in a very nice cottage for free.

We worked almost 30 hours while we were there. The whole time we were "bud rubbing." Grapes grow on vines, and the top of the vines produce the best fruit. The buds, or flowers, on the bottom part of the plant do not produce good fruit, and if left on the plant, they will use nutrients that could be going to the buds at the top of the plant. So instead of letting these small buds use nutrients, they are just chopped off.

So that's what we did, chopped off all of the small buds. Between the three of us, we pruned almost 10,000 plants. Easy work, great weather, average pay, and a great place to stay at a beautiful vineyard.

We also got a tour of the winery, where they actually make the wine. We learned all about how it is made and aged, from start to finish. Red is much different that white, different machines and methods are used depending on the type of grape you have and how much you want to sell the wine for. A winery needs to produce more affordable, average wine just like they need to produce expensive, top notch wine. This is all achieved by different methods when making the wine.

We had a great time at the vineyard, relaxing and working a bit. Definitely a must do if you come to NZ. We also got a free bottle and a few bottles worth of tastings...even an education on how to taste/drink wine.