Otago winners

Planning leads to Supreme Environment Award for vintners

Good planning is one of the reasons John Olssen and Heather MacPherson and their daughter, Karen, have won the 2005 Otago Ballance Farm Environment Supreme Award announced in Dunedin. They also won the Hills Laboratories Harvest Award.

Success was a planned outcome from day one for the couple on their vineyard, Olssens Garden Vineyard, at Bannockburn in Central Otago.

‘Every aspect of the business has been well thought-out, well-run, focused on quality outputs, sustainable and environmentally sound,’ the judges, Blair Burridge, Alex Huffadine, Wayne King and Trudy Murdoch, agreed.

John and Heather planted their first vines in 1991, with the remaining hectares cultivated in 1995. Their vineyard was the first real planting in the Cromwell basin and at the time the 10ha vineyard made up about 35 percent of the grape area in Central Otago.

Finalist judge Trish Burborough said John had identified the key aspect of the planning, which involved around having a comprehensive business plan early on. Another important part of developing the vineyard was the ongoing use of consultants and advisers and the use the couple made of their advice.

In fact, before the couple even bought land in the area, John commissioned Gordon Cossens, then of Invermay Agricultural Research Centre, to carry out a climate survey of parts of Central Otago and in particular the Cromwell basin. The 1987 survey highlighted a niche area with high growing degree days and low frost incidence and with that information, John bought Beatons’ land at Bannockburn in 1988.

John, originally from Dunedin, had previously worked for MAF Forestry as a forest and then business consultant. He later visited a vineyard in Martinborough, which left a marked impression on him. Heather’s local knowledge from living at Mt Pisa Station played an important part in the decision to investigate Central.

John was one of the pioneers of the New Zealand Winemakers’ Sustainable Programme and is still involved as he believes this is a key area as the industry moves forward in this country. The judges praised the couple’s support of the local industry and said their sharing of knowledge was admirable.

Other winners were:

PPCS Best Livestock Farm
David and Helen Vollweiler, Milton

LIC Best Dairy Farm Award
Craig and Kathryn Tomsett, Kelso, West Otago

Ballance Nutrient Management Award
Craig and Kathryn Tomsett, Kelso, West Otago

BFEA Heritage Restoration Award
Trevor and Gail Meikle, Winton

ANZ Grow Award
Keith and Hilary McNab, Owaka Valley Road

Gallagher Innovation Awards
Bruce, Denise and Cara McGill,Newhaven, Owaka
Barry and Lyn McCall

More information is available here