By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK
Some premium Hawkes Bay wineries have lost more than half their grape crop after a savage late frost swept the region.
Hastings-based Sileni Estate lost an estimated 75 per cent of grapes during the morning frost on Monday of last week, costing the three-year-old winery at least $1 million.
The company's chief winemaker, Grant Edmonds, said temperatures of minus 4 degrees had destroyed the vine flowers that produced grapes later in the season.
The loss of production would affect export volumes and reduce employment over the summer.
"It has burned a hell of a lot of the growth and we're not even the worst hit."
Mr Edmonds said he knew of eight wineries that had been badly affected; others had escaped with minimal damage. Some boutique wine producers had been 90 per cent wiped out last week and few held costly insurance policies against frost damage.
CJ Pask Winery chairman Chris Pask said the winery had lost about 15 per cent of its crop, but it would be difficult to estimate the damage until later in the season. Mr Pask, who has worked in the wine industry for more than 20 years, could not remember a more severe November frost.
"This is a one-in-20-year frost ... It will be a bit of a drama, but we'll get through it."
He said wine surpluses from previous years would compensate to some degree for the drop in production across the region.
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