Reaping rewards whilst at the mercy of Mother Nature (NZ)

“I love harvest time,” enthuses winemaker Matt Thomson. “When you get this state of flux, it’s exciting.” Terrifying, more like. Or at least that’s how it seems to me: to be at the mercy of Mother Nature, who can undo a year’s hard work and the annual opportunity winemakers get to create their product through ill-timed bursts of weather, as has been her way this vintage. While many of us have been moaning about our summer, or rather lack of, the cool, cloudy and wet weather this season has created chaos across most of the country’s wine regions, writes Jo Burzynsca in The New Zealand Herald.