Wine growers in Central Otago are in a race against time to finish harvesting after this week's cold snap.
At the Mt Difficulty vineyard at Bannockburn, workers must now finish six weeks worth of harvesting in four.
Getting his hands dirty with everyone else at Mt Difficulty yesterday, Central Otago Winegrowers Association president James Dicey said the snow was not the issue in the lower parts of the Bannockburn, Cromwell area, though the mountains in the area received a good coating.
The bigger concern for vineyards was frost. If the temperature dipped below -2degC, tender grapes would be ''toasted''.
He and his team were under pressure, working 10 hours a day, seven days a week at the moment to get the job done.
''It is the most compressed harvest I've ever done,'' he said.
While snow was not settling on the ground, working while it snowed was ''awful'', he said.
But they just had to get the work done before the frosts began. In other parts of Central Otago, snow largely disappeared yesterday.
Snow still lay on the ground at Oturehua yesterday morning and Glenis Crutchley said the family's Shortlands Station, near Naseby, was still white from Monday's snowfall, but snow was melting by late morning.
Farmer Philip Smith said planned mustering on hills around Naseby had to be delayed several days because of the weather.
State Highway 85, the Pigroot, still had a good layer of snow either side yesterday morning.
A New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman said two trucks had to stop on the road for about an hour because of the ''wintry'' conditions, but were moving again by about 9.30am.
Central Otago District Council roading manager Julie Muir said the only road still closed by snow yesterday was Danseys Pass.
Queenstown Airport communications manager Jen Andrews said that after a problematic Monday, there were fewer issues yesterday, although two flights into Queenstown, from Wellington and Christchurch, were diverted to Invercargill and a bus service was put on to bring the passengers to Queenstown.
