Australian vintage 2008: a snapshot
The uncertainties facing the industry over the next few years are
eerily similar to the weather patterns that prevailed over the 2008
growing season. If you focused on South Australia and Victoria you
would find that a combination of drought and an all-time, all-state
record heatwave for Adelaide of 15 consecutive days, from 3 to 17 March
inclusive, with temperatures over 35 degrees C, led to a freakishly
early start to vintage and to a vicious compression in the ripening
patterns, flooding wineries with grapes of every variety. One winemaker
described it as a bathtub and gumboot year as makers struggled to find
enough fermentation capacity.
In these states there was no pattern to the normal order or ripening of red varieties nor to the supposed differences between cooler and warmer sites in the regions. The one saving grace was that a significant part of the crop was picked by the end of February, before the heatwave took hold, and included most white varieties. In late March/early April a few loads of red grapes from McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley ranged between 20 and 31 degrees baume. If yeasts could be found to ferment 31 degrees baume grapes to dryness, the alcohol would be close to 30% by volume: 75% of brandy spirit strength without distillation! In fact, those loads went straight to the marc heap.
The Limestone Coast went in part against the trend. The moderating influence of the Southern Ocean kept extreme heat to four days, and after a frenzied start to the vintage, some of the major wineries deliberately slowed the pace, more than satisfied with the quality of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.
In Western Australia good rainfall and moderate temperatures until a hot January (in some parts) led to a perfect ripening season in Great Southern, Pemberton, Geographe and Margaret River, bird damage and an April season break (hence rainfall) the only problems. In the north (Peel, Perth Hills and the Swan Valley), the coldest December then the warmest January on record finally led to frantic picking and space issues in the wineries similar to the east.
The dual impact of the drought, and heat after the cool February had passed, created challenges throughout all Victorian regions. Curiously, while most finished harvest at record early dates in March, some continued well into April.
Much of New South Wales had one of the coolest and wettest growing seasons of the past 100 years, the Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Southern Highlands and Hastings River all suffering. Semillon was picked in a small rainfree window from 14 to 18 January, but no more than 30% of the reds were picked. In contradistinction, Canberra, Cowra and the Riverina all had near-perfect growing seasons and hence very good wines.
They were joined by Tasmania, where warmer-than-usual growing season temperatures led to a relatively early start and early (and rapid) harvest of excellent grapes, the yields well above average in the north. In the south, severe drought resulted in smaller berries and yields only slightly below normal, but in most parts the quality is very promising. In Queensland, the Granite Belt was similarly blessed with the first good rainfall in years and mild temperatures leading up to harvest.
Finally, most of the white grapes from the majority of regions were picked before the heat, and chardonnay from southern Victoria and Tasmania in particular looks full of promise.
The size of the harvest was uncerain. Up until the end of 2007, official estimates were for 1.22 million tonnes. Early in 2008, that estimate was (surprisingly) lifted to 1.6 million tones. This was in part derived from increased yield forecasts for the regions outside the Murray Darling/Riverina/Langhorne Creek regions and to a slightly more optimistic assessment for the latter regions, optimism that seems to have been well founded.
Twenty-four hours before the Companion went to press, a media release from the Winemakers' Federation of Australia dropped a bombshell. The opening paragraphs stated the harvest 'has come in above expectations in both size and quality, reaching a total of 1.83 million tonnes. This figure is significantly larger than estimations made at the start of the growing season, and is in fact almost double some early predictions'.
The figure explains why Forster's had to write down the value of its bulk wine stocks, with all the major companies floating in a sea of excess chardonnay. If nothing else, it shows just how unpredictable harvest are in times of heat, drought, and rain alike. In the twinkling of an eye, the industry has gone from surplus to shortage and back to surplus again.
Any prediction of the size of the 2009 harvest will be exquisitely difficult, depending as it will on the amount of water available from the Murray Darling to each of the stakeholders. The outlook is still grim, but so it was in the months leading up to 2008.
In these states there was no pattern to the normal order or ripening of red varieties nor to the supposed differences between cooler and warmer sites in the regions. The one saving grace was that a significant part of the crop was picked by the end of February, before the heatwave took hold, and included most white varieties. In late March/early April a few loads of red grapes from McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley ranged between 20 and 31 degrees baume. If yeasts could be found to ferment 31 degrees baume grapes to dryness, the alcohol would be close to 30% by volume: 75% of brandy spirit strength without distillation! In fact, those loads went straight to the marc heap.
The Limestone Coast went in part against the trend. The moderating influence of the Southern Ocean kept extreme heat to four days, and after a frenzied start to the vintage, some of the major wineries deliberately slowed the pace, more than satisfied with the quality of shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.
In Western Australia good rainfall and moderate temperatures until a hot January (in some parts) led to a perfect ripening season in Great Southern, Pemberton, Geographe and Margaret River, bird damage and an April season break (hence rainfall) the only problems. In the north (Peel, Perth Hills and the Swan Valley), the coldest December then the warmest January on record finally led to frantic picking and space issues in the wineries similar to the east.
The dual impact of the drought, and heat after the cool February had passed, created challenges throughout all Victorian regions. Curiously, while most finished harvest at record early dates in March, some continued well into April.
Much of New South Wales had one of the coolest and wettest growing seasons of the past 100 years, the Hunter Valley, Mudgee, Southern Highlands and Hastings River all suffering. Semillon was picked in a small rainfree window from 14 to 18 January, but no more than 30% of the reds were picked. In contradistinction, Canberra, Cowra and the Riverina all had near-perfect growing seasons and hence very good wines.
They were joined by Tasmania, where warmer-than-usual growing season temperatures led to a relatively early start and early (and rapid) harvest of excellent grapes, the yields well above average in the north. In the south, severe drought resulted in smaller berries and yields only slightly below normal, but in most parts the quality is very promising. In Queensland, the Granite Belt was similarly blessed with the first good rainfall in years and mild temperatures leading up to harvest.
Finally, most of the white grapes from the majority of regions were picked before the heat, and chardonnay from southern Victoria and Tasmania in particular looks full of promise.
The size of the harvest was uncerain. Up until the end of 2007, official estimates were for 1.22 million tonnes. Early in 2008, that estimate was (surprisingly) lifted to 1.6 million tones. This was in part derived from increased yield forecasts for the regions outside the Murray Darling/Riverina/Langhorne Creek regions and to a slightly more optimistic assessment for the latter regions, optimism that seems to have been well founded.
Twenty-four hours before the Companion went to press, a media release from the Winemakers' Federation of Australia dropped a bombshell. The opening paragraphs stated the harvest 'has come in above expectations in both size and quality, reaching a total of 1.83 million tonnes. This figure is significantly larger than estimations made at the start of the growing season, and is in fact almost double some early predictions'.
The figure explains why Forster's had to write down the value of its bulk wine stocks, with all the major companies floating in a sea of excess chardonnay. If nothing else, it shows just how unpredictable harvest are in times of heat, drought, and rain alike. In the twinkling of an eye, the industry has gone from surplus to shortage and back to surplus again.
Any prediction of the size of the 2009 harvest will be exquisitely difficult, depending as it will on the amount of water available from the Murray Darling to each of the stakeholders. The outlook is still grim, but so it was in the months leading up to 2008.
