Battling through drought, bushfires, a global pandemic, and floods, Rutherglen’s wine producers have faced it all over the last few years.
In the face of adversity, the vineyards of Rutherglen have weathered the storms, and the winemakers are now poised for a vintage that promises exceptional wines.
Stanton and Killeen senior winemaker Adriaan Foot, a seasoned hand in the industry, reflected on the rollercoaster of recent vintages.
“The growing season was much closer to a typical one than the last few years, bar an unfortunate frost event in October,” Mr Foot said.
“Rainfall was slightly below average and temperatures slightly above, but thankfully it turned out to be a relatively weak El Nino. We were also fortunate to miss most of the heavy rainfall that occurred further south. The above-mentioned frost had a moderate impact on our crop levels, so we are expecting a small vintage.
“The quality of the unaffected fruit however looks very promising. The drier weather has meant that disease pressure has been much lower than the past few years. Timely sprays have meant that we’ve had minimal occurrences of botrytis, which is always a risk when it comes to fortified wines especially.”
Mr Foot said he was “cautiously optimistic” about quality going into vintage.
“It’s not over until the grapes are in the shed!” he said.
“In terms of quality assessment, we are looking for balance in the vineyards, with each vine carrying only as much grapes as the canopy will allow it to easily ripen. Smaller berries in Shiraz this year- which typically means better colour, flavour and concentration- are also a good sign.
“I’m particularly excited about our Arinto block, we’ve had a tough go with disease pressure leading to lower crops the last few years. The vineyard crew has put a lot of hard work into it, and the results so far look very promising.”
Sixth-generation wine producer Micheal Chambers of Lake Moodemere Estate expressed relief at the absence of disease issues this season, in contrast to the challenges faced during the previous vintage marked by incessant rain.
“It’s probably looking like a fairly good one,” he said.
“This time last year was probably one of the most difficult vintages I had ever done because it kept raining during vintage. It dragged on for the that reason. We were putting on sprays a lot more frequently for downy mildew.”
Mr Chambers said ideal weather from here on in would be dry, warm weather around 30-35 degrees with very little rain. “Very similar to the weather we’ve had for the last two weeks,” he said.
“This year is getting back to what’s normal, but who knows what’s normal anymore with the changing climate.
“We came out of the drought; we went into the bushfires and then we had all that beautiful fruit looking at is in 2020 and then it was affected by smoke taint. We were very happy to get 2021 under our belt. The 2022 reds were fantastic and 2023 are still in barrel.
“Being a small artisan winemaker, every year my wines are different and it’s all weather dependent, unlike bigger wineries who can purchase their fruit from different parts of the country.
“Quality expectations are high for this year. We tested chardonnay this week and I will definitely get that to optimum ripeness. We will start picking that first and then the following week will be Riesling before we move onto reds. If it’s a normal year we will finish up early April.”
Senior winemaker Chris Pfeiffer OAM of Pfeiffer Wines acknowledged the challenging conditions due to wet weather, necessitating increased disease management efforts.
However, Mr Pfeiffer remained hopeful, noting that the potential for a successful vintage exists if the weather stays cooler.
“Conditions were challenging for us because of the wet weather- so we had to be more vigilant with disease management- so spraying over the Christmas New Year period which we didn’t want to do,” he said.
“The weather has been a bit challenging-and it hasn’t been that hot yet. However, other regions have had more rain than us.
“At the moment things are looking good. It looks like the potential is there if the weather stays cooler rather than hot- ideal being in the low 30s- it will continue the ripening go nicely for us.
“At the moment things are look good- we aren’t pessimistic- we are looking vintage. It will be a smaller vintage for us there isn’t much wine wanted.”
Cofield Wines Senior Winemaker Damien Cofield described this season’s growing conditions as “almost perfect.”
Mr Cofield was excited as he spoke about the fantastic flavours in their Shiraz and credited the dry conditions, minimal rain, and effective vineyard management for these positive outcomes.
“The results are out there in the vineyard,” he said.
“We’ve had good dry conditions recently, insignificant rain spells, we’ve use less on the vineyard compared to last year- so more economical.
“It’s very exciting to see the flavours are just fantastic- especially our shiraz. It is the most flavour forward at the moment. I don’t think I’ve tasted flavours like that for a long time. Just fantastic.
“A few months ago, we were a bit nervous with the rainfall with concerns for disease but come December and the start of January everything was disease free- it was surprising. We were either lucky or we were on top of our inputs into the vineyard. We thankfully missed out on frost too which some of our neighbours had.
“Quality expectations are really big- I’m so excited. I’m also excited because our contract harvester Nick Brown has a new sorting machine and what he has brought in already on his vineyard has been really good. The technology is fantastic. And I think we will see an increase in that alone, let alone a good season.”
Contemporary winemaker Rowly Milhinch of Scion Wines also painted a picture of a positive growing season with high-quality expectations.
“There’s been a lot of moisture in the ground as a result of the last two years which is good. Temperatures have been cooler which means good flavour development and fairly predictable kick off,” he said.
“Essentially, it’s been a good growing season.
“Quality expectations are very high. It could be a great year because of the spring conditions we had with the moisture we had and the milder weather. If the grapes can ripen safely for a longer time, that’s good.
“We are excited about viognier and Durif- it could be a good year for Durif.”
Campbells Wines vineyard manager Bernard Morey reported that everything is tracking well, anticipating the start of harvest at the end of the week.
“We had a bit of frost damage but everything we’ve got out there is really good quality,” he said.
“There was a semi large rain event around Christmas but if anything, it helped our vines.
“The last four weeks being quite dry but not overly hot with cooler nights has just been perfect. So hopefully we will bring in some good quality fruit which will allow us to produce some great wines this year.
“Our whites look good and if we keep getting these warm days, it will allow the fruit to ripen properly- and we’ll produce some pretty great reds too.
“Last year we still got some good quality fruit but this year I expect everything to be a higher quality than last year, and I reckon there will be some parcels that will be exceptional.”