Down Under Harvest News

Alan Hoey, chief winemaker, The Yalumba Wine Company

We are within 3 weeks of finishing the vintage with only the last of the Limestone Coast, King and Ovens Valley and Eden Valley grapes to come. Recent autumn rains and cool nights in each of these regions have prompted a rapid senescence (yellowing) of vines signaling the close of the vintage.

Riverland South Australia.

After a fortnight of exceptionally hot weather in late January /Early February the season moderated allowing a steady but progressive off take of each variety.

Rain in March hurried some Chardonnay intake but warm dry weather after the rain quickly remedied and problems. Red and white grape intake is up to 20 per cent lower than 2002 with general shortages of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

All the white varieties show excellent varietal definition with sauvignon blanc excelling due to low crop yields. Chardonnay shows ripe melon fruit characters with soft full flavoured palates.

All red varieties have less colour development than record cool vintage of 2002

The 03 wines are characterized by distinctive fruit flavours and medium structured palates. Shiraz and Merlot show the most promise.

Barossa

Across the board all varieties were down on estimate and down on 2002 with shortfalls of 20-30% common. Riesling was the one variety that yielded close to expectation, which is pleasing after the meager crops of 2002.

From a quality point of view all the white wines are exceptional, with riesling and chardonnay standing out. It is too early to call the absolute quality of viognier as some fruit is yet to be harvested but all indications are that the wine will have exceptional palate texture and the cooler vineyards have dominant musky fruit intensity.

The exceptional heat in January and February combined with low cropping levels, prompted faster than normal ripening. While it is early days for red wine quality evaluation all merlot, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are showing elegance in both aroma and palate structure. Excellent firm tannin finishes are a feature of the 03 reds.

This year's wines will not have the depth of palate structure of 2002 but will be similar to the 01 wine on the market.

King and Ovens Valley (for Redbank Wines)

Different from South Australia, the red wines appear the better quality as the white wines with Merlot being exceptional. Red grape intake was down by up to 30 % and as in South Australia all Sauvignon Blanc vineyards had very low yields.

pinot gris and Chardonnay were the quality standouts.

Tasmania

The intake of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for the Jansz sparkling wines was completed 3 days ago. It has been an exceptional quality year with above average yields with high sugars and acid (almost perfection for sparkling wine). Chardonnay- based wine shows great intensity of nougat and lemon flavours. The pinot noir-based wines show strong perfume and under-ripe strawberry flavours.

A vintage to watch!