abc.net.au
15 April 2020
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-04-15 ... l/12138146
Extreme heat, frost, wind, bushfires and smoke taint: this year's vintage has been a challenging one for South Australia's wine grapegrowers and winemakers.
Summer bushfires and bad weather at each critical growth point of wine grapes have tested the industry.
While final numbers are not known yet, the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) estimates yields this year will be down 50 per cent overall, with some regions worse off.
"We've had early frosts, we've had wind around the time of flowering, we've had extreme heat and we've also had the economic challenges rising out of COVID-19," said chief executive, Brian Smedley.
"2020 will be a light year for us, the yield is less than last year and the long-term average."
The one positive for the 2020 vintage is that quality is up — there just will not be much to drink.
"I think the intensity of the flavours [will be there]," Mr Smedley said.
"We've been fortunate of having a vintage that's been spread out over time and so that's led to good ripening and good quality."
Yields down in Barossa and Clare
In two of SA's most prominent wine regions, the Barossa and Clare Valleys, yields could be down by as much as 80 per cent.
Barossa Grape and Wine Association viticultural development officer, Nicki Robbins, said while the quality of grapes was good, yields in the Barossa Valley were down 50 per cent on average.
"If you don't have as many grapes to sell, as a grower, you're getting less income, and, as a winemaker, you have less wine to sell," she said.
"So it will impact on our profitability as a region."
Clare Valley grapegrower, Malcolm Parish, said overall yields were down across the Clare Valley as well.
"Riesling was our benchmark that held us up — our tonnages were only down 40 to 50 per cent in those," he said.
"Whereas in shiraz and cabernet it wasn't uncommon to be down 70 to 80 per cent."
On the Eyre Peninsula a day of temperatures over 40 degree Celsius in Port Lincoln in November completely wiped out some of the varieties at Boston Bay Wines.
Owner, Tony Ford, said they knew they were in trouble when the flowers on the vines just did not develop.
"Quantity was a massive drop … we completely lost all our shiraz and all our cabernet," he said.
Frosts hamper spring fruit growth
Further south and frosts in mid-September hit Langhorne Creek hard.
Lake Breeze winemaker, Greg Follett, said yields across that region would be down by 40 per cent.
"We had some windy weather, a couple of really hot days in November which really affected the flowering, and then you have the hotter drier conditions — it was a bit of a perfect storm," he said.
"The good thing is that quality is exceptional so we can't complain."
Vignerons in the south-east were happy with the quality of fruit produced in their region despite the frosts they suffered last Spring.
"Coonawarra's probably been pretty lucky this year — compared to other regions," said Frank DiGorgio of DiGiorgio Family Wines.
"Even though there may be some lighter-yielding vineyards, they're still going to be worth putting a harvester through."
Bushfires meant there was no harvest at all for some grapegrowers on Kangaroo Island.
Islander Estate Winery's vines were completely destroyed in the bushfires, which burnt almost half of the island.
Joch Bosworth from Springs Road Wines, 7 kilometres west of Kingscote, said 2020 was a tough vintage for many but there was a great deal of variability across the island.
"You had people on the eastern end of the island [that] had some really good crops, where they didn't get frosted … through to the west where there was quite a bit of vineyard burnt," he said.
Riverland grapes fare better
For the Riverland, Australia's largest winegrape growing region, yields were also down but not as much as other regions.
The executive chair of Riverland Wine, Chris Byrne, said the region's production was down about 16 per cent.
"Last year our yield was 474,000 tonnes," he said.
"We think this year we will get fairly close to 400,000t."
Mr Byrne said it had been a challenging vintage as hail and frost damage impacted the quantity of fruit, and the high price of water caused issues for producers.
Accolade Wines processes about 60 per cent of the Riverland's grapes, and its facility in Berri is the largest winery in Australia.
Group commercial winemaker, Viki Wade, said the company had fared well.
"In terms of processing it's been very smooth," she said.
"And in terms of wine quality we're really happy with what we've seen so far."
