ARTICLE: Producers abandon SA wine industry

[n4sir]

Producers abandon SA wine industry
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 20/04/2011
Reporter: Kim Robertson

A growing number of South Australian wine producers are selling up and leaving as disease and the high Australian dollar batters the industry.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business ... 196137.htm

[DaveB]

These articles are really a load of bollocks. One paper gets an interview with a dis-gruntled grower thats had a bad year and suddenly a region is a homogenous blob totally disease ridden and a write-off....other papers jump on board to get the same story from the same bloke and suddenly it's all over the news.

Depending on the sub-region and grower the results vary widely, some parts of the Barossa have had 200mm of rain more than other parts. I've been in a workshop for the last couple of days with a bunch of owners and wine-makers and from chatting there are varieties that are fantastic, ones that have struggled and ones that are write-offs.

The Barossa is a pretty easy place to make wine.....this year the winemakers have to earn their money....there will be good wines and there will be bad wines...no different to any other year.

[phillisc]

I agree Dave, last time i looked vineyards in the Barossa and Coonawarra were not being sold for giveaway prices.
Along with the journos, the real estate agents are usually only one step behid in terms of a media beat up.
Cheers Craig.

[Gavin Trott]

I've been tasting end of ferments in McLaren Vale and talking to lots of wine producers ... some bad stories, some vineyards not being picked, or parts of them not picked, some varieties problematic, but some really good.

I tried some fantastic McLaren Vale Cabernet, Mourvedre, Shiraz ... fermented but still under skins, quality superb, going to be great wine.

Quantities down, quality variable, but some great wines being made.

Let's be careful not to do a

2011 is all the same, all bad, we'll all be rooined said Hanrahan kind of approach!

Will never be a great vintage here, but as ever, some great wines will be made.

.

[n4sir]

These articles are really a load of bollocks. One paper gets an interview with a dis-gruntled grower thats had a bad year and suddenly a region is a homogenous blob totally disease ridden and a write-off....other papers jump on board to get the same story from the same bloke and suddenly it's all over the news.

Depending on the sub-region and grower the results vary widely, some parts of the Barossa have had 200mm of rain more than other parts. I've been in a workshop for the last couple of days with a bunch of owners and wine-makers and from chatting there are varieties that are fantastic, ones that have struggled and ones that are write-offs.

The Barossa is a pretty easy place to make wine.....this year the winemakers have to earn their money....there will be good wines and there will be bad wines...no different to any other year.

It's interesting that a lot of the more negative stories have originated from the ABC this year - not sure if there's anything to make of it though.

I've been posting these links as they came up this year as a bit of an ongoing record - we've had quite a few posts asking about particular years/vintages, and I thought it could be good see them as the vintage unfolds (and I did have the feeling early on this was going to be a very tough one). It's also a bit of a contrast to the 2008 & 2009 SA heatwave years - to be honest I was a little shocked back then about stories of the various governing bodies suggesting those ITB should shut up to avoid any negative perceptions getting out, and this year has certainly been different.

Philip White responded to some of the criticism of his comments on the vintage by asking how they would rate this vintage, and I think that does have some merit. I know it's early days, but honestly how do you think this vintage will shape up compared to 2007, 2000 & 1995 which are widely regarded as low points in the last 20 years? (and 2008/2009 for that matter)

Ps. Sorry about bringing another less than positive story Dave , but this one from last week mentions about a new disease this year called "slippery skin" (sounds like some '80s soft porn mag to me )- had you heard anything about it?

Growers attempt to salvage crops
The Leader
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

"Mr Braunack said a relatively new disease growers had to look for in the Barossa Valley was slippery skin.
“A lot of growers have already picked grapes but they weren’t looking for slippery skin.
“There may not be any visible mould on the outside but it starts on the inside and the skin starts to break down.”"

http://barossaupdate.com/?p=1092

Cheers,
Ian