The Auswine Forum

Haven't seen a thread yet on this. What are people hearing from the different regions about the outlook for 2017?

Here is a report from Kay Brothers in McLaren Vale, sent around late last week:

"Vintage 2017 was set up by wonderful winter and spring rainfall, with 2016 the wettest season since 1992. The abundant rain gave the soils and the entire eco-system a much needed flush after the dry summers of 2015 and 2016.

A cool September and October delayed bud burst and spring growth. The vines flourished leading into flowering because of the excellent sub soil moisture with shoots showing good vigor. Flowering conditions were mild and fruit set was quite good.

Disease pressure was higher than average because of excess rain and humidity, however, timely fungicide sprays kept the fruit clean and healthy. The summer months were cool, with only 2 days over 40 deg C, the vines enjoyed these conditions and canopies were healthy and less stressed than in most years.

The season continued to track much later than normal, however the final ripening period was warm with cold nights, very favourable conditions for flavour development, setting things up for an outstanding high quality vintage. Harvest began on the 15th of March, one of the latest on record, with the picking of Block 8 and Block 11 Shiraz. Block 6 was harvested on the 21st of March, a late one indeed.
So far we are about halfway through the harvest and yields have been excellent, colour and natural acidity are outstanding with generous full-flavoured fruit characters shining through. Fingers crossed that the dry sunny conditions continue for the rest of vintage!"

Literally just got off the plane from Melbourne - I talked with a couple of Yarra Valley winemakers last Friday, for them vintage started late but progressed very quickly, one had finished picking that day, one had one batch of Shiraz to go. Quality looks outstanding.

Was in Beechworth on the weekend.

Late summer combined with just the right spread of rain has combined to produce magic. One of the greats.

If I were to use some 'generalised' sweeping statements and observations about SA to date, I would say:

• It’s Late. But only by recent standards, timing is like going back to the 70s / 80s
• It’s been one of the wettest on record, with the rain at the right time for most regions. Canopies have generally been huge. We’ve had some real humid weather events also.
• Some areas have been affected by storms and rain at the wrong time wiping out tonnages and reducing quality otherwise
• Yields on some varieties are 15%-20% above ‘average’, others under
• Time is running out for some regions to ripen their fruit, with autumn well and truly starting (and large crop loads). Baumes are dropping in some areas, as are acid levels, there is a real risk some tonnages and quality will not be delivered or reduced. On the flip side, other regions are enjoying the slow ripening process and development.
• Quality of Vineyard Management in terms of disease management and crop management will be the drivers of good end use wine, especially given the rain events this vintage (as well the humidity experienced). Some growers across all regions have got this wrong, some fruit unpickable, or have levels of mildew that are ‘tolerable’ that the wineries will sort out during the winemaking process.
• I think areas like Coonawarra, Pathaway, Wrattonbully are going to struggle to ripen their fruit, disease levels are increasing particularly after the recent storm down there delivering 30 odd mm of rain. Some areas of Langhorne Creek will not deliver.
• Overall, yields and quality are looking great across the board for what has been picked to date, some wineries are really talking it up, as they should be . The remainder of vintage is in the lap of the weather gods – the vineyards need some warmer weather! Like any vintage we are going to see some amazing wines, with great colour, I have seen some shiraz examples that look amazing. Some wines may actually be lower in alcohol and a bit lighter than previous vintages (due to large berry sizes and higher extraction rates).

I have heard similar things about the Yarra Valley – looking the goods.

From what i've read/heard
Hunter Valley - Great conditions, rain over winter and some rain around the near year which helped the vines with the hot days in January and February. Both Shiraz and Sem look like they are in for a good year although a late heatwave had them nervous about Shiraz. A few winemakers were already calling it a great year for Sem when I was down there a few weeks ago. They were also pretty excited for the Shiraz and a there were a few murmurs of another 2014. Wineries who didn't produce their top Reds in 2015 or 2016 appear to be happy enough with the fruit this year to bring them back.

Canberra and the Hilltops - a lot of rain in winter, warm summer. Yields are up, quality seems there. There was a scare due to the rain in march but all seems well. Most winemakers are expecting a great year to back up 2016 and 2015.

Am interested in hearing how Margaret River got through March. I know their vintage was very up and down and come the end of February they were hoping for some heat and a dry march to bring the vintage back on track. The rain in Feb that destroyed the Swan Valley vintage really impacted MR.

In the Blue Poles (Margaret River) monthly report sent out to their list earlier in the week they said they are not making a single wine in 2017. They usually only make red wines. Too much rain and grapes not ripening enough. They did say that their site is probably not representative of the whole MR region as it is a cooler site. They also said that reports regarding white grape varieties elsewhere in MR have been largely positive.

Dave

In Paradise... sorry... Mornington Peninsula, winemakers have had a very frustrating vintage. Which is not to say it's been bad, but if any of our Melbourne Forumites grow tomatoes, the sporadic topsy turvy, alost ripe, not ripe, almost ripe continuum is about what many of the winemakers have been through.
In the warmer areas down low, they picked almost a month before the higher elevations. Moist humid weather threatened a number of times. The higher elevations picked on the latest date in ten years.
Generally speaking, the long slow ripening of the higher regions as produced lovely ripe tannins, but small crops (much like '14).
The lower regions (Tuerong, Balnarring, Merricks, Dromana et al) are probably quite a bit riper and bigger.

Shall keep you informed.

Canberra in a nutshell.

http://chrisshanahan.com/articles/2017/vignettes-from-canberras-cool-wet-hot-dry-cool-wet-dry-vintage/

Not the Aussie vintage, but things sound a bit tricky in France with the recent very cold snap we have had...

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... -champagne

Yes, this week has brought some proper challenging april showers - we've had snow and hail here.

Next week looks much better, so hopefully some respite for the growers.

We had hail here in London too on Wed... not much but a bit. I was trying to stand outside the Duchess of Kent in Islington, my usual pre-match haunt when I get along to Arsenal, and it did not feel like a pleasant spring evening! I felt like a popsicle by the time I tried to walk to the stadium.

I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

phillisc wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

They were …. so far...

phillisc wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

Time will tell. I have an inkling you'll end up with a few 2017's capable of being tucked away for a very long time.

phillisc wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

2017 is indeed the most recent vintage of the century. 2016 was the previous one, 2018 will be the next one and 2019 the one after that.

Is Mr Hughes a wine writer? If so, look at the publicity he is getting here for his pronouncement, and then realise it is a proven way to market oneself.

Ian S wrote:

phillisc wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

2017 is indeed the most recent vintage of the century. 2016 was the previous one, 2018 will be the next one and 2019 the one after that.

Is Mr Hughes a wine writer? If so, look at the publicity he is getting here for his pronouncement, and then realise it is a proven way to market oneself.

Are you serious? Please do some research. He just nailed 5 trophies!

Matt@5453 wrote:

phillisc wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

Time will tell. I have an inkling you'll end up with a few 2017's capable of being tucked away for a very long time.

I think that's a given with Craig! And me...

Mike Hawkins wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:

phillisc wrote:
Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

Time will tell. I have an inkling you'll end up with a few 2017's capable of being tucked away for a very long time.

I think that's a given with Craig! And me...

Mike - you are a smart man , surely you've got some contacts somewhere to substantiate. If not, don't comment.

Ian S wrote:

phillisc wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:I have noticed some of the results from the 2017 Sydney Wine show filtering through today. John Hughes (Rieslingfreak) has publicly stated: "2017 is the Riesling Vintage of the Century thus far".

Oh dear...
I thought 02 and 12 were

Cheers
Craig

2017 is indeed the most recent vintage of the century. 2016 was the previous one, 2018 will be the next one and 2019 the one after that.

Is Mr Hughes a wine writer? If so, look at the publicity he is getting here for his pronouncement, and then realise it is a proven way to market oneself.

Sorry , I'm calling you out too.

If you've got no contacts or anything to substantiate, then,please don't comment.

All I can say , you'll be buying 2017 Clare Valley Riesling.

Craig missed the fact 2001 was better than 2002.

Matt@5453 wrote:Craig missed the fact 2001 was better than 2002.

2001 was quite good and underrated imo, but of the same Clare Riesling, I haven't had one where the 01 is showing better than the 02 currently (excluding faulty bottles/corks).

Matt@5453 wrote:
Mike - you are a smart man , surely you've got some contacts somewhere to substantiate. If not, don't comment.

Matt, take a chill pill, all Mike is saying is, Craig & Mike will most likely be buying a lot of 2017 whether it is vintage of the century or not.

Matt@5453 wrote:

Ian S wrote:

phillisc wrote:
Craig missed the fact 2001 was better than 2002.

Not sure on "better" but agree that on a textural level 2001 is a firmer vintage than 2002. I also find more love in the 2013 vintage than 2012 (generally)
Exceptions can always be found.

cheers
Phill

Hell hasn't this taken off in the last 10 hours...not sure where you are at Matt but might be time for a walk outside on a cold night in Clare to get another log to toss on the fire....I was there last week and it was rather cool.

2002 was IIRC the best vintage since 82 particularly for EV Riesling and not too shabby for Clare either...certainly the view of Stephen Henschke and Brian Croser amongst others. I remember having a good talk to Stephen John and the trick with 02 was the fantastic spring rains prior to vintage.
As for 2012, I am yet to have a young Riesling on release that has bettered the Merle...simply laser like and brilliant. The gourmet traveller wine mag did a tasting last year of 30 something 02s and 12s that have been stored in the crypt at Sevenhill, and the 30 or so winemakers in attendance were pretty impressed.
Yep Riesling for me is what champs is for Mike NYC...we both love the respective styles. However, never inferred in the original post anything other than my own opinions of the 02s and 12s.
Can't really comment with any authority but have 95 to 16 rizza's in the cellar, quite a bit of 01, 13 and every other vintage and too many 02/12's.
As for John Hughes...met him several times, lovely unassuming bloke who quietly goes about his business...have the #3, #4, #5 and #8...all great wines. 5 trophies or whatever it was at the Sydney Show won't change him...unlike some wanker in the marketing department at Southcorp when the 94 or thereabouts vintage of 707 cleaned up at the same show and the price tripled from around $40 to $100 plus.

Yep will probably get some 17 its hard to stop buying the best white varietal on the planet
Cheers
Craig

deejay81 wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:
Mike - you are a smart man , surely you've got some contacts somewhere to substantiate. If not, don't comment.

Matt, take a chill pill, all Mike is saying is, Craig & Mike will most likely be buying a lot of 2017 whether it is vintage of the century or not.

Exactly... thanks

Mike Hawkins wrote:

deejay81 wrote:

Matt@5453 wrote:
Mike - you are a smart man , surely you've got some contacts somewhere to substantiate. If not, don't comment.

Matt, take a chill pill, all Mike is saying is, Craig & Mike will most likely be buying a lot of 2017 whether it is vintage of the century or not.

Exactly... thanks

Yes, some of us have seen rather too many vintages of the century in the last few decades. Bordeaux used to have a vintage of the century every 4-5 years. Some 'vintages of the century' turned out to be anything but justified (1997/2000 in Barolo/Barbaresco spring to mind). Not all the 2002 Clare Valley Rieslings were all they were cracked up to be either. Not dissing the wines, just the hype of the phrase. Time will tell whether the wines are incredibly rewarding, or fail to live up to the hype.

I think the best producers in the best vintages tend to be worth buying. For Clare 2002, I stuck to that approach and all the ones I have bought have been superb. I will be buying multiple cases from the top producers in 2017 too. As I've said in other posts, $50 for the absolute top Rieslings in Clare is a bargain compared to the top wines from other regions, especially red wines.