Vineyards 'fall apart' in South Australia

[KMP]

From a piece in online Decanter:

Growers in South Australia have been forced to harvest early as the current heatwave hits the vineyards.

Reports estimate that temperatures of 46C and above could see some areas lose up to 70% of their crop.

McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek have been worst hit with the Barossa Valley and Coonawarra also affected.

Rest of the note is here. Is it really that bad?

Mike

[SueNZ]

There was an item on televison news here in NZ showing Victorian vineyards where it looked the vines were dead.
Can't fnd the link to that item but here's another -
http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/s ... 24866.aspx

Other reports says the grapes, that shouldn't be harvested for another month, are cooking in their own juices. For some growers it sounds like a lose-lose situation.

[n4sir]

There was an item on televison news here in NZ showing Victorian vineyards where it looked the vines were dead.

I think it would have been the ABC 7.30 report story from last night "Fresh food prices to skyrocket". During the story they looked at a Yarra Valley vineyard where (from memory) about 4 out of 5 grape bunches were shrivelled raisins.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/

Cheers,
Ian

[DaveB]

http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Featu ... 47,00.html

Talking to one of the Diemme mechanics yesterday who was in Langhorne Creek the day before....there is already one winery that has pulled the pin and will make no wine this year.

[Mandingo]

Just looking at my own vines in McLaren Vale I can make some predictions on the 2009 vintage - bearing in mind that there will be vineyards far better off than we are and others far worse, so generalisations are always quite dangerous. I am currently trying to get some photos to Ric Einstein for his site, but my technological ability is a little embarrassing to say the least!

There has been significant leaf burn on my vines - and other vineyards I have looked at in my area (Blewitt Springs) show the same damage to a greater or lesser extent. Many of the vines are defoliating and showing greater leaf scenescence than they have in previous years.

However it is not the canopy that is the major concern - it is the variability in the fruit ripening. Some of the bunches look in perfect condition with even ripening and flavours coming up (albeit more quickly than normal), others are showing significant shrivel, others are ripening unevenly and others have only just begun veraison. The heat over the past week (as well as today 43 and tomorrow 41 degrees) has shut the vines down and no ripening will have taken place on the days of extreme heat.

With the cool weather predicted next week we may be able to salvage something out of the vintage, but I would be surprised if there was a general opinion that there will be a surplus of quality wine this year.

This will make three difficult years in a row - although I have heard some pretty positive reports about the quality of some of the 07s (I havent tried any of them yet) and what Ric, Brian and I tried on the trip last year out of barrel on the 08's harvested before the big heat were quite sensational.

Hope this provides a snapshot - there is certainly no optimism emitting from McLaren Vale this year! Hopefully 2010 will be a blinder!

[RogerPike]

As someone who doesn't deal with biology day-to-day, hearing the word scenescence was a delight.

Eighth time this week for me.

Roger

[Davo]

As someone who doesn't deal with biology day-to-day, hearing the word scenescence was a delight.

Eighth time this week for me.

Roger

Have dealt with it daily for years in this profession. In fact, it is something we all deal with on a daily basis.

[Tim Smith]

Nothing like a little bit of media propaganda, now that Barack Obama is 'so 5 minutes ago'..
As one who has spent the last month traipsing up and down vineyard rows anxiously, the reality in my belief in this region is this: there are some vineyards that are probably as bad as anything I have seen in my +20 short years doing this. There are some that look 'really good' without being 'great'. There is also a trend of Baumes not increasing as fast as one would expect for this time of year. Checking my last years records, in 2008 'the one in a million heatwave event', we started picking on the 12th February (Shiraz). We look like starting probably on about the 16th February this year, which makes it all of a week behind the 'one in a million heatwave event of last year' which was touted as being 'early'.Granted, the heat this year has come at a different time in the vines phenological cycle, but we are still a long way away from getting what decent fruit there is into the winery, fermented, matured and assessed. Without trying to make too many bold predictions, it is the growers that have large crops and large canopies that look like getting out of this season with little damage. This greater fruit and leaf mass has greater capacity to weather (sic) the constant heat due to its thermal mass (just one winemakers opinion). Like last year, the growers that tried to do the right thing in terms of quality (open canopies/lower bunch numbers etc) got nailed. There may be a lesson in this going forward....
Same message as last year, and the year before. Lets get the wine made to the best of our ability, then make some 'generalisations'.
Bring on the football season so The Advertiser has something else to write about!!!

[drunkenbum]

I am "down south" so to speak, and there is some horrendous damage so to speak. I have friends n Viticulture who are telling stories of people whose irrigation system failed (for one reason or another) and have lost a substantial amount of fruit (up to 90%) A lot seems to come from inepitude from certain vineyard managers, but I am not going there.
At the end of the day, I am looking at writing off a few varities, and possibly buying a few extra tonnes of a certain variety to supplement our needs.
The wheat and the chaff will definitely be sorted out this year.

[griff]

Nothing like a little bit of media propaganda, now that Barack Obama is 'so 5 minutes ago'..
As one who has spent the last month traipsing up and down vineyard rows anxiously, the reality in my belief in this region is this: there are some vineyards that are probably as bad as anything I have seen in my +20 short years doing this. There are some that look 'really good' without being 'great'. There is also a trend of Baumes not increasing as fast as one would expect for this time of year. Checking my last years records, in 2008 'the one in a million heatwave event', we started picking on the 12th February (Shiraz). We look like starting probably on about the 16th February this year, which makes it all of a week behind the 'one in a million heatwave event of last year' which was touted as being 'early'.Granted, the heat this year has come at a different time in the vines phenological cycle, but we are still a long way away from getting what decent fruit there is into the winery, fermented, matured and assessed. Without trying to make too many bold predictions, it is the growers that have large crops and large canopies that look like getting out of this season with little damage. This greater fruit and leaf mass has greater capacity to weather (sic) the constant heat due to its thermal mass (just one winemakers opinion). Like last year, the growers that tried to do the right thing in terms of quality (open canopies/lower bunch numbers etc) got nailed. There may be a lesson in this going forward....
Same message as last year, and the year before. Lets get the wine made to the best of our ability, then make some 'generalisations'.
Bring on the football season so The Advertiser has something else to write about!!!

Intriguing stuff with the canopy/fruit management. Do you think this for all sorts of hot weather or hot weather with a very narrow diurnal variation as well?

cheers

Carl

[Tim Smith]

Hi Carl,
Well, modern viticulture in 50 words or less.....it may seem odd that a winemaker may (possibly) be implying that higher crop/thicker canopy may lead to better fruit quality. Certainly, in a situation like we are experiencing, it seems logical to me that loss of moisture would be less damaging on a vine with a greater potential thermal mass. And a vine with a big canopy (that shuts down theoretically above 35 degrees) and a larger (relatively speaking) crop load, and by default a greater moisture reserve would cope better. Not much different really to 'deficit irrigation' but by default!!Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You've alluded to situations of narrow diurnal thermal changes-this would imply to me you are referring to a warmer climate? This is exactly the climate I'm referring to. I would guess (viticulturists please shoot me down now) that with greater diurnal temperatures the onset of phenological ripening would be quicker and actually increase berry dehydration. (In somewhere like, say,McLaren Vale, with a maritime influence which does have a greater diurnal chnage?). I make no claim to being an expert, just a very inquisitive observer. It strikes me as no co-incidence that the 'engine room' of the modern Australian wine industry, The Riverland, has been growing quality grapes (subject to water availabilty-another thread in itself) for over 20 years, and getting good yields. I wont entertain a debate about quality in one region versus the other, again another thread, just my observations..
One final point: it seems the more we look at this, the less we understand!!!

[griff]

Hi Carl,
Well, modern viticulture in 50 words or less.....it may seem odd that a winemaker may (possibly) be implying that higher crop/thicker canopy may lead to better fruit quality. Certainly, in a situation like we are experiencing, it seems logical to me that loss of moisture would be less damaging on a vine with a greater potential thermal mass. And a vine with a big canopy (that shuts down theoretically above 35 degrees) and a larger (relatively speaking) crop load, and by default a greater moisture reserve would cope better. Not much different really to 'deficit irrigation' but by default!!Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You've alluded to situations of narrow diurnal thermal changes-this would imply to me you are referring to a warmer climate? This is exactly the climate I'm referring to. I would guess (viticulturists please shoot me down now) that with greater diurnal temperatures the onset of phenological ripening would be quicker and actually increase berry dehydration. (In somewhere like, say,McLaren Vale, with a maritime influence which does have a greater diurnal chnage?). I make no claim to being an expert, just a very inquisitive observer. It strikes me as no co-incidence that the 'engine room' of the modern Australian wine industry, The Riverland, has been growing quality grapes (subject to water availabilty-another thread in itself) for over 20 years, and getting good yields. I wont entertain a debate about quality in one region versus the other, again another thread, just my observations..
One final point: it seems the more we look at this, the less we understand!!!

That makes sense in that they would have a greater buffer capacity for moisture. Would they also need more moisture to be maintained however? I mean to say that a week or less they may be better off but thinking in sustained heat they may need more water than one can supply?

I think your last point is quite Socratic!

cheers

Carl

[Maximus]

Hi Carl,
Well, modern viticulture in 50 words or less.....it may seem odd that a winemaker may (possibly) be implying that higher crop/thicker canopy may lead to better fruit quality. Certainly, in a situation like we are experiencing, it seems logical to me that loss of moisture would be less damaging on a vine with a greater potential thermal mass. And a vine with a big canopy (that shuts down theoretically above 35 degrees) and a larger (relatively speaking) crop load, and by default a greater moisture reserve would cope better. Not much different really to 'deficit irrigation' but by default!!Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You've alluded to situations of narrow diurnal thermal changes-this would imply to me you are referring to a warmer climate? This is exactly the climate I'm referring to. I would guess (viticulturists please shoot me down now) that with greater diurnal temperatures the onset of phenological ripening would be quicker and actually increase berry dehydration. (In somewhere like, say,McLaren Vale, with a maritime influence which does have a greater diurnal chnage?). I make no claim to being an expert, just a very inquisitive observer. It strikes me as no co-incidence that the 'engine room' of the modern Australian wine industry, The Riverland, has been growing quality grapes (subject to water availabilty-another thread in itself) for over 20 years, and getting good yields. I wont entertain a debate about quality in one region versus the other, again another thread, just my observations..
One final point: it seems the more we look at this, the less we understand!!!

Hi Tim,

Your situation over there at the moment sounds pretty nasty. Such ripening variation across and within your blocks must be an absolute nightmare; not like you can go through now and do a green harvest either, with veraison presumably over.

To reply to your last post, I would suspect that areas under a maritime influence would see less diurnal variation given the presence of moderating sea breezes. It's usually the areas more inland that see the greater extremes; cooler nights and hotter days, in my experience. Carl, in terms of quantifying this with respect to ripening, crop load and canopy weight/density, there is no clear cut answer and there are lots of aspects to consider; too many for a short post on a wine forum.

A larger canopy will typically require more water, which stands to reason (a vine's reserves are depleted rapidly and it essentially relies on the water availability of the soil), however a larger canopy will also help shade the fruit (a good thing). I'm not entirely sure what trellis and training system is most common over there, but this will also impact on relative humidity within the canopy based on its density and consequently affect the rates of evapotranspiration.

When the vine is actually ripening the fruit, a larger crop load will decelerate the sugar accumulation, which will help allow some of the flavour compounds and phenolic ripeness to be achieved. This is why growers looking at quantity rather than quality may actually come out best in these sorts of extreme weather situations.

Cheers,

[griff]

Hi Carl,
Well, modern viticulture in 50 words or less.....it may seem odd that a winemaker may (possibly) be implying that higher crop/thicker canopy may lead to better fruit quality. Certainly, in a situation like we are experiencing, it seems logical to me that loss of moisture would be less damaging on a vine with a greater potential thermal mass. And a vine with a big canopy (that shuts down theoretically above 35 degrees) and a larger (relatively speaking) crop load, and by default a greater moisture reserve would cope better. Not much different really to 'deficit irrigation' but by default!!Unfortunately, it's not that simple. You've alluded to situations of narrow diurnal thermal changes-this would imply to me you are referring to a warmer climate? This is exactly the climate I'm referring to. I would guess (viticulturists please shoot me down now) that with greater diurnal temperatures the onset of phenological ripening would be quicker and actually increase berry dehydration. (In somewhere like, say,McLaren Vale, with a maritime influence which does have a greater diurnal chnage?). I make no claim to being an expert, just a very inquisitive observer. It strikes me as no co-incidence that the 'engine room' of the modern Australian wine industry, The Riverland, has been growing quality grapes (subject to water availabilty-another thread in itself) for over 20 years, and getting good yields. I wont entertain a debate about quality in one region versus the other, again another thread, just my observations..
One final point: it seems the more we look at this, the less we understand!!!

Hi Tim,

Your situation over there at the moment sounds pretty nasty. Such ripening variation across and within your blocks must be an absolute nightmare; not like you can go through now and do a green harvest either, with veraison presumably over.

To reply to your last post, I would suspect that areas under a maritime influence would see less diurnal variation given the presence of moderating sea breezes. It's usually the areas more inland that see the greater extremes; cooler nights and hotter days, in my experience. Carl, in terms of quantifying this with respect to ripening, crop load and canopy weight/density, there is no clear cut answer and there are lots of aspects to consider; too many for a short post on a wine forum.

A larger canopy will typically require more water, which stands to reason (a vine's reserves are depleted rapidly and it essentially relies on the water availability of the soil), however a larger canopy will also help shade the fruit (a good thing). I'm not entirely sure what trellis and training system is most common over there, but this will also impact on relative humidity within the canopy based on its density and consequently affect the rates of evapotranspiration.

When the vine is actually ripening the fruit, a larger crop load will decelerate the sugar accumulation, which will help allow some of the flavour compounds and phenolic ripeness to be achieved. This is why growers looking at quantity rather than quality may actually come out best in these sorts of extreme weather situations.

Cheers,

Yes I thought that the increased water requirements of a larger canopy/fruit density can bite you on the bum (especially if you want to put the 'unirrigated' moniker on the back label). I like the last point there. Aware that phenolic ripeness often chases sugar ripeness although while the gap is environment dependent it can also be varietal dependent. I suspect that throws yet another variable in the mix. Speaking of which, is there research on varietals having different shut-down temperatures?

Have to thank you two for a crash corse on 'hot' viticulture Maybe I should be asking in the viticulture forum.

cheers

Carl

[Tim Smith]

Yep, a can of worms this could turn into! And I havent even started on:

The fact that vine orientation (North/South vs East West) has an influence as well. BTW, it is North/South orientated vines that seem hardest hit: the prevailing Westerly breeze in the Barossa 'rolls' the canopy over, exposing it to the nasty effects of the sun (in the case of N/S rows). E/W orientated rows tend to show more 'patchy' sun burn incidents. n.b I should also add, most of the hysteria about fruit damamge is really applicable mostly to white varieties at this stage.

And a host of other variables not really within the scope of this thread.

But it does get me back to my original point: lets get whatever sound fruit there is into the winery and make the wines.

Thats the joy and heartbreak of this business-you just cant predict it from one year to the next, thats why we keep anticipating the next 'dream vintage'..

[David]

Yep, a can of worms this could turn into! And I havent even started on:

The fact that vine orientation (North/South vs East West) has an influence as well. BTW, it is North/South orientated vines that seem hardest hit: the prevailing Westerly breeze in the Barossa 'rolls' the canopy over, exposing it to the nasty effects of the sun (in the case of N/S rows). E/W orientated rows tend to show more 'patchy' sun burn incidents. n.b I should also add, most of the hysteria about fruit damamge is really applicable mostly to white varieties at this stage.

And a host of other variables not really within the scope of this thread.

But it does get me back to my original point: lets get whatever sound fruit there is into the winery and make the wines.

Thats the joy and heartbreak of this business-you just cant predict it from one year to the next, thats why we keep anticipating the next 'dream vintage'..

Tim is right we just don't know at this stage.

Our shiraz is east west oriented and grenache north south. With the hot northerly wind the east west of the shiraz breaks up the wind and slows it down. Hellish day but with the the shiraz finishing veraison and the grenache starting some cool weather will help.

Time for Barossa growers and winemakers to get together for a group hug.