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1999 vintage report for McLaren Vale (South Australia)

For many, the region had its wettest vintage for some time. ‘However, a lot of the “gloom and doom” forecasts around Easter did not materialise,’ said David Dean, general manager of McLaren Vale Winemakers Inc. ‘Good management led to good quality, but those who overcropped paid the price.’

Yields were down by an average of 15%, due to a very dry growing year which followed a high-yielding 1998. Wet weather during vintage had an effect on the quality. ‘Some botrytis occurred in reds where canopy management was slack,’ said David. ‘Baume levels were slightly down on 1998.’ Cabernet is excellent, some say the best. Shiraz quality is variable — those who waited and instituted good canopy management reaped the rewards. David reports overall quality for reds is good to very good, while the whites are ‘very good to excellent.’

He said second year crops gave a hint of the large tonnages that McLaren Vale will deal with in the future — from 2001 onwards. Rosemount Estate’s McLaren Vale winemaker Charles Wilsh says that there is excellent flavour and finesse in the best parcels. ‘The wines we are seeing developing in tank are showing a tremendous fruit vibrancy and brightness. However, the combination of heat stress then rain has meant that we won’t see the classic sweet, plump fruit and silky tannins of great years,’ Charles said. ‘The best will probably be 10 year plus ageing propositions instead of the usual 15 to 20, so they’re still very serious wines.’