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2002 vintage report for Shoalhaven Coast (New South Wales)

Budburst was generally earlier than normal due to mild winter conditions. Spring was relatively dry, however the area experienced some severe isolated wind and thunderstorms that caused some shoot damage to vineyards.
Summer produced extremely high temperatures in the Christmas/New Year period and the area was ravaged by bushfires for some weeks, but no damage to vineyards was reported.
For those without irrigation considerable water stress was experienced during this period leading to some defoliation and crop loss. Ironically, February was extremely wet with 21 of the 28 days producing rain. Total rainfall reached more than 400 mm for the month in some areas.
Vintage started in early February—a week earlier than normal. The rain during early vintage caused some berry splitting with resultant disease, e.g. botrytis. White varieties were particularly affected and many vineyards experienced lower than normal sugar levels. Yields varied according to vineyard but on average were down 10–15%.
‘In general quality was regarded as good to very good,’ said Neil Ramsay, secretary of the Shoalhaven Grapegrowers & Winemakers Association.
‘The weather cleared for the red harvest and the quality of the Shiraz, Chambourcin and Merlot was excellent. Cabernet Sauvignon quality varied with some experiencing low sugar levels. Yields were average although Shiraz was lower than normal in some cases due to poor flowering.’