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2008 vintage report for Langhorne Creek (South Australia)

By Lian Jaensch
Executive Officer
Langhorne Creek Wine Industry Council

Again, it was an early, compressed vintage period for Langhorne Creek with harvesters rolled out at the start of February and all but packed away by the end of March. This year has been a vintage of extremes and logistical chaos, to say the least, but resulted in a surprisingly good tonnage and some excellent parcels of fruit. Yields were above average for most varieties, particularly whites.

The first half of the vintage was tremendous with excellent, mild and dry climatic conditions throughout February. The grapes possessed high natural acidity and flavour development in white varieties and wonderful characters in early-mid ripening Shiraz and Malbec.

As with many South Australian wine regions this year, the second half of vintage would be best described as varying between terrific and disastrous as the record-breaking March heatwave gripped the State. With fruit dehydration and sugar levels never before experienced by growers or winemakers, the pressure was on to harvest quickly and minimise damage if at all possible. It is estimated the last 20-30% of the vintage was severely heat affected. Cabernet Sauvignon, in particular, suffered across the region.