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1997 vintage report for Tumbarumba (New South Wales)

Frank Minutello, president of the Tumbarumba Vignerons Association, said there had been a 30% decrease in yields. Severe November frost affected yields mainly in white varieties. Weather during vintage was fine and dry, and there were no disease problems. Frank supplied a vintage report from Andrew Fleming, winery production manager for Southcorp Wines, which summed up the situation.Sparkling A promising start to the season was hampered by late spring frosts which affected many of the cooler vineyards, reducing yields or in some cases producing no crop. A warm to hot growing season followed and there was little problem ripening the grapes. A combination of frost and hot growing conditions meant that quality sparkling wines were difficult to find. Unlike 1996 which produced wines of great style and concentration, the 1997 wines were generally lighter in flavour and lacked length of flavour.There were some outstanding wines this year from vineyards that were less affected by the frosts. Of these the Chardonnay showed strong tropical fruit aromas with sweet melon-like flavours on the palate. The Pinot Noirs were lightly strawberry in aroma but with excellent length and concentration of flavour. Both these varieties will be used in premium sparkling blends.Whites The 1997 vinage at Tumbarumba/Tooma experienced generally hot and dry conditions with the majority of vineyards achieving full maturity. The late frosts in November, 1996, which affected some vineyards, have had some impact on wine quality, mainly due to the presence of second crop. As a result, these wines are generally higher in acid, lighter in structure and tend to show greener fruit characters. Wines produced from vineyards that achieved full maturity are generally exhibiting good cool climate varietal character, i.e. gooseberry/lychee characters in Sauvignon Blanc and peach/lemon characters in Chardonnay. A selected portion of the wines have undergone barrel fermentation and although early in their development are exhibiting elegance with delicate cool climate characters.RedsThe area can have a problem at times with achieving desired ripeness due to early frosts in autumn. The red wines tend to be lighter in structure, with herbaceous characters. These herbaceous characters can dominate if the reds are picked too green. The ’97 reds generally had good colour with purple hues. Most showed some herbaceousness which tends to overpower other fruit characters. The Merlots showed some perfume aromas whereas the Cabernets showed more sweet fruit characters. The structure on the palate of the wines tended to again often be dominated by a herbaceous green character. It is difficult to get away from these herbaceous green characters in the very cool climate areas.