The red wines coming from the Cowra region in 2001 are excellentùthe best ever for the majority of vineyards, according to Kylie Galvin from the Cowra Regional Vineyard Association. She said whites were also above average quality. The intense hot weather in January led to low Baumes (average 12û12.5¦) and most vineyards had to harvest […]
Some growers in the Coonawarra region had difficulty placing all their fruit, according to Bruce Redman, vice president of the Coonawarra Vignerons Association. However, eventually all grapes in the region were picked. Vintage started early and went for a long time, due to the difficulty of maturing grapes from young vineyards. Most vineyards were above […]
Vintage 2001 in the Clare Valley has been very positive, reports Andrew Hardy, chairman of Clare Valley Winemakers Inc. Yields were well up on last year and for the most part about average. Riesling and Shiraz were the highlights with very high quality wines appearing. ‘There have also been many reports of very high quality […]
Preliminary Report (March):When this report was written, up to six weeks of picking was still to come from this cool region, which has many micro climates. Beringer Blass Wine Estates winemaker Matt Steel said Sauvignon Blanc looked really good this year, displaying herbaceous, kiwifruit characters, especially from the cooler upper end of the Valley. ‘Both […]
Preliminary Report (March):David Dean, general manager of McLaren Vale Winemakers Inc., said with all of the whites picked and most of the reds in, everything was looking good. ‘Colour and flavour are phenomenal,’ he said. ‘Cabernet looks stunning.’ The extreme heat in January and February didn’t cause as many problems as had been feared by […]
Preliminary Report (March):Sue Jackman, chief executive officer of the Margaret River Wine Industry Association Inc. said a near perfect ripening season has resulted in a great start to vintage with growers reporting good quality and generally good to above average crop yields. Minimal concerns have related to bird damage due to the lack of marri […]
Preliminary Report (March):Vintage commenced on 15 January in the Hunter Valley, one week earlier than the previous year. Bruce Tyrrell, president of the Hunter Valley Vineyard Association, said yields were approximately the same as in 2000. ‘They would have been 15% higher than this but for the extreme heat in mid to late January,’ Bruce […]
Preliminary Report (March):In the Coonawarra region picking started a week to 10 days earlier than usual. At the time of writing the Sauvignon Blanc harvest was finished, together with a good part of the Chardonnay. President of the Coonawarra Vignerons’ Association, Wayne Stehbens, said yields were encouragingùabove average for the first time since 1998. He […]
Preliminary Report (March):Clare Valley Winemakers Association president Andrew Hardy said the vintage at Clare was going to be ‘magnificent.’ ‘Vineyards look terrific despite the harsh summer, which led to an earlier start to picking. Everyone here is pretty upbeat — a vintage like this is just what the state needs,’ he said.