The South Burnett wine region has enjoyed it most successful vintage during its short history. Both yield and quality were up compared to previous seasons. Approximately 2000 tonnes of fruit was crusheda record for the area. Verdelho, Chardonnay and Semillon enjoyed the warm, dry conditions which resulted in yields of 10-15 t/ha being harvested. Verdelhothe […]
The Wine Grapes Marketing Boards early analysis of fruit samples showed a promise of outstanding quality fruit for the 2005 vintage. Disruptions to vine ripening activity caused by inconsistent climatic changes during final maturation did little to alter this view. Rain recorded during September to April was a maximum of 120 mm, although this varied […]
2005 in Orange and the Central Ranges was undoubtedly the best vintage of my winemaking life, Philip Shaw, chief executive of Cumulus Wines, has declared. He said the cold weather and spring rains made for a difficult start, as some vineyards had to shoot thin twice to control vigour. After November 2004, it was dry […]
The growing season for the 2005 vintage followed a very dry winter, with soil moisture levels at budburst a concern. Early spring rains proved adequate, and replenished water deficits. The major seasonal influence that followed through spring and early summer were mild, steady temperatures reminiscent of the great 2000 vintage. In general terms, the weather […]
In the words of winemaker Rob Sticks Dolan, 2005 in the Yarra Valley was Phenomenala cracker of a year for red and white. We couldnt have wished for a better season. 2005 in the Yarra Valley will be remembered as an outstanding vintage of two distinctive climatic halves. Spring was cool and mild with adequate […]
The 2005 vintage in Perricoota was dominated by southerly winds causing a cooler-than-average summer. The milder weather has been ideal for flavour development, and has allowed Perricoota to produce high quality wine this season. The slow flavour ripening experienced was not always correlated with slow sugar ripening, and in many cases (especially in red varieties) […]
Near-to-perfect weather and good-to-exceptional quality. Thats the snapshot view of the 2005 vintage in the Murray Valley. The downsides to the season were the further reduction in prices and the leaving behind of some Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. Working out how much remained unsold is largely anecdotal at this time of the year, […]
Good winter rains preceded the start to the season with budburst occurring in midlate September throughout the valley. Average temperatures prevailed during October and November and the customary mid-October cold snap did not eventuate this season. The average temperatures, coupled with below average rainfall resulted in steady shoot growth in the lead up to flowering […]
After an October frost and a cool spring which resulted in a reduced fruit set (25 per cent down), the Henty wine region experienced a significantly warmer and drier summer than usual. This continued into autumn, bringing forward the (approx.) 838-tonne grape harvest by two weeks. There were some problems with European wasps in the […]
The 2005 vintage began with a thoroughly wet soil profile as a result of good winter rainfall. However, those of us who rely on our dams for irrigation were left unimpressed by the lack of run-off these rains produced. The months of September into November offered average temperatures and rainfall resulting in good shoot growth […]
The season commenced with timely spring rains and moderate temperature conditions resulting in an even budburst combined with generous fruitfulness across all varieties. The growing season throughout the summer months was dry, with two significant rain events. Up to 50 mm was recorded throughout most of the Goulburn Valley in the third week of December. […]
An outstanding vintage for all varieties and regions, 2005 will be a classic year for Tasmanian wine. An easy year for disease control and a slightly cool, dry growing season finished with an ideal vintage. There was a cool August with higher-than-normal rainfall in the lower Derwent Valley and South East and low rainfall in […]
A grape harvest of about 1,100 tonnes is generally down on the 04 vintage and there were particular problems in some sub regions. In general, there was little disease pressure in vineyards although East Gippsland had patches of bad botrytis. Others had heavy bird attacks at vintage time which lessened crop levels and quality. Since […]
The seasonal conditions opened to a cool flowering period followed by a long and warm to hot summer with little or no rainfall of significance until mid February when most thin-skinned varieties (Semillon, Pinot, etc.) had already been harvested. However, some Shiraz was susceptible to splitting from an average recorded rainfall of 17 mm on […]
Most wineries in the Bendigo region reported an increase in production levels with a few exceptions that were slightly lower. The region commenced picking early March with the more southern wineries not finishing until early May. The fruit was generally of better-than-average quality with exceptional acid levels and colour. A disease-free season with some excellent […]