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1999 vintage report for Goulburn Valley (Victoria)

Yields in the Goulburn Valley increased by about 5% due to young vines coming into production. Weather was hot at the beginning, followed by a warm autumn. A brief period of heavy rain and humidity in late March promoted some botrytis in Riesling, but other varieties were not affected.

Paul van der Lee, secretary of the Goulburn Valley Winemakers Association, said the hot weather slowed down the ripening process so the normal spread of varieties being harvested at different times became a congestion. Shortage of fermentation space was a problem, especially with red fruit. Paul said all varieties ripened completely and quality was generally high. ‘The 1998 vintage was close to perfect and ’99 was not far behind,’ he said. ‘Wines are better than average, big and rich with plenty of colour and sweetness on both nose and palate.’ Paul also gave a better than average score to the whites. ‘As we usually have a little botrytis in Riesling, this is an average vintage,’ he said. Both Chardonnay and Marsanne easily reached optimum maturity as did other white varieties, which have plenty of flavour.’