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2001 vintage report for Far South Western Victoria

Excellent flowering and fruitset following good rains in early spring led to a 30% increase in yield in the Henty wine region in south-western Victoria. Peter Dixon, secretary of the region’s viticultural association, said yields were higher in the Heywood/Drumborg areas compared to Hamilton and Tarrington. Vintage started in mid-March, early for the region. Disease levels were generally very low due to a dry summer and autumn, but rain in late April brought some botrytis in late harvest white varieties. Peter said cool vintage weather resulted in slow and even fermentations and excellent colour extraction and good acid balance in red wines. He said vintage conditions were as close as possible to ideal for white varieties, and the resulting wines show good varietal fruit characters and good acid balance. Many growers bunch-thinned high yielding crops to ensure target Baumes were reached. ‘Some wineries were at the limit of production with generally higher crop yields,’ Peter said. ‘Tonnage for the region exceeded 1,000 tonnes for the first time, with higher yields and new vineyards coming into production.’