Vintage Reports
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2009 vintage report for Southern Highlands (New South Wales)
Contributed by Philip Martin. Growing season: The 2008-09 season in the Southern Highlands was generally about average. Rainfall returned to long-term average levels, and the early January heatwave was very brief, and came later than southern regions, so did little damage to those who were prepared for it. Frost was not an issue early in […]
2009 vintage report for Riverland (South Australia)
Contributed by Tim Smythe, industry development officer, Riverland Wine Industry Development Council Growing season: Season 2008-09 started dry and finished extremely dry in the Riverland. There were some useful rains in early November and mid-December. Temperatures from September through mid-January were perfect for the progress of the vines. Most vines were in good shape leading […]
2009 vintage report for Pericoota (New South Wales)
Contributed by Michael Gray, Perricoota Grape Growers Association Growing season: The 2009 vintage was difficult in Perricoota due to the heatwave in early February, causing significant crop losses from sunburn on many blocks. Low rainfall meant that disease pressure was low, but also meant more irrigation water was required. Vintage: It was another short one, […]
2009 vintage report for Padthaway (South Australia)
Contributed by David Edwards, acting president, Padthaway Grape Growers Association Growing season: The 2008-09 growing season had 25% less rainfall than the long-term average (LTA), with the majority of rain falling in December. Prior to the December rains the actual rainfall was 70% below LTA. Average minimum and maximum temperatures were very close to LTA […]
2009 vintage report for Mudgee (New South Wales)
Contributed by Paul Baguley Growing season: Mudgee had a relative dry winter with good rains from September through to December 2008. This spring rain caused some concerns with regard to downy mildew outbreaks, but overall had a positive effect securing good moisture availability to all varieties and providing a very even budburst with good early […]
2009 vintage report for Langhorne Creek (South Australia)
Contributed by Lian Jaensch, executive officer, Langhorne Creek Wine Industry Council Growing season: The heat in late January/early February caused a brief scare with shades of the 2008 heatwave with some fruit damage and crop loss, however, being earlier in the season was in many ways a blessing compared with the onslaught the previous year. […]
2009 vintage report for King Valley (Victoria)
Contributed by Stephen Lowe, project officer, King Valley Vignerons. Growing season: Budburst occurred mid to late September following the third consecutive dry winter where well below average rainfall was recorded throughout the valley. An extremely dry (
2009 vintage report for Grampians (Victoria)
Contributed by Damien Sheehan, president, Grampians Winemakers Inc. Growing season: The growing season was mainly mild and promised much. However, there were three critical times when the conditions werent so mild which had significant impacts on yield. Budburst was early and there were frosts that affected some vineyards in the district. Other than the frosts, […]
2009 vintage report for Goulburn Valley (Victoria)
Contributed by John Beresford, secretary, Goulburn Valley Wine Association Growing season: Sporadic but timely rain events in the Goulburn Valley late in 2008 ensured soil moisture conditions were adequate throughout flowering resulting in even fruitset across all varieties. Record maximum temperatures up to 46oC in the first week of February combined with furnace-like northerly winds […]
2009 vintage report for Geelong (Victoria)
Contributed by Anthony Brain, winemaker, Bellarine Estate, and Paul Champion, Mermerus Vineyard and vice-president, Geelong Wine Association Growing season: Very little rain in winter and spring led to very small canopy growth in the early part of season. The flowering period was cool and windy with Shiraz suffering a very poor fruitset. Take out the […]
2009 vintage report for Currency Creek (South Australia)
Contributed by Nathan Shaw and David Watkins Growing season: The 2009 growing season commenced with cool spring weather and, surprisingly, after average winter rainfall, very dry deeper soil profiles. While early spring growth was somewhat inhibited by cooler conditions, a warmer start to summer soon produced well-balanced canopies. Red varieties showed excellent fruitset and bunch […]
2009 vintage report for Cowra (New South Wales)
Tom Ward, president, Cowra Regional Vineyard Association Growing season: The season started out with rainfall being around about average (two inches per month) until the end of December ’08. There were some problems with downy and powdery mildew. However, these were fairly isolated and dry heat in December and January cleared most of the problems […]
2009 vintage report for Coonawarra (South Australia)
Contributed by Michelle Stehbens, president, Coonawarra Vignerons Association and Stuart Sharman, president, Coonawarra Grapegrowers Association Growing season: Winter rainfall in 2008 was average giving good soil moisture levels for budburst in early spring. Conditions during spring were dry with minimal frost and no disease pressures allowing for excellent vine canopy development. Prolonged flowering due to […]
2009 vintage report for Clare Valley (South Australia)
Contributed by Frank Nicholls, chairman, Clare Region Winegrape Growers Association Growing season: The 2008-09 growing season got off to a more normal start than 2007-08 with budburst and flowering back to normal dates and relatively mild temperatures until Christmas. Disease pressure was low throughout most of the growing season with the only spike occurring after […]
2009 vintage report for Beechworth (Victoria)
Contributed by Barry Morey, president, Beechworth Vignerons Association. Growing season: The growing season started with very low soil moisture. Most growers started with dams well below full capacity. Budburst was even and favourable weather allowed for good fruitset and a potential average to above average vintage. Three frost events occurred in the more susceptible vineyards […]
2009 vintage report for Barossa Valley (South Australia)
Contributed by Elise Heyes, viticultural development officer, Barossa Grape & Wine Association, and Juliet Henderson, Barossa Viticulture Technical Group Growing season: Budburst in the Barossa was approximately two weeks later than the previous two seasons, indicating that phenology was on par with the timing of a normal season. The budburst was uneven for many varieties […]
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