As hot conditions sweep across the region, winegrowers are feeling the heat amongst their harvest.

Around the region water sources are limited, with most vineyards operating from dams and bores.

Jenny Houghton from Maygar’s Hill is operating drippers after midnight for less evaporation and cheaper power.

“Apart from heat, a hot wind strips any moisture from the vines and is a double whammy with temperature,” Mrs Houghton said.

Despite the warmer conditions, some varieties of wine can still put up a fight against the temperatures.

“Red wine varieties are most resilient with Shiraz being almost bomb proof,” Mrs Houghton said.

“Being in the foothills of the Strathbogies is warmer and we have a shorter growing season than in the hills.”

With sunburnt fruit often an issue, Mrs Houghton puts focus on lots of leaf growth earlier in the season which provides shade for the fruit and fuel for growth.

“We aim to keep the northern side a bit longer to act as a verandah for shade,” she said.

“This season has been perfect for that as rain in October gave us lots of early growth.

“It’s a whacky last couple of years as old traditional times of rain have gone out the window.”

Admitting one of the benefits of being small is her ability to be able to act quickly, with some vineyards even using a spray on sunscreen to protect the fruit.

“Sunburnt fruit is much harder to work with and it’s more the dehydration that is the issue,” she said.

As the warmer weather settles in, Mrs Houghton said she often does extra watering to keep the root zone moist.

“If vines become too stressed, I can always take off extra fruit,” she said.

“I aim for a small crop usually but you can significantly reduce vine stress by taking off fruit.”

She helps with her own stress by not heading out to the vineyard in the afternoon when vines are often at their worst.

Wine Australia’s “managing vines during heatwaves” fact sheet says that a good canopy should be established early in the season through careful management of pruning, irrigation and nutrition.

Ms Maygar takes heart from the brutal 2009 vintage when fire ravaged Victoria and it turned out to be a “spectacular year”, so she will keep her fingers crossed as the heatwave continues.

Originally published in the Wangaratta Chronicle, written by Grace Evans.