Wine

Vintage 2017 update

Hunter Valley, NSW

Tyrrell's Wines - Bruce Tyrrell, Managing Director

The outlook is great for our winemaking friends in the Hunter Valley, including Tyrrell's Wines whose Managing Director, Bruce Tyrrell wrote in his report when their Hunter vintage finished in February:

"As I write this our Hunter Vintage is over apart from 3 tonnes of Cabernet, which has got at least a week to go and hopefully it survives the rain this weekend. We finished picking this morning with Pokolbin Hills Shiraz, the end of Stevens Glen Oak and DeBeyers Sangiovese."

"It is only 35 days since we started picking Chardonnay for sparkling, and I think we will all remember this Vintage for the joy of picking clean fruit, and no mud. At the end of the day we have some very good wine in the cellar, our tonnages are about spot on budget, and we have a month to wait until we start in Heathcote."

You can read Bruce's full vintage experience here .

Yarra Valley, VIC

Rob Dolan Wines - Rob Dolan, Managing Director/Winemaker

It's a 9/10 at the half way mark of Vintage 2017 and it looks like the Yarra Valley has been fortunate on the weather front. After a cool early summer and a nervous January/Feb an amazing early Autumn spread through the Yarra. It looks like a vintage from the "naughty nineties" - cool/mild with evenly balanced crops, excellent acidity, ripe flavours and tannin structure.

Pinot Noir will be a standout with crops on most vineyards down 20% however some vineyards will achieve their expected average. Chardonnay/Pinot Gris have bountiful flavour and fresh, crisp acidity and balance. Picking of Shiraz/Cab Sauv and other red varietals is now underway after a few days of thundery weather and light rain.

A Yarra vintage to put in the "black book" as there will be some beautiful wines across all vineyards and wine companies.

McLaren Vale, SA

d'Arenberg Wines - Chester Osborn, Chief Winemaker

It's been a very late vintage compared to recent years. The last part of summer and the start of autumn were very dry. What normally is cool climate here in the McLaren Vale, leading to fragrant floral wines, has been aided by the very dry weather. The deep geology and water availability in the roots leads to greater concentration of fruit.

Whites are looking outstanding, the best for years and the reds - where do I start? Shiraz is looking beautiful, very aromatic and spicy, with strong fragrant length. Many are elegant, but strongly persistent. Bolder. Great fragrant fruit length. Cabernets and Grenache also looking outstanding, but it's still early days for those varieties. All reds have great potential this year.

Margaret River, WA

Flying Fish Cove - Brett House, CEO

Vintage 2017 has been a more traditional year than the past few, with whites throughout the region being harvested later in February and well into March, yields have been strong on most white varieties, after being lower than normal over the past few years. Whilst it is still too early to predict the quality of the year, all signs appear to suggest another strong one.

The reds are still some time off, again signifying a more traditional harvest. There has been a small amount of rain during March, which also slows down the ripening process, all grower reports have been positive to date.

Redgate Winery - Joel Page, Head Winemaker

It's been a relatively mild summer with good yields on all varieties. The fruit flavours have developed early considering the baumes, but late considering the date. All the whites have shown higher levels of malic acid considering the cooler year. The whites are brightly aromatic and look great.

On to the reds; we are expecting some lower baumes, but well developed flavour and tannin structure. Hopefully, some soft, elegant styles.

Geographe, WA

Willow Bridge Estate - Kim Horton, Senior Winemaker

A much cooler and wetter spring of 2016, and cooler conditions in 2017 have led to a delayed vintage in the Geographe region, almost 3 weeks later than historically. The result is a superb batch of white wines, with excellent flavour at lower sugar levels, however, some caution was required to ensure acid levels were palatable. Yields generally are higher than last season. Chardonnay looks outstanding.

A small amount of red has been harvested in the region, however, likely to be in full swing at the beginning of April.

Great Southern, WA

Plantagenet Wines - Luke Eckersley, Senior Winemaker

The vintage thus far for Plantagenet and the Great Southern is what the locals are calling 'normal' - late in comparison to recent times, but normal if gauged over the last few decades! Along with that, we have had milder conditions bringing about longer, slower ripening, so the whites thus far are very fine with good acid length and elegance! We have received a few parcels of Pinot Noir that are showing intense colour (so could be a good one for Pinot) and the Cabernets are ahead on seed development, making it neck and neck with Shiraz and Cabernet as to who will cross the line first!