Wet winter has vintage on track.
McLaren Vale Agronomist and Winemaker James Hook said his region was running about three weeks behind recent years, making it more akin to typical seasons in the 1990s, meaning most of the grapes will be picked in March.
“As soon as the weather got warm they grew very quickly so they probably did two month’s worth of growth in one month – it’s really accelerated growth because they had a belly full of water in winter and spring and it took a long time for the weather to warm up,” he said.
“We’re looking at a larger vintage again like last year.
“If the summer doesn’t turn into a scorching heatwave I think it will be a very good year. At the moment the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting average conditions so if that happens over the next two or three months it will be good for quantity and quality, which both sides of the market like – the grape growers get good tonnage and the consumer likes it as well because they get good wine.
“People are fairly optimistic and from a weather point of view if we get average weather from here it will be a good year.”
