Vintage Report by James Hook
The grapes are in... What will the wines be like? Read report to know what has influenced the wines for this year.
Vintage 2016 will be remembered for a warm and dry spring, which promoted shoot growth and flowering, followed up by heavy rain immediately before harvest which helped boost vineyard yields. At harvest vines produced some of the bigger crops we have seen since 2004, but they generally weren’t overcropped as vine growth was balanced.
The reported harvest from McLaren Vale was 40,997 tonnes in 2016, 12,000 tonnes above the 2015 harvest and 21% above the five year average crush.
The warm spring and early summer days and nights ensured that vines grew well and then set well. The 2015/16 growing season had some similarities with the lean 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons. In all three, growing season rainfall was less than 50% of the long term average.
Overall, rainfall for winter was lower than average, due to a dry June 2015, and this was followed by long dry periods where no effective rain fell until the first week of February. Disease pressure was generally low due to the long dry periods, following on from dry 2013 and 2014 springs as well. Irrigation application was vital to crop health and the local recycled water system, that supplies 45-50% of the region’s irrigation water, was stretched. Rationing of this water source was flagged in January but fortunately full allocations were maintained.
Growers were able to compensate for the shortfall in rainfall with improved irrigation techniques and an uninterrupted supply. White grape harvest started at the end of January, with sparkling base wines and vineyards destined for light white wine styles.
At the beginning of February, immediately before the bulk of the region was to be harvested, McLaren Vale had double its average monthly rainfall over two days due to one storm. However, far from having a negative effect, the intense rain event increased the bunch weight of crops at harvest and relieved any water stress on the vines. The rain also delayed the start of red grape picking into the middle of February. March had above average rainfall, but fortunately this fell after a high percentage of harvest was complete. Powdery Mildew flared up and Botrytis increased but only on the latest picked fruit.
James Hook.