PRE-VINTAGE 2011 UPDATE
21 January 2011
With vintage only a few weeks away I thought I would update you on how the season is panning out so far.
2010 started out with most of the country in the grips of a 13yr drought, if you had predicted that by the end of the year there would be major flooding across 4 states and the Murray Darling basin would be nearly full you would have been laughed out of town. My how things have changed.
Fast forward 6 months and after a cold and wet winter the vines finally showed signs of life towards the end of September. Budburst was around 3 weeks later than the previous season but closer to the long term average. With good soil moisture availability budburst was very even and early canopy growth was rapid. Rainfall totals for August and September were well above average and kept many growers busy preventing Powdery and Downy mildew.
After a relatively cool and dry October and November vine growth was just beginning to slow when the rains began again in earnest in early December. By the end of the month the Barossa had recorded around 170mm of rain and had had the wettest month of the year. The biggest rains occurred on the 8th of December and many areas received up to 120mm of rain in a day. This rain event caused some major flooding across the valley and led to some reports of Downy mildew. Fortunately, our PLW growers had been vigilant with their preventative programs, isolating any outbreaks and preventing any major impact on yield or quality.
Given the good rains, vine canopies are looking very lush and green and most vineyards will not need to irrigate at all this season. Cropping levels in most varieties will be average to slightly above average depending on the variety with Shiraz down a little on last year and Cabernet Sauvignon up a little on last year. At this early stage Cabernet Sauvignon and Eden Valley Riesling look very balanced and with the cool season should produce wines of great varietal character. Given the late budburst and relatively cool season harvest looks like it will kick off towards the end of February which is around 3 weeks later than 2010.
Nigel Blieschke
PLW Viticulturalist
