Tuesday, March 22, 2011

2011 South Australia Vintage Conditions (Pt1)

Grapegrowers in some key South Australian wine regions have been hit by more bad weather just as the majority of harvesting was getting underway, with some crops facing ruin.

The Clare Valley wine region has been among the worst affected, with heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours. In the past 7 days Clare has received 60mm, 65mm in Nuriootpa (Barossa). Luckily only 15mm in McLaren Vale over the last 7 days.

The vice chairman of the Clare Valley Wine Region's Grapegrowers Association, Anthony Koerner, says bunch rot and botrytis have already been causing serious problems.

"Quite a bit of fruit is already being rejected so it won't be picked, it will just be left on the vine because it's got too much rot in it and with this rain it would only get worse I think, it would spread more rapidly. It's not good at all," he said.

In McLaren Vale a number of growers are taking the opportunity and have decided to harvest a good proportion of fruit this coming week. While rainfall may not be a direct issue, higher levels of humidity are increasing disease preasure.