Current Vintage Reports
Eden Valley
2009
The 2009 vintage was preceded by another drought winter, with 399mm rainfall in Eden Valley for the year, and one of the coldest. It was also the coldest August since 1951. Spring had a few heat spikes up into the mid to high 30s, some frost damage in low-lying areas, but very little rain during September and October. In fact, it was the driest September for 30 years and the driest October on record. Staggered flowering resulted from cool weather which reduced the fruit set. Some varieties were also mothballed (ie, pruned back hard to just a few spurs to allow them to survive with no water). Rain arrived in mid-December with around 65mm recorded, making it the wettest month of the whole year.
The cool southerlies continued through into the new year, reminiscent of 2005. December didn’t record any days over 32C. January tended to warm to hot with a couple of heat spikes into the high 30s and low 40s. It was the driest start to the year since 1957. Late January brought a record six days over 40C, not seen since 1908, causing significant vine stress, exacerbated by drought conditions and empty dams followed by another week of hot weather culminating in a 46C day on Black Saturday on February 7. Subsequent weather was mild and dry and from March 1 moved into autumn mode, perfect ripening weather. A strong change brought a general rain across the state with 10-20mm in early March, which helped the vines pull through from the heat. An Indian summer from the end of March through until the middle of April brought ripening forward and with all the whites finished allowed a total focus on the red varieties. The Eden Valley reds are stunning with amazing colours and flavours, however with yields down 25-50%, the lowest since the disastrous vintage of 2003.
Adelaide Hills
2009
Coming soon…