Winemaker Sam Plunkett might want a nickel for every day forward on the calendar that he’s seen his grape harvests move every year.
The founder of Wine By Sam would only have 30 nickels, but the shift forward has been significant for all winemakers, whose vintages for 2024 are nearing completion.
“It means the harvest time is now one month earlier on average than when I first started in the industry,” Mr Plunkett said.
“Some wines we have finished picking at a time when we’d normally start.”
Across the wine industry, a consensus points to climate change as being the cause of the shift.
Growers have also been challenged this year with a shorter season which they describe as ‘compressed’, affecting wine quality.
Mr Plunkett said red wines were generally considered to be better when the fruit stays on the vine for longer beyond the peak sugar content level.
“If we don’t go past that we don’t have the flavours quite as accumulated.
“We can deal with the sugar content being higher but not reduced flavours; however, a feature of this year will be an impressive, dense and warm Shiraz.
“But everything was asking to be picked in a smaller timeframe.”
Tahbilk winemaker Jo Nash agreed that winemakers had this year been at the mercy of the weather.
“A compressed season puts pressure on everybody and everything — you struggle to pick it all at the optimal time,” Ms Nash said.
“Also, the fruit dehydrates and the sugar levels will increase without the flavours ripening at the same time.”
Tahbilk Wines director Alister Purbrick agreed that Mother Nature had ‘not been kind’.
“She’s been at her mercurial worst,” Mr Purbrick said.
“Normally we will start with a Chardonnay for sparkling in about mid-February but then we had this run of very hot dry weather.
“This means the whites start coming off nicely; that’s great and then the reds start galloping and even the late ripening reds like Cabernet Sauvignon come in earlier and, all of a sudden, you’ve got to get it all off at once.”
Mr Purbrick said that some flooding in low-lying parts of the vineyard in January had produced disease pressure in those vines.
“Although it didn’t cover the canopies like in October 2022, they did get wet feet which lowered the yields from there.
“But the quality is quite good. The whites are looking very good as are the reds and some of the Shiraz and Cabernet will be outstanding.
“Conversely if it dried out and stayed dry regardless of how warm it might be, it then allows us to have an orderly harvest.
“Except it was hotter and a last dose of summer does not increase yield.
“But I’d rather have it sunny than raining throughout harvest.”
Longleat Wines in Murchison pressed the last of its red grapes last week, celebrating the milestone along with the recent appointment of a new chef in their flourishing restaurant.
Winemaker Guido Vazzoler said good management had overcome the winery’s challenges of October and November rain.
“But the rain then dried up to something somewhat more normal,” Mr Vazzoler said.
“If you managed to get them to Christmas disease-free, you’re pretty right from there.
“And summer was pretty cool, which brought out cooler climate characteristics.
“The grapes have different chemical components to provide flavour, and the enzymes will change how they work — and enzymes are affected by temperature.
“So, for example, in a Shiraz, cool weather can bring a flavour of white pepper or if it is warm, it can be more of a black pepper. That’s not to say it’s necessarily better — it’s just different.”
Mr Plunkett said Wine By Sam’s vintage this year had been in a ‘real sweet spot’ in terms of vine health with 670 tonnes of a forecast 700 tonnes already crushed.
“There is some deep colour in the reds producing some rich and warm wines.
“However, I miss the pretty, elegant and perfumed wines of cooler years.”
A changing alchemy of art and acronyms
“For me, the most important thing about winemaking is the fruit.”
This simple enough approach to winemaking from Tahbilk’s vigneron Jo Nash is merely a cover for a coming together of expertise found in the craft of any winemaker.
“That’s the most important piece of the puzzle and if the fruit is no good then you have no chance — you’re behind,” she said.
“And what you do with it once it comes into the winery is dependent on the season; it’s different every year.”
She then lets a few secrets out.
“So, for example, oaking a red is dependent on the season, because if the wines are big, they can handle more oak, if they are lighter, they can handle less oak.”
And what does she mean by ‘big’?
“Big structure, big tannins, the alcohol is high — you want to fill it out and bolster it up.
“If it’s a lighter year and the wine is more elegant, you don’t want to overpower that; you need to be mindful of the character and to build the structure around that.”
Ms Nash said the balance of a wine was critical, leading to the acronym ‘BLIC’ by which she performs her expertise.
“For me, it is the balance, length, intensity and complexity.
“Is the oak out of balance with the taste? Is it intense — is it jumping out of the glass?
“We then want a lovely length of wine so once I swallow it, can I still taste it, or has it automatically gone?”
The complexity, however, comes with time and Ms Nash habitually describes ‘seeing’ flavours.
“I continually look at the wine over and over again, does it change, and can I see something different?”
She said complexity goes beyond just taste.
“If, at first, I put my nose in the glass and then I think ‘that smells like lovely black fruit’, I give it a swirl and it starts opening up and I can see some pepper and spice and I can see cinnamon — the wine is changing, it has got layers.
“Has the palate started to open up? Is the length getting greater? Are the flavours changing?
“That’s complexity.”