Aussie winemakers battle storms

Winemakers in Hunter Valley have been particularly hard hit by the dramatic storms that swept much of eastern Australia last week.

Dramatic scenes in Sydney. Photo credit: Twitter: David Berthold

Hail hit the New South Wales region at the weekend, with ABC news network reporting that some Hunter Valley winemakers had lost nearly all their crop. The same weather caused flights from Sydney to be cancelled, while Melbourne was also hit by a major thunderstorm and heavy rain.

Estimating that he had lost up to 20% of his fruit, Andrew Margan of Margan Family Wines in Hunter Valley told the news channel that he remained hopeful of a high quality vintage, even if quantities are down.

“You’re left with a little bit less fruit, but that fruit can be even better quality, it ripens a lot quicker because there’s less fruit to ripen”, he observed.

Producers are hopeful that the storm will have caused less damage than the two major hailstorms of 2011 that hit Hunter Valley further into the growing season.

Although this current wave of low pressure has centred on the eastern side of the country, vineyards in some parts of Western Australia suffered their own problems earlier in the season, when hail battered the Great Southern region at the end of October.

Producers in Frankland and Pemberton, who bore the brunt of the damage, reported severe damage to vines just as the delicate new shoots were coming through, with yields in some areas expected to be 30% below average.