Clare Valley expects bumper harvest

Clare Valley in South Australia is expecting a bumper crop despite the region experiencing a delayed harvest.

Harvesting in the region was delayed about three weeks due to a wetter than average summer that slowed grape development, local winery Taylors Wines told ABC news.

Cherry Stowman, a senior brand ambassador from the winery, told the national broadcaster that high rainfall and cooler temperatures in September and October had pushed back the winery’s usual harvest time from the first week of February to the end of February.

Compared with last vintage when the harvest started as early as mid-January, Stowman noted that February could be challenging for producers as the risks from increased humidity and mildew-style diseases greatly increased.

“This time of year is challenging because you can spray your crops as a prevention method, but those sprays have what’s called withholding periods, so basically if you spray there’s a certain number of days that you can’t harvest any crop,” she was quoted as saying.

Nonetheless, yields in the region are expected to be better than average as she continued.

“[But] all indications are good. We’ve had a good lead-up in terms of the season, even though we have had Mother Nature throw a few curve balls at us.”