Early harvest for wineries

YARRA Valley winegrowers are anticipating an outstanding 2006 vintage after an unseasonably hot start to the year.
Winegrowers are expecting this year’s wine grape harvest in the Yarra Valley to commence much earlier than usual because of the heatwave.
Oakridge vineyard manager Dan Dujic said vintage was two weeks ahead of schedule and that fruit for sparkling wine was likely to be picked mid-February, with chardonnay and pinot noir to follow quickly.
“Crops are looking very promising at this stage, especially for cabernet sauvignon and shiraz,” he said.
“The berries for these varieties are tiny, indicating great flavour concentration.”
Mr Dujic said this would be his ninth vintage in the Yarra Valley and that 2006 could be one of the best year’s to date.
“We’re all looking forward to a wonderful Yarra Valley harvest,” he said.