Grapes withering

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Valley grape growers were counting their losses this week in an industry scorched in seven days of heatwave and two days of wildfire.
The growers had feared losing up to 50 per cent of their crops as they braced for another blistering weekend, then the inferno struck in a way no one imagined.
But on Monday all signs pointed to the continuation of the annual grape grazing festival this coming weekend, such is the resilience of the tight-knit community of growers in the Yarra Valley.
Bev Cowley, from the Hanrahan winery, watched 20 acres of bush on the river flat go up in flames as fire brigades guarded her vines at the weekend.
“I was lucky,” she says. “I have lots of water in the dam, which meant less stress to the grapes. It was scary to be here, but we couldn’t leave. We knew to stay on the property.”
The extent of smoke taint to surviving vines is yet to unfold.
The Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association was in crisis talks on Monday.
Grapes shrivelled on the vines in January, and according to growers who spoke to The Mail, the heat had destroyed anything from 15 to 50 per cent of the looming harvest.
Chris Messerle, vineyard manager at Yarra Glen Vineyards and head of the Technical Sub-committee of the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association, said the five days of over 42 degree temperatures had hit at a critical time in the development of the fruit.
Mr Messerle said vineyards across the valley had been affected, with possibly less impact in the cooler regions such as the Warburton Highway vineyards.
“It’s nearly impossible to ascertain at this stage what the real extent of the damage has been but we have some vineyards reporting 50 per cent loss of grapes. The losses incurred are through fruit development being affected and losses from berry shrivel, but there is also a potential loss in quality that will lead to a reduction in pricing,” Mr Messerle said.
The earlier ripening varieties such as pinot noir and chardonnay were most affected.
Jim Viggers, owner of Yarra Track Vineyards on the eastern side of the Melba Highway, said the outlook was bleak for many growers.
“It’s our 20th year in the game and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
The new blight has followed too closely on the heels of killer frosts and extended drought. He estimated Yarra Track’s losses at 30 per cent of the crop.
“Any exposed fruit has been cooked,” he said. “Any vineyards running north-south would have significant loss in crop on the west side of the vines.”
Mr Viggers said the exceptional heat had left the vines, already stressed from lack of water, even more vulnerable. “They are starting to lose leaves and the more leaves you lose the more fruit is exposed,” he said.
On the Warburton Highway, Wally Zuk, from Five Oaks Vineyard in Seville, said they had escaped relatively unscathed.
“We’ve had a very slight amount of sunburn, but the different geography in that part of the valley reduced the exposure to some of the problems experienced by vineyards along the Melba and Maroondah highways. We’re higher up and we tend to have a lot of deeper soils here, which retain moisture better,” he said.
But he didn’t rule out that other vineyards in the area might not have fared so well.