By JESSE GRAHAM
WINE growers across the Yarra Valley escaped with grape crops mostly unscathed from January’s blistering heat wave, with good irrigation and vine cover contributing to a lack of losses this summer.
The heat wave, which saw temperatures soar above 40 degrees between 14-17 January, left little impact on Yarra Valley wineries, according to Yarra Valley Wine Growers’ Association CEO Richard Howden.
Mr Howden said that, while the heat wave saw an unusually-long period of hot weather, wine growers were ready for the extreme heat, with plenty of water on-hand.
“We had such a good period running into that, with quite wet dams, which meant that vineyards were able to guard against it (the heat), which was good,” Mr Howden said.
Mr Howden said that there were roughly losses of 5-10 per cent in wineries, but that the number depended on the placement of vineyards and whether they bore the brunt of the hot afternoon sun.
Yileena Park winery owner Bob Curtis said that his grapevines had held up well, due to watering, irrigation and not trimming the vines before the heat wave.
“If you look at some wineries, they’ve been hedged – they trim the tops and sides to allow more light in,” he said.
“But I’m a bit wary of doing that too soon – you get a couple of really hot days and the fruit’s exposed – I don’t want them to end up with sunburn.
“We held up really well.”
Tim Cullen from Paynes Rise told the Mail a similar story, and said the winery’s grapes experienced a low incidence of sunburn, due to healthy canopies from a wet spring.
He said there was adequate water on hand and that the heat wave had been managed well for wineries in the area.
Only two weeks remain before the Yarra Valley Grape Grazing Festival returns for the first time in five years, with more than 50 events taking place across the valley to showcase the produce and wines in the area.
For more information, visit www.grapegrazing.com.au
