Nun hatten wir also viel Sonne und letztlich extrem viel Regen in den vergangenen Monaten Down Under. Das führte natürlich zu einigen Sorgenfalten bei den Winzern des Landes.

Wir haben nachgefragt in der Cool Climate Region Orange in NSW, wie denn dieser Jahrgang werden wird. Denn eines ist klar: Regen zur falschen Zeit kann für einen kompletten Jahrgang katastrophale Auswirkungen haben.

Printhie’s Management erklärt, daß dieser Jahrgang einen Monat früher als sonst beendet wurde. Seit 2007 ist das somit der ‘schnellste Jahrgang’ Australiens. Nach einer extrem trockenen Phase zwischen August und Dezember begann dann um Weihnachten herum der Regen – nicht gerade geschätzt in dieser kritischen Zeit, da die Trauben anfällig sind für Krankheiten jeder Art.

Nick Butler von Belgravia Wines ergänzt: “wir sind sehr zufrieden mit der Ernte in diesem Jahr, auch wenn wir zwischen Dezember und Februar viele schlaflose Nächte hatten, denn der viele und für uns unerwartete Regen hat seine besonderen Eigenschaften, die es zu managen gilt.”

Wir sind gespannt auf diesen Jahrgang, nach vollzogener Ernte befindet sich die Vielzahl der Trauben jetzt in Fässern zur weiteren Bearbeitung.
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So we had the rain, and we had loads of sunshine in certain regions Down Under: this year’s harvest will vary from wine region to wine region that is for sure.

We have checked in cool climate wine region Orange, NSW and asked winegrowers how they predict the vintage this year.

Orange region winegrower Printhie reports that the 2010 vintage has finished about a month earlier than usual – the earliest finish since 2007. The grape growing season was consistently early right from the very start of budburst through to harvesting. This has been a blessing in disguise as post-Christmas rain could have caused widespread quality concerns if it had been a normal or late season.

After a very warm, dry and windy spring where dust storms resulted in poor flowering in some varieties, the season was saved by welcome rain between Christmas and New Year. However, as the ripening period progressed, the rain kept coming and the disease threat increased. Well managed vineyards avoided significant disease problems.

“There are some lovely wines in the winery and it is proving to be a very strong year for Orange variety Chardonnay,” said Printhie winemaker Drew Tuckwell. “The reds largely avoided disease issues due to low yields and loose bunches. Sauvignon blanc was a little more tricky – high yields and tight bunches meant botrytis was a constant threat as the fruit ripened.”

“We had to be extremely careful with our grapes this year,” adds Nick from Belgravia, part of the Union Bank Group establishment in downtown Orange. “The red yields are down significantly but the quality proves to be very good. We are very optimistic as we look after quality in the vineyard and we think that we will see some outstanding wines this year.”

Michael Brecht

Related posts:

1. Orange winery Angullong releases its 2009 Sauvignon Blanc
2. Die australische Airline Qantas entscheidet sich für einen Sauvignon Blanc aus Orange
3. Orange Wine Week – you’re only in it when you are based on 600m plus altitude
4. Der 2006er Cool Climate Pinot Noir von Brangayne aus Orange
5. A nice Pinot Noir from Orange in Australia