THE coming wine harvest will be a bumper one, according to Winburndale winemaker Mike Burleigh.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The vigneron’s first vintage was in 2002, and Winburndale Wines has since won 18 trophies and more than 100 medals.
Mr Burleigh said good spring rain, followed by a mix of hot and wet weather in summer, had put the winery on course for another bumper vintage.
He said rain in December came at exactly the right time and “we’re looking at a really good harvest this year”.
“We’ve had a tremendous start to the season and some lovely early spring rain,” he said.
“The vines were looking a bit stressed, but they’ve bounced back.”
Mr Burleigh added that even if the weather did dry up before harvest, there was enough water in the property’s dams to irrigate if necessary.
Mark Renzaglia from Renzaglia Wines said the vintage was looking “promising”.
“I think we just missed the major hailstorms that were around here, but only just,” he said of some of the wild weather in December.
Mr Renzaglia said the weather had been “kind” to Bathurst’s vignerons.
“Even though rain has been quite sparse, and it has been a relatively hot spring and early summer, the vines look great thanks to the fact that we had no major late spring frosts this year,” he said.
“It’s looking pretty promising. I think in cool climates the best vintages can be in the warmer, drier years.”
He added that most growers were excited about the prospects for the coming harvest.
“We could be harvesting as early as the middle of February for the sparkling,” Mr Renzaglia said.
“Keep your fingers crossed for us.”