At Orange Mountain Wines, chardonnay, pinot and viognier varieties are all developing a couple of weeks early.

Winery co-owner Terry Dolle said he had received the ideal amount of rain and his grapes had not been damaged by the warm weather conditions or summer storms.

“We normally pick at the end of March, but I would say we will pick at the end of February or early March,” Mr Dolle said.

“It’s been a little bit warmer and it’s had an early bud burst.”

Charles Sturt University winery marketing manager Justin Byrne said the grapes at CSU were also developing early, however, an isolated hail storm damaged a lot of the riesling crop on Friday, while chardonnay was affected by frost earlier in the season.

The sauvignon blanc was not affected by either.

“I think everybody’s running early, I thing that’s the nature of just what happened in the spring with good flowering and above-average temperatures without being too hot. Everyone I’ve spoken to is preparing now,” Mr Byrne said.

“It really depends now on what happens with the weather, we might have to write the riesling block off, it’s really major damage, it’s not just a bit of scarring.”

Mr Byrne said at CSU they would start picking chardonnay next month followed by sauvignon blanc.

At De Salis Wines’ Lofty Vineyard at Nashdale, conditions have also been ideal for this year’s season.

De Salis Wines co-owner Loretta Svenson said the grapes at Lofty Vineyard were undamaged and she expected the harvest to start at the usual time with the good conditions continuing.

“It’s a beautiful crop across the board,” she said.

“There will probably be the odd vineyard that may have had some damage in the storms last week.

“As far as I can see, with the rain forecast, we should have a nice forecast with low or below-average rain during the picking season so it’s looking good.”

Mrs Svenson said unlike some of the lower vineyards, which received warmer temperatures and were developing early, the grapes at De Salis were on track for the usual picking season.

“We haven’t got the half veraison yet, which is when the buds start to change colour,” she said.

“My vineyard is up quite high so some of the edges of the region might be quite advanced.”

Mrs Svenson said the varieties being grown at Lofty Vineyard were sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir and merlot, with a focus on pinot and chardonnay, which were used for sparkling wine as well as table wine. 

“We pick for sparkling usually around Valentines Day in mid-February,” she said.

“For sparkling wine you want that higher acid so you pick some of your fruit early then the rest later for the table wine.

“We are looking forward to it, vintage is always very exciting.”

tanya.marschke@

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