2004 an odd year

With 30 years' experience in the Tasmanian wine industry, consultant viticulturist and vineyard owner Fred Peacock thought he'd seen it all – the bumper years; the vintage failures; the slim pickings of seasons like 2002 and 1994.

But talk over the prospects for vintage 2004 and he'll tell you he's never experienced a year quite like this one before. It seems whenever he's managed to overcome the season's most recent challenge, he hasn't had to wait long for the next one to appear.

"It's certainly been a pretty interesting year," he says in his typically laconic manner. 

"It's not been one of the easier vintages. Very odd."

It may not be the worst, or even a record-breaking one. It's just that the State's longest serving viticulturist can't recall a season where so many adverse and inter-related factors have conspired to make life so difficult for wine growers.

At first glance, few of the problems they've had to surmount appear to be anything out of the ordinary.

Indeed, the year's better than average fruit-sets, heavier bunch weights and substantially larger berry sizes – prevalent throughout the State – might have been regarded as something of a bonus, were it not for the fact that they are adding to the challenges vineyards now face in reaching crop maturity.

The man with vineyard sites at Bream Creek in the south-east and Rowella in the Tamar Valley says ripening fruit on schedule was always going to be tricky following the cool weather and the above average rainfall experienced during Tasmania's early and mid-summer months.

"In the last three or four weeks, it's also been unusually dry, so the recent lack of rain and the larger crops now being carried by vineyards have placed undue stresses on vines and their leaf canopies. A lot are really suffering as a result," he says.

Vineyards once flourishing with healthy green leaves – and able to function efficiently in their critical role of turning sunlight into wine – have turned to shades of yellow, russet and gold almost overnight. That suggests there'll be little likelihood of growers this year gaining a last minute reprieve should an Indian summer arrive during late April or May as they experienced in 1994.

"There are quite a few vineyard crops around the State now stuck with low levels of flavour and sugar ripeness. Some of those are unlikely to recover because it's too late in the season. Once vines stop working, there's little anybody can do about it.

"That makes this a particularly challenging time for vineyard managers who want to see their crops picked and off the property before frost comes and closes the season down entirely," he adds.

Compounding the present situation have been the actions and reactions made by growers throughout the year.

Those quick to respond to over-cropping by cutting off fruit in some instances appear to have been unfairly penalised by the forces of nature, with lower bunch numbers being compensated by dramatic increases in bunch weights and berry size. Yes, it is possible to have too much of a good thing in the wine world.

In other cases, growers sensing the need to maximise leaf area and promote more effective ripening late in the season have had to work harder than ever to fight the increased risk of unwanted disease.

Those clever enough – or lucky enough – to stay on top can still expect to produce good wines this vintage, he says, but there'll be sighs of relief all around when the season's last bunches are finally picked.

Amen to that.

First published 14 April 2004: The Examiner