Gone with the wind

Nick Butler is short of words right now. Well-known for his affable nature, the winemaker from Rowella can hardly describe how he feels at the moment when he hears that some of his colleagues have already started vintage, and are bringing in some of the best fruit they've seen in the past few seasons.

He reckons harvest at Holm Oak Vineyard is probably another month away. But it's not the waiting that weighs on Nick's mind at the moment. It's that vintage this year won't bring the kind of rewards he'd expect after near-perfect growing and ripening conditions. Indeed, on some parts of the property, vintage won't even be happening at all. It's gone with the wind.

"If you didn't laugh about it, you'd cry," Butler says as he surveys rows of Cabernet Franc and Merlot vines almost devoid of leaves, yet perversely still bearing bunches of fruit in suspended animation.

The wind he mentions is the gale-force blast that tore off roofs, levelled outbuildings, and sank boats in the Tamar River nearby on February 2nd. Butler says that along with cutting power to 30,000 homes in the State's north and northeast, it cut vine canopies to shreds as it passed through the vineyard he's worked on since 1983. Much of the torn foliage contributed to an impenetrable wall of leaves on the site's perimeter fencing.

Little of the property's 0.8ha of Cabernet Franc and Merlot escaped unharmed. There was also significant damage among Holm Oak's Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling.

"The Cabernet Franc and Merlot are a disaster," Butler says of the estimated seven or eight tonnes of fruit that will have to be abandoned. 

"They're not going to ripen without any leaves. There's nothing you can do with them now."

Their Cabernet cousins – the Cabernet Sauvignon vines that contribute to one of the valley's most consistent wines made from the variety – continue to plod along on their journey to maturity. They've passed the milestone known as veraison, but their berries appear poorly coloured and under-developed.

"We've had to cut bunches off vines right across the vineyard to help with ripening. It's taken the best part of a month since Festivale to do it. That was time I wanted to spend out on the road selling wine, but it just didn't happen. I haven't had the chance to get out at all."

Yet to be determined are the long-term effects of the storm. Butler says he has heard reports of soil degradation due to saltwater from the river being dumped up and down the valley, but he's not sure of their validity.

Still, things could be worse. Flavours are building nicely in the bunches of Riesling and Pinot Noir that remain on the vineyard. And if all goes according to plan, Holm Oak's crop will tip the scales at around 30 tonnes all up this year. Quality should be good.

A lot now depends upon the weather. If conditions cool markedly, or if rain comes, there'll be further trouble. Butler says the usual response then would be to remove even more bunches to speed up ripening. But that would add to labour charges, and reduce the volume of wine that could be made to recover costs and add black ink to the Holm Oak ledger.

"We just can't afford to keep cutting off fruit," he explains. 

"We've already dropped 40 percent of our Pinot. As far as I'm concerned, I'll be really glad when it's all off."

First published 23 March 2005: The Examiner