Vintage 2020

Veteran Tasmanian viticulturist Fred Peacock is the master of understatement. So when the man from Bream Creek says vintage 2020 was not without its challenges, you'd better believe it. It was a tough one. One that kept every producer on tenterhooks.

The season began under very dry conditions, to the extent that irrigation was required on many vineyard blocks around the State before there were any signs of budburst.

Spring was exceptionally windy and cold, compromising flowering and fruit set. Yields at harvest in some locations later revealed crop reductions of close to 40 percent.

October 2019 was very dry over most of Tasmania, with particularly low total rainfalls in the east of the State. November brought frequent westerly winds that were so strong many automatic weather stations – like those elsewhere in the southeast of the country – experienced record November mean wind speeds.

December 30 was exceptionally hot across Tasmania as strong northwesterly winds brought warm air from the mainland. Some sites set new records for temperature maxima. Friendly Beaches – roughly 15km from vineyards around Apslawn and Cranbrook – reached 41.9 °C, the second-highest temperature ever recorded in Tasmania.

Fortunately, Tasmania did not see the extended extreme temperatures and fire weather experienced on the mainland during December.

For the remainder of much of the summer, daytime temperatures were cooler than normal. Indeed, average temperature maxima were below average for much of Tasmania from February to April. And to top things off, Tasmania had its wettest autumn since 1975, with a very wet March in the north-east followed by the ninth wettest April on record. (Records date back to the 1890s.)

All that noted, vintage 2020's smaller than average crops were defined by exceptional fruit quality. Yields were down by 28 percent when compared with 2019.

Some 12,308 tonnes of wine grapes were processed by Tasmanian wineries. These crops were worth an average of around $3,037/tonne — well above the national average of $694/tonne (across all varieties).

That noted, the financial investments required to fund vineyard establishment and annual operating costs are very significant in Tasmania. A guide to growing wine grapes published way back in 1991 by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry stated that a minimum of $700,000 in equity would need to be invested in a 10ha vineyard and winery during the first five years of development if the venture were to be debt-free within 15 years.

Meanwhile, the median price for a typical home in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay in 1991 was $161,500.

Industry sources suggest vineyard establishment costs alone are now of the order of $70,000-$80,000 per hectare.

Pinot Noir (44 percent of crush) and Chardonnay (27 percent) were the premier grape varieties – for both sparkling and still table wines. Aromatic varieties also performed especially well. Sauvignon Blanc (11.4 percent of the 2020 harvest), Pinot Gris (7.9 percent) and Riesling (5.5 percent) provided many of the vintage highlights, along with the harvests allocated to the State's world-class sparkling wines.

Indeed, 40 percent of all processed wine grapes in 2020 were directed to sparkling wine production.

The Tamar Valley produced just under a third of the State's 2020 crop. The Coal River Valley was the next major player, accounting for 25 percent. North East Tasmania and the East Coast in combination accounted 35 percent of the 2020 harvest.

Regional snapshots

North West Tasmania

The challenging conditions across the season prompted Ghost Rock winemaker Justin Arnold to state the 2020 vintage was the toughest he'd experienced in the North West. Sparkling wine harvests usually take place in the last week of March, with Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir table wine fruit beginning towards the end of the first week in April. In 2020, vines needed every bit of April sunshine to get their fruit to optimum ripeness. Vintage for these early to mid-season varieties ended on May 5. 

Producers elsewhere in the North West with late season varieties held their breaths, with picking schedules playing out to the end of May.

Tamar Valley

The Tamar Valley's 2020 vintage was largely defined by exceptional quality but with average yields around 28 percent lower than normal. The cool, windy spring that affected flowering and fruit set was followed by a mild summer with some rain just prior to picking. Harvest resulted in elegant, delicate and aromatic wines, with the usual suspects Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir being characterised by high acidity and refined tannins. The 2020 sparkling wines will be noted for their finesse. 

That's the good news. Not-so-good was Grey Sands' decision to not to harvest at all, as was the case in 2011. Owners Rita and Robert Richter believed the vineyard could have produced passable wines, but that's not what consumers expect from their stylish white and red blends of late season varieties.

North East

Winter 2019 was dry with mild days and cold nights around Lebrina and Pipers Brook. The cool windy weather continued into following months, affecting bud burst and shoot growth. Some significant rain events through spring and summer provided the vines with average rainfall. The season overall was the wettest since 2011. Summer temperatures fluctuated between some of the coolest experienced in the district to very warm. Nature's mercurial mood swings slowed ripening but allowed flavours to develop intensity and complexity despite their delicacy.

Sparkling harvest date was slightly later than average but high quality. Because of their propensity to over-ripen, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris performed very well under the slow ripening conditions. Riesling keeps on keeping on in adverse seasons, and in 2020 reached physiological ripness, albeit with high natural acidity and very low pH. Meanwhile, the Pinot Noir table wines of 2020 are lighter in style than usual but offer good mid-palate and fine soft tannins.

East Coast

East Coast vineyards broke bud in the midst of a long and very significant drought in the district. For example, the first eight months of 2019 brought barely 180mm of rain to Apslawn. A single rain event on September 7 brought welcome relief, but the effects were short-lived. The final three months of the year brought only 110mm of rain.

Spring was exceptionally windy and cold, with flowering and fruit set being adversely affected. Mild summer conditions produced a protracted ripening period, but resulted in excellent fruit quality across all varieties. Vintage sparkling wines from 2020 should prove to be noteworthy.

Kelvedon Estate swam against the East Coast tide in 2020 and opted to produce a limited release Block 5 Pinot Noir from three exceptional barrels of clone MV6 Pinot Noir.

Coal River Valley

After another dry winter, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir budburst commenced around the middle of September. New shoots were then subjected to relentlessly windy and cool-to-cold conditions over spring and summer. The challenging flowering period resulted in lower-than-average yields. Depending upon variety and vineyard terroir, reductions ranged from 30 percent to as much as 85 percent. Every month of the growing and ripening seasons had lower-than-average temperatures except January, which was close to average. Fruit quality was reportedly excellent, with intense and aromatic Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Noir showing great intensity and driving acidity.

Derwent Valley

Spring was a mixture of warm and very cool, with frost warnings being broadcast in mid-September. Cold nights were common. Constant winds during spring affected budburst and fruit set, and led to subsequent low cropping levels. Cooler than average temperatures over the growing season delayed ripening and harvest dates in the valley. One of the driest vintages of recent years, 2020 produced very high quality fruit.

Huon Valley/D'Entrecasteaux Channel

After the Huon Valley's 2019 bushfires, the 2020 vintage was one from the opposite end of the spectrum, according to Gilli and Paul Lipscombe at Sailor Seeks Horse. The season felt more like a perennial spring with a quick segue into autumn. Vines never quite got the anticipated warmth and sunshine of the summer months. Constant winds through spring and into early summer reduced vineyard yields to miniscule proportions.

The Lipscombes note the long, cool growing season produced wonderful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Wines of elegance and finesse; structure and complexity. 

Last page update: August 2025