Vintage no millstone
Mewstone's Jonny Hughes can count on the fingers of one hand the number of perfect vintages he's seen since he finished his winemaking degree back in 2002. That's the reason he's not about to push the panic button if this year's harvest at his 3.6ha site overlooking the D'Entrecasteaux Channel doesn't get under way until the first week or two in April.
Every vintage has its own special challenges, says the bloke who has made wine in both hemispheres of the globe.
Right now, Hughes's plans for his sixth vintage at Mewstone are running close to expectation. The vineyard's oldest vines – established at Flowerpot back in 2011 – will produce a modest crop in 2020. A more recent 1.6ha planting is yet to bear fruit but should provide its first vintage in 2021.
Earlier this month, Hughes was named among the country's Top 50 Winemakers in the 14th annual Young Gun of Wine Awards. Additional, more stratospheric awards will be attributed later in the year to those now short-listed.
The New Zealand-trained winemaker from Tasmania's North-West Coast has seen his career reach new heights with each passing vintage in the last five years. Hughes was included in 2019's Young Gun awards. And in addition to making the Top 50 the year before, Hughes was recognised as the Best New Act for 2018.
That same year, highly respected and influential author/critic James Halliday AO named Mewstone as Australia's Best New Winery in the 2019 edition of his annual Halliday Wine Companion.
Like every other producer in Tasmania's Huon/Channel District, Hughes was looking forward to a smooth journey to vintage in 2020. The dramatic bushfire season of 2019 left them with smoke-tainted wine grapes unfit for purpose. Back then, Hughes and his brother/business partner Matt were able to navigate a safe passage through their financial challenges by virtue of their second-string Hughes & Hughes wine brand. The popular, often cutting edge and sometimes downright quirky label draws its fruit from vineyard sources beyond Mewstone.
Spring began with slightly warmer and drier conditions than normal in the district during September and October 2019. November, meanwhile, experienced average daytime temperatures lower than normal and total monthly rainfall higher than average. To add insult to injury, all three months were accompanied by persistent high winds that retarded new shoot growth and compromised weeks of critical vineyard flowering.
"We're expecting pretty tiny yields from the Pinot Noir on our Mewstone property, but our growers in the Derwent Valley and Coal River Valley are doing a good deal better," Hughes explains.
"Early expectations there were pretty low as well. They appear to have been exceeded now that bunches have filled out after a bit of rain and some cooling weather conditions. All in all, it's now looking a pretty solid year for us in terms of quality."
COVID-19 aside, Hughes remains optimistic about the likely outcomes from vintage 2020. Earlier this week, local builders 2H Pty Ltd broke ground on Mewstone's Flowerpot site to commence construction of a new 100-tonne winery and vineyard cellar door facility. The structure will be timber-clad to create a barn-like façade, reflecting the apple-growing heritage of the Huon/Channel District. Its four-month build will be followed by fit-out and landscaping.
"On completion, it will provide employment for 3-4 FTE staff," Hughes says.
"We know life will be a bit of a challenge in coming months but we're confident that when things return to normal after the current coronavirus emergency, we'll be well placed when it comes to opening our brand-new cellar door to the public. Hopefully that will be in time for next summer's tourist season.
First published 27 March 2020: tasmaniantimes.com