SPRING rain and a dry summer have given Loddon winemakers a productive and high quality crop.
Picking is nearing completion at southern Loddon vineyards and there are predictions that this year’s vintage will be bottled as among the best in several years.
Black Wallaby has finished picking shiraz grapes and will shortly harvest its sangiovese variety.
“There have been no disease pressures this vintage because it has been so dry,” said viticulturalist Dave Lawson.
“The yield has been pretty good ... small bunches, and lots of full bunches, with a nice fruity style,” he said.
Mr Lawson said irrigation had been important for the vines this season.
“Last year, we only had to water five or six times. This year, because of the dry, we were watering once or twice a week.”
He expects to finish harvest in three weeks “and then to make beautiful wines”.
Newbridge Wines’ Andrew Simpson said the vintage’s yield had been better than expected.
“I have never seen such a lack of insects in the vineyard and this has been the cleanest pick I can remember,” he said.
Mr Simpson said harvest had been earlier this vintage and his vineyard had benefited from reliable irrigation water out of the Loddon River.
“Last year we had split grapes because of the Christmas rains, book-ended by dry periods,” he said.
Newbridge Wines has harvested its best crop of fiano grapes from young vines.
Mr Simpson said the vines were planted in 2018.
“We are one of just two producers in the Bendigo wine region growing fiano but we can expect to see an increase because the variety is very well suited to this region,” he said.
“The grape variety is originally from southern Italy and it’s a natural for the Bendigo region.”
Water Wheel’s Peter Cumming said he was mid-way through vintage.
Picking started at the Baringhup vineyard and has now moved to Bridgewater.
Mr Cumming expects to finish harvest within the fortnight.
He said grape bunches and sizes were a good.
Both Mr Cumming and Mr Lawson said that sales would be the challenge for the wine industry this year.
Mr Lawson said the industry had seen a decline over the past four wines and there was also a world glut with some grape varieties. The Australian Wine Production, Sales and Inventory Report showed wine production reached just over one billion litres (equivalent to 116 million 9-litre cases) in 2023-2024.
Production up eight per cent on the previous year,  the second-smallest production reported in 17 years, and 16 per cent below the 10-year average of 1.24 billion litres, the report said.
The Federal Department of Agriculture forecasts total wine exports to grow five per cent this financial year to $2.4 billion.
However, it says exports to China face challenges reaching peak pre-tariff levels of $1.1 billion in 2020. “China’s import market for wine has more than halved in recent years,” it said.