Extreme heat conditions coupled with very low rainfall are playing havoc on Griffith’s grapes, and it’s not just growers that will feel the pinch.
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There are concerns a compressed harvest will put strain on wineries as they try to keep up with the large amount of produce coming through their gates at one time.
In the last 13 months just 225.2mm of rain, with only 4.4mm recorded so far this year. Only three years have had less rain in 37 years. Combined with the third week of temperatures over 40 degrees, vines are suffering.
Grape grower and Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board extension officer Brian Bortolin said unprecedented amounts of water were being used to keep the vines afloat.
He has used 20 per cent more water than he ever has previously in around 20 years.
“Some growers are using a lot of water which is ticking over making it very expensive, especially if they have to buy it in,” Mr Bortolin said.
And with water hitting a price of $700 per megalitre expenses have sky-rocketed.
The Board’s CEO Brian Simpson, also a Griffith City Councillor, said the crop was shaping up to be quite good before Christmas, however now the fruit has “shut up shop.”
“Prior to Christmas we were heading for quite a good season with yield and quality, but now reports are coming back that the grapes aren’t sizing up as they should,” Mr Simpson said.
“Anything over 36 degrees and the vines don’t convert starch to sugars, so they shut up shop.”
He said this will result in a “compressed harvest” which sees a lot of vines harvested at the same time rather than a normal domino-like harvest.
General manager of Mino & Co Nicholas Guglielmino said their smaller winery will face many challenges as a result.
Their winery intake sits at 30 per cent white and 70 per cent red varieties, and with the red varieties like Shiraz running more risk of losing yields and quality in these conditions, it will be a “big rush.”
“Effectively it could be a short sharp vintage if this heat continues,” Mr Guglielmino said.
With the bulk of the reds coming in at one time, the pressure will be on.
Mr Guglielmino said there may be staffing issues to keep up with back to back shifts as well as additional overhead costs from using cooling systems to prevent fermentation.
“Typically with the white you generally get it done in the night time and cooler time of day to control fermentation so we get it in cold, but the reds you can crush in the heat of the day,” Mr Guglielmino said.
“But with the white coming in hot we will be using more electricity to keep it cool... Overheads increase quite dramatically.”
He also has concerns about the overall cost and return of the harvest.
“We are paying around $100 more for reds than the Riverland areas, which on the back end of it will push the end product price up and may put us out of contention,” Mr Guglielmino said.
“We might take that hair cut, so it is risky, but the growers could also lose out as well.
“I think the market will be corrected but someone will lose out along the way.”