Australia’s wine industry has been rocked by the earliness and compactness of the 2016 vintage. The string of warm to hot vintages this country has experienced since 2000 has been enough to put the industry on notice, but 2016 has pushed the country – the southeast in particular – into unheralded territory. Even before Easter most producers had most of their harvest in the tank, something that has not happened before for many – and 2016 has seen a very early Easter indeed.
An early, compact vintage – in which most of the varieties ripen simultaneously despite genetic coding that suggests they are not mean to – creates a welter of problems that typically snowball one into another. Firstly, it’s long-held wisdom that later vintages which typically ripen in cooler months enable superior development of flavour and levels of natural acidity. Constant warm spells of weather, especially those whose nights remain warm, are feared the most since the process of acid development tends to be enhanced by larger changes of temperature between day and night. Cool nights are therefore valued highly. They were not much in evidence in 2016, so there was a danger that levels of natural acidity would be reduced. This was indeed in evidence, although it’s legally permissible in Australia to compensate with additions of (principally) tartaric acid.
Another issue with early seasons is of most concern with red varieties – that the skins and seeds are not given sufficient time to develop full ripeness before the flavours and sugars peak. The many Australian growers and makers now harvesting on the basis of phenolic (tannin) ripeness then had a dilemma: would they harvest with tannins yet to mature fully or would they compromise fruit flavour and sugar ripeness by waiting for this to occur? The danger here is the making of jammy, juicy and forward wines without adequate length of fruit intensity down the palate and an excess of over-ripe confectionary or even dehydrated fruit character.
Then there is the practical issue of figuring how to process the fruit through winery equipment that was designed for a more steady arrival of fruit over a longer period of time. Each winery has a set amount of capacity via its crushing, pressing and fermentation capacity. A generation ago the same tanks could be used to ferment different varieties as they would steadily ripen each at a time. When they all come in at once a logjam is hard to avoid. So, to avoid long queues of harvested fruit waiting outside wineries for their appointment with the crusher or press, or to limit the number of vineyards waiting beyond the time of ideal harvest with fruit steadily becoming overripe and diminishing in quality, wineries have either to buy more equipment, work their systems non-stop or both. Stainless steel tanks have been in high demand these last few weeks in Australia.
All of this sounds like a challenge that would cause many a maker to wilt. I’m pleased to say that none of the many I have spoken to recently have done this, and each seems to have found a means through which to create wine which if not reflective of a top-class vintage, could well be considered second-tier. This is a major achievement.
Typically, then, the table wines from southeastern Australia in 2016 have been made from fruit whose flavours were genuinely ripe and vibrant. In many cases acid levels have been enhanced, even in the cooler areas. It’s in the area of structure and texture that the wines might be a little deficient, but our winemakers are now well experienced with hot seasons and the techniques to handle them. I expect that tannin additions will be a little more commonplace this season than in years back to 2012.
Traditionally, an early Easter brings an early grape harvest. This one broke many a record, but not the spirits of most Australian winemakers who simply did what they had to do – working more intensely but over a shorter period than many have in their working lives. Fortunately, despite the challenges presented by the season, I expect that for many of them it will be a strong and successful vintage, which is exactly what Wine Brand Australia needs in the tank right now.
