There was a time when wine companies used to wait for several months after vintage before they would cautiously submit a vintage report to the trade and media. How things have changed in this period of public ownership of large Australian wine brands. Gaining about a five-month leap on its competitors came a file from BRL Hardy named ‘BRL Hardy Vintage Report November 2000’, which despite its timing, actually refers to its activities in the southern hemisphere. While it correctly reports that most Australian wine regions have experienced a solid early season flush of growth and precipitation and it does actually hold back from declaring 2001 to be a great vintage, the inference is clear to non-wine people that the season is looking pretty sharp. All of which could be blown away in a single week of ordinary weather and bad luck, something the grape growers of Australia are crucially aware could be just around the corner. It’s regrettable and simply incredible that efforts like this are undertaken with the clear purpose of maintaining share prices to a market that really doesn’t understand how meaningless such early indications actually are. If this sort of thing keeps up, next year we’ll be receiving tasting notes for wines six months before they’re harvested!
