South Australia’s wine industry has kicked off one of its earliest vintages on record, off the back of a challenging year of drought, heat and frost.
Picking has already begun in some of the state’s major wine regions — a month or more earlier than usual.
But while some yields are expected to be down, the industry remains hopeful of excellent quality SA wines as a result.
Cooltong grower Jack Papageorgiou said it was the earliest he had started picking grapes in his 50 years in the Riverland.
“A number of years I might have picked at the end of January, but never the 20th of January,” Mr Papageorgiou said.
“We had a mild winter and a bit warmer spring, and that sort of brought a lot of our crops earlier.
“We noticed cherries were very early, so there was an indication we’re coming to an early season.”
Jack Papageorgiou started harvesting his chardonnay grapes around three weeks earlier than usual. (ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer)
Riverland Wine Grapegrowers chair Ashley Ratcliff started harvesting in the second week of January, and agreed it could be one of the earliest ever starts for the region.
“Not quite sure why they have started earlier, but little wine companies have started getting sparkling off, which is important, but it’s also really good because we’ve had this heat, so anything off now is a bit of a bonus,” Mr Ratcliff said.
“People who haven’t been affected by frost have actually got reasonable crops.”
Frost damage cuts into fruit yields
The Riverland, Barossa and Clare valleys suffered extensive crop damage in September due to a series of frosts, and the state has just sweltered through an extensive heatwave.
Frost caused significant damage to vineyard crops across the state last September. (ABC News)
“A lot of growers are starting to see the impact of the frosts — low yields and that’s causing them challenges in respect to scheduling and hitting their estimate tonnes,” Mr Ratcliff said.
“Also the pricing of some red varieties is particularly poor, so it’s going to challenge growers financially going forward.”
The good news is that many winemakers are reporting back good quality from the fruit they are picking.
“Feedback I’ve had from winemakers both large and small has been really encouraging, so the 2025 vintage looks like it could be a very good one,” Mr Ratcliff said.
Dry year brings water challenges
In the Clare Valley, picking of the famous riesling variety was in full swing.
Jim Barry Wines general manager Tom Barry said it was their earliest vintage since 2016, and said it was challenging but promising.
A dry year has forced growers to increase irrigation at Jim Barry Wines in the Clare Valley. (Supplied: Jim Barry Wines)
After a dry 2024, the winery has had to increase irrigation, watering more regularly and deeper into the soil.
“With the dry weather, things are coming on reasonably quickly,” Mr Barry said.
“A year like this throws up a few challenges … [but] our vineyards are looking really, really good considering.”
Barossa reds look promising
Fifth generation Barossa Valley grape grower Tammy Schultz supplies fruit for high end red wines and also expects an early vintage.
“We are almost a month early this year for vintage,” Ms Schultz said.
“Bud burst was earlier, and unfortunately a lot of growers around the valley were hit by frost.
“Every stage has been early this year, it’s been an extremely dry growing season, coming off a very dry winter.”
But she said the early vintage was helpful, given some growers were coming to the end of their water allocation for irrigation.
Fifth-generation Barossa grape grower Tammy Schultz is expecting high quality but lower yields this vintage. (ABC Rural: Kate Higgins)
For the famous Barossa reds, the quantity was expected to be lower but quality high.
“Traditionally, the dry years produce high quality fruit, if it’s well managed,” Ms Scultz said.
In the state’s South East — home to the Coonawarra and Padthaway wine regions — viticulturalist Sarah Bird expected vintage to start on a more usual timeline, with yields down for many varieties.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing for the wine industry at the moment, considering there’s an oversupply still,” Ms Bird said.
“There’s not much sub-surface moisture at the moment, so it means we need to irrigate more to keep the canopies healthy.”