THE hot, dry hot summer has been brutal for many Tasmanian farmers but a blessing for those growing grapes with some yields up 50 per cent this year.
The state’s 2015 vintage was moderate, yielding the equivalent of about 620,000 cases realising a farmgate value of more than $65 million.
However, Paul Williams from Wobbly Boot vineyard in the Coal River Valley told the Mercury that this season his grapes were in weighty bunches with uniform growth and he expected to yield 50 per cent more than last year.
Mr Williams’ vineyard on the banks of the White Kangaroo Rivulet has 1.5ha under vine and he will start picking within weeks.
Moorilla winemaker Conor van der Reest has already started harvesting Chardonnay — 19 days earlier than usual.
Riversdale Estate at Cambridge is using Tasmania’s only Pellenc multifunction grape harvester to collect its sparkling yield about a week and half early.
In the state’s North, Tamar Ridge started picking last week.
It comes as global travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller recently rated Tasmania the number one place in the world to find the best wine in 2016.
Wine Tasmania chief executive Sheralee Davies said the global interest in the state’s wines continued to grow and the article by Conde Nast Traveller talked of Tasmania as one of Australia’s fastest-growing wine regions.
“Tasmanian pinot is increasingly being exported and found on savvy wine lists, like at Public in New York City ... and the island is gaining attention for its sparkling wine,” the article says.
Ms Davies said Tasmanian wines were consistently recognised internationally.
She said the sector was also leading the country in terms of positioning, value and reputation.
“Tasmania is bucking the national trend in production growth, growing by 14 per cent compared to a decrease in other cool and temperate regions of Australia,” Ms Davies said.
Over the past five years, vineyard plantings in Tasmania have grown by more than 25 per cent, equivalent to almost 500ha, and more is being planted in the 2015-2016 financial year.
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