Near perfect conditions should translate to an outstanding 2018 vintage for wine lovers.
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With the majority of North East grapes now picked, just a handful of Rutherglen wineries still have late ripening Muscadelle and Cabernet on the vine.
“Basically from a warm January to early February we’ve moved into perfect ripening weather,” Winemakers of Rutherglen’s Rowly Milhinch said.
“It has started to get cooler overnight in the past month, daytime temps have been in the high 20s and low 30s from the start of March which is terrific … the guys who will be jumping up and down particularly will be the Durif producers and the Muscat and Muscadelle producers they’ve had a really great year for those varieties.”
After a relatively stress-free season, Mr Milhinch said fruit at his Scion Vineyard exhibited good levels of natural acidity and “exceptional” colour.
“To my knowledge there hasn’t been any significant across the board challenges with, say, frost or botrytis or anything like that,” he said.
“It has been a really great, clean year.”
The season augurs well for Rutherglen’s progressive winemakers who are forging new ground with modern interpretations drawing on the region’s strong red traditions.
“Rutherglen is traditional, that’s its strength and that’s what kept it in a really great position with generations galore here doing some really good stuff,” Mr Milhinch said.
“Diversity within the traditional categories is what we’re doing exceptionally well.
“Here you can go to four wineries and within one particular variety you can get four very different expressions of that, and that’s very exciting.”
Consumers should expect the first 2018 vintage bottles on shelves within months.