Celebrate the 2016 harvest with Canberra District Wine Week!

Posted on 30 March, 2016

So the grapes have been picked and are now starting that wonderful transformation from innocent little bunches of fruit into delectable bottles of wine.

The 2016 grape harvest is one of the earliest ever seen in the Canberra district with many vineyard managers picking up to two weeks earlier than previous years. The early harvest is a result of the late and very warm summer we had in March.

The warmer weather meant the grapes ripened faster than usual so our local winemakers had to move quickly to get the grapes off the vine and into the fermenters or risk being left with bunches of sultanas!

Despite the challenging weather, the 2016 harvest is looking promising with elegant but full flavoured wines the anticipated result.

William Bruce from Wily Trout Vineyard (aka Poachers Pantry) is very pleased with this year’s grapes. “2016 will be remembered as a great year for us,” he says. “The year was tracking pretty similar to 2015 until we had a minor heat wave at the end of the season which produced tops of 30 degrees for 10 days.

2016 Wily Trout harvest

Vines can easily handle this heat it just speeds up the ripening. Historically we receive heat waves in January not March so I feel that’s what made the vintage come off so early.

“Wily Trout’s fruit looked just as good as 2015, the only real problem with 2016 is some received hail that damaged fruit at harvest lucky for us we got through unscathed and harvest came of perfectly,” explains William.

Climate change is an issue vignerons are keeping close watch of as, like most farmers, they are at the mercy of the weather. Mark Diamond, Sales Manager at Wily Trout Wines, believes Canberra has an advantage over other regions when it comes to climate change.

“The one factor that will remain our best asset is altitude, which helps temper both abnormally hotter years, and any further movement upwards in average temperature,” he says.

“The Canberra District’s altitude advantage allows us to sit atop the Australian wine landscape and look to the future with a measured confidence that we can produce world class, cool climate wines for many decades to come. That’s worth raising a glass of fresh, elegant, cool climate local wine to celebrate!”

Long Rail Gully Wines chief winemaker Richard Parker is also feeling confident about the 2016 harvest. “Even with all the hurdles Mother Nature throws at you over a season, everything in the tank looks great and I can’t wait to see the end result,” says Richard.

To celebrate the end of harvest, the Canberra District Wine Region is hosting a week of activities from Monday 4 to Sunday 10 April 2016 called the Canberra District Wine Week.

Acclaimed wine writer and critic Huon Hooke will officially launch celebrations where wine lovers will have their pick of activities including winemaker hosted tastings; food and wine matched dinners; and other special tasting evenings.

Events will take place at various bars and restaurants throughout Canberra, Murrumbateman, Gundaroo, Yass and Bungendore, culminating in the annual Harvest Festival at most of the local wineries the weekend of 9 and 10 April.

During the Festival, visitors to the wineries will be able to try newly released wines while listening to local musicians, playing boules, learning about the winemaking process and sampling local food. Many of the wineries are also offering special tastings of back vintages; samples of aging wine straight from the barrel; and even the chance to stomp some grapes!

the essentials

What: The 2015 Canberra Wine Harvest
When: For a full program of events visit cdww.com.au
Vines & Wines will also be a running a tour on 9 April for the Harvest Festival – details here: www.vineswines.com.au/product/harvest-festival-2016