Yarra Valley Fires: A Year On

It’s more than a year since the Yarra Valley was hit by bush fires raging through the region, burning vineyards and anything that laid in its path.

The impact of the fires was confined to just 4% or 154ha of vines. Unfortunately sweltering temperatures had already reduced the potential crop before the blazes hit: yields were 25-30% below average due to January’s heatwave.  Leaves and grapes were sunburned with some vineyards experiencing up to 80% crop loss.

Then came the fires and smoke damage. Willie Lunn, winemaker at Yering Station, says, “We lost two vineyards in Yarra Glen. There was about 400 ton of other fruit we didn’t pick because of smoke taint. Some wines became a bit smoky and they will never see the light of day.”

Many grapes harvested were discarded in the winery, as smoke taint only rears its ugly face once fermentation starts.

Tom Belford, assistant winemaker at Sticks, adds, “We ended up with about 50% of what we would normally make. We handpicked everything and whole bunch pressed it but a lot went down the drain.”

So, what are the knock-on effects? Has 2010 been affected by the last year’s fires and heatwave? It seems not: smoke taint infiltrates the stomata and heads to the berries not the vine wood, so this year there is no hangover. Just 4% of the vines in the region were burned, so production has not fallen significantly.

There is plenty of excitement surrounding the 2010 harvest. Belford says, “2010 was one of the best vintages we have had in a long time we didn’t have any extremes. Varieties ripened at the right time so we were able to deal with it properly.”

The major issue is continued supply, moving from the 2008’s onto the 2010’s. Will wineries be forced to release the 2010’s earlier than they would like to meet demand? The 2008 vintage was pretty big but for those without any 2009 reds, like Giant Steps, what will they do when the 08’s run out? Will there be a conflict between the marketers, who want to get the new vintage wines to market asap, and the winemakers, who don’t want to rush their wines?  A gap in supply is highly likely.