Extreme weather conditions across Australia are causing concerns for winemakers.
While the industry was initially buoyant about the 2017 vintage, recent wild swings between torrential rain and heatwaves are pushing alarm bells.
Wine grape grower Jack Papageorgiou, who is based in Cooltong, South Australia, told ABC Rural it had been one of the most unusual seasons he had seen in his 44 years in the industry.
"Every year in the industry is different — this is very different," he said. "Monday we had rain and showers and overcast and humidity, and now [in the next few days] we're going to hit 45 degrees Celsius. The vine will be saying 'Well, what the hell is going on here?'"
Plant pathologist Peter Magarey also noted that the moist conditions had led to several outbreaks of diseases across South Australia's wine regions.
"Both powdery mildew and downy mildew have been going quite well this year — I speak as a pathologist and not as a grower," Magarey said.
"We've had a number of downy mildew events in the Riverland and in other parts of Australia, [and] we've seen in the Clare Valley that there's a little bit of powdery mildew and a little bit of downy mildew … likewise in the Barossa Valley."
Magarey is hoping the hot, dry conditions will continue as they will make it easier for growers to track and manage diseases. Papageorgiou added that more rain would also cause splitting of the berries.
The weather is also causing concerns for Canberra growers, with Canberra District Wine Association's John Leyshon telling The Canberra Times that too much hot weather could make grapes taste more bitter.
"The problem with the heat is that the vines just shut down anything over 27-28 degrees and the vines just stop working so you're not going to get your grapes ripening,"he said.
Leyshon said rain could also be an issue for the region's vintage: "After the rain this week and last week I'd be happy to see no rain until April."
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