We got the chance to hear from several Vignerons about how the 2024 season went, growing-wise and other insights into what was happening in the vineyard. Hear more from Raquel from Weathercraft, Stuart from Vinelea, Tess and Jeremy from Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown, Mark from Fighting Gully Road, and Kara from Sorrenberg in the below.
Raquel Jones, Weathercraft
“The 2024 vintage was a mixed bag weather-wise. It started quietly from September to November, with steady weather and plenty of cloud cover ensuring the nights remained cool. However, December and January threw us some curves, including heavy rains during the crucial flowering period for some of our reds.
A late spring frost also threatened our crops, and while some vineyards nearby suffered significant losses, we were fortunate to avoid major damage. This allowed our chardonnay to thrive, leading to the most considerable harvest we’ve ever had. We experienced a stretch without rain starting at Veraison. This prolonged dry spell and several heat events kept acidity levels high. The heat events accelerated ripening and compressed the vintage into a shorter, more intense period for whites, leading to a harvest approximately two weeks earlier than usual. Our Chardonnay looks especially smart this year, while red varietals progressed at their usual pace. We’re also excited to share that an increased amount of pinot gris in 2024 has allowed us to create a Beechworth barrel-fermented version, adding a new, textural wine to our portfolio.” Read more.
Stuart Smith, Vinelea
“Vintage 2024 at Vinelea was smaller than usual due to a late Spring frost, fortunately we were in Bordeaux on holiday when the frost occurred and didn’t see the damage until we returned. The vintage year started wet but post new year the weather was ideal for grape ripening and vintage commenced at the normal time. The small crop yielded some excellent fruit, with the standout being the Chardonnay which even at this early stage shows considerable body with excellent balance.” Read more.
Tess Brown and Jeremy Schmölzer, Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown
“After the unprecedentedly cold and wet 2022-2023 we were interested in what might be in store for this growing season’s turn around the sun. We’ve had a string of cooler and wetter seasons and harvests these last five years, and we’ve been joking with friends that a little El Niño might be a nice treat…And so it was, we got our little treat – an El Niño year. Its first gift was a severe and fairly peculiar frost in the last week of October, which is the typical week for damaging frosts to hit the Beechworth GI. It was an odd frost though because – and fortunately – no other Stanley vineyard we make wine from was damaged in any way, which is not what you’d expect from a broad advective frost event, which typically clip everyone in the mesoclimate. Thorley however was severely reduced: around two thirds singed off the Chardonnay and Nebbiolo, and half of the Riesling. Curiously, the Syrah was rather unaffected, for which we were grateful.
There was pretty decent rain through much of Spring and early Summer and it looked to be shaping up to be a pretty neutral season, but after new year’s things did dry up properly and remained dry until now (mid-July as this is written). And so, we ended up having a fairly early and quick harvest with reduced cropping levels.
Our altitude means that acids were still quite bright, but we’re also seeing a dialled-up wattage, so to speak in the Beechworth wines due to simple concentration factor. Another unexpected corollary is that our malos (which usually take much of winter to complete) were all complete before the winter solstice. This will mean the racking of the wines occurs some three to four months earlier than usual, and probably bring forward some aspects of their pre-bottling elevage. Where the 2023 wines are shy, tightly coiled and even perhaps backward, we think the 2024 wines will show a degree of confidence and earlier drinkability for this reason.” Read more.
Mark Walpole, Fighting Gully Road
“Well, the 2023/24 growing season kicked off very much like the couple preceding it – cool and wet! However, budburst was earlier, which thankfully meant that the commencement of harvest was also brought forward by a couple of weeks. A brief window of dry and warm weather over flowering ensured a good fruit set. Which would mean we’d potentially have a great crop if we could get it through to harvest. Fortunately for us, we were spared spring frost (in October) which decimated a number of other lower-lying vineyards in Beechworth. Storms were a regular threat, and we were unlucky to be grazed by a massive cell between Christmas and New Year, damaging berries on the west side of the canopy. Things could have gone either way over the next few weeks, but fortunately things dried out, the damage healed, and by harvest little was to be seen of the New Year storm.
The wet weather kept us on our toes…or should I say on the tractor seats! We were spraying regularly to avoid the onset of disease. We’re pleased to say we got through the season with no downy, or powdery mildew, or botrytis. In some ways the wet weather was a blessing, as we were able to build strong healthy canopies with plenty of leaves for ripening the crop. Chardonnay kicked things off, with the first fruit of the 2024 harvest picked in the last week of February, followed quickly by Pinot Noir. Almost immediately following picking of these varieties, the weather warmed, and the rain stopped allowing harvest of all the red varieties (and Verdicchio) without interruption. While the last of the Aglianico was picked on the 22nd April, Gros Manseng was finally picked on Tuesday, May 28.” Read more.
Barry, Jan and Kara Morey, Sorrenberg
“The 2024 vintage we had a fairly slow, wet and cool start to summer. The rain stopped early Feb with an evident dry spell and the weather warmed extremely quickly. This resulted in very quick onset of ripening and harvest was around 2 weeks earlier than average. The crop levels were decent, and flavours and quality of fruit was excellent. The extreme change from consecutive wet to dry was evident in the vines, however meticulous biodynamic practices ensure the vines are sustainable and keep their vitality with the weather extremes.” Read more.
Image credit
Weathercraft’s Raquel and Hugh Jones (with their daughter) walking through their vineyard in Everton Upper, on Beechworth-Wangaratta Road.