“It could be spectacular, but it could all go pear shaped in a hurry.”
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Those are the words of Rod Kempe, speaking on behalf of Hunter winemakers who are experiencing some restless nights as rain threatens to bring unstuck the potentially outstanding 2015 vintage.
In short, Hunter winemakers are on the verge of a third cracking vintage in succession – if the weather behaves over the next couple of weeks.
“I’ve been saying for the last month that this could be another vintage to look out for,” Mr Kempe, head winemaker at the iconic Lake’s Folly winery said.
“But right now it’s hanging in the balance. We had 32mm of rain in just over 24 hours at Lake’s Folly, but I don’t think that’s a negative yet.
“It has been a milder season than 2014, back to normal if you like, and there’s the potential for this one to be magnificent. But we really need this rain to disappear.”
Over at McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant, chief winemaker Jim Chatto was on his mobile checking out the vines as we spoke. He remained quietly confident.
“There’s still a couple of weeks before we pick, so there’s a bit of time yet,” he said.
“I tend to be optimistic anyway, but I wouldn’t say it’s a knife edge just yet.
“We just need some good drying weather and we should be OK.
“And the fruit is looking good.”
Bruce Tyrrell of Tyrrell’s Wines is also impressed with the quality of the fruit.
“We’ll start picking chardonnay within the next couple of days,” he said. “I’m surprised with how much the flavours have come on since Friday.
“Hunter vineyards can handle rain, it’s that cold misty weather that causes us problems.
“This could be another seriously good vintage and there’s good moisture in the ground, so the vines won’t come under any stress.
“With decent weather for the next couple of weeks, we’re looking really good.”
Weather forecast
A trough has drawn moist air from the tropics and delivered Maitland 33mm over the weekend – a third of the city’s 89mm average for January (1903 to 1990).
Tomorrow is expected to bring more rain for Maitland and the Bureau of Meteorology has forecast between 3mm and 10mm to fall.
The wet weather is expected to clear closer to the weekend.
