Frosts a greater concern than water: grape growers

Although lack of water is always an issue for wine grape growers, Clare Valley vignerons are more concerned about frost and markets for their fruit.
Recent changes in the economy caused by the fallout from America’s credit crisis could see a drop in demand for wine, which many consumers see as a luxury.

Sevenhill wine grape grower Tren Vine said some local dams were probably in a better condition than last year following good winter rains, but the level of ground water had dropped dramatically over the past two or three years.

“I don’t know how long these bores can keep going without a significant recharge,” he said.

Growers relying on Murray water have also had to cope with a significant reduction in allocation.

“I think we had good winter rains, so grapes have a bit of subsoil moisture and are all looking healthy, but there are some other issues to worry about,” Mr Vine said.

The issues include the withdrawal of several grape contracts by Consellation Wines (Hardys), which has put pressure on growers to find a new buyer for their fruit.

“This is probably a bigger problem than water,” Mr Vine said.

Polish Hill River grapegrower Martin Smith hasn’t been able to irrigate his vines for several years because there has been no water in the catchments or dams, but has still managed to produce quality fruit, despite an almost 30 per cent reduction in volume.

“2004 was a very good year for us but ever since then the years have been ordinary,” he said.

And if anyone has had their doubts about climate change, Mr Smith said the effects had been noticeable in the Polish Hill River region.

“We’d never seen frosts in more than 100 years here, and now we have had two years of frost, in 2005 and 2007, with dry years in between.”

This year the Polish Hill Valley soil has kept more moisture due to a wet winter, and hopes are good for the 2009 crop - providing there’s no frost.

“If we can get away without any frosts before mid November we’ll do okay,” he said.

“The vines have budded up well after pruning and we have done as much work in the vineyards as we can.

“And if you take the past few years into account the opening of this season is really normal. I don’t think disease will be a problem because it has been so hot and dry for so long, although we’ll definitely need some rain during summer.”