ATTRIBUTING human characteristics to the forces of nature is sometimes irresistible, and to many winegrowers in south-eastern Australia, the latest manifestation of La Nina seemed at times to be capricious and, on occasion, downright vindictive. Following on the back of the bumper vintage of 2021, the growing season leading up to 2022 saw many wine regions subjected to buffeting winds, relentless rain and damaging hailstorms. Damage to vines at early stages of growth was frequently succeeded by waves of disease: poor fruit-set, loss of crops and consequent reductions in volumes were widespread, and in some cases drastic.
Although down only a couple of per cent on the 10-year average, the total volume of the vintage at 1.73 million tonnes represented a fall of 13.5 per cent from last year’s record crush of 2.01 million tonnes, with shiraz production plummeting by nearly a fifth (as did that of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir). On the other side of the ledger, Western Australia had a warm, dry summer and, along with Tasmania and parts of New South Wales, defied the downward dip in volumes. Some regions, however, were very hard hit – Mornington Peninsula’s crush, for example, was reduced by
