Weather for the month of November

Weather Report Month Ending 31/11/08

Maximum Temperature for the month 34.7C (94F) on Wed. 12th. Average for this month was 23.8C. 12 readings above our long term monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the month 3.3C (38F) on Sun. 23rd. Average for this month was 10.3C. 14 readings above our long term monthly average of 10.7C.

Rainfall for the month 28.6mm (82 points) 12 days of rainfall recorded. Our long term average is 35.5mm spread over 7.5 days.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A cool and relatively dry month for us, however we had more rainy days than our average. I am not sure if global warming is a reality or not, but we are certainly not getting the bigger dumps of rain that we used to get. We had 4 more rainy days than is average, however we recorded 7mm less rainfall.

This month in the vineyard:

I have had a very busy month! The vines have now all finished flowering and we now have fruit set. We have been doing estimates for our winery customers - so far it is looking like an average or just below year for the Barossa Valley as far as tonnes of grapes go. It's too early to tell what our quality will be like, however below average yields normally mean higher quality grapes. We have been maintaining our usual spray program for the prevention of Downy and Powdery mildew. I have also had to spread some snail bait to counteract increased numbers of white snails this year.

I have been kept busy with all the usual meetings and seminars that I seem to have to attend. The Barossa Valley Technical group held a very interesting seminar on crop estimation, that included some information on trellis tension as a guide to crop load. We are also now getting into the season of Christmas lunches, drinks etc.

I have now taken over the day to day running of Mad Dog wines. My sister and brother in law were running this however do not feel they can contribute enough time to do it justice. I am organizing to bottle our 2005 Shiraz and I am hoping to have it for sale early in the new year. I am currently looking for outlets here in Australia that would like sell our premium Barossa valley products.

This week 31st October 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 31/10/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 33.6C (92F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 7.6C (46F) on Tue. 6 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 2.8mm (8 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Finally a trace of rain for us. No where near enough for us to even go close to calling this a normal month. In fact we only recorded 13.2 mm of rain for the whole month (our average is 44mm). Our maximum temperatures were also very different from average, with the month of October 2.6C above our average.

This week in the vineyard:

As you can see from the photo, our Chardonnay is well into flowering now. I am still spraying weeds, to preserve as much natural moisture as I can. Flowering this year could be approx. 2 weeks earlier than we would normally expect. Not all varieties have started flowering yet, just the early ones like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I am planning to start putting our next fungicide spray on later this coming week.

This week 24th October 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 24/10/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 32.4C (90F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 5.3C (41F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet again no rainfall recorded this week. We had 2 very warm days this week with very low humidity's, around 3% on Friday being the lowest.

This week in the vineyard:

Sorry I do not have a photo this week - I have been out on the tractor as much as I can, getting our cover crop sprayed off. I am doing this to try to preserve as much moisture in our soil as I can. I am a little bit late this year, I suspect there is not a whole lot of moisture left for me to preserve, but hopefully we will still be getting some more rain that can be caught in the profile. The very low humidity's that we recorded this week have also seen us lose a lot of the available moisture we did have there. We have had a small increase in our water allocation this week, we now have 15% available to use out of the Murray River.

This past week I attended a seminar being held by Dr. Fearne (Adelaide's current thinker in residence, just finishing up). He has been looking at how the wine industry in particular can achieve maximum benefit from our value chains. The message I got was that we need to get to know our consumers a lot better, to be able better serve their needs and this will also help our retailers market our wine. Sounds good, but it will need more grape growers to become a lot more involved in the marketing of their wine, something we have not had to do in the past.

This week 17th October 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 16/10/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 30.6C (87F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.3C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 2.1C (36F) on Tue. 4 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very nice week here in the Barossa Valley a typical spring week. Very dry again with no rainfall recorded.

This week in the vineyard:

As you can see from the photo, our vines are growing rapidly. We have now put the first fungicide spray on for the season. The cover crop is still green and continues to suck moisture out of our profile. I will be spraying this off as soon as I can get to it this coming week. Unfortunately I have a number of meetings and other interruptions that will mean not a lot will get done on the tractor. Some more rain would be very useful in the next few weeks, however the forecast does not look very promising.

Settling in back home.

Sorry I haven't posted for such a long time. I am now well and truly back to earth at home. The vineyard, as you can see from my photo of some Chardonnay, is growing very rapidly, we now have inflorescence's separated and well defined. The winter rainfall so far has been close to average however, it has been coming in relatively small regular showers. This means that everything looks nice and green, however subsoil moisture's are not very high and there has been very little run off for people who rely on dams for irrigation. Even though I don't want to spend a lot of time out spraying my vineyard - I am hoping for a very wet spring.

On a more positive note, I was talking to Louisa Rose (chief winemaker for Yalumba) yesterday, about the last vintage from here in the Barossa. She said that '2008 will produce some of the best wine to come out of this region in a long time'. This echos what I said some time ago on this blog about the near perfect ripening conditions we had this year. So keep an eye out for the 2008 vintage wines that will begin to hit the market soon from the Barossa, both whites and (some wait still) reds. Even varieties like Grenache that was mostly picked during or after the heatwave have produced incredible wines.
At home here the weather has been fine and mild with a couple of quite windy, drying days last week. The official weather station has been down for nearly a week (thanks to vandals), so I do not have rainfall figures - but there has been very little (less than 0.5mm). We did record our warmest September day in more than 10 years last Saturday (27th) of 31.7C (89F).

Check this link out!

Here is an interesting story I stumbled across on the web. I must say not a bad photo either! http://www.wineanorak.com/blog/2008/09/meet-matthew-munzberg-barossa-grower-on.html

Post from South Africa

Well I am on my way home now. I have been in South Africa for nearly a week, most of that time near Cape Town. I will get back home on the weekend, after spending nearly 17 weeks travelling the world. In that time I have flown around the world twice, done around 30 individual flights and covered nearly 65,000 air miles. I have stayed in around 50 different hotels. I have been to 12 different countries and driven vehicles in 8 of them. In the 10 weeks of my own study I have conducted more than 25 pre arranged interviews, with at least that many more informal meetings. I have also completely missed out on a southern hemisphere winter. The knowledge I have gained on my travels, I believe, will take a long time for me to digest properly and put to use in our business. I would like to say a great big thank you to Nuffield and Nufarm for organizing and funding my scholarship. I would also like to thank all the people I have interviewed and met with, I have been blown away with how generous people have been with their time. Thanks also to the many people who have provided me with contacts to enable me to conduct my study, in some cases they even provided me with a bed as well as answering any questions I had. This experience has been life changing for me and, I believe, will influence just about everything I do in the future.

A Post from London

This week I am in the UK. I have spent some time near Cambridge and I am now in London. I am staying at the Farmers club right in the heart of London just across the Thames from the London Eye. I flew in from France last Thursday. I really enjoyed my time in Eastern France and learnt lots about how wine is made in the 'old world', and some of the mystic that is attached to it. The photo is another that I took while I was in France, in the Alsace region.

Back at home in the Barossa Valley it has been a relatively dry week, with only 2.8mm of rain recorded. We have also had 3 frosts (2 of them quite a low -1.4C). I hope these have not done any damage, I have been told that some of our vines were at woolly bud stage and so will be vulnerable to frost from now on.

A Post from Alsace France

I am in Strasbourg, France currently. I spent a couple of days longer in Spain than I was hoping to, due to very heavy flight bookings. I have been in France for 4 days and am really enjoying it, despite not knowing much French. The people are very friendly and try to help any way they can. I am quite glad that I do not need to farm some of the land that they grow grapes on. The vineyards are very steep with very high planting densities. I have seen very few vineyards that could be worked mechanically here, but the small land holdings probably make this impractical anyway. The rules that they also need to comply with would cause me frustration, but they do also provide some stability to their industry that we do not enjoy back home. The photo shows a traditional French village with an ancient fort overlooking it, surrounded by vineyards.

Back in the Barossa Valley it has been drizzly and we have had several frosts. We recorded 11mm of rain for the week over 5 days. I believe we are also seeing the first signs of bud swell.

Post from Spain

Today I am posting from Barcelona in Spain. I have spent most of this week on the Mediterranean coastal region. Grape growing here is very interesting - while the climate is similar to the Barossa Valley, the soils are very different. The stony and chalky type soils produce very low vigour vines. I have visited several wine regions while here, but lack of time will limit me to regions close to Barcelona. Next I am heading to France. The photo is of a typical Spanish vineyard, although this one is a relatively high vigour one. This was taken in the hills above Tarragona.

Back at home it is continuing to rain in small amounts, we have had a total of 14.8mm for the week and recorded some rainfall 6 out 7 days. We have started mowing down our cover crop. This years' cover crop is looking like one of the best we have grown for quite a few years - not a bad result considering it has not had any artificial fertiliser, only the fowl manure we usually put on every second row each year. I think we must be doing something right with our soil!

Another Airport - this time JFK New York

Well this blog comes to you from New York. I am waiting for a flight to the UK, where I will be spending the weekend before flying on to Barcelona to have a look at wine growing in Spain. This week I have spent here in New York and in Maryland, I have been talking to wine promotion people and regional marketing organizations. I am interested in how regions brand, and then market themselves - as I feel the Barossa Valley is not doing as good a job as it could at this. My Nuffield scholarship that I am on at the moment is helping me find out how other regions are doing this and giving me lots of ideas that the Barossa might like to try.
The photo today was taken in Washington state, it is of the entrance to the Red Mountain AVA, a relatively small but, I think up and coming area for premium grapes.
Back at home it continues to rain in small amounts. We have had 20mm for the week, however this was spread over 5 days (useful, but not ideal). Just another piece of news I have from home, this week the Barossa Grape and Wine association appointed a CEO. He is Sam Holmes, and I look forward to meeting him and working with him when I get back home.

Boise, Idaho

I am currently in Boise, Idaho. I have spent most of the last week in the Washington wine growing area. For a relatively young wine growing region, they are making some amazingly good wines. There are also some of the worlds best winemakers working here. So far I have been very fortunate with the weather - everywhere that I have been has been fine and warm but not too hot. This coming week I will be flying to the west coast of the USA. The photo this week is of sunset in Washington state taken near Dayton.

This week at home in the Barossa we have only had 4.4mm of rain for the week. This is only enough to keep things damp, but we do still need some heavy soaking rains before the end of winter.

First week of own study in California

I have now been here in California for nearly a week. I have spent all week in the grape growing areas near San Francisco. I have been to Lodi and the Napa and Sonoma valleys, I am currently in Davis. I was able to get a quick introduction to some of the viticulture research that is being done here at UC Davis. Next week I will be flying to Idaho and from there going to Washington state.
Back home in the Barossa Valley it continues to be cold and rainy. We have had another 8.2mm of rain for the week and are now only about 12mm short of setting a 10 year record for July rainfall. It has also been very cold, 2 nights we recorded below zero temperatures and a couple of days only struggling up to 10C.

Back in Australia - for now

I have now been back in Australia for nearly a week. I have not been home, my family has been holidaying with me on the Gold Coast in Queensland. I have been enjoying some much cooler weather than we got in the Philippines and China, while my family has escaped the cold and rainy weather back home. Tomorrow they will be going back home, to normality and school, while I will be flying out to the San Francisco to start the solo stage of my Nuffield study. I will be away for another 8 weeks before I see home again. It has been faantastiic to catch up with my wife and family and have a bit of a chance to recharge my batteries before diving into my own study. I will try to update my blog a little more regularly, now that I am on my own.
Back at home in the Barossa it has been raining again this week. We have had approx. another 12.5mm of rain, we have now had our average rainfall for July - anything more this month is a much needed bonus, as we are still behind (by about 50mm) our average for the year.

Post from the Philippines

Well our global focus program is winding up now. We have just left Manila on our way back to Australia. We stayed at the International Rice Research Institute. This was an very good place to end our world tour, considering how crucial rice is to so much of the worlds population and how much world rice stocks influence grain prices. We have seen how this institute is trying to improve rice yields to offset the increase in world population and at the same time, the reduction in area that is being planted. The photo shows rice paddy's in the Philippines, with a monsoonal shower in the background.
Back home in the Barossa it has been raining and quite cold again. We had about 26mm of rain for the week ending Fri. 11th July.

Flying in China

We are about to get on a domestic flight in China from Guangzhou to Nanjing. As is usual with our group, the flight is delayed, so I have a little time to update my blog. China is a country of contrasts, they are obviously expanding at a furious rate, but at the same time a lot of the farming is being done much like it has been done for hundreds of years. There are very few young farmers in this country - all the young people want to do is move to the cities and get jobs in the many factories here. Farming is considered a very low class occupation, until this attitude changes, I do wonder how China will be able to feed itself. The photo today shows fruit and vegetables for sale in one of the many wet markets we have seen here.

Back home it has been raining this week, not sure how much, looks like around about 10mm. our season is shaping up to be fairly dry - we will need a really wet month soon!

Update from LAX

We are in the middle of a long layover in LAX as part of our Nuffield global focus tour. We are currently in the One World club lounge during a 8 hour wait for a connecting overnight flight to Hong Kong. This is a very nice lounge, much nicer than some we have used during our travels. The last 5 days have been spent in north and western Oklahoma. The usual comment that we have been getting is, why are you going there? Well we have been learning about all kinds of things, from dairy operations (yet again) to cheese making (somewhat related) to oil production and wind energy. The photo shows a fairly late wheat crop being harvested in the Oklahoma panhandle under quite threatening skies.

We have had very little rainfall back home, it looks like we have only had 0.8mm for the week.

This week 20th June 2008

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while - we have been very busy on our Nuffield global focus tour. We are currently in NW Oklahoma, in beef and oil country. Our group is having a amazing time, we have been looking at all kinds of things including a very interesting visit to Oklahoma state university, where we talked to a cereal seed breeder and turf grass researchers (among others). We also had meetings with deans of most of the agriculture related departments of the university. Earlier in the week we spent some time in Maryland, this was a very interesting part of the world, we even got to spend an evening on an oyster skip jack with a real local character giving us a run down on some of the local seafood history. I haven't had a chance to organize any photos for this post, but I will make sure that I have some next time.
They have not had much rain at home in the last week, I believe that there has only been about 3mm (the Nuriootpa weather station has been offline for several days again this week).

Delayed Flight

We are currently in Boston(USA) waiting for a delayed flight to Washington DC. So I thought I would write just a little about what we have been up to. We spent the last 3 days in France. While there we visited a number of small (by our standards) farms. It appears to us that these farms are only viable because of the EU subsidies that they receive (even though it is obviously very productive land). We also visited the Rungies international market early monday morning to see fruit, veggies, cheese and meat being traded there. They also trade seafood and flowers there, however they were not open on Monday. This was a very impressive visit with fruit and veg, that I have never seen before being traded. There are something like 25,000 trucks that pick up or deliver to this market every day. Last night we stayed in a really nice French country villa. The photo shows pigs ready for sale.

This week 13th June

Good news for the Barossa this week. We have recieved 15.8mm of rain, to keep our vineyard going. We are still well behind our average rainfall for the year, we have only had 95mm so far (our average up till the end of this month is 203mm). I am still hopeful that we will get the very wet winter that we really need.

I am currently in Chartres, France on the Nuffield global focus tour. We have been having an incredible time. Our group of 11 (8 Aussies, 2 Kiwi's and a token Canadian) are all feeling rather tired. We are having to cope with very early mornings and late nights as well as jet lag and long sessions visiting farms and listening to other presentations. I have learnt more about the world dairy industry in the last 2 weeks than I will probably ever be able to use. But it is not just dairy, we have been to pig, sheep, beef, cropping, poultry, thoroughbred horse and seafood farm operations and have had a chance to question the owners/managers of all of them (we have even been to some farms that I think they actually farm tractors, one Irish farm had more than 60). I do not have any photos to show this week, as I haven't had time to download them from my camera.

Touring NZ

We are in NZ at the moment. We will be leaving this fabulous country tomorrow afternoon to fly to Ireland via Hong Kong. We have been having an amazing time looking at all kinds of farms and talking to farmers and other people about farming. The first photo shows Ackaroa harbour on the Banks Peninsular. The second photo is of Mt. Hutt taken from near Methven.

This week 30th May 2008

I am currently in NZ. I have been visiting the Marlborough grape growing region this week as part of my Nuffield Scholarship. On Sunday I will be meeting up with some of the other Aussie scholars (and some assorted Kiwi's) to start our global focus tour. We will be spending 6 weeks travelling together, looking at farms and farming related things all over the world. Tonight I am staying with one of the NZ scholars that will be travelling with us from Methven south of Christchurch.
Just for the record the Barossa Valley has recorded 11.2mm of rain in the last week, sounds like mostly from a thunder storm.

This week 23rd May 2008

My weather data for this week is incomplete due to the Nuriootpa weather station going down after rainfall last weekend.
We have had just over 40mm of rain in the last week. I am writing this from Sydney airport, on my way out of Australia. I am just about to start my travel as part of my Nuffield scholarship. Today I will be flying to Christchurch in New Zealand. I will try to update you all as I am travelling, and let you know where I am and what I am doing. I will also try to let you know what is happening at home in the vineyard, however I will not be back home for another 16 weeks - so there will be no photos of home and only limited weather data. I am sorry if anyone needs this info but you should be able to access it at weatherzone.com. The photo today shows part of our contract hand pruning gang doing a hand cleanup on some Shiraz vines, on a cool misty morning in the Barossa Valley.

This week: 16th. May 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 16/5/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 22.6C (73F) on Wed. 6 readings above our monthly average of 17.3C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.7C (39F) on Mon. 2 readings above our monthly average of 6.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another typical week for us here. Reasonably pleasant days with quite cold nights. No rainfall again this week – however there is some in the forecast for us.

This week in the vineyard:
I am finishing up a number of jobs at the moment, as I am leaving to start my Nuffield scholarship this coming Friday. We have started our pruning in earnest this week. I have had a contract pruning machine working during the week and a hand contract gang also started on Thursday. The hand gang will probably be here for the next 2-3 months. The photo shows a young block of Sauv. Blanc. in the front with the neighbours Grenache behind, still holding on to their leaves, although most of the vine leaves have now fallen.

This week: 9th. May 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 9/5/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 21.1C (70F) on Sun. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 17.3C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 5.2C (41F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 6.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 1.6mm (5 points) 4 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Surprisingly warm this week. Very mild stable conditions all week. Just heavy fog and mist in the mornings giving us our rainfall recordings this week.

This week in the vineyard:
The photo shows that our covercrop is now well under way. At this stage it looks very good, however will probably need some more rain on it before too much longer (I am not very concerned about it, yet). We have been removing an old patch of Sauv. Blanc this week, however we are not planning to replant it this spring – it will be left fallow for 12 months. This will give us time to prepare the block a little better for the new planting (as well as giving our winery some time to decide what they would like planted there).
I will be leaving on my Nuffield scholarship in less than 2 weeks now. I have, after some difficulty, finally, applied for my Chinese Visa and after a number of phone calls to the embassy in Canberra, to straighten a few things out; it is now being processed for me. Hopefully my Passport will be back in my hands by the end of this coming week.

This week: 2nd. May 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 2/5/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 17.9C (64F) on Thurs. 1 reading above our monthly average of 17.3C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.2C (40F) on Tue. 4 readings above our monthly average of 6.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 33.0mm (94 points) 6 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Well I think winter has finally arrived for us. We have recorded some rainfall nearly every day this week , with significant falls recorded on 4 days (more than 5 mm). We also have had much cooler daytime temperatures; in fact we had our coldest daytime maximum in more than 10 years on Sunday (11.1C).

This week in the vineyard:
The rain has been fantastic for us. We are all walking around with big smiles on our faces. I have now got virtually all of our triticale covercrop planted. There are just a couple of young blocks of Sauv. Blanc still left to plant, I am just waiting for them to lose a few more leaves. While I have been seeding I have also been putting out a residual herbicide under our vine rows. This spray is usually done early in spring, but I am going away in a little over 2 weeks for 4 months and so I am trying to minimise the amount of work that needs be done while I am overseas. It will be very interesting to see how well it works towards the other end of the season. The photo this week shows a section of the Barossa ranges just starting to change colour to their winter greens.

This week: 25th. April 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 25/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 26.4C (79F) on Thurs. 6 reading above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 2.7C (37F) on Wed. 2 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet another beautiful autumn week for us. We have had some very cool nights , this should encourage the vines to start losing their leaves. As I write this the rain is tumbling down outside, so even though we recorded no rain in this week, I will have some good news for next week’s blog.
This week in the vineyard:
Well it is raining outside as I write this, so I am in for a very busy week. In the week that we have just had I finished spraying the last of the summer weeds in the row that we are not going to cultivate this year. We have mostly been targeting wire weed and any remaining caltrop plants. I am now ready to start seeding our cover crop; I was waiting for some rain – now I have no more excuses. I need to get it in the ground as fast as I can, before the soil cools down too much – we want as much growth as possible before winter. The photo this week shows some more of our autumn vine leaves.

This week: 18th. April 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 18/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 22.6C (73F) on Fri. 1 reading above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.5C (40F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 3.8mm (11 points) 1 day of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A fabulous autumn week for us yet again this week. Very stable air mass has meant very little change all week. We started with some rain on Saturday but since then there has been very little change from one day to the next.

This week in the vineyard:
I have begun to prepare to plant one of our blocks of Shiraz to a permanent sward. Some of our premium Shiraz blocks we have planted with a fescue, we use this to reduce the available moisture early in spring. This enables us to reduce cropping levels a little in most seasons, to give us better quality fruit at the other end of the season. These blocks are not cultivated at all, so there is also a financial benefit for us. Still no rain in the forecast for us, so I am still waiting to start seeding. I have spent quite a bit of this week organizing my trip overseas, now only 5 weeks until I leave home for 4 months.

This week: 11th. April 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 11/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 28.9C (82F) on Wed. 6 readings above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.3C (40F) on Sat. 6 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.8mm (2 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A little warmer again for us here in the beautiful Barossa Valley. While a little more rain would be really nice, it’s hard to complain about autumn here.

This week in the vineyard:
I have finished cultivating a bed for the cover crop to be planted into. I will not start planting our crop until there is some rain forecast for us. While we probably have enough moisture in our soil profile to get a crop germinating, I would like to see some more rain coming before we start planting. We have also, now started some very early pruning. Some of our older Shiraz have lost enough leaves to be able to commence pruning.
The photo today shows a Sangiovase leaf changing to its autumn colours.

This week: 4th. April 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 04/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 26.9C (80F) on Tue. 1 reading above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.3C (38F) on Sun. 2 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 14.4mm (41 points) 4 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another cooler week for us. At last we have recorded some reasonable rainfall. Thursday we recorded 11.6mm which is already half of the average for April. This goes some way towards making up for the very dry start to the year, so far. We now need it to keep raining all winter, preferably well above average.



This week in the vineyard:
A lot has happened this week, now that we have had some rain. All of the poultry manure has been spread and we have now started disking it in. As part of this pass we are also spraying a knock down herbicide under the vines to start cleaning up the weeds. I will be trying something a little different this coming season. We will only be cultivating every second row, in the past we cultivated every row each year. I have started cultivating every alternate row, the one with the manure spread in it. Once we get some more rain the cover crop will go in that row (using a power harrows seeder). The other row will not be touched, with a cultivator until next year. The photo shows a row that has been cultivated and is now ready to be planted with a cover crop - as soon as we get some more rain.

2008 Nuffield Scholarships now open

Just a quick message to let you all know that the next round of Nuffield scholarships are now open for Australian farmers. I won one of these scholarships last year (mine has been supported by Nufarm). Nuffield scholarships are open to young people involved in primary production here in Australia. These allow the winners to spend A$25,000 on travel to study anything agriculture related anywhere in the world. I am in the process of planning my travel at the moment - I have less than 7 weeks until I leave for my 16 weeks of study. During my travel I am planning on visiting New Zealand, Ireland, France, the USA, China, the Philippines, Spain and South Africa. I will be studying 'Regional branding and marketing to improve returns for producers'. As well as the travel you also get to mix with some of the most enthusiastic and 'switched on' young farmers from all over the world. You also get to step outside of your industry and study the broader picture of world agriculture. If you would like any more information go to http://www.nuffield.com.au/schols.html, for more information and an application form or drop me an email at the address at the top of the page.

This week: 28th. March 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 28/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 28.7C (84F) on Sun. & Mon. 2 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 0.9C (33F) on Fri. 1 reading above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 4.4mm (12 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Our summer of extremes is continuing. This week has been much cooler. It is starting to feel a lot more like autumn here in the Barossa. We have gone very close to a record for a minimum temperature for March (0.9C on Friday). At last we have also recorded some rain, although it has hardly been enough to settle the dust.

This week in the vineyard:
We have started on our winter work, yes, even though we only finished picking last week. I have started spreading poultry manure in every second row of our vineyard. I plan to start working this in as soon as we get some rain. We will then start to plant our cover crop, once we get a reasonable amount of rain. As you can see a lot now hinges on when we get our opening rain. We can get some jobs done before it rains, however once it starts raining we have to work as quickly as possible to get the cover crop in before our soil cools too much. We want to plant as early as we can to get as much vegetative growth as we can before winter. We grow a cover crop to provide as much vegetable matter as we can, to act as a mulch over summer.

This week’s photo shows the Barossa ranges still looking very dry despite the rain of this week.

This week: 21st. March 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 21/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 39.2C (102F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.4C (38F) on Fri. 5 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

The heat wave is now over. We set a number of new records during the last fortnight, including 15 consecutive days of extreme heat (previous record for an Australian capital city was held by Perth at 10 days). We also had the warmest overnight minimum temp for March (24C for the Barossa Valley). We are now looking forward to much cooler conditions. All we need now is for it to rain, still no rain recorded.

This week in the vineyard:
All our grapes have now been picked. We picked the last block of Grenache this week, it was showing some signs of the heat, however did come up quite nicely. Overall the vintage has been quite satisfying for us, we have picked just below average tonnages of grapes, but this is more than double what we picked last year. The cool ripening conditions during January should mean very good wine from the earlier varieties. The heat that started on the 3rd of Feb. had a severe impact on any fruit that was still on the vine. Most of our grapes (about 90%) were picked prior to the heat. Any grapes that were delivered after the heat, returned very high Baume’s (we had one load of Merlot that went 17.9). I have heard reports of fruit being delivered as high as 23. Most Barossa Valley grapes were picked before the hot spell, and so on balance I am looking forward to some superb wines being produced from this vintage. The photo this week shows some of our vines with the Barossa ranges in the background hanging out for some rain (we have only recorded 3.6mm so far this year, we normally average 71mm to the end of March).

This week: 14th. March 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 14/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 39.1C (102F) on Thur. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 14.8C (59F) on Sat. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Our record breaking heat wave has continued this week. We have now had 11 days in a row of temperatures over 36C. All maximum and minimum readings this week have been above average. Our average maximum temperature for this month currently stands at 35.7C, that is 10.2C above our long term average of 25.5C. We have not recorded any rainfall in the last week.


This week in the vineyard:
The heat of the last almost 2 weeks has had a severe impact on any grapes that were still on the vines. Luckily virtually all of our crop was picked prior to the heat. We only have one block of Grenache left to pick (it will be coming off this coming Tues.). Last week we finished picking all of our Cabernet and Merlot. The Merlot block was very ripe, it tested 17.9 Baume at the winery, this was probably a fair bit higher than they would have liked, however the heat and very dry conditions has had the effect of drying the berries on the vine. The photo tonight shows the last grapes we have still on our vines. This is a bunch of Grenache due to be picked on Tuesday, showing the bagginess of the berries as they have started to raisin on the vine.

This week: 7th. March 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 7/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 37.6C (100F) on Thur. 6 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 6.4C (43F) on Sun. 4 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Well it seems Summer is not finished with us yet. We are in the middle of another heat wave. There is no relief in sight for us in the forecast for the coming week.

This week in the vineyard:
I have not been able to spend much time in the vineyard this week, as I have had a case of Bronchitis. I am pleased to say that I am finally starting to improve.
We have only picked 2 blocks of grapes this week. However all of our Shiraz is now gone. The Mad dog Sangiovase is also safely tucked away in a tank. I have started to think about cover cropping and our winter work. Some rain would be nice anytime from now on!

This week: 29nd. Febuary 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 29/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 28.5C (83F) on Tue. 0 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 7.2C (45F) on Fri. 0 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Much cooler again this week. This weather is superb for ripening our grapes. Still no rain, just what we want to be able to finish our grapepicking.

This week in the vineyard:
I have spent all of the last week at a nuffield international scholars conference in Victoria. It has been very refreshing to spend a week with enthusiastic young farmers from all over the world. I have met farmers from Canada, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, from all sorts of farming enterprises. While in Victoria we visited a large number of very successful farming operations and listened to some amazing speakers.
In the vineyard we have picked the Mad Dog Shiraz. Vintage is beginning to wind up, we have now only got a few odds and ends still to pick. I am hoping to have all of grapes picked by Easter, even though it is quite early this year. The photo this week shows us just starting to pick one of our last blocks of Shiraz.

This week: 22nd. Febuary 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 22/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 38.2C (100F) on Fri. 4 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.2C (49F) on Sat. 6 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A 3 day heat wave early this week. The remainder of the week has been fairly mild, with quite warm nights. Still no rainfall recorded.

This week in the vineyard:
The end of vintage is now in sight for us. Most of our major varieties have now been picked or are booked to be picked in the next week. We have now got nearly 70% of our grapes picked. After this week there will only be small blocks and minor varieties for us left to go. In the last week we have picked Shiraz and Merlot for Yalumba and Riesling for Peter Lehmann. Our Mad dog Shiraz will be picked this coming Monday morning.
I have not got a photo today as I am in Melbourne taking part in an international Nuffield conference. So I am trying to manage our harvest at long distance. It is only for a week, then I will be back to see to the end of a very fast and furious harvest for us.

This week: 15th. Febuary 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 15/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 31.7C (89F) on Fri. 1 reading above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.0C (48F) on Sat. 0 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A very mild week again this week. We have had quite cool conditions all week with all minimums below our average and only one day over our average maximum. Again no rainfall recorded all week.

This week in the vineyard:
Vintage continues at a frantic pace. This week we have been picking Riesling, Semillon, White Frontignac and Cabernet. We have now finished all of our Semillon and White Fronti. We will pick the last of our White grapes this coming week. The Cabernet was picked very early by Peter Lehmann for a Rose’ product they are planning. We have the first blocks of Shiraz booked to be picked early next week, in fact Yalumba will be picking all of their blocks of Shiraz this coming week. The mild weather has meant a fabulous ripening period for our grapes and should mean very good flavour profiles for all of the varieties so far picked. There is some hot weather coming early this week, and potentially some rain later, from a tropical cyclone currently off the West Australian coast – so we will be trying to get as much off as quickly as we can. This week’s photo shows a bunch of Shiraz grapes, ready to pick in the next week or so.

This week: 8th. Febuary 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 8/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 35.2C (95F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 8.4C (47F) on Fri. 3 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.4mm (1 point) 1 day of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

We have had very mild conditions again this week, almost cold for this time of year. It was warm for the start of the week, but from then on it has been quite cool. Excellent weather for ripening grapes and maintaining maximum flavour potential in our fruit. Again no worthwhile rainfall recorded this week.



This week in the vineyard:
Harvest continues and is building in pace. We have most of our white varieties picked or booked to be picked this coming week. We have not yet harvested any red grapes, but we may be starting on them in the next 7-10 days, I suspect. This last week we picked Chardonnay for Peter Lehmann wines. Coming up in the next few days we have Semillon for Peter Lehmann and Yalumba wines. Yalumba will also be taking their Chardonnay and Riesling. So we will be having a very busy week. The photo tonight shows one of our contractors grape harvesters in our vineyard ready to pick Chardonnay and Semillon on Sun night (10th).

This week: 1st. Febuary 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 1/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 34.5C (94F) on Wed. 5 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 12.7C (55F) on Mon. 4 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 2.2mm (6 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A carbon copy of the last 3 weeks, weatherwise in the Barossa Valley. We have been having warm but not too hot days and relatively warm nights, just what the vines need for maximum flavour accumulation. No useful rain to speak of – most of what was recorded came overnight Sat. and was all evaporated the next day.

This week in the vineyard:
As I reported mid week we have now commenced our harvest. In only one night’s picking we got approx. 12% of our crop off. All of our Sauv. Blanc and Pinot Noir has now been picked and we have also picked all of our Chardonnay for Barossa Valley Estate (we have Chardonnay for 2 other wineries still to be picked). We will be picking Chardonnay for Peter Lehmann wines early this coming week. We continue to sample all of our grape varieties to determine the optimum time to pick. We have even already sampled Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The next few weeks will be the busiest of the year for us in the vineyard, but I will endeavour to post whenever possible to keep you informed of any developments. The photo shows a harvester working in one of our neighbour's vineyards.

Start of Vintage 2008

Vintage has now commenced for us here in the Barossa Valley. We started picking yesterday (Jan. 29Th), we already have all of our Sauvinion Blanc and Pinot Noir off and have made a start on our Chardonnay. This has been the second earliest start to our vintage ever, only last year was earlier (Jan 23rd). So far yield looks like we will be getting close to an average crop (last year was 60%-70% below average). It is a little early to comment on quality, however we have had exceptional ripening conditions for the last 3 weeks, so I am hopeful of a very good year. In one (rather long) night we have picked nearly 15% of our vineyard area, now we wait for more to be ready to pick, it is unlikely that we will be picking anything else this week. Very short update for you all - now to bed after nearly 30 hours straight at work.

This week: 25th. January 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 25/1/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 35.0C (95F) on Fri. 3 reading above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 11.9C (53F) on Mon. 4 readings above our monthly average of 14.4C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.6mm (1 point) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another superb week for ripening grapes here in the Barossa valley this week. The rain recorded this week was nothing more than a couple of misty mornings.

This week in the vineyard:
We will be picking the first of our grapes this coming week. We have been sampling all of our white varieties this week. Most of them are going between 9 and 11 baume. We will be picking all of our Sauvignon Blanc and some of our Chardonnay on this coming Tuesday night. I believe our grapes will continue to accumulate sugar quite quickly while this cooler weather continues. So I think we will probably have more ready to pick early the following week. We have sampled one of our early Shiraz blocks and they are currently at 10.5 baume, we would expect them to gain about 1 baume per week. So if they are to be picked at 14 we could see them ready to pick in 2 – 3 weeks. The photo tonight shows a breakaway group of riders in the Tour Down Under here in the Barossa Valley (when this photo was taken they were more than 6 mins ahead of the main group, they were caught a couple kilometers from the finish).

This week: 11th. January 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 11/1/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 41.5C (107F) on Thurs. 6 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 11.8C (53F) on Mon. 5 readings above our monthly average of 14.4C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet another week with some very hot days in it, however there have at least been some cooler days to balance things up a bit. Our average max. for January so far is 33.3C (nearly 4.0C above our usual average). No rain recorded again this week, not that we want too much from here into harvest now.

This week in the vineyard:
All fungicide spraying has now been completed. We are now into withholding periods for most varieties. We have had our first blocks tested this week, with most between 6 and 8 Baume. This will mean with ideal ripening conditions we could be harvesting our early whites in a couple of weeks. However more hot weather and the vines could shut down and slow the ripening process. We have now got most of our harvesting equipment ready to go. We are just starting to skirt around the bottom of the vines to make the job for our mechanical harvesting contractor easier. This weeks photo shows part of a Shiraz bunch with almost full colour now.

This week: 4th. January 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 4/1/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 41.7C (107F) on Mon. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 12.4C (54F) on Thurs. 6 readings above our monthly average of 14.4C.

Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

One of the hottest weeks in living memory for us this week. We have not set any new records, however we have just had 6 out of 8 days above 39.0C (101F). The hot weather is not at an end with at least another 2 extremely hot days forecast for this coming week.

This week in the vineyard:

The extremely hot weather of the last week has done some damage to our vineyard, however at this stage it does not to appear to be too bad. The Photos shows some of the damage in Chardonnay (yellow leaves) and Riesling (berry damage). The hot weather has also meant that we have not been able to totally finish the last fungicide spray, it will be done first thing next week. Not that we will have any disease issues while this weather continues, this spray is just insurance in case of rain before harvest.
This week will also see our staff come back from their Christmas break, they will be getting ready for harvest (painting bins and getting vehicles ready). The top photo today also shows the first signs of verasion in some of our aged on the vine shiraz.