Australian wine is set to get back on track with its 2008 vintage, according to Adelaide-based producer Doug Lehmann, managing director of Peter Lehmann Wines.
All the signs are that it's going to be a good year. Everyone at the winery is very happy with the harvest. Yields have been fine and the crush will be finished before Easter, which is the earliest ever recorded,” said Lehmann.
Picking began in the Barossa Valley on January 29th. “It's unheard of to begin that early. They always say that an early Easter means an early vintage. But Easter won't come this early again for another 150 years, so we'll have to see if the early crush record stands for that long,” he said.
Lehmann said it was too early to predict overall production levels at his winery, but his output so far tallied with figures produced earlier this month by the Australian Government, which predicted a total 2008 harvest of 1.55m-1.65m tonnes.
The figures will come as a major relief to both producers and retailers after pre-harvest estimates predicted another dismal year for Australia. Early estimates put the total tonnage at around 1.2m, however improved water allocations have increased yields.
The industry is still recovering from a boom and bust cycle, with the 2006 vintage producing the largest ever yield at 1.96m tonnes and frost and drought-affected 2007 bottoming out at 1.397m tonnes.
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