Tasmanian wine grape growers expecting bumper harvest after several years of below-average yields

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Tasmania’s wine grape harvest season has begun with growers expecting an abundant vintage for the first time in four years. But high-yields come with challenges for growers, including the ever-present risk of smoke taint.

Transcript

00:00Bringing them in by the bucketful, Tasmanian grapes are making a comeback.

00:08I think everyone would be pretty happy, yeah, like I said we're up at least 50% on last

00:14year and yeah probably 150% on the year before that.

00:18Grape harvests for the 2025 vintage have kicked off across the state.

00:23Growers are expecting a bumper harvest following four years of below average yields.

00:28Those last four years where we were down on yields though were the wet years that we

00:32had and this year's been fairly dry, fairly warm, so good weather for growing grapes.

00:39Tasmanian growers and winemakers haven't seen a vintage like this since 2020, but a plentiful

00:45season comes with its own challenges.

00:48Winemakers at the moment are working around the clock and on standby for seven days a

00:53week at the moment.

00:54Preparations are underway to ensure wineries can process the fruit at its best quality,

01:00a time frame that has been accelerated by warm conditions.

01:04We haven't had a fast vintage for a while, so it might be a bit of a surprise for our

01:09winemakers out there.

01:11Grape harvests will continue across the state until May, when final yields will be calculated

01:16and the success of the season measured.

01:18Till then, growers are wary of the ever-present risk of smoke taint from bushfires and burn-offs,

01:24which could threaten the quality of grapes at their most critical time.

01:28There's always anxiety.

01:29I mean, you've spent a whole 12 months trying to get, put an investment into these grapes.

01:35You get one chance of the year to pick these grapes and then to provide income for the

01:40next 12 months.

01:41So yeah, it's a real critical time of the year.

01:43Certainly around the Coal River Valley, which is always dry anyway, just looking around

01:48you can see how dry it is.

01:50It's just a tinderbox.

01:51So we certainly don't need any fires anytime soon.

01:54An industry eager to toast to the season.

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