Vintage 2017

The rain came close but we dodged the bullet – at least this time

Western Australia has recently been in the headlines, courtesy of some very wet weather that affected large areas in the south west of the state and unfortunately led to flooding in several wheatbelt towns.  It’s been a difficult couple of weeks at Moss Wood, as we have watched nervously while these events unfolded.  Although it is not uncommon for rain-bearing systems to move down from the north at this time of year, we are fortunate that in most cases, the Margaret River wine region is too far west and south to be affected.  When forecasting from the Bureau of Meteorology suggested we could receive around 100mm of rain, things got a bit tense, to say the least.

Luckily, we were on the very southern edge and received only 15mm.  Sadly, growers in the Swan Valley have not been so lucky.  In what should be a hot, dry time of year for them, they’ve received over 100mm of rain and in addition, are having to deal with flooding, courtesy of the amount that fell upstream in the Swan River catchment (also known as the Avon River and very famous for its winter paddling race to Perth).  Mother Nature can be a very tough mistress, indeed.

Having dodged this bullet, we’re gradually tracking towards what we hope will be a very good year.  Temperatures have been mild and the vines are ripening the crop slowly but steadily.  This, combined with a delayed flowering, means we expect to start picking each variety between one and two weeks later than average, something we haven’t seen for a few years.  Current expectations are that we’ll start with Pinot Noir sometime in the first week of March and finish with Cabernet Sauvignon in the second week of April.  Moss Wood readers with an eye for history might be interested to learn that with its forecast commencement on 10th April, the 2017 will be in distinguished company because both the mighty 1990 and 1991 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignons were harvested around that date.  If we can match either of those two wines this year we’ll be very excited.