PEACE and quiet are the last things to be found find at Andrew Peace Wines between now and early May.
Starting with a 200-tonne crush this week at its Piangil vineyard, the large-scale producer will go into overdrive as it pushes about 40,000 tonnes of grapes through the system in its latest vintage.
Andrew Peace Wines executive sales manager George Dajczer said chardonnay grapes went through the trial crush on Monday and Tuesday to make sure all the machinery was in shape to handle the big volumes to come.
Last year the industry-wide harvest was significantly impacted by the protracted wet season.
Mr Dajczer said the grower managed to avoid the problem this year as most of the rain fell earlier in the season, when it was unlikely to do as much damage.
“The good news we are hearing about this year’s harvest is, because of those early rains, we appear to have dodged the worst of mildew or blotch problems, and that’s why we don’t want any rain now – and, if possible, not too hot either.
“Although, in the wine industry, we never say never until everything is safely in the tank or the bottle,” Mr Dajczer said.
“The serious work starts this coming week, and soon after that we will build up to the point where we have shifts and night to stay ahead of the load.
“The vineyard teams tell us this has been a very good year for the whites and the reds are not far behind, and the tonnages should be up on last season and as we have storage room this could all work out very well.”
He said that, good harvest or not, the Australian wine industry was still paying the price of China’s draconian tariffs and limited market access.
He said massive Chinese tariffs, as high as 218.4 per cent, early in 2020 dealt a big blow to the Australian industry, all but closing the gate on the lucrative (and very large) Chinese market.
“And that chunk is still missing so that is continuing to hang over the marketplace,” he said.
But good wine never goes out of favour, and he said that was the focus at Andrew Peace.
With vineyards at Piangil, Robinvale and Wrattonbully, on the fringes of the legendary Coonawarra in South Australia, the business grows about two-thirds of its annual throughput, sourcing the balance from contract growers and occasionally the spot market.
He said the spot market would be a challenge for growers this year because subdued demand, especially for reds, would mean contracted growers were likely to soak up the available space in the system, leaving those without contracts without room to move.
“Because of the recent wet seasons, and the drop in demand for reds, we have some extra room in our tanks going into this harvest – we just have our fingers crossed we will be able to get it away without much more rain.
“It worked out reasonably well for the grain growers and the last thing we need right now is a lot more rain.
“This year’s crush could be up 25 per cent or more on a year ago, so the last thing we need now is a climate hiccup to set it all back.”
While there have not been any major changes to the Andrew Peace program in the current season – apart from some localised trials in fencing and trellis infrastructure – the vineyards were starting to see good production from some of its latest plantings. That includes the Austrian variety Zweigelt along with several Italian types.
Mr Dajczer said the Zweigelt vines went into the ground at Piangil in 2015 and had started to deliver a very good crop.
He said the wine was an attractive semi-aromatic variety that should build a strong following.
“We also have a number of Italian wines, such as sagrantino, which is a variety to really benefit from three or four year in the bottle – and after 10 years, well bellissimo.
“So we offer our clients all the traditional varieties, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, merlot and so on but with an exciting range of alternatives from overseas.”
These varieties are spread across three properties, covering 850ha, explaining why vintage at Andrew Peace Wines gets pretty chaotic, crowded and far from peaceful.
