2016

Bordeaux 2016 in review “A paradox”

by Andrew Caillard MW

The 2016 Bordeaux vintage will be remembered as one of the great years of the 21st century. I haven't been this excited about the prospects of wines this young since the remarkable 2009 and 2010 vintages. At that time, China was at the zenith of its extraordinary rise of fine wines where the highest estates, particularly Château Lafite , had become a backwater currency. Each man and his dog, with a connection to the government, curry favor or accept gifts with the Grand Cru Bordeaux, particularly the Premiers Crus. During this extraordinary period, Bordeaux prices began to rise at a faster rate than Sydney Real Estate. During the filming of Red Obsession in 2011, the Bordeaux wine market had become a classic bubble, even if the main actors still believed otherwise. Self-reliance and denial always go hand in hand. Nonetheless, it took five years for the market to reset. Bordeaux is more confident again. Even China's interest has increased again. The market today is around 280 million euros per year, which illustrates the resilience, power and track record of Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé wines.

The 2016 Primeurs are also very different from previous years. There is a changing of the guard with new generations beginning to make their mark at all levels of the industry and wine production. Philippe Bascaules returned from California to Ch Margaux. Eduard Moueix of JP Moueix is clearly on the rise, and the owners of Ch Angelus have passed on their duties to the next generation. This energy, this renewal and this enthusiasm are great for Bordeaux. Chateau owners, winemakers and business leaders seem to be more enlightened and interested in the world around them, even Australia.

This very contemporary and sparkling 2016 vintage seems to reflect the freshness and dynamism of a new era of wine. Even Château Pavie, once the poster child of the Robert Parker era, has raised the white flag. Its long alliance with overly sweet sweet wine is over, it seems. The 2016 versus the 2015 is like comparing a racehorse to a sloth, although vintage conditions would normally land on something similar in style. The affable consultant oenologist Michel Rolland, great master of the aesthetics of taste, has clearly evolved with the times. There is no longer a clear individual to impress.

Nevertheless, with Robert Parker now quite far from the scene, there seems to be a merry-go-round of position among ambitious American wine critics in particular. Hard-working James Suckling and James Molesworth of Wine Spectator, like the horses of the apocalypse, have already walked through the starting gates and made their prophecies known to the world. Everything points to an early campaign, but it will likely last forever, such is the tactical perspective and hierarchical nature of this beast.

It's worth putting everything in context. Primeur tasting generally takes place after the end of the malolactic fermentation of the wines. Tasting earlier could in theory compromise or distort the opinion. This is arguably a growing problem with leading wine writers trying to outdo each other. However, it doesn't take a genius to understand the quality of a very good vintage. Color, aromatic complexity, concentration, tannin quality, oak and acidities are key elements and we are all looking for a patterned balance, an individual voice or something to believe in . With so many wines, the nuances can be infinitesimal, certainly from a linguistic point of view, and therefore difficult to really differentiate. An understanding of the winemaking house's background, style and sub-regional characteristics also helps to provide an overall impression. Cultural references, experience, language, personal loyalties, etc. will also give rise to divergent opinions. Fear of not doing things well could also be a factor. And of course there is the 1855 classification, which may have a moderating effect. For example, would a wine critic dare to give a fifth growth a higher score than a first growth?

• Pomerol
  Olivier Berouet of Ch Petrus describes 2016 as “a vintage that can only be compared to itself”. Clay substrates played an important role in maintaining sufficient soil moisture. Typically, the wines are round, supple and richly flavored with beautiful aromatic complexity, fine and abundant tannins, superb fruit definition and mineral length. The wines have incredible dimension and balance. Vieux Château Certan is in a league of its own with its very clear inimitable house style and luxurious quality. Ch Petrus, Ch Lafleur, Ch Lafleur Petrus, Ch Latour a Pomerol, Ch L’Evangile and Ch La Conseillante are adorable.

  St Emilion
  St Emilion wines are quite varied but many have a dark inky quality with superb pastry fruits and fine chalky textures. Ch Cheval Blanc is very impressive this year and is clearly one of the wines of the vintage. Ch Figeac is slightly more vigorous than its neighbor, but it has produced one of the best wines in twenty years, probably due to the high proportions of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Ch Pavie is also impressive and it's just great to see this legendary brand producing a wine consistent with its status. Ch Pavie Macquin, Ch Pavie Decesse, Ch Canon, Ch Tertre Rotebeouf and Ch Troplong Mondot are all worth seeking out

  Sauternes Barsac
  The dry growing season allowed the Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc to reach full maturity, but the lack of rain was not encouraging. When it finally fell on September 13, the humidity in the vines began to encourage botrytis cinerea (noble rot). Further rain on September 30 and a very useful soaking on October 10 ensured a normal vintage. The results are mixed, but the best estates all produced very good wines. Ch d’Yquem is quite classic but will not be released during this en-primeur campaign. Ch Caillou, Ch Climens, Ch Coutet, de Myrat, Ch Doisy Daene, Ch Guiraud and Ch Lafaurie Peyreguey, Ch Rieussec and Ch Sigalas Rabaud have all made very good wines.

  Dry white Bordeaux
  The region's dry white wines are also generally very good. The fruit has developed very good maturity and many have a very clear lemony curd, sometimes tropical fruit flavors, flint/yeast complexity and very good natural acidities. Many feel quite polished and taught. Ch Haut Brion Blanc and Ch La Mission Haut Brion Blanc are wonderful but what a price for the experience. Ch Pape Clément and Ch Smith Haut Lafitte also made very beautiful wines. The White Pavilion of Ch Margaux is also worth the detour.

   

  2016 BORDEAUX: WINEGROOM OPINION

  2016 will offer the first fully organic Château Latour, and if the positive – almost bullish – rumblings from Bordeaux are to be believed, there will be a lot more excitement to follow:

  “The grapes are already very 'tasty' and the analytical readings are at a good level, improving day by day. We are very confident! » – Guinaudeau family, Lafleur

   

  “Deep vintage...If I'm right, they will age forever. » – Thomas Duroux, Palmer

   

  “We had perfect weather conditions throughout the harvest. No rain, sunny days, cool nights. We were therefore able to wait for perfect phenolic maturity. » – Pierre Graffeuille, Léoville Las Cases

   

  “The wines have a more sober character than in 2009. For me, it is closer to 2010 although a little lower in acidity. In some cases, it is better than in 2015, certainly more so even across the region. » – Hubert de Boüard, Angélus

   

  “It is a vintage with good maturity at the harvest, giving us very beautiful raw material, but with a distinguished structure. » – Bruno Rolland, Léoville Las Cases

   

  “The fact is that dry vintages are still quality vintages. » – Kees Van Leeuwen, White Horse

   

  “The 2016 vintage is a bigger style than 2015. I tasted them side by side. In 2016, the acidity is higher. » – Jean-Christophe Mau, Brown

   

  “The concentration in the grapes this vintage was incredible. » – Jean-Michel Comme, Pontet-Canet

   

  “It’s clearly a great vintage... between 2005 and 2009 in style. » – Philippe Dhalluin, Mouton Rothschild

2016 RED BURGUNDY VINTAGE REPORT

The 2016 harvest was, of course, later for Pinot Noir in the Côtes de Nuits, and some climats had different productions depending on how they weathered the frost of April 26th. In this report I will talk about each of the producers’ allocations to illustrate the variations between the totals from the 2015 and 2016 vintages. I will also seek to give you an idea of the style of the 2016 red wines versus those of the 2015 vintage.

Depending on the producer, some growers actually preferred the 2016 red wines to the 2015s. There are definitely stylistic differences. The 2015 wines are more structured and powerful, and I consider the top 2015 wines to be superior to the top 2016 wines. However, this does not mean that there are not some fabulous 2016 red wines. I do feel that 2016 was a better vintage for red wines than for white wines, which is opposite of the 2015 vintage. And from what I heard and observed during my visit, the 2017 will also probably favor the whites. I actually think that 2017 could be the best vintage for white wines in quite a while, with the wines showing much more concentration than those of the 2014 vintage but possessing similar acid levels. Needless to say, it will be exciting to try them in June.

The Pinot Noir harvest in 2016 varied from as early as September 22nd for some villages in the Côte de Beaune to as late of the first week of October in the Côte de Nuits. The only other harvests that lasted into October in the past twenty years were those in 1998, 2001, 2008, and 2013. 2016 is by far better than any of those vintages. Looking on the flip side, there have been four harvests that started in August: 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2017. It appears as of now that 2017 will be the best of those. When I tasted the 2016 red wines, I was surprised by the supple textures and abundance of fruit. This fruit was very fresh and the ripeness and lovely acidity made the fruit last long on the palate. The acids were strong on the finish due to the high levels of tartaric acid. The wines are never alcoholic due to the quite cool weather throughout the growing season. Since there were no real heat spikes, no grapes were harvested with a potential alcohol level of over 14.5%, no matter when they were picked. That was not the case in 2015 where some growers that like to push the limits of ripeness went overboard and made top-heavy wines with too much tannin and too much alcohol. What is nice about the 2016 red wines is that even in areas where the frost was severe, it did not affect the quality, although the growers definitely did have to do a lot of work in the vineyards to prevent mildew after the frost and due to a very wet May. Luckily the mildew affected the leaves more than the grape skins. June weather returned to normal and flowering began midway through the month. This meant that harvest would start the last week of September. The areas that did not experience frost, such as Santenay, Morey-Saint-Denis, the northern side of Nuits-Saint- Georges (Vosne-Romanée side), some parts of Corton, and some plots of Bourgogne Rouge, had a larger harvest than in 2015. Some climats of Morey-Saint-Denis, such as Clos de la Roche and Clos de Tart, had their best harvest since the 2009 vintage. Happily, due to dry conditions in July, August, and September, there was beautiful weather for harvest. Rains on September 15th and 19th provided relief from hydric stress that had arisen from the lack of rain from August 5th until September 15th

(5 inches total fell in a month and a half ). So if the grower waited just a little bit after the last rain on September 19th, there was very little rain afterwards, except for about 3 inches on October 2nd. After this it did not rain again until October 14th at which point harvest was over for the vast majority of growers.

What was depressing was seeing so many upright barrels at the Domaines in many areas. Some producers in villages such as Pommard, Volnay, much of Nuits-Saints-Georges, and Vougeot had tiny harvests. Mongeard-Mugneret was down 58%, but given that they had normal crops in their Bourgogne vineyards, the drastic drop in quantity was in vineyards such as Échezeaux (down 70%) and Clos Vougeot (if your parcels were towards the back). Grands Échezeaux was a disaster, as was Savigny- lès-Beaune, which produced no villages level wines (thus we received no villages level Savigny-lès-Beaune from Mongeard- Mugneret). Another example, our allocation of Savigny-lès-Beaune Premier Cru Les Narbantons, which is usually around 170 cases, was only 15 cases in 2016. Also from Mongeard-Mugneret, Pernand-Vergelesses was down from an average of 45 cases

to just 14; Grands Échezeaux, down to 27 cases from the usual 85; Échezeaux, normally 100 cases was just 30; and Vosne- Romanée Premier Cru Les Orveaux, which is usually 87 cases was down to 37. Villages level Vosne-Romanée from vineyards that were lower in altitude also suffered terribly, as did Richebourg. In the end, it all depended on the wind currents, clouds, and if the vineyard was protected from the currents by walls.

My growers in Nuits-Saint-Georges that mostly have holdings in the southern side of the village gave me half of the 2015 allocation. Concerning Domaine Henri Gouges, I got half the allocation of Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Saint- Georges as well as half the allocations of Premier Cru Les Vaucrains and Premier Cru Clos des Porrets Saint-Georges. While not as drastic as the previous appellations, I also received less Premier Cru Les Pruliers and villages Nuits-Saint-Georges. In the case of Thibault Liger-Belair, some vineyards in the Hautes-Côte de Nuits had to be combined into one cuvée because there were not enough grapes to fill a fermentation tank. In 2017, Liger-Belair only produced 8 barrels of Premier Cru Les Saint- Georges compared to 24 in 2017. To really get a picture of the situation, in 2009 he made 30 barrels. He has produced a few new wines in 2016. We will be introducing a villages Chambolle-Musigny made from purchased grapes, as well as a Corton Grand Cru Clos du Roi. He made 2 barrels of this wine, as well as 2 barrels of Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru. Thibault

is one of the growers who likes his 2016 wines almost as much as his 2015s. With regards to Thomas Morey and Vincent & Sophie Morey, the allocations are almost the same as in 2015. Domaine Matrot will be slightly less. Domaine Henri Boillot is almost identical to the 2015 vintage, but with more Pommard and Volnay. And, finally, Alain Gras and Domaine Michel Briday allocations are pretty much equal to those of the 2015 vintage.

Danny Haas

This year trialled the growers with many climatic hazards from excessive rainfalls to frosts, downy mildew, hail, draught and, finally, sunburn. A cool spring saw late-April frost, which cut volumes early on. Mildew was an issue throughout the region (especially in the Côte des Bar), equally diminishing volumes. July and August were then hot and very dry months and the resultant sunburn reduced the yields further. Ripening was uneven, and Chardonnay especially needed time and was thus considered the most difficult variety for the vintage. Overall volumes were down to 9,163 kg/ha, offering balanced wines with an average potential alcohol of 9.9% and total acidity of 7.4g/l. Fruit-forward, lush wines with vibrant acidity.

A near-perfect growing season

The near-perfect 2016 growing season started early, saw ideal weather conditions throughout and wrapped up as the valley's first significant fall rainstorm arrived on October 14. Thanks to a relatively steady and mild July and August and then a series of warm days at the end of the growing season, vineyards were able to progress to perfect ripeness. Wines from the 2016 vintage are now quietly developing in cellars throughout Napa Valley and vintners are pinching themselves and smiling for the gift it appears Mother Nature has given them: a fifth consecutive vintage of stellar quality Napa Valley wines.

2016 is an extraordinary vintage full of tremendous wines. Perhaps more importantly, average quality is exceptionally high. In short, it is hard to go wrong with Barolo in 2016. Is a classic, late-ripening year characterized by a leisurely October harvest and no real shock events to speak of. The year got off to a slow start. Only April saw temperatures above the ten-year average, while the first part of the year was also quite dry. July, August and September all saw above average temperatures, but without excessive heat. What I remember most about that summer was the unusually low humidity and incredible purity of the light, which combined to give spectacular views that are typically only seen in the winter. Well-timed rains in July and August helped keep things in balance. Most importantly of all, evening temperatures began to drop in September, creating the perfect conditions for a late harvest.

The 2016 harvest in the Douro brought perfectly-timed rain that turned a good year into a great one. Fortunately, despite a challenging growing season and a much adjusted and delayed picking schedule, those producers with excellent vineyard knowledge and confident decision-making, were rewarded with spectacular Vintage Ports.

SPAIN 2016 will be remembered for the piles of grapes thrown to the ground in Rioja. Our most renowned wine region, as well as Navarra and most appellations in Castilla y León, registered very high yields in sharp contrast with Mediterranean wine regions where drought led to below-average production levels. The gloomy picture came from Ribeira Sacra in Galicia where severe hail hit the area of Doade in August and destroyed 400,000 kilos of grapes.

In general terms, winter was one of the mildest in Spain’s recent vintages. Spring was rainy across the country, thus increasing underground water reserves. Despite the balmy winter, budding came later than usual. “This was not the case with other crops like fruit and almond trees,” observes Pablo Eguzkiza from Cía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez, present in different Spanish wine regions. Flowering was delayed in many areas, but it was trouble-free and abundant —the first symptom of a generous year. 

Summer was dry —abnormally dry in areas like Rioja or Penedès— but some regions enjoyed relatively mild temperatures until the weather turned extremely hot in late-August and early-September. This either caused a halt in the ripening process or acted as a turning point in terms of quality. As most respected producers see it, the rains in mid-September did not bring overproduction. The generous harvest was evident right from the start of the summer.

Winegrowers who were brave enough to wait for their grapes to achieve full ripeness were blessed with good weather in September and October thus extending picking times. In many Spanish regions, 2016 has been a comfortable, staggered harvest marked by very healthy grapes. 

This is our region-by-region vintage report by Amaya Cervera.

RIOJA:

Images of bunches on the ground quickly travelled through Twitter. They were completely at odds with the courage shown by Burgundy winegrowers to fight frost in many legendary vineyards earlier in May.

Pablo Franco, Rioja’s Regulatory Board control manager, explained to SWL that out of 18,000 hectares whose yields where monitored this year by the board since July 1st, 2,000 showed overproduction before veraison. After green pruning, 200 hectares were still exceeding the levels. According to Franco, most of them were young, trellised vines planted in slow ripening areas in the low valleys. 

“The harvest has been really abundant and the Consejo has not allowed in the cellars grapes that failed to reach the desired quality. This is the reason why they were thrown to the ground. Now we’re studying what to do with these vineyards,” says Franco. The highest yields were registered in Rioja Alta (+18.5% compared to 2015) and Rioja Alavesa (+27%) while Rioja Baja saw a 23% drop from last year when yields were particularly high in this subarea.

Could this situation have been avoided? According to Pablo Eguzkiza, “bunches were big in July and it was obvious that there would be a large harvest; fruit setting was particularly good this year.” This experienced winemaker thinks that removing grapes is a sign of a lack of balance. “Something is wrong if you have to throw grapes away during the harvest,”he says.

Juan Carlos Sancha, wine grapes researcher and winemaker in Baños de Río Tobía, goes further and talks about underlying problems in the appellation: “Unfortunately, yields are based on price expectations. When prices were low, around €0.40 to €0.50 per kilo, everything was fine; now that they are close to €1, there is a growing interest in producing more. Of course this has been a high yielding vintage, but future harvests may very well follow the pattern. The combination of high yielding clones, the shift in plantings from the slopes to lower parts of the valley and irrigation is worrying.”

In terms of quality, Sancha says that “wines are outstanding, except for growers who picked early and from the high yielding plots where grapes struggled to ripen.” For Julio Sáenz, winemaker at La Rioja Alta, S.A., 2016 was “a vintage of patience. After a very unusual and difficult year with high temperatures and severe drought during the summer, ripening was very slow.”

At Finca Valpiedra, winemaker Lauren Rosillo thinks grapes are even better grapes than in 2010. He is thrilled with his aromatic, fully ripe, low alcohol Tempranillo. “The real miracle is that it didn’t rain during the harvest. Where yields were under control, grapes have ripened beautifully,” he says.

Without a doubt, the lack of rain in October and the mild temperatures in autumn have been a major qualitative factor in the region. “After the severe hydric stress generated by drought, fresh autumn nights have been crucial to have ripe grape skins without bitterness,” Eguzkiza points out. At the Cía de Vinos they started to pick grapes on October 1st in Rioja Alavesa and ended up on November 1st in the highest plots in Labastida. “It’s rare to see quality and quantity on the same vintage,” he observed. 

CASTILLA Y LEON:

“In my 15 harvests so far I had never seen such high yields in old vines”, says a stunned Eduardo García, technical director at Mauro. As far as he sees it, this year there will be many good quality wines but perhaps not outstanding reds with great cellaring potential. The 2016 harvest “was better than expected but not as good as 2014 and 2015”, García thinks. The year was defined by “the absence of rain since May and the hot temperatures in July and especially in late August and early September. The difference between day and night temperatures was not marked.”

Almudena Alberca from Viña Mayor agrees and describes 2016 as a “naturally modern vintage” due to the lack of concentration, but she remarks that grapes were exceptionally healthy.  And María del Yerro, from Viñedos Alonso del Yerro, highlights the outstanding aromas of the wines after fermentation.

Despite the character of the vintage, Eduardo García confirmed that they will make Terreus, their top red in the VT Castilla y León designation (“well-cared old vines have performed really well”). He points out that most reds will be lighter, with lower alcohol (“this will allow us to gain finesse, particularly in Toro”) and low in acidity because “dilution permeates to every element of the wine,” he explained. In Toro, the Regulatory Board reported a record vintage in terms of quantity, almost 30% higher than in 2015 but only a 2% increase compared to 2014.

Pablo Eguzkiza is pleased with their fresh, lighter reds from Ribera and Toro in this vintage. As vines are well adapted to severe weather conditions, they have suffered less hydric stress than those in Rioja, he says.

Production in Cigales rose 12% compared to 2015. Rueda, with close to 109m kilos, set a new record for the appellation. Again, quality will go hand in hand with the yields. According to Pablo Eguzkiza, the few dry-farmed, bush wines left in Rueda (many have been turned into trellised vineyards) ripen before trellised vineyards. At Finca Montepedroso, Lauren Rosillo has obtained “fresh, clean Verdejo whites”, perhaps with less extract than in 2014 but with higher quality.
In Bierzo yields were lower for Mencía while Godello followed the standard pattern. The year was extremely rainy, with 1,000mm of water compared to the average 600-700mm thus provoking millerandage during the flowering and a severe mildew attack in May.  

According to Ricardo Pérez from Descendientes de J. Palacios, the weather was a bit extreme in 2016 with a particularly cool, damp winter and a very dry, hot summer. The three weeks’ delay in the cycle was offset by the rain in late August and the harvest started in similar dates to 2014 even if it lasted a bit longer. “It has been a difficult year due to the high humidity at the beginning of the summer and the ensuing drought, but the wines are beautifully balanced. They have the structure of continental vintages and the aromatic character of Atlantic vintages”. The profile is similar to 2014 since both vintages lie between Atlantic and continental harvests.

GALICIA:

For Dominique Roujou, who consults for different producers in various appellations in Galicia, the final outcome has surpassed expectations. Mildew was an issue during flowering with different results depending on the cycle of each grape variety (it was fine for Albariño but Treixadura in Ribeiro sufferedmore), and it later damaged wide areas in the early summer. Situations like this, says Roujou, “should make us consider the effectiveness of certain systemic products which end up generating more resistant mildew strains.” 

Things improved notably thanks to the “spectacular” weather in August. High temperatures reduced malic acid levels (a key element in Albariño) and increased alcohol. Roujou points out that ripeness surprisingly took place almost at the same time in the three subareas in Rías Baixas: Condado de Tea, O Rosal and Salnés. In the end, and despite the appearance of botrytis caused by the rains in September, “grapes ripened well with alcohol levels similar to 2012 while acidity was slightly lower in Condado and Rosal,” he concludes.

“Locals cannot recall such heavy hailstorms in 40 years”, says Carlos Rodríguez from Sílice Viticultores in Ribeira Sacra. The beautiful area of Doade, where producers pioneering terroir-focused wines like Algueira and Guímaro have many vineyards, was badly hit. As in most areas of Galicia, mildew was also an issue resulting in lower yields. Fortunately, August was bright and sunny and vines could recover from so much pain. After some rains in mid September, the benign weather allowed producers to wait and pick up high quality grapes. "The vintage won’t be as good as 2015, but it is above 2012 and 2013," says Roujou, who consults for Ponte de Boga in the area.

In Valdeorras, Pablo Eguzkika talks about a rainy, frost-free spring followed by a dry summer which produced hydric stress and delayed picking times for white varieties. In spite of it, white wines are balanced while reds are fresh and low in alcohol. 

CATALUÑA:

“I had never seen such a dry year in Penedès,” says Mireia Torres, general manager at Jean Leon and Torres Priorat and head of Torres’ R&D&I division. This year rainfall levels reached 200mm compared to the standard 450-500mm. “We haven’t had rain during the growing season, thus yields have been very low: up to 50% less for Merlot in one of our plots and around 25% on average.” 

Bruno Colomer, winemaker in Codorníu, said during a recent presentation in Madrid: “This year I have pressed the smallest grapes in the world. We have picked 30% more clusters, but yields have dropped accordingly. This is a low production vintage, with lots of grapes and great aromatic intensity.”

According to Mireia Torres, local and long-cycle grape varieties have performed better and is happy with the quality of the whites: “fresh, aromatic and with very good acidity because, despite the summer drought, temperatures were mild.” In contrast, red wines will be deep and concentrated.

Circumstances were similar in Priorat, but the high temperatures in late August and September speeded up the ripening process, especially in younger vineyards. It also forced to pick up some plots prematurely, explains Mireia. In her opinion, the hottest areas were the worst affected, but grapes were tremendously healthy and final yields were similar to 2015.

Mild temperatures were the norm both in Conca de Barberà (they also enjoyed a rainy spring) and Costers del Segre, where drought was far more severe, yet Mireia thinks that varieties are well adapted to hot conditions in this region and react better to the shortage of water.

NAVARRA: 

High yields and late picking dates were the two main features in the region. In the Ribera Alta sub-area, Adriana Ochoa from Bodegas Ochoa reports that production fell down 15% compared to the previous year. "We managed to save the harvest thanks to drip irrigation; otherwise we would have had a brutal loss of vegetation due to the scorching temperatures in late August and early September." The heat blocked the ripening process and delayed the harvest 15 days “but finally we were able to obtain fresh, balanced wines,” she explained. “This year we will make wines with less alcohol and acidity”, she added. 

According to Adriana, local grapes have performed well: “Dehydration has been fine with Muscat for our sweet wines and Garnacha has ripened nicely. Soils and the amount of watering used will determine the quality of the region’s Tempranillo”. There have been some exceptions with international grapes, she says. “Merlot, for instance, is usually one of the first grapes we pick, but this year it has been one of the last to enter the cellar.”

In the cooler, northern sub-area of Baja Montaña, Elisa Úcar from Domaines Lupier is happy with the vintage. They had snow during the winter which fed water supplies and a slight delay in the cycle. From her point of view, the 60-70 litres of rainfall in late August and early September were key in terms of quality. "The wines are distinctively floral, with lots of red fruit and acidity," she told us.

ARAGON:

Gil Family Estates has two projects in the area: Ateca in Calatayud and the recently founded Morca in Campo de Borja. Winemaker Bartolomé Abellán reports that both yields and quality have been similar to 2014. “In Campo de Borja we’ve had slightly lower yields because of the drought; in Calatayud, production was slightly higher but the grapes were small given the scarce rains.”

Gredos. Pablo Eguzkiza is happy with the yields of this vintage thanks to the perfect setting of the cluster, even for a grape variety like Garnacha, so prone to millerandage. Ripeness came later than usual and we struggled to complete veraison but “the vintage has turned out to be fresh”, he concludes.

La Mancha. Yields were kept under control in La Mancha in 2016 and final production was similar to 2015. Lauren Rosillo, winemaker at Finca Antigua, the project of Familia Martínez Bujanda in La Mancha, says that despite the mild summer, “it was extremely hot during the first week of September, just on the final stage of ripening”. He is happy with the whites but “red varieties came to a halt”. The scorching temperatures ruined the high expectations they had up to that moment. Rosillo thinks that 2016 in La Mancha will be in line with 2003 and 2005.

JUMILLA:

Despite a loss of around 25%, Bartolomé Abellán, winemaker at Gil Family Estates, is excited about the "exceptional health" of the grapes picked this year. Drought, a regular feature in the area, meant very low yields. Rain was absent since the spring and by the time it returned in October, it was too late to have an effect on the harvest. According to Abellán, 2016 is similar to 2015, with very good concentration. As usual, alcohol levels are higher in the lower part of the appellation —in the province of Murcia— compared to higher altitude vineyards in Albacete (Castilla La Mancha) where they rainfall is usually higher.

ALMANSA:

Compared to 2015, a rainy vintage in which he had to deal with botrytis, Bartolomé Abellán considers that 2016 was a much better vintage. “Grapes were healthy; the rain in September helped with ripeness and we harvested at the end of October”. Abellán expects reds with less alcohol, which is a positive element in Almansa.

MALAGA: 

The summer was unusually cool in the area, says Pablo Eguzkiza, and that was far from ideal for a grape variety like Muscat which benefits from some hydric stress. “Grapes destined to sweet wines have to achieve full ripeness in the plant before being places in the pasera for sun-drying”, he explains. “Our first treading of grapes was on August 22nd and the last one on November 1st and the drying process in the pasera was longer than usual”. Despite this setback, Eguzkiza says “the balance is good”.

BALEARES:

In Mallorca, the summer was very dry, but producer Francesc Grimalt from 4 Kilos, says mild temperatures prevented a repeat of the hot 2003 vintage. “It has been a good year for local grapes because we have achieved good concentration, but this has not been the case for international varieties”, he explained. Unlike other Spanish regions, Mallorca was not affected by the heat that scorched much of the country between late August and early September.

CANARY ISLANDS:

Yolanda Ortiz de Arri, who has just returned from the archipelago,  talked to different producers.

In Tenerife, both Borja Pérez, who runs Ignios Orígenes in DO Ycoden Daute Isora, and Jonatan García, from Suertes del Marqués in DO Valle de La Orotava agree that the vintage was marked by a mild, rain-free winter that led to an early, irregular budding. In contrast, spring was cool so budding was delayed in some areas. “We experienced summer heat waves with temperatures soaring up to 43°C which is really rare in La Orotava, in the north of Tenerife”, explained Jonatan García. “In 2016 we won’t make La Solana, which comes from an east facing plot at 350m of altitude; nevertheless, vineyards at 400m to 700m have ripened beautifully.”

Borja Pérez remembers being at 26ºC on the 26th of December and then snow in January. Plants on high altitude plots suffered and “we started pruning a month later than usual”. In Icod, production has dropped between 40% to 50%. In Anaga, in the northeast of Tenerife, where Envínate sources grapes for their wines Táganan and Parcela Amogoje, vines have also suffered dramatically (single vineyard Amogoje will not be released this year), but Roberto Santana is happy with the general quality of the vintage, particularly in Santiago del Teide where they work some plots for the new Listán Prieto single-varietal red Benje. He also expects to release a couple of new single-vineyard wines from La Orotava.

Victoria Torres, from Matías i Torres in La Palma, said this has been a “very difficult” vintage. Yields are down both in the north and south of the island due to the severe drought and the lack of rainfall until the end of October.

A spring and early summer of record-setting rain led to irregular flowering and triggered widespread outbreaks of peronospora (a.k.a. downy mildew), resulting in sporadic crop loss. August and September set records for drought and heat, catching-up ripening. Leisurely harvest during a chilly, largely clear October and November resulted in outgoing Rieslings of modest but generally lively acidity, moderate alcohol, and understated complexity. (Mittelrhein and Terrassenmosel Rieslings tend toward acid-deficiency.) Few Auslesen and even less botrytis.

Burgundy Vintage Report 2016 by Domaine de la Romanée Conti

A year of extremes that cannot be compared to any other.

Calm has returned to the Coast after the noise of the harvest, the clicking of pruning shears and the songs of the pickers. The winemaker lives in his cellar where the grapes turn into wine, rumbling at first and then singing softly. The cellars become the theater where the big concert of the year takes place.

Outside, the vines slowly change colors as if at night a painter added a touch of red here, purple here and gold there to create a luminous and changing picture that we discover every morning.

The devouring has barely finished or is nearing the end. The wines settle little by little in their barrels, in the cellars where they will live for the very important 18 months before bottling.

The time has come to look back and try to understand the stages of this incredible scenario that took us from the prospect of total defeat in the spring to a victory that ranks 2016 among the most perfect vintages in recent years .

When a winegrower meets a colleague, how does his conversation begin: “if only the spring frost (and sometimes also the hail) had not taken away such a large part of the harvest, what an extraordinary vintage we would have had! »

In spring the winegrower was like Ulysses in the Odyssey when Poseidon's fury almost caused his boat to sink in the storm, but fortunately the gods were not all against him and a loving goddess saved him...

The season hadn't started very well. It's been a very mild winter without any of those periods of frost or snow that usually wash away the bad miasma left over from the past year.

As a result, bud burst was early and took place during mild, humid weather which lasted throughout spring and even until mid-July. 516 mm of rain fell on the village of Vosne-Romanée between January and May! exceeding the total rainfall that had been recorded during the legendary year of 1910, when the harvest had been almost completely lost. We were losing hope that the rain would ever stop!

In this context, with so few days without rain, it was very difficult to organize the necessary plowing and phytosanitary treatments. We had to take advantage of the short “windows” of dry weather and we knew that if we missed them we would be overrun by grass. Above all, it was necessary to protect the vines from the development of mildew because it was reaching a level that we had never experienced before.

In the spring, we counted around 35 cycles or “re-seeding” of downy mildew while there are generally very few, if any, like in 2015.

At the same time, as if nature had wanted to make us fall from Charybdis to Scylla, at the end of April, the North wind swept away the clouds and brought the sun that we were all waiting for. But in fact, it brought three days of severe morning frosts and it was with sadness that we noted early on the morning of April 27 that our vineyards of Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Echezeaux and Grands-Echezeaux had been devastated by frost. . In the following days, the young shoots turned black, dried up and began to fall off. Fortunately, Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Romanée-St-Vivant and Corton were little or not at all affected by the frost.

The fear of mold has not diminished. We were forced to increase the number of treatments. This fight lasted until mid-July. It was carried out with total dedication and without interruption (on weekends if necessary) by Nicolas Jacob and his team, and always within the framework of our biodynamic practices, using only the two authorized products: copper, in small quantities , and sulfur.

Remaining faithful to the organic options that we have chosen for more than 30 years now results in a loss of quantity, since the crop cannot be protected as much as with chemical products, but the gain in quality resulting from the concentration of the elements that constitute the grapes is far greater than the loss.

These conditions were of course not very favorable for the flowering period. It started on June 9, which was rather late compared to previous years, but above all it lasted until June 25, which made us fear uneven maturation. This ultimately didn't happen thanks to the heat that finally arrived.

And then, from July 15, the rain stopped and summer weather set in until the harvest and even after.

This dry and hot weather lasted thanks to its best ally, the north wind which continued to blow almost all the time. Some days were hot, close to scorching hot, but the danger of a real drought which became apparent very quickly.

                        
These yields are medium to normal in Romanée-Conti, La Tâche and Corton which were not affected by frost. They are somewhat inferior in Romanée-St-vivant and Richebourg where the northern part of each climat was slightly hit. They are from 6hl to 7hl/ha only in Grands-Echezeaux and Echezeux only, as could be expected, but finally these yields are rather a good surprise in comparison with the impression of absolute disaster we had in Spring. Moreover the few grapes we harvested were wonderful.

If Montrachet is not mentioned in the above list, it is because it was severely hit by frost.  In the Spring we even thought we would have no crop at all. Eventually there were still        a few grapes, but in tiny quantity. That is the reason why, with six other domaines owning half of the Montrachet vineyards situated in the village of Chassagne (the Montrachet of Puligny-Montrachet was not so badly damaged), we had the idea to launch what should be an interesting operation based on solidarity: the seven domaines (Amiot, Comte Lafon, Fleurot-Larose, Lamy-Pillot Leflaive, Petitjean and ourselves ) brought what they had harvested to be vinified at Domaine Leflaive. Two casks should be obtained, i.e. about 600 bottles. Each domaine will get back the number of bottles equivalent to the weight of the grapes it brought. Our aim is to have a common label and to put a certain number of bottles in a charity auction.

2016 was a year with two opposite faces: the one we saw in Spring when nature wanted to lay the vigneron low - but the latter of course resisted - and the other one we saw in summer when, on the contrary, the sun remained until the end to bless the vineyards as if it had wanted to help the vigneron win a well deserved victory. We could sum up by saying that nature wanted to overwhelm the vineyards, but decided to spare the grapes that it let ripen in the best possible conditions.

The Burgundian miracle does exist and the vigneron will keep 2016 in mind for a long time... !

But once again we have to look as a whole at the growing season from the budbreak to the harvest We were desperate in Spring and cursed the hostile nature that was directing all its negative forces against us. But today, with the harvest « at home » in the winery, we have to consider that the reserves of water accumulated during this humid period permitted the vineyards to go through, without damage, this period when drought was threatening. We fought against mildew and it left its mark, but we can look at it as a positive factor with regards to the final quality since some 10% of natural thinning reduced the number of bunches of grapes and contributed to concentrate the elements that make the quality of the grapes.

In the winery the grapes, that had just arrived from the vineyards, were perfectly healthy. Almost no sorting was necessary, only a very light destemming. The pre-fementation maceration of a few days was obtained naturally and the vinifications took place peacefully under the devoted guidance of Bernard Noblet and his team who were attentive day and night. The colour of the juice was black on the very first days of the vattings. Aromas that developped during fermentation were exceptionally fine and generous. The fermentation temperatures allowed the balanced extractions that we were looking for. Vattings lasted around 20 days on average. 

At the time of this writing, most of the wines have been devatted. They show exceptionnaly profound colors. Behind the primary aromas and spicy characters, we can already perceive the high quality of the grand cru in an outstanding vintage. In the mouth the balance between the fruit, the acidity and the tannins should lead them towards a rare combination of richness and finesse. 

Five things to know about the 2016 Napa Valley vintage

Winemakers share their thoughts as attention turns to the winery after an unchallenging growing season that resulted in another bumper wine grape harvest

Here are five things every wine lover should know about Napa Valley's 2016 vintage:

  #1 – This year has the potential to be another exceptional Napa Valley vintage.

Napa Valley wines from 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 are hitting the market to rave reviews and accolades. Is it possible that 2016 will be the fifth consecutive great vintage for Napa Valley? “I don’t know what to say except that someone up there really loves us,” commented Linda Neal, owner of Tierra Roja Vineyards in Oakville.

Kristin Belair, winemaker for Honig Vineyard & Winery, summed up the growing and harvest season this way: “We had a cooperative climate and trouble-free fermentations that resulted in intense, balanced wines. »

  #2 – Technology and people have combined to create high quality wines.

In the cellar, more and more winemakers are using optical sorters to ensure that only the best grapes become wine. A few machine destemmers appear on the crushing platform, gently processing the grapes faster than before, creating efficiencies that allow winemakers to bring in their fruit at the exact moment it is ready to be picked.

“We brought in new equipment that did a great job of gently destemming all of our reds in a timely manner,” said Melissa Apter, winemaker at Antica Napa Valley – Antinori Family Wine Estate. “We were able to pick as much as we needed in a day, even more than our past maximum tonnage, and it processed the fruit faster and with higher quality than ever before. He was the star of the season. »

In the vineyard, evapotranspiration sensors help grape growers and grape growers determine how often and how much to water their vines, information critical to effective water management. Other wine growers are experimenting with drones that can locate vine vigor and identify areas that might need special attention during the growing season.

But, ultimately, according to Jon Ruel, CEO of Trefethen Family Vineyards, it's always the people who make the difference: "It's the men and women of our vineyard and cellar teams who deserve the credit for developing another fantastic vintage,” said Ruel. We still do a lot of things by hand and, when checking fermentations, by nose. And we're not looking to change that anytime soon. »

#3 – The grapes can be picked, but the work is not done yet.

“Grape harvesting is all about getting the grapes off the vine and into the winery,” said Dawnine Dyer of Dyer Vineyard. “It is filled with the unique question of maturity, the condition of the vineyard and the urgency of bad weather. It’s always a relief to have the harvest in the cellar where we begin the slower, more controlled process of making the wines.

Throughout Napa Valley, harvesting rights have shifted from 24-hour days and seven-day weeks in the vineyard to "pumping, gables, and damming" in the winery, terms that refer to the next phase of winemaking process. “It’s the tough time of year when the excitement of the harvest wanes, but there’s still much to be done,” said Tom Farella, winemaker at Farella Vineyard. “I call it the ‘post-crush blues’ where motivation is difficult but there are so many details and tasks remaining. »

Outside, winemakers and growers plant cover crops, straw the vines, and clean and store equipment so it's ready for next year. According to Alexander Eisele of the Volker Eisele Family Estate, “We sow cover crops in the rows and add erosion control seeds to the vineyard roads as well as straw and silt fencing; everything we can do to prevent our precious soil from being washed away.

#4 - The first wines from this harvest will be on store shelves early next year.

Aromatic white wines, like Sauvignon Blanc, will be the first Napa Valley wines released in early 2017. Rosé wines are typically next to follow, just in time for spring and early summer. Lighter reds, like Pinot Noir, will begin entering the market in late summer and early fall next year.

Austrian wine harvest 2016 – reduced quantity, higher quality!

There is virtually no way that a wine harvest in Austria could have more variation than this year's vintage. While in Steiermark and Burgenland there were harvest shortfalls of 50 to 80 percent due to the late frost at the end of April, in large parts of Lower Austria yields were good, even above the average. The combination of factors drove prices of grapes and bulk wine, particularly Grüner Veltliner, to unforeseen heights. This prompted the Ministry of Agriculture to increase the maximum yield per hectare by 20 percent for the entire country, to bring some stability to the market. The exceptional quality of the wines, characterized by particularly delicate fruity aromas and fresh acidity, is extremely rewarding.

Weather conditions in 2016: late frost, hail, September
warm The 2016 vintage in Austria held many surprises: a mild winter with the second warmest February in 250 years was followed by a dry March and an unstable April. At the start of the month, Mittelburgenland reported summer temperatures of over 27°C – but in the second half of April, between the 26th and 29th, there were three nights of extreme frost, and snow was even fell on early shoots – which had catastrophic consequences for vineyards and wine farms, especially in Steiermark and Burgenland.
The late spring and summer months were characterized by a sultry climate, with a lot of precipitation and scattered periods of heat, so that wine growers working conventionally and those working organically faced challenges equal in terms of vineyard management. But unlike 2015, the thermometer did not exceed 35°C this year.
In the end, an exceptionally warm, sunny and dry month of September allowed the vintage to draw a somewhat conciliatory conclusion: this allowed the bunches to reach very good maturity, while cooler nights towards the end of the month allowed optimal aromatic development. A good course of weather with occasional rainfall in autumn allowed a rather relaxed harvest without time constraints, ensuring the development of the grape variety with pronounced maturity and a good supply of nutrients. In the cellar, producers could thus concentrate on optimizing and stimulating the quality delivered, without being obliged to resort to particular oenological tricks.
The 2016 vintage already presents a typical fruity aromatic profile and good body, supported by a solid backbone of acidity. The moderate alcohol content of this year's wines will also make for pleasant and enjoyable drinkability.

Niederösterreich (Lower Austria)
Overall, the harvest estimates for 2016 stand at a satisfactory level of 1.6 million hectoliters, around 20% more than the previous year, although the Wachau, Carnuntum and Thermenregion wine regions have saw their harvests decrease by 13 to 23%, due to the late frost in April. Persistent periods of rain during the summer presented a particular viticultural challenge, making the spread of Peronospora inevitable to some extent, despite the intensive implementation of countermeasures.
This year’s harvest started about two weeks later than last year, but overall it proceeded without encountering adverse weather conditions or time constraints. Volume deficits in other Austrian states have led to high demand for grapes and a corresponding increase in prices.
Overall, the 2016 vintage – apart from the frost – will remain a pleasant memory for winegrowers: very good quality as well as mostly problem-free operations during the harvest and in the cellar – a well-ripened and aromatic vintage, which the Cool nights also blessed with a lovely depth of fruit. Fresh Welschrieslings and peppery Veltliners will delight the hearts and palates of wine lovers!

Frost damage in Burgenland
, especially in the Neusiedlersee sub-region, Seewinkel, and the hailstorm at the end of June in the Gols region and in Mittelburgenland led to harvest deficits amounting to 50% of the normal volume. Unlike in Niederösterreich, the harvest started a little earlier than the previous year, ending relatively early, and not only in the affected areas.

Report of the 2016 vintage China by Grace Vineyards:

A good amount of winter and spring rain provided good subsoil humidity to prepare the vineyard for 2016. The warmer than usual April temperature encouraged a good start (bud burst). We completed several vineyard tasks before June, including bud rubbing (removing unwanted buds) and shoot positioning.

The temperature in June was a little lower than a normal year which stagnated growth, followed by multiple unexpected periods of heavy rain (over 100mm) in July, causing high disease pressures - late blight in several blocks of our vineyards. Veraison, is a process of berry development with color change from green/hard to colored; accumulation of soluble solids (sugar); and acid reduction. In our opinion, veraison is the most important period. Close monitoring of vineyard conditions is necessary.

Decisions made based on vineyard conditions during the veraison period can directly affect wine quality. This year the color change was slower than usual, probably caused by high soil moisture and insufficient ambient temperature. It was slow and long, taking about 1-1.5 months to complete. Based on our viticultural data, the harvest for this year would be delayed at least 1.5 to 2 weeks. To compensate for potential late seasons, we started leaf removal work earlier to maximize heat in the cluster area.

We started the harvest in August for the Chardonnay. August saw less rain and considerably cooler weather. It helped keep the character and acidity of fresh fruit before harvest. Aglianico arrived next, although it was a little less ripe than we wanted (due to rain and high soil moisture), it will probably be of similar quality to our 2012 harvest.

A small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon & Marselan was thinned (green harvest) at the end of August to obtain a very balanced vine between the foliage. Overexploitation or imbalance of vines tends to slow maturation and possibly result in lower quality wine.

We started a small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon at the end of September to make our 2017 New Year wines. This is the 6th year this wine has been made and we are still aiming for fresh red fruit and good acidity in the finished wine.

We were very lucky at the end of the season in October, as the weather remained mild, cool with very little rain, allowing us to harvest at peak ripeness.

For our Ningxia vineyard, we had good access to water for irrigation this year. Good strong growth in several vineyard plots and the size of the berries were slightly larger than last year. This may be good for yield, but not necessarily for quality. Vines need little water compared to other crops, excessive watering promotes the vigor of the shoots and thus causes slow maturation.

The winemaking team spent weeks following the steps of the vineyards before harvest; Walk the vineyard to take fruit samples and do the tasting to decide on the harvest date and pattern.

The harvest began with Merlot. This had been a slow and lengthy process as we broke it down into several blocks depending on the level of maturity/vigor of the vines. It took us 3 weeks to finish the Merlot harvest. The Cabernet Sauvignon arrives last, mid-October as always, with a good level of maturity.

Vintage Ports:

The 2016 harvest in the Douro brought perfectly timely rains that turned a good year into a great one. Fortunately, despite a difficult growing season and a very adjusted and delayed picking schedule, producers with excellent vineyard knowledge and confident decision-making have been rewarded with spectacular vintage Ports.

After the very dry season of 2015, the wet winter of 2015/2016 was particularly well received. In Pinhão we recorded 110 mm of rain, above the 10-year average. Temperatures during this dormant period have also been warmer than usual, being recorded as 1.2ºC above the 10-year average. The result of the warm, wet winter was that we saw the first signs of buds in late February, but a particularly cold March ended up delaying its start to March 7, which is still considered early.

April and May continued to be cold and wet, with 249 mm of rain falling in Pinhão, 2.9 times more than average. Average temperatures were 1.5ºC colder than normal. The weather has unfortunately created favorable conditions throughout the Douro for powdery and downy mildew, with the warmer climate of the Upper Douro experiencing the most serious disease we have seen in the last 20 years in this sub-region.

Flowering took place between the last week of May and the first week of June. Veraison began later than usual, with the first signs noted from July 11. Temperatures rose dramatically in early July, 1.6ºC warmer than the 10-year average. These hot and dry conditions continued for the rest of the summer, and we recorded 13 days above 40ºC at Quinta da Roeda, Pinhão. The hottest day of the year was September 6; 43.4ºC/9.6% relative humidity.

During the month of August it was clear that although we had an early bud, the ripening of the grapes was delayed. At the end of the month, the rate of sugar development was very slow. On September 13, we had regular rainfall throughout the Douro, and we recorded 16.8 mm in Pinhão. This rain was fundamental for the final ripening of the grapes.

The harvest in Vargellas and Roêda began on September 17 and in the Pinhão Valley from the 22. The weather conditions were perfect for the duration of the harvest, with warm days (28-32ºC) and cool nights (14 -16ºC). It didn’t rain again until October 12, by which time all our Quintas had finished picking.

The fermentations were long and with very uniform temperatures, allowing good extraction of color and tannins. Young Ports have very fine aromas and very pronounced tannins, which gives promising results.

David Fonseca Guimaraens, Chief Winemaker, October 2016

Australian Vintage Report 2016 / The Australian wine industry has recorded increases in the average purchasing price of wine grapes and their overall crush this year, according to the 2016 Vintage Report released today by Wine Australia, the Federation of Growers of Australia and Wine Grape Growers Australia.

In what many in the industry were calling a sensational vintage for Australian fine wine, this year there was a 6% increase in domestic crush to around 1.81 million tonnes. The report also shows the average price paid for wine grapes increased by 14% to $526 per tonne in Australia, the highest average price since 2009.

The increase in the weighted average purchasing price was supported by an increase in the quantity of fruit sold in the categories above $1500 per tonne. Andreas Clark, chief executive of Wine Australia, said it was encouraging to hear reports of exceptional quality translated into an increase in the average purchase price. “Over the past 12 months we have seen Australian wine exports reach $2.11 billion and the strongest growth has been in wines $10 or more per liter FOB. This increased enthusiasm for our fine wines internationally is helping to support stronger demand for premium fruit in Australia,” Mr Clark said.

“The positivity for Australian fine wine is resonating across our key export markets and we will continue to work closely with our wine and winemaking community to increase demand and the premium paid for Australian wine. »

The report shows that the quantity of premium fruit sold at more than $1,500 per tonne increased to account for 7% of total crush this year. Premium Shiraz in the top-ranked categories over $1,500 per tonne reached 13% of the total variety crush and the national average price per tonne for Shiraz increased by 14%. Likewise, premium Cabernet Sauvignon in the upper categories reached 9% of the variety crush and its national average price increased by 17%. Overall, the average price paid for red grapes increased by 13% to $651 per tonne and that of white grapes increased by 12% to $398.

Tony Battaglene, acting CEO of the Vintners' Federation of Australia, said the 2016 vintage report shows the weighted average price has increased over the past two vintages. “It is not uncommon to see peaks and valleys from one vintage to the next due to different factors such as fluctuations in demand. However, this year there is an increase in prices for the second year in a row and an increase in overall crush, which is encouraging. We must remain proactive as a sector to continue to grow demand, particularly in our key export markets, the United States and China,” Mr Battaglene said.

The 2016 vintage report shows that average purchasing prices for wine grapes have increased across most Australian wine regions. Warm inland wine regions increased 8% to $313 per tonne and cool/temperate regions increased 4% to $1,196 per tonne.
Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director Andrew Weeks said the increase in average prices was a positive development for the Australian wine community.

“There is still much work to be done, but with recent improvements in key markets and firming wine grape prices across the country, there is reason for caution and optimism. It is essential that this positive trend continues and that all players in the wine sector focus on continuing to grow demand in key markets. » Crushing declined overall in the warm inland wine regions, with a 2% increase in the Riverland offset by a 2% decline in Murray Darling-Swan Hill and 4% in the Riverina.

The overall national increase in crush comes from growth in many cool/temperate wine regions, including a 57% increase in Langhorne Creek, 27% in Tasmania, 9% in Margaret River and 2% in King Valley.