Case study of vigour-based zonal vineyard management and phenolic variation in wine

Precision viticulture technology (such as EM38 and plant cell density imagery) represents a sound approach to understanding spatial variation within vineyards and providing targetted management of these areas. This case study shows that using spatial mapping technology to guide differential harvesting can result in wines with different phenolic characteristics and might also provide insights into vineyard terroir.

Berry desiccation: developing pre-emptive methods to adapt to heat spikes and dry conditions

Mount Langi Ghiran vineyard, in Western Victoria, in collaboration with The University of Melbourne, is researching compounds in vineyards to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat events. Research outcomes show treatments can reduce berry desiccation at statistically significant levels.

Assessing vineyard viability after bushfire.

As another summer approaches the not so distant memories of the 2009 bushfires that swept across Victoria are ever present. A new joint study, detailed in the following research article, has taken a close look at the 2009 impacts and suggests the best ways for grapegrowers to quantify the financial and environmental costs to vines and infrastructure from bushfires.

@yeringstn

Having just spent 3 weeks in the trade, it is nice to come back to the green landscapes of the Yarra Valley. One of the great aspects of my job is that I get to talk about our wines in different countries and support the wonderful people selling Yering Station. It never ceases to amaze me where our wines end up being consumed and with what food. I started my travels in Japan and soon discovered that Unagi and Pinot are a perfect combination. The savoury brackishness of the Unagi compliments the earthy undertones of our 2010 Pinot Noir.

Having sorted out the Pinot I then moved on to London to see what went well with our Chardonnay. The UK has a fascinating food culture, influences range from the ultra-cool Scandinavians, hot spices from the subcontinent and the modern English Pub menu. Chardonnay to me is extremely versatile and compliments a variety of flavours but my favourite was served with local west coast organic scallops (I thought that being in the sea automatically made everything organic !!!)

Finally, I travelled through Singapore and Bali on the way home enjoying the cultural riches of south East Asia. My quest was to find the perfect Asian match with our 2008 Shiraz Viognier. I expected this to be a challenge but was pleasantly surprised with many dishes bringing out the soft, plump silky centre of this wine. Don’t overlook black pepper crab.

Matching food and wine is equally enjoyable as trying wines  from across the globe. My advice is, don’t be scared, be an adventurist  and you will be surprised what you might enjoy.

Cheers, Salud, kampi, Na zdorovyeh

Willy Lunn
Chief Winemaker
Yering Station

Pruning has started in earnest at Yering including our Spring Lane vineyard where previously spur pruned blocks are now being cane pruned. It’s an example of the precision viticulture we’re implementing at Yering Station. Recent rainfall has been as expected and through careful manipulation of our vineyards we expect an even and exciting budburst across all varieties.

The last few months in the cellar here at Yering have been super busy preparing the first of the 2011 wines for bottle. The Rose and the Riesling are ready to roll down the bottling line, the Fume Blanc has just finished being stabilised and the final touches are being put on the Cold Pressed Pinot Gris. Next week we will begin Tirage for the 2011 Yarrabank and judging by the quality of the base wine, the 2011 is going to be one of the best ever.

Nathan Scarlett
Technical Viticulturist - Rathbone Wine Group

Climate change is real (IPCC 2007). This fact has been recently reconfirmed with greater certainty by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2011). The impact of seasonal weather on winegrapes is well understood by viticulturists, hence our obsession over short/long-term weather predictions to help our viticultural planning.  “To state that grape and wine production is highly sensitive to climatic variability is almost a platitude” states Prof. Keller from Washington State University in a fascinating review article on climate change and optimizing fruit development for viticulturists (Keller 2010). RWG vineyards (Yering Station, Mount Langi Ghiran, Parker Coonawarra and Xanadu), other wine companies and the research science community are already planning for climate change and initiating adaptive capability. With continued focus, the future looks bright for continuing our regional wine styles and maintaining the ability to make world class wines. We just need to be smart, progressive and able to rapidly respond to our weather conditions. The aim of viticultural adaptive responses is to maintain vine health and fruit/vineyard site integrity.