Milestone wine release pays tribute to one of the backroom boys

Winemakers are the rock stars of the wine industry.

They are the ones on stage collecting the trophies, making the speeches, taking the headlines.

But just as Bruce Springsteen needs the E Street Band to shine at his brightest, so any successful wine business is a collaboration.

Viticulturists, logistics experts, marketers and myriad behind-the-scene play key roles ino producing quality wines.

One brand that recognises talent across the board is Yalumba, which this year releases the 50th vintage of its The Signature red blend.

Each year The Signature recognises the work of people right across the business - from managing directors to cellar rats.

The newly released 50th vintage The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz is adorned by the signature of Christopher Gerhardy.

Yalumba describes Chris as "a third-generation employee, a gentle, personable, humble human who took a job on the bottling line in 1972. He moved on to looking after dry-goods and packaging, where he has witnessed many changes and innovations over his 51 years of service."

Robert Hill-Smith, head of the family that owns Yalumba, said: “This man is remarkable, and his family have been remarkable contributors for over three generations, serving 145 years cumulatively here at Yalumba.”

You can read Chris' story on the back label of the 2021 vintage, which retails for around $60. I've got a bottle lined-up for tasting this week and will report back. 

 

Crisis looms for lovers of Burgundy wines

Wine lovers should prepare for shortages of their favourite Burgundies with yields down dramatically in the 2021 vintage.

The latest figures released by the Burgundy wine marketing bureau, the BIVB, point to a crop of around 900 to 950,000 hectolitres of Burgundy grapes in 2021. 

That volume equates to “about 50 % of a normal year”, and “2/3 of the average in recent years”, Vitisphere reports.

The survey of winegrowers paints an “extremely varied picture across the wine region,” said Frédéric Drouhin, chairman of the BIVB.

“Generally speaking, the white wines from the Côte d'Or and the Côte Chalonnaise were particularly badly affected," he said. 

"The reds fared slightly better. In terms of yields, the range this vintage is between 30 and 31 hl/ha. “In the Côte de Nuits, it’s not bad. But in Chablis, the crop has been halved.”

The frosts that occurred in in April are the major cause of the shortfall, but there was also hail in some areas. 

The figures are higher than the top-end range of post-harvest estimates, but they are still particularly concerning for the industry. 

“You have to revert back to 1985 to find volumes below 1 million hectolitres in Burgundy, and 1981 to find lower yields,” said Drouhin.

The situation is compounded by a succession of “small” vintages in the region over the past 10 years, with only 2017 and 2018 considered “normal”. 

Consequently, inventories are dwindling. 

"With a pretty low 2021 crop, we will have to manage markets smartly,” said Drouhin.

Vintage performance. Australia wine industry celebrates

The Australian wine industry has rebounded from two successive small vintages to produce a record crop of 2.03 million tonnes in 2021. 

The season was characterised by near-perfect growing and ripening conditions across most states and regions, according to the National Vintage Report 2021 released today by Wine Australia.

Wine Australia General Manager, Corporate Affairs and Regulation, Rachel Triggs said 2021 was being described as a ‘unicorn’ vintage because of the rare combination of events leading to both exceptional quality and a good crop size.

“Good fruit set, plenty of water at the right time, lack of heatwaves, low disease pressure, and favorable harvest conditions have resulted in a high-yielding, high-quality vintage,” Triggs said.

The 2021 crush was 31% higher than the 2020 vintage and 19% above the 2019 vintage. 

The larger crush balanced out the two previous small vintages, with the average of the three being closely in line with the 10-year average of 1.74 million tonnes.

South Australia was the largest contributor of the states, with an estimated harvest of 1.06 million tonnes (52% of the national total), followed by New South Wales with 580,875 tonnes (29%) and Victoria with 334,834 tonnes (17%).

“This vintage provides an opportunity for depleted inventory levels to be restored, ensuring we have the supply we need to take up new export opportunities,” Triggs said.

Red grapes made up 57% of the crush comprising 1.16 million tonnes, an increase of 37% over the previous year. The white varieties comprised 864,946 tonnes, an increase of 25%. 

Shiraz was up by 41% per cent to a record 538,402 tonnes. This saw its share increase by one percentage point to 46% of all red varieties and 27% of the total crush.

The total value of the crush at the weighbridge increased by more than $400 million (36%) to $1.56 billion. 

Triggs said that concerns prior to vintage about the effect on grape prices of the tariffs imposed by the Chinese government on Australian wine, had not been realised in 2021. 

“That’s not to say that some producers aren’t doing it tough," she said. "Exposure to China is very variable from one producer to another depending on their ability to diversify, cash flow and the ability to physically hold stock and it will take some producers time to bounce back, which could also have flow-on effects for growers.” 

The National Vintage Report is based on a survey of winemakers conducted in May-June each year. 

In 2021, responses were received from a record 579 businesses, including all wineries known to crush over 10,000 tonnes, estimated to account for 89% of the Australian wine grape crush in 2021.

For more information, download the full report from www.wineaustralia.com/market-insights/national-vintage-report