Grape gongs

DEMAND continues to be high for Tasmania’s premium wine grapes with 250ha of new vines planted since the 2016 vintage.

The state’s 2017 Vintage Report also shows local grapes continue to attract a price premium.

Wine Tasmania chief executive Sheralee Davies said the new plantings represented 10.6 per cent of the overall area under vines in Tasmania.

More than 13,000 tonnes of grapes were harvested in the state last season.

“Despite the challenges of variable weather conditions the 2017 vintage in Tasmania was a good season with excellent fruit grown across the state,” Ms Davies said.

“The start to the season was wet and cool, but finished dry and warm, allowing vineyards to reach their full potential.”

Wine Tasmania technical committee chair and Moorilla winemaker Conor van der Reest said the 2017 vintage showed “fantastic” depth of flavour and aromas across all varietals.

“Vintage 2017 is in my opinion looking to be one of the greats,” Mr van der Reest said.

“I think its wines will show a lot of versatility and hold well for the long term.”

Tasmanian-grown grapes still attract prices well above those in other Australian wine regions, with $2970 the average purchase price for a tonne of Tasmanian pinot noir grapes and $2892 the average for a tonne of chardonnay grapes.

The state’s total average purchase price is $2871 a tonne, with the next highest $2568 on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Tasmanian wines continue to win honours. Home Hill vineyard at Ranelagh last week won four gongs at the Australian and New Zealand Boutique Wine Show in Sydney.

The Australian wine sector recorded its third consecutive annual increase in crush and in the average purchase price of wine grapes.

The national crush is estimated to be 1.93 million tonnes, an increase of 5 per cent from the 2016 vintage.

The national average price of wine grapes was up 7 per cent to $565 a tonne.

Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said the increases reflected excellent seasonal conditions in many regions.

Mr Clark said there was growing demand for Australian wine, both in export and domestic markets.

The Tasmanian vintage report is available online at www.winetasmania.com.au