Road to recovery
Almost two years since the Cudlee Creek bushfire, we check in on the Adelaide Hills.
NATURE’S CHANGING moods in the Adelaide Hills have been keenly felt over the past few years, with the ups and downs of rural enterprise in sharp focus in the space of just two vintages. Like many in the business of grape growing and winemaking, vintage 2021 in the Hills has been lauded a major success, as the produce of the season finds its way through winemaking to market.
Region pioneer Brian Croser believes it was one of the very best in his 51-vintage career, but he also checks his enthusiasm. “Against a background of global social tumult, roiling sickness and death in India and other developing nations, lockdowns anywhere and anytime, frost devastation in European vineyards, and smoke and fires enveloping the vineyards of the west coast of America, to lay claim to one of the best vintages ever seems certain to excite accusations of having a ‘tin ear’ again,” he wrote for a recent article published by UK wine authority Jancis Robinson on her website.
“But then again, the 2021 vintage in southern Australia follows two successive disappointingly small vintages,” Brian continues. He adds that other key impacts include the fires and smoke of 2019 to 2020, the floods of early 2021 on the eastern seaboard, and the Chinese government declaring war on the Australian wine community last November.
Brian also warns nature is in vengeful mode. “I can understand nature being exasperated as each percentage-point increase of
CO2 concentration inexorably increases the global temperature, and humankind seems incapable of altering habits,” he says.
THROUGH A northern section of the Adelaide Hills in December 2019, what became known as the Cudlee Creek bushfire wrought nature’s anger on 40 vineyards and producers. In some cases, it destroyed everything in its path, while in others it seriously damaged vines, posts, drip lines and other infrastructure and equipment, leaving the region 30 per cent down on its average total crop for vintage 2020.
It’s no wonder Hills producers felt they were being battered from pillar to post. The December fire followed a particularly low-yielding 2019 vintage due to unhelpful weather during flowering and fruit set. Even those unaffected by the flames were well down on yields in 2020, again from weather issues. It was devastating, according to regional association president Jared Stringer. “The region as a whole, even if you weren’t directly impacted by the fires, was already feeling it,” he says.
The response to the ongoing environmental traumas then faced another hurdle with the onset of the pandemic and its impact on restaurant and retail trade. While Jared emphasises there is no such thing as good timing when it comes to a bushfire or global pandemic, there was a minor stroke of luck associated with the recovery from both.
“We had incredible support from the community after the fire, and brand Adelaide Hills was front and centre across Australia and overseas, with people buying direct from producers to help those affected,” Jared says. “Fortunately, following that, when Covid hit last March, we already had that momentum. People were joining wine clubs in the Hills, already familiarising themselves with the region, and that continued on during the Covid period. We benefited from that.”
As for the 2021 vintage, Jared acknowledges it has been phenomenal. “We couldn’t have asked for a better follow-up from the two we’ve just had. It’s been absolutely outstanding.”
HAVING SAID that, the recovery is ongoing for those seriously impacted by the fires. At first it was all about immediate clean-ups and maintenance, through to the replacement of gear and the reparation of vines. Those with viable fruit, both from scorched blocks or close by and in the path of the wind, had assessments done for smoke taint by the Australian Wine Research Institute. Many chose not to proceed with much of their affected crop.
The regional association went into emergency mode and is still raising money via its Hills Appeal wine sales, with those proceeds, and donations from other regions, crowdfunding platforms and events amounting to more than $750,000. An independent board has distributed monies directly into the bank accounts of growers impacted, based on criteria set up by the South Australian Wine Industry Association, while some of the funds have been held for training and other skills and needs to become more bushfire-ready.
Several Hills producers also created a register to provide fruit, services and equipment to those in need, while
South Australian government assistance through its Department of Primary Industries and Regions has also been significant. It’s effectively helping to put vines back in the ground for those regenerating their properties.
AMONG THE worst affected were Bob and Iain Baxter at their New Era Vineyards near Woodside, who lost virtually “the lot” – 4000 posts, 50km of dripper lines, their whole 2020 crop, the winery, 40 barrels, 1500 cases and all their equipment except one tractor and one four-wheeler.
They were able to buy some fruit, and were donated more, incredibly winning the 2020 Adelaide Hills Wine Show trophy for best grüner veltliner, made with a small gifted parcel from Longview Vineyards. Other producers helped in their recovery with spare posts, while the region’s association kept them in the loop concerning available grants as well as providing financial help from the various fundraising efforts.
While New Era is now planning a cellar door and small
IF ANYTHING GOOD COMES OUT OF ALL THIS, IT’S THE RESEARCH BY THE LIKES OF ADELAIDE UNI INTO BUSHFIRES AND HOW THEY AFFECT GRAPE VINES.
Jared Stringer, president, Adelaide Hills Wine Region.
production facility to bring their site back to life, Iain says their vineyard will never be the same, noting they actually managed to get a tiny amount of fruit in 2021 from 100 pinot noir vines that miraculously survived.
“Most of the vineyard will be back in production again in three to four years, but it’s not going to be evenly balanced without its mature vines,” Iain says. “It’ll probably take 10 years to get back to producing good, even crop levels.”
But that’s life on the land, he muses. “You have your good years and your bad years, and sometimes you wonder why you do it. But it’s a beautiful industry, a great product and good people.”
DARREN AND LUCY Golding of Golding Wines were also hit hard in the Cudlee Creek fire, which destroyed their much-loved estate vineyards between Lenswood and Lobethal – two of the worst-affected districts. Fortunately their cellar door and function centre was saved.
Their story sums up the recovery journey of many, from the initial emergency work to see out what was left of the 2020 vintage, the maintenance tasks and day-to-day business, to the planning process for the future of the vineyard.
After assessing their blocks, they decided which vines to cut to the ground, what to graft and what to lay down in the ground for winter, as well as replacing irrigation and infrastructure. In winter, they cut off 40 per cent of the vineyard and started over. “We’ve been shoulder to the wheel ever since,” Darren says. “It’s an ongoing plan – some successes, and some things that haven’t worked.”
They were only able to get 30 per cent of their average crop out of the 2021 vintage, but Darren noticed some patches were struggling from leaf shutdown and trunk damage, and weren’t viable. “We’re going to start pulling stuff that was grafted right out of the ground and replant this year – it’ll be three years before there’s a decent crop from them, and five to six years before things start to settle down and we’re back, say, to where it was. But it’ll never be back because we’re losing those mature vines, that stability, that uniformity you get after 10 to 15 years, where you’ve tweaked the vineyard every year and got it to that point.”
Apart from the vineyard, the Goldings contended with the impact of the fire and pandemic on the hospitality side of their business through their cellar door, functions and weddings. “It ground to a halt and we shut that down,” Darren recalls. “Unwinding all those events was a major challenge, as we had to give all the money back and try to rebook them. It was layer upon layer of juggling everything.”
Amid the hurdles, there were some upsides, as the climate was right and time was available to implement new business structures, enhace their online presence and move to different practices in serving food and wine once the venues reopened. “We were up for a change and had to do things differently anyway,” Darren says.
He’s also aware of the mental stresses his family has faced, admitting that escaping to the vineyard over this period was “weirdly and perversely a good escape” from many business pressures. The camaraderie in the region also helped, along with government assistance, he says.
ON THE WHOLE, the region has pulled up stronger than ever, according to regional president Jared Stringer. “If anything good comes out of all this, it’s the research by the likes of Adelaide Uni into bushfires and how they affect grape vines. It’s something we are learning about,” he says. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be faced with more of these as our climate continues to warm and we’ll have fiercer summers. The more research into this, the better.” With these positives now seen to be coming out of the ’21 vintage, the Adelaide Hills continues its way back from the disasters of the past two years. “The community rallies,” Jared says. “And we truly saw that as a region – everyone who could do something did, and jumped in. This is what we do it for. This is how we can move forward and come together, and help everyone through it. It warms your heart, and you hope you won’t have to do it again.”