The Swan Valley is the most northern and warmest of the wine regions in Western Australia and so vintage finishes the earliest. The region is renowned for their fortifies and includes more than 40 vineyards growing varieties that include Verdelho, Shiraz, Cabernet, Grenache and Chenin. The 2024 vintage finished in February.
Caroline Taylor from Wines of WA and the Swan Valley Winemaker’s Association explain that despite a usually warm October and November and early February harvest, it was a successful season, hopefully resulting in some of the best wines made in the region.
This season was possibly one of the hottest summers ever experienced in the valley and we knew it was likely to be an early start. Thankfully, winemakers were watching closely and ready to pick.
Temperatures in October and November were almost 5C higher than the long-term average. This meant that the vines went through flowering, fruit set and veraison (onset of ripening) very early, which was followed by rapid ripening. Early indications were that fruit would be ready to pick two to three weeks early. Some vineyards had fruit ready to pick closer to four to five weeks early, smashing previous vintage records.
The rapid ripening was exacerbated by low yields. Dry conditions in winter and spring (rainfall was 30% down on long term averages) meant that berry sizes were small. All that UV was ripening a much smaller fruit load then normal and this also accelerated the ripening process.
What does that mean for quality?
There were heat waves from mid-January and an extreme one in February. Thankfully, rapid ripening meant that all of the fruit was off before then.
Sugar, flavour and tannin development occurred more quickly than acid depletion, which meant we had good flavours and acids (high acids in a warm year is not what we expect). The extremely warm spring conditions meant that the vines worked at high efficiency from the start and this might be a saving grace if these summers happen more often in the future.
Overall winemakers throughout the Swan Valley are very happy with the wines that have been made. A testament to close monitoring and working with the varieties that suit our region and climate well. Our dry grown Chenin and Grenache are right in the zone and we are hopeful that we have made some of our best wines ever.
