Big Weather

Many of our members reached out to us during the recent floods asking how it would affect the vines. It has been a rough year for many vineyard owners that's for sure. Some vineyards in Broke were completely submerged such as the Harrowby vineyard in Broke where Little Wine Co  Albarino, Pecorino, Tempranillo and Barbera are grown. Where the river broke its banks there has been significant damage to the trellis systems and some vineyard rows were completely swept away into the Wollombi Brook. 

Fortunately the flooding occurred when the vines were in their winter dormancy so there was no damage to any new season growth. We are now well into the growing season; flowering is complete and bunches have mini to pea size berries. For the first time in the Hunter, vineyard owners utilised helicopters to apply early fungicide sprays to the vines where it was too wet for tractors to enter. This is an expensive but necessary solution to give the vines the best start for the 2023 vintage.

And finally now for some good news!  The weather has turned and we have just had two weeks of sunny weather - in a row! There is a definite air of cautious optimism buzzing about the Valley for the 2023 vintage so stay tuned!