Wine makers are tempering their excitement as vintage kicks off over the next week across the region.
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Griffith wine makers have eagerly watched as good rains and mild temperatures have encouraged 'fantastic' looking fruit that will result in yields not seen after a few years of devastating drought.
"It looks fantastic. The quality looks sensational this year, so that's exciting," Bob Berton from Berton Vineyards said.
White varieties will be the first off the vines starting over the next week hoping to get chardonnays off before any hot weather causes interruptions.
"We'll be starting with some of the early chardonnays with a sparkling base and a patch of verdelho that's ready to come off," Mr Berton said.
"Then we'll progress through to the sauvignon blancs that typically will be coming off the week after and then we'll be in to the full chardonnays after that."
At Wickham Hill, winery manager Barry Turnell said what they're seeing in the paddocks is encouraging and pushing some enthusiasm for a successful vintage.
"You can't beat the fact that we've had a bit of rain this season. Everything is looking a lot better than what it has over the last few dry years," Mr Turnell said.
Favourable weather has been the major driver behind good growth this year but with three months of picking and processing ahead, enthusiasm is being tempered with a watchful eye to the skies.
"We're a little bit concerned with possible rains late February through March which may have an effect on the reds but again we'll just have to take it as it comes," Mr Turnell said.
"If we get hot weather, things tend to slow down a bit and we've got some high temperatures coming this weekend," Mr Berton added.
"Usually vines will sort of shut down over that time so that'll likely cause a little bit of a delay."
At this early stage wineries seem to have been spared from the impact of worker shortages across much of the agricultural industry, with many, more experienced staff returning.
"It's early days of course but we're lucky that we've had a lot of people coming back to do another vintage so we've got a bit of experience," Mr Berton said.
"Staff have all arrived now and are getting ready for next week."
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