2003: My first official vintage in the Barossa was a window into the weather patterns of our unique region. A dry spring fed into a hot summer resulting in lower yields, particularly in the Shiraz vineyards. A very hot January threatened to have a bearing on the harvest, however, 80mm of rain in 24 hours in February gave the vineyards a much-needed drink, and the season broke. The cooler weather that followed created perfect ripening conditions, while the early heat locked in ripe, concentrated, bold flavours.
2004: Bountiful spring rain fed into a mild December and January, creating healthy crops and canopies. Just as harvest seemed to be setting up perfectly, a mid-February heat wave redefined the vintage and the sugar levels surged. We patiently waited for the vineyards to recover, and recover they did, with a prolonged “Indian Summer” of mid 20°C in March and April created perfect ripening conditions. The Shiraz was well structured and distinct, with an elegance complimented by the ripe characteristics acquired February.
2005: A consistently mild, dry vintage with temperatures in the mid to high 20s during January and early February again making way for a cooler, dry autumn. These conditions produced big, ripe, rich flavours and wines of immense power and structure, perfectly suited to Barossa Shiraz.
2006: Heavy winter rain was a feature of the build up to the 2006 Harvest, with my first, but certainly not the last, experience of widespread flash flooding occurring in October 2005. Consistently hot temperatures in December and January balanced the healthy canopy growth and kept higher than average yields marching towards ripeness. A mild to cool autumn with some rain slowed ripening down, so that grapes could be harvested strategically. As young wines, the 2006 Shiraz showed good upfront fruit with elegance and subtlety on the palate but a tannin structure which suggested longevity.
2007: Overall, one of the poorer vintages of the 2000s, mainly due to a severe lack of rainfall during the growing season, which meant grapes struggled for physiological ripeness and colour. However, the Barossa Valley is a diverse region with many sub-regional variations, and deep-rooted old vines in the north and west of the Barossa were able to withstand the severe moisture stress of prolonged drought much better than those from the south. I distinctively remember the vineyards struggling to produce ripe fruit, with the leaves falling off many vineyards too early. Once harvest was virtually complete, the skies opened up and the rain in May was ironically relentless.
2008: After a difficult 2007 we were hoping for some relief, and the Spring and Summer set up for the 2008 harvest was close to perfect. A cool February lured us into a false sense that the season had broken, and while the fruit was close to ripe, the northern vineyards were still not quite ready. Just as we began harvesting a heat wave took hold of the Valley, which was set to be the longest and most oppressive stretch of heat I have encountered. A 15 day stretch where even nighttime temperatures rarely dipped below 30 degrees resulted in extremely high sugars and degradation of fruit.
2009: Set up in a very similar pattern to 2008, but a cooler winter and drier spring fed into a later bud burst. A wet December filled the soil profile, and the harvest was shaping to be a late one, however, a 10-day heat wave at the end of January took the freshness out of the vineyards. The mild and dry conditions that followed in February continued to slow ripening, as the vines re-adjusted after the heat wave. With such a mixed bag of temperatures, yields were significantly down in all varieties, but particularly Shiraz.