The 2001 Southern Hemisphere Harvest Report
		New Zealand
		South Africa
		South America

With generally good weather in the country's key wine regions, Australia's 2001 harvest is expected to total a record of 1.43 million tons -- up almost 14 percent from the weather-constrained 2000 harvest. Overall, the quality of the 2001 wines is believed to be far superior to last year's vintage, especially for the red varieties.

This year's increased production resulted both from new plantings and from good winter and spring rains, which created healthy vines that could withstand heat stress during the dry summer weather that stretched across the country's major winegrowing areas.

The hot summer led to good fruit ripening and the development of rich colors and flavors, which particularly benefited red wines. Rains in late February refreshed the later-maturing red varieties.

South Australia's top wine regions -- the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Coonawarra -- experienced a good harvest this year after a disappointing 2000 vintage. Winter rains fell for the first time in six or seven years, encouraging the vines to develop excellent canopy coverage and enabling the older plants with longer root systems to weather the summer heat.

The summer was the hottest and driest in South Australia for almost a century, and most regions started harvesting 10 days early. Once the harvesting was under way, the temperatures cooled down and minor rains occurred in some areas; these conditions slowed down the picking and made it one of the longest harvests in recent memory.

"The reds look terrific, with good concentration and a lovely rich ripeness," said Charlie Melton of Charles Melton winery in the Barossa Valley, which is known for Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. "The bunches were very heavy with lots of extract and sugar. I think the 2001 harvest is slightly -- but not a long way -- behind the classic '98 vintage."

In Coonawarra, Doug Bowen of Bowen Estate echoed those sentiments. "It's gone from a famine to a feast," he said. "The color of the reds is really outstanding. I've never seen color this intense and purple in the Coonawarra. The juice ran clear out of the press this year, which is always a good indication of quality. The Merlots are outstanding, and the Shiraz and Cabernet that were picked early off older vines look great too." Some younger vines were overcropped and had to be picked later, he said, but those grapes also came in ripe.

In the Clare Valley, Riesling and Shiraz are the highlights, showing good fruit intensity, fine structure and excellent varietal character, according to the Clare Valley Winemakers Association. The Rieslings appear to have good flavors and finesse at low sugar levels, while high sugar levels in the Shiraz led to high-alcohol wines with deep color, intense flavors and mature, ripe tannins.

For the second year running, Western Australia had the most favorable weather for winegrowing in the country, and the quality of their wines could be excellent. Vanya Cullen of Cullen Wines in the Margaret River area, which is particularly known for Cabernet, said that, although the season was the region's driest in 126 years and there were a few isolated days of extreme heat, the season was very even overall. This resulted in "fruit quality that is very good with excellent flavors and acid balance," she said. "It was, however, the worst bird year that I can remember, and people without nets lost a lot of fruit."

Victoria's Yarra Valley region had a slightly more difficult vintage, largely because of some rain in late March and late April, during harvest. However, Tom Carson, chief winemaker at Yering Station, is very happy with the quality of the wines. He said the Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon that were picked before the rain were the standouts.

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