Geraldine Colombo,
Viticulturist/Vineyard manager Tolpuddle and GlenAyr vineyards.

The vineyard season 2006 exceeded my expectations yet again. The vineyard got off to a great start in September, with four times the monthly average rainfall, initiating strong early shoot growth. I am confident that all blocks reached their target quality parameters and feed back from all our clients was promising.

Harvest had been the earliest on record with the majority of the fruit being picked in March. The final day of picking was the 10th of April. The temperature dropped rapidly after harvest with snow occurring on Mount Wellington.

The summer was warm and dry and great for ripening fruit. Irrigation was still very important over the January period.

As part of the award for Tasmanian Vineyard of the year we were required to hold a field day at the vineyard. The theme of the day was pruning and Tolpuddle has some excellent examples of cane and spur pros and cons.

My predictions for 2007 are not as positive due to recent frost which has wiped out 25% of our crop. Bureau of Meteorology stated that it was a one in twenty year event. It will be a tough year in viticultural  terms, good news is we still have 75% we have water, and dry conditions could reduce the disease pressure.

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