Coonawarra

1999 Coonawarra Vintage Report

After a dry winter, good rains in September arrived just in time to assist early growth, but this was nevertheless less vigorous than usual. Frost in late October brought minor damage to many vineyards, mostly to growing tips, but unfortunately struck the St George Vineyard badly and over half the crop was lost. November was dry and windy, although fruit set generally took place in good conditions. Cabernet sauvignon was the exception and cropped at a lower level than usual. The vines weathered the hot spell in early January well and cooler weather from mid February with badly needed light rain further eased the stress. Coonawarra had more March rain than elsewhere in the Limestone Coast, which prompted small outbreaks of botrytis, but these caused few difficulties.

The harvest started about two weeks early and continued in good conditions. The result was another excellent year in Coonawarra across all varieties. Sue Hodder describes the Wynns reds as "big and sturdy — very ripe with high alcohols and big tannins. They're a bit 1991-ish — wines that will need time to mellow — real cellaring wines". There will be good quantities of John Riddoch and Michael this year. Riesling is flavoursome and will be more forward, thanks to the warm summer, and chardonnay resembles the beautiful 1997 wine.

Paul Gordon at Rouge Homme is bubbling. "Excellent," he said. "Across the board, all the Rouge Homme wines will be pretty good. The pinot's very strong and full flavoured, and we've got a good quantity. The cabernet's ripe and minty with great fruit definition." Lindemans' Greg Clayfield talks of "incredible intensity". It's a shame the frost left us less than 2000 dozen St George, but it's a beauty, and Limestone Ridge and Pyrus are great, too."