Jimbour Vineyard Met Station

Spring temperatures were mild and bud burst was during the first two weeks of September. Minimum temperatures (5.5-16.3 oC) averaged 10.7, maximum temperatures (13.5-31.3 o) averaged 24.5. Rain was 22 mm (6 d). There are no term averages for comparison. October remained mild with modest rainfall. Minimum temperatures (7.9-20.0 oC) averaged 13.2, maximum temperatures (21.0-33.7) averaged 25.6 o; a minimum 0.5 o higher than average, a maximum 2.7o lower than average. Rain was 74 mm (8 d). November remained mild with ample rain. Minimum temperatures (9.2-20.6 oC) averaged 14.1, maximum temperatures (19.5-33.6) averaged 29.5 o; a minimum 1.4 o below average, a maximum 0.6 o lower than average. Rain was 66 mm (10 d). December also remained mild with half of the days of the month cloud covered and showery. The rainfall influences came from the south west corner of the state where significant rain fell in the channel country and produced a month of flooding further west. Minimum temperatures (13.4-22.0 oC) averaged 17.8, maximum temperatures (25.2-33.2) averaged 29.6 o; a minimum 0.1o above the average, a maximum 2.3 o lower than average. Rain was 109 mm (16 d). The second half of December has been under the influence of a rain depression (997 mbar) situated 300 km off Fraser Island. The end of the month has been typified by wind gusts of 40-60 km/hr which assisted humidity reduction and played havoc with spray programs.

Moffatdale 26 oC (South Burnett); Jimbour 29oC (Darling Downs); Pokolbin 27 oC (Hunter); Ballandean 21 oC (Granite Belt); Stirling 32 oC (Adelaide Hills); Mildura 40 oC (Murray); Tanunda 41 oC (Barossa); Gin Gin 32 oC (Swan); Margaret River 27 oC.

Kingaroy Airport Met Station

Spring temperatures were mild and bud burst was 1-2 weeks late around mid-September. A late burst of very hot weather in the last week of September pushed vines faster than expected then mild weather again prevailed in early October. October remained mild with modest rainfall. Minimum temperatures (5.2-20.0 oC) averaged 13.0, maximum temperatures (21.2-33.5) averaged 28.9 o; a minimum 1.2 o higher than average, a maximum 1 o higher than average. Rain was 61 mm (7 d), 4 mm above average. November remained mild with less rain. Minimum temperatures (7.6-19.0 oC) averaged 14.2, maximum temperatures (17.7-32.7) averaged 26.8 o; a minimum the same as average, a maximum 2.1 o lower than average. Rain was 37 mm (9 d), 33 mm below average. December also remained mild with many cloud covered, showery days to maintain the green drought. Minimum temperatures (11.6-20.5 oC) averaged 17.2, maximum temperatures (22.4-32.5) averaged 28.3 o; a minimum 0.4o above the average, a maximum 3.0 o lower than average. Rain was 67 mm (16 d), 28 mm below average. The second half of December has been under the influence of a rain depression (997 mbar) situated 300 km off Fraser Island. This brought cloudy skies conducive to powdery mildew infection (some reports), showery weather though some big falls have waterlogged some vineyards but no general flooding. Some water harvesting occurred for two days before the authorities called a halt. The end of the month has been typified by wind gusts of 30-60 km/hr which assisted any humidity reduction.

A few grapes remain in the South Burnett-Taabinga are taking cabernet off this coming Tuesday yet their merlot is two weeks away (hail abused), and Ziebath also has merlot hanging. Clovely have petit verdot sitting out, and this seems to take forever to improve on 12.5 Baume. Tomorrow Barambah harvest the remaining semillon for rack dried sticky(16-17 Baume) holding up well under nets. The earlier grapes were in at 13 Baume and have air dried up to 21 Baume.

Serious rain has avoided the South Burnett-even what looked like the first cyclone since 1977 to take aim at the south-east corner, named “Odette” for 24 hours fizzled out. The Granite Belt is mid-vintage and is having to contend with hot days and periodic drizzle-there is some botrytis around as some growers have become complacent during the dry stretches! Concurrently I noticed few grapes still hanging in the Lower Hunter on February 23 during a brief visit-they were at Lakes Folly, and obviously the cabernet. During the afternoon sun showers delayed the desired process. Unlike Queensland yields Hunter Valley yields are reported to be near normal. However the Hunter harvest was terribly concentrated into short crushing windows with shiraz overlapping chardonnay-one property crushed 2000 tonnes out of its 2500 tonne intake in a fortnight!

March is supposedly the first month of autumn yet the maximum temperatures here spiked over 30 oC again.