Howard Park maestro Jeff Burch says this year’s vintage was “fast and furious” and looking great, especially for white wines.
The Cowaramup winery owner said the 2025 grape harvest was looking to beat last year’s record for hectic pace.
Furthermore, veraison had occurred simultaneously across all of his South West key winegrowing regions, which was unusual.
“We are approximately 50 per cent through our harvest this year, with all of our sparkling, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and semillon picked, and riesling up next week,” he said.
“This is very early for us historically, with half of our vintage picked before the end of February.
“Not only is this year ahead by two-to-three weeks, but surprisingly, every region and variety has ripened at the same time: northern Margaret River, southern Margaret River and Mount Barker all have fruit ready to pick simultaneously.”
Mr Burch put the phenomenon down to excessive heat in recent years affecting the fruiting of vines this year.
The news follows reports from other winemakers that vintage 2025 was shaping up to be a ripper, with great conditions leading to a more standard start to harvest than last year which pulled the trigger early.
Stella Bella winemaker Luke Joliffe said his vineyards were bearing fruit for an “exciting vintage”.
“Warm and humid conditions through January look to have closed the gap in maturity between red and white varietals,” he said.
“Humidity can also promote good tannin ripeness which is key for cabernet sauvignon.”
Juniper Estate assistant vineyard manager Dan Stocker said conditions were ideal in the lead up to harvesting.
Mr Burch said the compacted vintage was a test for the winemaking teams.
While it wasn’t unusual for Margaret River vignerons to work around the clock during vintage, the broad seasonality meant more travel between vineyards than normal.
Howard Park chief winemaker Nic Bowen’s team had their work picked out for them, Mr Burch said.
“The weather has been perfect — warm days, cool nights, no disease pressure, and above-average yields, delivering clean, ripe fruit full of flavour while still holding great acidity,” he said.
“Chardonnay is looking fantastic, and there will be plenty of it.”
Mr Burch also said reds were “colouring up beautifully” in moves set to bring intensity to flavour and consistency.
https://thewest.com.au/news/augusta-margaret-river-times/fast-and-furious-season-for-margaret-river-vintage-as-conditions-sharpen-for-2025-whites-looking-great-c-18088294
