Southern Forests wine region celebrating end of a promising 2023 vintage

The Southern Forests wine region is celebrating the end of a promising 2023 vintage with expectations for outstanding quality wines. The season’s cool wet spring followed by a consistent summer with no significant heat extremes and ‘low disease pressure’, bodes well for flavour development and an excellent vintage. Southern Forest Wine Region chair Andrew Mountford said it was a very good year for the region in terms of fruit quality, despite the harvest occurring a few weeks early for a number of vineyards. “We had a cool ripening season and we didn’t have too much rain, so we didn’t have too much disease pressure,” he said. “Certainly what I’m hearing is the chardonnay and the pinot were very good quality in this region — chardonnay seems to be a little bit lighter crop but very good quality and it was the perfect season for the pinot. “The scores I got from people of the fruit has been 8 or 9 out of 10.” Mr Mountford said the 2023 vintage was looking to be one of the region’s best yet. “I think most people are very happy with the quality of the fruit that they’ve got,” he said. “It’s one of the better vintages for sure. “I think it’s better than the year before.” Mr Mountford said he noted only one negative being bird problems — particularly Silvereyes — just before harvest as it was identified red gums had not produced large quantities of flowers during flowering season, December through to February. The positive results in the Southern Forest region align with that of the rest of the state. The State Government have added to the Western Australian wine industry’s end of vintage celebrations, launching Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Geology, soils and climate of WA’s wine regions publication as part of their continued support of the development of the industry. The guide provides technical information for wine producers to convey the special characteristics of WA’s wine regions and differentiate WA wines from other regions, nationally and internationally. “I know they (State Government) are hoping to have a wine symposium here next year in the region for sparkling wine,” Mr Mountford said. “It shows this area is producing a lot of grapes for sparkling wine. “It’s a good sign, a good development.” Regional Development Minister Don Punch said the State Government was working hand-in-hand with industry to capitalise on the tremendous opportunities for WA wine through the Wine Industry Export Growth Partnership — a collaboration between industry and government as part of the Future Food Systems Co-operative Research Centre, which has been active for the past two years. “This industry-led program is beginning to see dividends, with WA wine exports increasing in value by around seven per cent ($2.4 million) in 2022, despite it being a particularly challenging year,” he said. “There have been great steps to define the regional identity of our fine wine producing areas, and this is setting Western Australia apart.’’ Mr Punch said the WA wine industry was also starting work to set the direction for the industry over the next decade with consultation soon to begin to develop the 2024-2034 Strategic Plan.