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Sunday, June 15, 2025

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Wine Grapes
Wine Grapes

Needed rain welcome, needed better prices also welcome

ON that very important day of Anzac Day we also had a very welcome 63mm of rain. It was great to give the vines a good drink, and also to wash in the compost which we had spread just before the rain came. Sometimes it really all does come...

18 May 2025
Wine Grapes

Grapes on the go

WE completed our wine grape harvest with the last three trucks of Lambrusco Maestri last week. We are happy with the result and only had to harvest a small amount onto the ground that couldn’t be sold. Fertiliser is being put through the irrigation...

26 Apr 2025
Wine Grapes

Harvest a slightly happier affair in 2025

The winegrape harvest has, as always, been hectic. Following this, our last full-on week, we hope to catch our breath a bit and work through our last few varieties and the last blocks of contract harvesting during the next few weeks, and at a much...

25 Apr 2025
North West Farmer

Harvest is rolling and so is the wildlife

COLIN FREE THE wine grape harvest is now in full swing, with the earlier ripening white varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio coming off first. Although the other whites and reds won’t be too far away. And I’m delighted to...

21 Feb 2025
Wine Grapes

Crackdown on wine industry practices

MURRAY Valley Winegrowers has welcomed a Federal Government decision to conduct an independent review of contractual practices in the industry in response to some stakeholder’s concerns. Chief executive Paul Derrico said making the code...

08 Feb 2025
Wine Grapes

Warm welcome to the new year

THE big picture scenario in the wine job will not change until a joint effort to remove the more than 20 million litres of surplus of red wine hanging over the industry like a dark cloud is addressed. Without it, all we can...

21 Jan 2025
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Getting into the swing of the season

GRAPEVINES are liking the recent dry weather; most varieties have completed the flowering process and are at the setting stage. Obviously if we have a poor fruit set, we have fewer berries and overall, less fruit, but it still all looks...

25 Nov 2024
Wine Grapes

Hardly springing into the spring

SPRING has certainly sprung, but in some ways it is a little bit too early, with grapevines emerging ahead of schedule. This comes on top of our protracted dry conditions, which is leaving us exposed to frost damage. We managed to escape any serious...

19 Oct 2024
North West Farmer

Having a grape time down on the farm

THE warmer weather is great for the grapevines and hopefully the chance of further frosts has now passed, and we can dodge the summer storms that some say are ahead. Many wine regions have seen losses from the frosts last month, but it’s looking...

19 Oct 2024
Wine Grapes

The whiff of spring is welcomed

Spring is on the way, with the days lengthening quickly. It’s nearly light now when I jog out the door for my morning run. Oops, I mean wobble out the door to the ute so I can drive it to the tractor. It’s week 12 of machine pruning and we have now...

17 Aug 2024
Wine Grapes

Crush revival delivers region massive financial injection

The 2024 Murray Darling-Swan Hill grape crush was up a whopping 38 per cent on the previous year at 282,338 tonnes. And while Murray Valley Winegrowers chief executive Paul Derrico said that total was still 14 per cent below the local industry’s...

20 Jul 2024
Wine Grapes

Farmers’ salty teardrops as snails are en route for Paris

MACHINE pruning is ongoing – with still a fair way to go. And, at the same time, trying to do a tidy job to lessen the inevitable and expensive hand clean up job, is important. The annual wine grape crush figures for last year are also out (you can...

20 Jul 2024
Wine Grapes

Grape crush numbers rise

THE 2024 Murray Darling-Swan Hill grape crush was up 38 per cent on the previous year at 282,338 tonnes new data has shown. But Murray Valley Winegrowers chief executive Paul Derrico said that total is still 14 per cent below the local industry’s...

12 Jul 2024
Wine Grapes

Snails racing as big chill exposes job ahead

It’s pruning time in the vineyard, and the leaves have gone, exposing a view of the job ahead. Vines will be machine pruned and given a tidy up by hand later on. There are also plenty of industry meetings on currently – with bugger all good news...

23 Jun 2024
Wine Grapes

Spotlight on wine future

INDUSTRY and government big guns will be in Mildura next Wednesday, when critical issues confronting wine-grape growers and winemakers headline the Murray Valley Winegrowers Outlook Forum. MVW chief executive Paul Derrico said speakers...

07 Jun 2024
Wine Grapes

All’s quiet, but sadly it might get even quieter

WE have just had 11 marvellous millimetres of rain from the recent event – and it was most welcome. While all our grapevines are just about dormant, they will still require wet roots to keep them happy until we get...

20 May 2024
Wine Grapes

Industry rejects ‘no relief’ in Budget for wine growers

Australian Grape & Wine has condemned what it describes as “the lack of assistance for grape growers and winemakers in the Albanese Government’s budget”.After suffering significantly from the protracted tariff war with China, AGW has...

19 May 2024