Upper Yarra
Tuesday, 21 March, 2023
More Queensland Fruit Fly detected
Call for clarity on landslip repairs
Nike and Puma scrap kangaroo leather
Coming together for Cultural Diversity Week
PAGE 3
PAGE 5
PAGE 6
PAGE 7
A Star News Group Publication
Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808
12496493-NG22-21
Tyler with a ripe and colourful bunch.
Picture: CALLUM LUDWIG
Balgownie Estate’s harvest was carefully timed to ensure maximum flavour in the finished products. Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
From vine to wine By Tanya Steele and Callum Ludwig From pickers at Balgownie Estate and Morgan’s Winery and Distillery to students at Upper Yarra Secondary College, the time of year has struck for grapes to be picked and sent away to make some of the Yarra Valley’s worldfamous wines. Cool weather conditions over summer have pushed back picking time to between two to four weeks in many parts of the Yarra Valley,
with wineries working long hours trying to pick crops before the weather turns. Tony Winspear from Balgownie Estate said it has been a busy time trying to get the summer harvest picked in time. “We are flat out at the moment, it’s a busy time, you have to start hedging your bets around late March and into April, with wet weather impacting the picking,” he said. “We’ve managed to pick our pinot and it is looking fantastic, although the crops were
down a little bit, the quality is looking really, really nice. You don’t pick until you drop, because if the flavour isn’t there then you aren’t potentially going to make the sort of wine you need to make.” Wineries in the Upper Yarra, which is slightly cooler than across the Valley, have only started picking this week with Michelle Gunther of Morgan’s Winery and Distillery in Seville anticipating they will begin picking their pinot and chardonnay varieties in the
Computer Colour Matching
next few weeks. Innovation Specialist and VET teacher Marcus Cook got the call late on Thursday 16 March that it was time to pick and students got straight to work on Friday, and he said the school had a really good harvest this year. “We’ve had high rainfall and temperate summer, which is what pinot seems to like. Compared to last year, we harvested about two and a half tonnes, and today we’re hoping to harvest four and a half,” he said.
YARRA RANGES
12572911-SG42-22
12423653-LB32-19
9737 6833
24d John St., LILYDALE
SPECIALISTS IN •SplitSystems •DuctedHeating andCooling •GasApplianceSales andInstallation
Ph: 5966 9999
AU36010
OPEN: MON-FRI 6.30am-5.00pm SAT 8.00am-12.00noon
12339093-LB07-17
GAS HEAT & COOL