Tassie vineyards to reap reward of dry season

THE hot, dry hot summer has been brutal for many Tasmanian farmers but a blessing for those growing grapes with some yields up 50 per cent this year. The state’s 2015 vintage was moderate, yielding the equivalent of about 620,000 cases realising a farmgate value of more than $65 million. However, Paul Williams from Wobbly Boot vineyard in the Coal River Valley told the Mercury that this season his grapes were in weighty bunches with uniform growth and he expected to yield 50 per cent more than last year.