SOUTH AUSTRALIA VINTAGE GUIDE
Most recent vintage first. Click a year to see what we have in stock.
2024 - A mild, dry season in the Barossa and McLaren Vale with a steady harvest produced ripe, balanced Shiraz and Grenache with good freshness and fine tannin. Early reports are strong; the wines arrive through 2026.
2023 - A cool, wet, late year — the latest harvest in memory — gave moderate-alcohol, aromatic, elegantly structured reds. Yields were down and the fruit needed sorting; the best are lovely and unusually fresh. Choose carefully.
2022 - A cool, mild season with a long, gentle ripening period produced fresh, perfumed, medium-bodied Shiraz and Grenache of real elegance — a vintage for those who find the Barossa too big. Excellent from the top estates.
2021 - A mild, dry, even season with a calm harvest gave beautifully balanced, structured, aromatic reds — rated among the best Barossa vintages in decades. Buy for the cellar.
2020 - Drought, December heat and bushfire smoke in the Adelaide Hills cut yields dramatically; the Barossa escaped the smoke and made concentrated, ripe wines in tiny quantity. Scarce; drink over the medium term.
2019 - - Adaptability by winemakers really came into play in the South Australia 2019 vintage. Late spring frosts and hail reduced yields in some areas by 50-90%, making this an extremely short vintage in locations like Eden Valley, McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills, Barossa, and Clare. While the quality of the grapes that did get harvested is high, there's just not a lot of wine to go around. Some regions, such as Hunter Valley and Coonawarra, largely escaped the vagaries of Mother Nature and managed to record normal yields. These areas are recommended in 2019, both for quality and quantity.
2018 - - 2018 was a benevolent vintage in South Australia. A wet (but not too wet) spring was followed by a warm, dry summer and a mild, extended fall, particularly suitable for late-ripening grapes and cool areas. Yields were generous. In sum, there's not much to say about the 2018s—except to buy up as much of the vintage as you can.
2017 - In 2017, much of the Australian wine world breathed sighs of relief from the previous drought years. Above-average winter rains and cool spring temperatures in many regions restored the water table and set the vintage clock back to normal after a series of hot and early harvests. Barossa and the Adelaide Hills stood out for their Rieslings and Cabernets, respectively. In Coonawara, the vintage beautifully augmented the distinctive character of the region's hallmark Cabernet Sauvignons. Victoria's Yarra Valley enjoyed a vintage of generational quality with the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in over 25 years, while the same weather conditions prevailed in Mornington Peninsula, resulting in what many consider the finest Chardonnay and Pinot Gris ever produced here. For a region as vast as South Australia, it's fair to say that 2017 was an excellent vintage, overall.
2016 - One of the shortest seasons on record, with warm and dry conditions persisting from start to finish. Producers were forced to work double-time at harvest to bring in all the fruit in a timely fashion (yields were up significantly from the previous two vintages). Nonetheless, the finished wines are showing very good initial balance and phenolic ripeness. Despite the compressed time frame, 2016 should become a winner for fans of classic South Australia regions.
2015 - According to most a “textbook” vintage. Near perfect conditions prevailed throughout the growing season. Wines are robust, pure and structured. A record heat spike in February meant that winemakers had to be on their toes to pull in fruit before it got too ripe.
2014 - A roller coaster vintage. Frosts caused issues in the spring, rains and wind disrupted flowering and fruit set, then near record heat spikes affect vines during mid-summer. Harvest started early before being stopped in it’s tracks by multiple inches of rain. Despite the challenges faced the best sites and producers made some good wines, but certainly a vintage to follow the producers you know and trust.
2013 - A warm, early vintage with some pronounced heat spikes. Quite big, dark, forward wines. Some great wines were made but the best of 2010 and 2012 will surpass them with time.
2012 - Well hydrated vines from the deluge of 2011 produced and good crop of beautiful fruit across the region. The wines are lush, rich and powerful. Many are quite forward in their youth unlike the 2010s, but will no doubt age very well also.
2011 - A very challenging vintage. The coldest and wettest most can remember. But, and there is always a but, some good wines were made by those who were exceptionally selective and with ancient vineyards that seen vintages like this in the past.
2010 - A cool, even season after years of drought gave balanced, elegant, finely structured reds — one of the best vintages of the decade. The top Shiraz is superb now.
2009 - A savage January heatwave shrivelled fruit and cut yields; the wines are ripe, forward and uneven. Drink up.
2008 - A fine season until a March heatwave compressed the harvest; the early-picked wines are excellent, the rest overripe. Choose by producer.
2007 - Frost, drought and heat produced a small crop of ripe, concentrated, sometimes unbalanced wines. Mature; drink.
2006 - A warm, dry, early year gave ripe, full, generous Shiraz with soft tannin. Very good; mature now.
2005 - A mild, even season produced balanced, structured, age-worthy wines — one of the best Barossa vintages of the decade. The top wines are still excellent.
2004 - A large crop from a long, mild season gave ripe, generous, well-balanced reds. Very good; drinking well.
2003 - A hot, dry year produced ripe, heavy, low-acid wines that matured fast. Drink up.
2002 - A cool, late year — the coolest in decades — gave intense, concentrated, finely structured wines with unusual freshness. Excellent; the best are still superb.
2001 - A hot summer produced ripe, powerful, full-bodied Shiraz. Mature now; drink.
2000 - A cool, wet, difficult year gave light, variable wines. Past their best.