2008 vintage as seen by Australian winemakers...

Rain... That's exactly what it takes in April to prepare the Chez Ray vines for autumn 2008 harvest...

Brief but interesting reports from Australia and New Zealand.

“A month ago I wrote that August and September were the all-important months in making the quality of a vintage. Well, August is almost done and to be honest, it has been grim – about 2ºC cooler, and already 40% wetter, than average. Thank goodness the forecast is perfect for at least the next week.” Read...

Our 2008 vintage began last spring with killing frosts. Two weeks later, extreme heat waves. The first reports of killing weather trickled out of Napa and Sonoma, where many vineyards lost over 30% of their spring growth and potential crop. Ho, we thought, at least we’re safe. But two weeks later, Paso was also visited by extreme cold, with a heat wave to follow. Although the damage in Paso...

A cool start to the season and a couple of hail storms have made a significant impact on the Burgundian growing season. Decanter has details . Heres the Clos de Perriers in Meursault on a nice day back in spring. Bookmark It Hide Sites

For destemming this year, I chose a new approach. An inverted plastic milk jug was placed over an empty 6 gallon pail. I scraped each bunch across the bucket, leaving grapes to fall in the pail, and a stripped stem in my hand. It actually worked pretty well. Here's the ...

France's two main newspapers have slammed the 2008 vintage, saying poor weather has jeopardised the quality of the harvest across the country...

A few words from Charles Sydney at harvest time.

Vintage 2008 is underway By all reports it is looking better in quantity at least better than last year, but It's big continent that we live on. I am collecting a few reports for you to browse at Australian Wine Vintage 2008 on Squidoo Contact me if you are a winemaker or grower and would like to share your experience with this vintage...