Firecracker vintage will deliver the goods: Margaret River winemakers celebrate 2024 wrap

Vintners have celebrated an end to this year’s rapid-fire vintage, with all indicators the early start to the season hasn’t affected the overall outcome.

Instead, wine growers were quietly crowing about the quality of the fruit for Margaret River’s best known varietals despite the earliest vintage on record and a lack of rain.

The only downside to the early start was a slight drop in overall volumes and exhaustion for picking crews, winemakers across the region said — though many enjoyed time off at Easter for the first time in recent memory as well.

“It was a very different vintage, but has turned out pretty well,” Deep Woods Estate’s Julian Langworthy said.

“2024 was the most compressed and earliest vintage I have completed in Margaret River.

“Very warm and just about completely dry. It could undoubtedly be described as unusual. Early on, I held some concerns for wine quality off the back of these conditions, but I have been very pleasantly surprised.”

Chardonnay and cabernet proved stand-outs again, which Mr Langworthy said was reminiscent of 2022’s excellent vintage.

Stella Bella Wines chief winemaker Luke Joliffe told the Times the 2024 vintage “defies all expectations”.

“Sunshine was abundant, vines were happy, and flavours developed quickly,” he said.

“Good viticulture reigned supreme and being down south in the cooler part of Margaret River was a relief.”

A decision not to clear leaves from semillon and sauvignon blanc proved an excellent decision.

Despite summer temperatures being favourable, the cover protected the fruit during 11 days of 30C-plus days in February.

The Margaret River Wine Association summed up the official outcome with its annual vintage report which said yields were down about 8 per cent on last year, but just 2 per cent on the five-year average.

Mr Joliffe said decisions made in vineyards would lead to good outcomes for all varieties this year, but the “dark horse” to watch was the lesser-known sangiovese.

The winemaker said modest yields and no rain made for “smaller berries and great intensity with delicious ripe tannin”.