The Sauvignon Blanc grapes being picked by Mohamad Muzamil and the team at the Domaine A vineyard in Southern Tasmania are being handled carefully.
With yields down across the island state, every Tasmanian grape this vintage is precious.
Domaine A and Moorilla winemaker Conor van der Reest has inspected the group's three vineyards in the north and south of Tasmania and the grape numbers don't look good.
"We're probably down 60 per cent to 80 per cent and some of the other friends I've got in the industry are saying they're down between 80 and 90 per cent on some sites," Mr van der Reest said.
"Tasmania's a funny kind of place in that we have lots of different regions. If one area is down it tends to be down across the whole state, whether it's our West Tamar vineyard or out here in the Coal River Valley."
Tricky growing season
While official harvest numbers aren't in yet, there is consensus the growing season has been challenging.
Paul Smart from industry body Wine Tasmania said it has been a variable season around the state.
"Some parts of Tasmania are beginning to finish, other parts of the state haven't picked a berry yet," Mr Smart said.
In the Huon Valley, Mother Nature has caused havoc in vineyards over the past few years.
In 2019 smoke taint from bushfires saw grapes dumped and in December last year, a short but vicious hailstorm ripped through three vineyards, stripping off leaves and breaking shoots.
Huon Valley winemaker Kate Hill saw her crops destroyed.
"It was really localised … it's almost like the clouds came over and said, 'ok we're going for that today' and down came the hail," Ms Hill said.
It destroyed any chance of good fruit growth and had a devastating effect on the 2022 vintage
The winemaker is now scrambling to pull two tonnes of fruit from her vines; she was expecting 16 tonnes.
A lean year
New contract wine maker Dr Island is feeling the impact.
It set up in Tasmania's south before the 2021 vintage, yields were down then as well.
"A lot of our intakes are not what we'd thought they'd be. It's just a light year, so we're probably about 30-per-cent down," said Bobby Kuhne, winemaker at Dr Island's processing facility.
"We've got less work, less fruit coming in, less wine going out … it's just going to be a slim couple of years I think."
It's also a race to get fruit.
"It's quite competitive now in the fruit market, especially with low yields," the young winemaker said.
The flip side
But there's a flip side to the low yields, as grape quality is high statewide.
"We're left with a small crop, with really concentrated flavours," Mr van der Reest said.
As demand for a Tassie drop continues to rise, getting your hands on a bottle of the next vintage will be harder than ever.
