Producers pivot in uncertain vintage

At Sam Statham's vineyard the usual stability of the region has brought its peaks and troughs.

"The great thing about Cowra against the high country, is we're guaranteed to have a ripe crop, it's not always guaranteed in the cooler climates. Our Vermentino is looking as good as it's ever been," he said.

The owner of Rosnay Organic Wines, Statham suffered a setback with a young crop damaged by an early frost. "We were hoping to get a Saperavi," he said. "We'll get some next year."

Unpredictable weather conditions have affected wine grape growers across the country. Chief Executive of Australian Wine and Grape, Lee McLean, told the Cowra Guardian conditions were not as dire as previous years.

"It's a challenging vintage... with a cool and wet summer, then you have quite wet and humid weather you start to run the risk of things like disease pressure coming into play," he said.

The 2024 vintage comes in the wake of an international oversupply of wine, with Australian wine estimated to have a 2.1 billion bottle excess. McLean said the impact had been felt across the industry.

"There's a bigger trend happening, people tend to be drinking less," he said. "We're seeing volumes of consumption decline across the world, this isn't just Australian, it's European, it's American, everywhere else."

At Windowrie Estate, Jason O'Dea has crossed his fingers for a 'nice dry finish' to the season.

"Apart from one or two adverse events that have caused loss of yields...it has actually been quite an optimal growing season," he said. "I have to say this is one of the best quality seasons that I've seen."

The challenge, O'Dea said, was Cowra faced a lack of 'regionality' - missing the opportunity to foster a connection to an area similar to famed wine regions in Europe, known for their hospitality, and where local producers are held in high regard.

"We have so much to offer and can grow so much," he said. "We have access to markets like Canberra and Sydney so we have to talk about how we live in a great region."

"I ask that people continue to ask for local when they're at a restaurant... It's not just the wine, but the fruit and veg offerings on the menu."

Local is at the forefront at the Cowra Visitor Centre, with Kurt Overzet ready and willing to help people support local producers.

"We stock a lot of local produce here. We're really the front facing part that makes the wine region more accessible. [People] recognise the wines here, that's the entry point to them interacting with the wine region.

"From there, we do wine tastings and let them know there's a farm tour that they might want to check out."

Tours, farm stays and wine events are all signs the industry is changing, Overzet said.

"It's so important to pivot into other areas and agritourism is such a good place to do it."