By Amy Looker
A mountainside vineyard in Mudgee has officially clocked in as the coolest in the country during this vintage's ripening period.
Meteorological data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) for the ripening period of December 2011 through to February 2012 reveals that Mudgee's Nullo Mountain vineyard experienced a significantly cooler period than other Australian vineyards.
Using the measurement of degree days, Nullo Mountain experienced 488 degree days during the ripening period compared to the second coolest, Scottsdale in Tasmania, with 627 degree days.
The highest December maximum temperature at Nullo Mountain was a mere 22.8 degrees, which vineyard owner, David Lowe of Lowe Wines, said will have a positive impact on his aromatic whites.
"We have all the resources in this vineyard to make some of the country's best Rieslings, Pinot Grigios and other aromatic wines. The degree days during these key ripening periods, the cool nights, the high sunshine hours and reliable rainfall are near perfect," Lowe said.
"If the weather during vintage is right, then it will only be my fault if we screw it up."
The BoM data shows that while Nullo Mountain is the coolest vineyard for 2012, it was the fourth coolest during the 2011 vintage, when Tasmania's Scottsdale came in as the coolest with 515 degree days.