At its Koonunga Hill vineyard in the Barossa Valley, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has enclosed 14 hectares of luxury grape vines in a nylon canopy, as it prepares for more extreme climate events and changing regional conditions.
It’s the latest project in the company’s climate adaptation program, with several initiatives already implemented to be better prepared for a changing climate. These include long-range weather forecasting, smart irrigation, and water recycling, all of which are part of the wine maker adapting its viticulture practices for changing environmental conditions. TWE is looking to mitigate the predicted temperature increases and extreme weather events that are expected to create drier conditions in the Barossa Valley by the middle of this century.
The vineyard was planted in 2008 and has consistently produced luxury shiraz and cabernet sauvignon grapes for some of Penfolds best-known wines: Grange, Bin 707, St Henri Shiraz, and RWT (Red Winemaking Trial) Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz.
TWE’s director of wine and grape sourcing, Anthony Catanzariti, said, “The Koonunga Hill canopy is a significant investment in climate adaptation in one of Australia’s most significant growing regions, the Barossa Valley.
“As a key sourcing region for some of our best-known luxury shiraz and cabernet wines, having the right viticultural practices to farm to the changing conditions will shore up the supply of high-quality grapes for years to come.”
14 hectares of luxury grape vines in a nylon canopy.
The region’s topography sees hills around the Koonunga Hill vineyard create an amphitheatre, with cold air drainage making the area prone to frost and intensifying the impact of the hot northern wind.
TWE said the canopy offers a greater level of protection from these effects, helping create a more stable environment that reduces stress on the vines, less bird and hail damage, and reduced watering requirements.
TWE technical viticulturalist, Marcos Bonada, said water consumption in Vintage 2024 was almost a third lower for vines under the canopy.
“In a higher-risk water catchment area like the Barossa Valley, creating conditions where vines producing luxury grapes can thrive with less water is a significant step forward in our sustainability efforts.
“Investing in adaptations like canopies to improve vine and fruit quality in a changing climate will help protect the region’s international reputation for full-bodied red wines.”
TWE said while the experiment was still in its early phase, grapes harvested in the 2024 vintage in recent weeks had delivered promising results, with “earlier ripening, and vibrant, more intense colour on the fruit harvested under the canopy compared with the vineyards outside the canopy”.
The increasing use of technology to analyse real-time data on growing conditions features inside and outside the canopy at Koonunga Hill, and across a number of TWE’s global vineyards.
Solar-powered measuring equipment for surface temperature, rainfall, wind speed and direction, transpiration, moisture at various soil depths, canopy stress, and bunch weights, provide real-time comparisons of growing conditions, the company said.
