VINTAGE 2010 will be remembered as the earliest ever harvest for many vignerons across southeast Australia.
At Whiteheads Creek near Seymour, CSIRO chairman John Stocker has already picked his shiraz and is harvesting cabernet sauvignon this week.
It is a full month earlier than normal and Dr Stocker's earliest vintage since establishing his Brave Goose Vineyard 22 years ago.
Dr Stocker said a gentle summer had contributed to the early harvest because it meant his vines had not "shut down" during extreme heat.
He said a light crop had also helped accelerate maturity and there was "no doubt" in his mind that climate change was playing a role.
At Heathcote, Ian Rathjen, of Whistling Eagle Vineyard, said it was his earliest harvest.
Mr Rathjen started picking in mid-February and finished on March 4.
He said yields were down about 20 per cent, but fruit quality was excellent thanks to a long, even ripening period that was not plagued by extreme heat or cold.
At Rutherglen, Warrabilla Wines proprietor Andrew Sutherland Smith said he decided to pick most of his shiraz and durif on March 2 and 3 - two to three weeks earlier than he would have preferred.
Mr Sutherland Smith said he picked early to avoid the torrential rain that fell across Victoria on March 6 and 7.
"For people (with fruit close to ripeness) who went early, the stuff picked before the rain is good and the stuff after the rain is crap," he said.
