The 1998 growing season started extremely wet. A wet winter was followed by a cold spring. With May came a burst of warmth, records showing a 40cm shoot growth over the weekend of 8-11 May.
Although the start to the season was slow the conditions led to a good recovery of the canopies resulting in healthy and vigorous canopies which continued for longer than normal. From flowering to the beginning of harvest there was no rain.
The month of July was consistently hot with the monthly average temperature being amongst the highest on record. The first two weeks of August were extremely hot with daily temperatures rising well above 40ºC.
The second half of August and early September returned to normal temperatures for the region with warm/hot days and moderate nights.
The weather during the harvest was very testing, with most days seeing rainfall. Although it rained throughout the harvest, the grapes resisted well and almost no bunch rot was found.
