THE consensus from Swan Valley wine producers is that this year’s vintage will be a bumper crop.

With most wineries already well into harvesting their white wine varieties, Garbin Estate winemaker Adam Garbin said they expected to harvest about 65 tonnes of fruit this year from their Swan Valley and Gingin wineries.

“We are even up to harvesting our first parcel of fruit for the red wines at the moment and thanks to the cool nights and a mild spring and summer so far, things are progressing nicely for this time of year.”

Sandalford Wines chief executive officer Grant Brinklow said it was fortunate for the vintage that the summer heat had not been like a blast furnace so far and they had already harvested their Swan Valley fruit.

“According to the head winemaker, it is looking like some of the best fruit he has seen for years.”

He added he was expecting some great wines to be available in May, including chenin blanc, verdelho and rose.

Nikola Estate chief winemaker Damian Hutton said the cooler start to the growing season had really helped the harvest and they were also expecting a bumper vintage with no crop damage or disease.

“I expect the rose and chenin blanc varieties in particular to age well,” he said.

Upper Reach handcrafted wines winemaker Lauren Pileggi said the slightly later start to vintage this year was partly due to the wet winter, cooler spring and a mild start to summer.

“This season, we’ve had quite beneficial weather leading to better quality grapes,” Ms Pileggi said.

“This has given the vines a longer growing season and with the mild start to summer, the grapes are ripening a little slower.”

Ms Pileggi, who is also the Swan Valley Winemaker’s Association president, said a longer ripening period meant the grapes and resulting wine would have more intense flavours and complex characteristics.

“I’m definitely really looking forward to this year’s Swan Valley wine show to see all the new 2026 white wines,” she said.