In the March Newsletter I wrote a fairly sobering summary of the 2007 vintage. Whilst the quality of wine produced was very high, the exceptionally low yields, and the prospect of no water for the following year was taking its toll on my morale. It is now, after some 300mm of rainfall over the last two weeks, quite amazing to reflect on those comments.

The Natural Disaster that occurred this June long weekend will now be remembered in the Hunter Valley as having brought one of the most extraordinary rainfall events in living memory. The devastation caused by two days of torrential rain is nothing short of incredible. Here in the Valley, every little river, creek or dam, that had lain barren for months or years erupted with extraordinary force. If there was a climax of events, it surely happened between the hours of 2 and 3am Saturday morning. At that time, our Vineyard Manager, Scot Ling was frantically stacking furniture at his parents’ home in Cessnock as the storm water drains surrounding the property threatened to overflow. As Black Creek broke its banks, a section of vineyard and fence line on Wilderness Rd was destroyed (see photo). Four cars were stranded in floodwaters on Lovedale road with the drivers and passengers forced to abandon their vehicles and flee to higher ground. Around this same time in Newcastle there were also those who could not escape their submerged vehicles and were saved only through the bravery of heroic individuals who came to their aide. One of these heroes included a professional Jet Skier who navigated the flooded streets of Newcastle on his jet ski all night saving some 30 people stranded on top of, or even inside, their vehicles. His most famous rescue was of a mother and baby who had been trapped in their car so long in the freezing water that had he not come when he did, doctors believe the baby would have died within an hour. With sunrise the rain eased and the scale of what occurred the night before was realised. Homes had been flooded, property had been destroyed, and lives had been lost.

If there is a positive to come out of the disaster experienced that long weekend, and I emphasise that alongside the great extent of human tragedy suffered over those three days I am reluctant to even mention it, is that every dam in the area is full. The rains brought a years’ supply of water to every vigneron and grazier from Lovedale to Denman. Whilst this water came to us from the skies and not through a pipeline, it was, by absolutely no means, free. In fact, the price that some people have had to pay for this water is greater than I will ever know…

Amazing destruction. A vineyard on Wilderness Road just 2 minutes from Wandin Valley cops the brunt of an overflowing creek.

Empty one day, full the next. The big dam at Wandin received a year's supply of water in just 48 hours.