I took these photos just south of the Marroondah Highway, Madden’s Lane. This area of the Yarra Yalley is somewhat warmer than others, so veraison (ripening), often occurs a week or two before other sub-regions of the Valley. Warramunda Estate owner and winemaker Rob Magdziarz informed me that January had been quite warm, and other grape varieties, including Shiraz were starting to show sighs of veraison. Rob indicated that it was looking similar to 2016, where the ripening period was quite compressed.This can place more pressure on the wineries – if many of the grape varieties ripen in quicker succession than usual