The frost hit on Saturday morning, October 20, and already some vineyards operators, such as Margaret and Anthony Wallington at Nyrang Creek, have spent the past week pruning back affected Semillon varieties in the hope that later emerging shoots and bunches will develop.

Hamiltons Bluff, Bangaroo Ridge and Toms Waterhole were other vineyards that reported frost damage, with most others believed to have suffered to varying extents.

“It’s very heartbreaking,” said Jan Kerr of Toms Waterhole.

The frost damage at Toms Waterhole was particularly severe, with “only a couple of vines that didn’t get affected,” Mrs Kerr said.

She and her husband have spent the few days walking up and down the vineyard rows, breaking off dead shoots to the basal bud, in the hope that they will shoot again.

“With a bit of rain and warmth, we should get some fruit again,” she said, but crop yields will be certainly be down on estimates from early spring.

The effects of the freezing temperatures left their mark not only across the Cowra Wine Region (of which Canowindra is a part), but also at vineyards in the Canberra, Wagga, Gulgong, Mudgee, Young, Boorowa, Orange and Wellington wine areas.

Cowra Region Vineyard Association President Peter Fagan reported last week that although it was “hard to get a regional view”, the frost certainly gave many local vineyard owners and operators “a fright”.

According to Mr Fagan, the temperature in the early hours of last Saturday morning dropped to -1.8 degrees celcius for around an hour and a half, although others in the area reported drops to -3 degrees.

Mr Fagan stressed that it was too early to put a figure on the effects of the frost, adopting a ‘wait and see what grows’ attitude.

“We may lose bunches, but we need to see just what will happen,” he said.