Canberra region wine stocks are drying up as record numbers of visitors flock to cellar doors

For wine producers across Canberra and Murrumbateman, this year has been particularly tough.

The devastating summer bushfires blanketed the region in thick smoke, destroying their ripening crop.

“The smoke taint was so bad, it wasn’t worth harvesting,” Greg Gallagher, winemaker at Gallagher Wines in Jeir, said.

“We offered our grapes to local farmers to feed their animals but that offer was knocked back so we just left the fruit on the vines to rot.”

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and winemakers had to close their cellar doors.

“We had no cellar door visits and we had very few wholesale sales because pubs, clubs and restaurants had to close as well,” Mr Gallagher said.

“So financially, we took a very, very big hit.”