AGRICULTURAL authorities are confident they can contain an outbreak of the vine-eating disease phylloxera in the Macedon Ranges and limit damage to the region’s multi-million-dollar wine industry.
The Department of Primary Industries discovered the louse on vines near Romsey last week and has set up a five-kilometre quarantine zone.
DPI plant standards manger Patrick Sharkey said the microscopic louse, which lives off the roots and slowly kills vines, was often difficult to detect and could take years to reveal symptoms.
He said DPI investigators would assess the extent of the infestation at the vineyard in coming weeks and attempt to establish a cause.
‘‘One of our main tasks is to trace all the contacts from the infested vineyard and that includes transfer of harvesting equipment or use of bins,’’ he said
He said soil was one of the largest causes of the bug being transferred from infected areas and said grape bins, vehicles, workers and other visitors among the vines were all possible agents.
‘‘We will also be working with the local wineries to ensure visitors are kept well away from vineyards,’’ he said.
He said the geographic isolation of each vineyard in the region would also aid containment, but said the quarantine would not affect cellar door operations.
Mr Sharkey said the outbreak highlighted the importance of each wine region’s phylloxera status and the use of permits and protocols for anything moving from region to region, although he doubted it would endanger other central Victorian wine regions’ reputation as phylloxera free.
‘‘The biggest problem is how other states consider the proximity of the Macedon Ranges to Bendigo and Heathcote, and in this way, this is a national decision,’’ he said ‘‘But I still anticipate they will meet the (phylloxera exclusion zone) conditions, but we will be under more scrutiny and will be required to engage in a lot more survey work of vineyards we have begun, and this is expensive investigation.’’ Rochford winery owner Helmut Konecsny confirmed the infestation had been found in vineyards the company leased at Romsey Park Estate, and believed planting material was the most likely cause.
Mr Konecsny said the company, which owns a multi-million-dollar winery, restaurant and music venue in the Yarra Valley, would decide on a strategy of containment or eradication when the DPI confirmed the extent of the phylloxera.
But he confirmed the quarantine would mean grapes from the cool climate vineyard at Macedon would not be moved to their Yarra Valley operation.
‘‘We will have to process grapes within the zone or move them into another area with phylloxera,’’ Mr Konecsny said.
But he said while the disease had the potential to reduce yield it did not affect wine quality.
A winery consultant who does work on phylloxera for the DPI, John Whiting, said Bendigo and Heathcote had the advantage of being largely independent wineries, with limited supply or equipment exchanges with wineries outside the region.
‘‘Most of the wineries grow their own grapes, make their own wine and use all their own machinery,’’ he said