Yarra Valley Truffles: Fresh Perigord Black Winter Truffle grown near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Located one hour from Melbourne, in volcanic red soil amongst the undulating hills of Victoria's Yarra Valley, and surrounded by vineyards, the cool climate is similar to the Perigord region of France from where the Black Winter Truffle (Tuber melanosporum) originates. Cold winters, warm summers and high rainfall of the Yarra Valley region are beneficial to both truffle and wine production.

Our truffiére is maintained organically, promoting a fully natural, healthy soil & environment. This fosters the delicate relationship between the truffle and tree, without interference from fertilisers or herbicides.

The truffiére was planted in 2006 and our first Truffles were found in 2011.
With observation and research into all aspects of truffle growing, the production of our truffiére has continued to expand each year.

2024 Season

• ✔ end August-September 2023
  • Heavy pruning started... but then was delayed due to injury
  • Planning mode determined several options for future development, some severe actions such as tree removal are likely.
• ✔ December: Aeration and heavy pruning recommencing... Excess Shade=No Truffles!
• ✔ January 2024: 150mm rainfall throught the month, no irrigation required! Overcast weather decreases growth/size but truffles are growing well so far
• ✔ February: Irrigation to be applied. Locate & protect a percentage of vulnerable truffles. Labour input will be adjusted to expected market demand.
• ✔ March-May: Truffle growth continues, Record breaking cold throughout April & May has resulted in an earlier than expected  small supply of decent truffles for the very start of Winter!
• ✔June: Harvesting and sales has already commenced, supply will rapidly increase over next few weeks.
• mid-June through July/August : Peak season, weather permitting


• ✔August:
• Forecast for a warmer winter may still lead to a long season like 2021?
OR

• As anticipated the early-cold start and the cold snap start of July did see all truffles ripened and finished early, with all other Spring indicators confirming season mostly over by the end of August.
  -updated 31st of August
• September: It all starts again, preparation for next season commences.

2023 Season

2023 Truffle Season ran 17th June - 31st August
Overall, the cool summer resulted in a small harvest, but great quality.

• ✔ September - November 2022: Most orchard work prevented by very high rainfall,
  October 270mm, November 110mm, cold conditions meant slow spring growth for all farms in the region
• ✔ December: Aeration and pruning. Dry conditions started, only 3 decent rainfalls midDec to midMarch

• ✔ January 2023: Commencement of Irrigation (late). 20mm Rainfall
• ✔February: Late signs of truffles in soil mid Feb. Irrigation. 30mm Rainfall
• ✔March: Widespread truffle signs, some damage from the dry spell. 115mm Rainfall
• ✔April: Removal of truffles damaged by rot or insects, and protection measures commenced. Current losses are quite acceptable. 111mm Rainfall
• ✔May:
  • Final flush of truffles, and preparations for season
  • Monitoring development to determine season commencement date for properly ripe truffle. As always this will only appear once it is properly cold and frosty. 112mm Rainfall
• ✔June:
  Season commenced early-June. Hopefully the cold weather stays with us. Economic Climate will be an additional concern this year, {home cooked truffle dishes save money :) }
  • First few truffles 3rd June, full quality a few weeks later
    98mm Rainfall, luckily not as frequent as in 2022, truffles are still healthy.
• July-August Peak season, weather permitting
  • Harvest volume increased dramatically post Solstice
• SEPTEMBER: Late Season, Good time for Truffle Hunts. Season End will be influenced by sales demand and weather factors.
  

2022 Season

2022 Truffle Season ran 21st June - 12th September 

{Post season note: Frequent rain throughout June reduced oxygen to truffles, as they were beginning to ripen. Very few large or deep truffles survived.}

• ✔ September 2021: soil preparation, pruning, applying truffle spore to trees, etc.
• ✔ October-November 2021: Cold & wet, better truffle weather than Winter 2021 was, but too late to be useful
• ✔ December: Drought conditions 9mm Rainfall
• ✔ January 2022: Commencement of Irrigation (late). 72mm Rainfall
• ✔February: First signs of truffles in soil. Irrigation. 8mm Rainfall
• ✔March: Widespread truffle signs, but protecting developing truffles left for later to reduce labour input. 82mm Rainfall
• ✔April: Removal of truffles damaged by rot or insects, and protection measures commenced. Current losses are quite acceptable.
• ✔May:Final flush of truffles, and preparations for season
• ✔June: Started 21st June
  Season should commence mid-June. Climate will be a concern this year with forecast for warmer than average Winter which will significantly impact the quantity of properly ripe truffle. {cheap export/wild-harvest quality would be easy to achieve, but that is not our market}
• ✔July-August Peak season
• ✔SEPTEMBER: Supply and demand dropped rapidly in September

2021 Season

2021 Truffle Season ran 29th May - 27th September

An overall cool Summer, with plenty of rain has led to bountiful harvests in Vineyards and Orchards throughout the Yarra Valley.
The truffle harvest also looks to be plentiful, as long as we get the proper Winter weather required to fully ripen the truffle, with the cold to set the deep flavour and aroma.
{Post season note: Proper weather didn't eventuate, warm days/nights saw 80% of the crop never receive the conditions required to properly ripen! But it didn't matter much, Covid restrictions and lockdowns saw zero export, only few hospitality orders, and some initial direct/online consumer trade that vanished as the crisis|confidence situation worsened.}

• ✔15-19th September:Soil aeration for 2022 season
• October-November: Maintenance and preparation for 2022 season
• ✔ December: Truffles start forming
• ✔ January 2021: First signs of truffles in soil, Irrigation commences
• ✔February: Hazelnut harvest/removal. Irrigation. protecting developing truffles.
• ✔March: Soil improvement measures over past few years are yielding results, with less truffle requiring labour intensive protection measures. Feb/Mar only cursory effort was input for less than 10% loss so far.
• ✔April: Removal of truffles damaged by rot or insects is essential for long term prospects, and protection measures will still be required. We also need to estimate sales potential this year with Covid impacting restaurants and export, likely below sustainability. We plan a retail focus this year, and are developing products which can use the rest of the harvest.
• ✔May:
  • Final preparations for season
  • Monitoring development to determine season commencement date for properly ripe truffle
  • As always top quality will only appear once it is truly cold and frosty.
• ✔June:
  Season commenced at start of June, quite early with strong frost and other factors coming into play.
  But, due to Covid Economy Breaker measures by Government, we can't open like most of the 2020 season, and are currently focusing on final harvest preparations instead.
  We still hold some hope for a 12th June farmgate opening, and possibly online from 7th if new online store and alternative delivery arrangements to AusPost are completed.
• ✔mid-JUNE to 27th SEPTEMBER: Harvest season was severely impacted by lockdowns and travel restrictions. , opening 3 weekends.
  The Winter was too warm which exact start/finish is always determined by winter weather..