Great Western wineries Seppelt and Best's recorded massive increases in yield, while many in the Grampians and Pyrenees reported satisfying grape quality.

Seppelt's senior winemaker Emma Wood said the 2008 vintage was the second biggest on record, with just under 8000 tonnes of grapes crushed at the Great Western winery.

"It's been a very diverse vintage, the quality of the shiraz is looking fantastic," Ms Wood said.

"The riesling and shiraz are the highlights of this vintage."

Water had been tight throughout the year, with the winery using all of its allocated water.

"The heatwave made things awkward and we were a bit nervous towards the end, but it's looking really good," Ms Wood said.

Down the road at Best's, winemaker Adam Wadewitz said the 2008 vintage showed a lot of promise, with the winery's shiraz looking particularly impressive.

"We had a tough year last year with the frosts and drought, so it's been great to see the vines respond to some good growing conditions," Mr Wadewitz said.

"We were looking towards 2009, but to get a few good wines in the hole now is great, it's a nice little surprise."

The hot spell saw the fruit ripen in very close succession, keeping everyone at Best's intensely busy for around three weeks.

"Everything's been a little bit early but we've got some really smart fruit and we should get some cracking wines out of it," Mr Wadewitz said.

Mount Langi Ghiran winemaker Dan Bunkle said having more water on hand during the year saw the 2008 vintage produce the yields expected by the winery.

"It won't be going down as an elegant year, but the wines are solid," Mr Bunkle said.

The riesling, which was picked before the heat, is showing a lot of potential for the winery, while shiraz also looks pleasing.

The Gap Vineyard did not fare quite as well, with fruit being affected by the heat a bit harder than at Mount Langi Ghiran.

Mr Bunkle said grapes at The Gap were hand picked, allowing the winery to be more selective of fruit taken off the vine.

"It's been hard work and we're all a bit exhausted, but quality will be good and it's nice to see yields back where they should be," Mr Bunkle said.

Simon Clayfield from Clayfield Wines said he was impressed with the quality of shiraz from his Moyston vineyard.

"The shiraz is showing very good colour and typical Grampians quality," Mr Clayfield said.

Wine coming straight out of the press was signalling a good year for the winery, with Mr Clayfield hopeful of an even better vintage next year.

Mick Fratin from Fratin Brothers Vineyard said this year's vintage was looking on the better side of average with improved yields on last year.

Grapevines at the Ararat vineyard are minimally irrigated, and while the vines suffered slight heat stress during the heatwave, fruit from them is looking good.

"Everything came in at once so it was quite hectic, but the quality's looking quite good," Mr Fratin said.

With water storages close to empty, Mr Fratin was hoping on good winter rain to wet the soil profile and refill water storages.

Dr Graeme Bertuch said the 2008 vintage had been a `fascinating' one at Mount Cole Wineworks.

With two of the hottest spells on record in January and March stressing the vines, Dr Bertuch said waiting to pick during the cooler weather had benefited the fruit.

"It's ripe, showing good flavours and overall I think it's going to be an excellent vintage," Dr Bertuch said.

Allen and Andrea Hart are looking forward to an excellent vintage at Dog Rock Winery.

The Crowlands vineyard has been more fortunate than others in the Pyrenees, receiving good rainfall over the last few weeks to set the vines in good stead for winter.

Cool nights helped establish some fantastic flavours in fruit which was picked before the heatwave.

"We're rapt with the quality, we think it's similar to the 2005 season which was acknowledged as the best in the last five years," he said.

"We think 2008 will be just as good as 2005."

Peter Leeke from Kimbarra Wines said harvest started early at the Great Western vineyard but produced some excellent fruit.

"It came off better than expected and the quality and quantity was certainly better than we'd hoped," Mr Leeke said.

With the challenging weather thrown at the vineyard during the year, Mr Leeke said the family was pleased with grape quality.

Bruce Dalkin said while yields at Garden Gully Vineyard had not been outstanding, quality was looking exceptional.

The winemaker/owner said grapevines at Garden Gully were pruned later due to frosts, seeing their season finish behind other wineries. Shiraz at the vineyard was hand-picked in late March, allowing the fruit to ripen well on the vine.

"It's been a rather challenging year, but everyone's starting to breathe again," Mr Dalkin said.