Tenafeate Creek Wines hit by freak hailstorm, months after Covid outbreak

The bad luck continues for one Hills winery which just months ago was the site of a Covid superspreader event.

Lightning has struck twice for Adelaide Hills winemaker Michael Costa.

Budding grape vines at his Tenafeate Creek Wines were wiped out by huge hailstones on Thursday – three months after his cellar door was closed by a Covid-19 outbreak.

A devastated Mr Costa said the damage to his shiraz and chardonnay vineyards would leave him without a vintage.

Tenafeate Creek Wines Owner Michael Costa after today’s damage. Picture: Tenafeate Creek Wines

“You wouldn’t think lightning strikes the same place twice, but it has for us,” he said.

“It is like someone has gone out there with a machinegun and mowed everything down.”

Mr Costa was sitting in his office when hailstones the size of golf balls started pelting his roof. “I went outside and everything was white,” he said.

“Everything is pretty much gone. We are talking about 80 per cent of the crop.

“It all happened in front of my eyes. I am absolutely bloody devastated.”

Mr Costa and his family have been working hard to rebuild their business since it was one of two hospitality ven­ues where customers with Covid-19 forced a seven-day statewide lockdown in July.

The winery was closed for several weeks, with hundreds of South Australians rallying behind Mr Costa to buy his wines to help him survive.

Mr Costa said the grape crops lost in the storm were not insured.

“It is just another loss we will have to bear,” he said.