Mark Woods, winemaker at Leogate, isn't one for big statements - in fact, he's the total opposite.
So when he says vintage 2024 in the Hunter is "a nine out of 10", you can get a sense of the excitement flowing around the local wine community.
"And I don't give tens, because nothing is perfect," Woods said.
But a quick ring around some of the wineries and the story was invariably familiar.
First, the quality of fruit is exceptional across the board.
Second, the vintage was one of the earliest and fastest that most can remember; and finally, yields are significantly down, particularly in the reds.
Let's start with Leogate.
"Some of our shiraz will be down by more than 50 per cent," Woods said.
"Our vineyards are quite old and we don't get big yields here anyway, but they're definitely down.
"That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. In warm dry vintages when yields are down it generally means the quality of fruit is high and that's definitely the case here."
The speed of the vintage surprised Woods.
"We started picking on January 10 and had our last grapes in from our Brokenback shiraz on the 17th," he said. "In that time we got semillon, verdelho, chardonnay, pinot gris, gewurztraminer, tempranillo and shiraz into the winery... that's amazing."
Pokolbin winemaker Usher Tinkler said in late January, "every thing is looking real good. 95 points so far." He had harvested all of his whites and was anticipating a week to finish his red grape harvest.
Andrew Thomas, owner and winemaker at Thomas Wines, told the same story.
"Definitely the earliest vintage I can remember," Thomas said.
"It has been warm and dry, so we were under no disease pressure, good ripening conditions, everything just jumped early.
"The fruit is fresh and ripe, and all the numbers we're seeing - sugar levels, acid, that sort of thing - they're some of the best I've seen here.
"My flagship red, the Kiss Shiraz, honestly I don't reckon I've seen better.
"Unfortunately crop levels are down to buggery. I get fruit from seven vineyards, from Sweetwater in the north, out to Broke, and in Pokolbin, and overall I'm probably down 30 to 40 per cent.
"On one or two of my shiraz blocks it was down by as much as 50 per cent. Fortunately the Kiss will only be down by 10 per cent or so.
"My flagship white, the Braemore semillon, will be down on last year by about 40 per cent, although last year was a big crop."
His overall summation?
"The best vintages in recent times are the '14 and the '18, I rate them together, but this is getting right up there too."
Over at Tyrrell's, Bruce Tyrrell also estimated a 30 to 40 per cent reduction.
"I think those drought years followed by a couple of wet years means the vines haven't quite fully recovered," he said. "The fruit they're giving out is excellent though, smaller berries this year, but rich in flavour."
At Mt Pleasant, Adrian Sparks was in full agreement.
"We're pumped... honestly, everything looks great."
The moral of the story? If you see Hunter vintage 2024, don't hesitate.
