P.E.I. wineries say hot, dry weather good for crops

This summer's weather may have been rough for some P.E.I. crops, but the Island's three wineries are reporting a stellar year.

Mike Newman, owner of Newman Estate Winery says this summer's weather has been a winemaker's dream.

"We're not really in a Mediterranean climate or something similar to California, where it is warm and dry. Even the amount of rain that we did get this summer is more than sufficient for what we need," Newman said.

Newman's harvest time is weeks ahead of schedule.

Last year, the Newman Estate Winery, in Murray River, produced 16,000 bottles of wine, and this year he hopes to double it.

The owner of Matos Winery in St. Catherines, says his variety of grapes will take a few more months to ripen, but the yield is looking fruitful.

Jon Rossignol from Rossignol Estate Winery in Little Sands, says he's also hoping the good weather lasts.

"Because in farming we never know." Rossignol said. "If a hurricane comes up this way and strips all the leaves off then you know we're back to the same position as before, but so far so good, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed."

Newman says summers like this prove the Island can compete with the best.

"There's certain doubters I guess whether grapes can be grown on P.E.I. and it's just, we need summers like this to kind of prove that we can actually have strong crop," Newman said.