About 75 per cent of the leaf and all the fruit were damaged after the January 5 storm at Bulga that saw golf ball size hail stones falling from the sky.

To make matters worse another smaller storm hit the area five days later.

“We were at friend’s house and could see in the distance the lightning show happening and, said at the time, we were happy to get the rain only to find out the damage on returning,” Mr Vickers said. 

“It’s disappointing but that’s nature.

“We have some people drive a long way to pick their own grapes but they’ll have to wait until next year’s harvest.

“The vines have recovered now and they look lush and green so there’ll be enough sugars in vines to go well for the 2016 season.”

The vineyard produces four to five tonnes every year and their grapes have been of interest to nearby winemakers who use them to create muscat liquor and port wine. 

“It started out as a bit of a hobby that now takes up a lot of time,” Mr Vickers said, who has been living at Bulga for 30 years.

He told The Argus he would have lost $4000 and $6000 from the hailstone damage. 

The Vickers normally let people pick their own grapes from the end of January to March.