The vines are exiting their winter dormancy and we are joining them at the beginning of a new season’s journey. The story of the 2012 season begins to be written. The pruning was successfully completed in good time and the new canes wrapped down well before any sign of bud swell. Despite the difficulties of last season’s challenging humid conditions the vines had good mature wood to use for this season’s canes and we expect a consistent budburst. We have aerated the vineyard several times to open up the soil for air and moisture penetration and to alleviate the problem of compaction from using the tractor on saturated soils. This method creates punctures about 120mm deep in the mid row, about 250mm from the base of the vine, and three passes gives a very good coverage. Some superficial roots are cut and the structure of the soil is improved. The 2011 vintage wines remain on heavy yeast lees in barrel and are at varying stages in regard to the completion of malo-lactic. The wines are looking very good and have excellent intensity and balance. It is, of course, early days for the 2011s but it is at least a very successful vintage which exhibits excellent fruit purity, intensity and balance. We must wait until the end of Spring and for … Continue reading The story of the 2012 season begins to be written