Bindi Harvest No. 25. The crop is in, long live the crop! In fact, the crop is now a crop no longer but rather has been transformed, by the miracle of native yeast fermentation, into beautiful wine. The 2015 harvest has one similarity to 2014 (stunning wine quality) however there the comparisons end. Where 2014 produced an extraordinarily small yield, 2015 saw the vines return a yield in line with 2010 and 2004 at around five tonnes per hectare (comparing to below two tonnes per hectare in 2014). Following a treacherous year like 2014 the temptation is to accept a very high yield, if that is the season and the vines response, in 2015 however we did considerable shoot thinning in Spring and followed up with a green harvest removal of 15% of the crop in early February. This focus on vine balance saw the stunning crop ripen evenly and the harvest ran between March 25th and April 1st. The fermentations have progressed very evenly, though, as is typical, half the Chardonnay barrels are still fermenting six weeks after harvest! They continue on and some may even ferment for ten months. The Pinot Noirs are resting in barrel with the odd barrel fighting the cold and throwing out a bung as some malo-lactic conversion takes place. All the Pinot barrels … Continue reading Bindi Harvest No. 25