The summer has finally emerged from another very wet spring
The summer has finally emerged from another very wet spring. This growing season we have moved straight from a wet, warm spring to a cold, unstable early summer and now to the typical January weather we expect. Quite a change to last summer which had staggeringly high rainfall. December, our important period requiring stable, warm weather for flowering, saw high winds, rain and cold snaps. Consequently, the crop level is quite reduced and our expectation is for a very moderate yield. Quality is, of course, our primary focus and we are hopeful of making some intense wine at low yields. We are looking at yields around three to four tonnes per hectare this year whereas our aim would be to crop around five tonnes per hectare. We have recently racked and returned to barrel the 2011 wines post malo lactic and they are looking quite promising. It was a difficult year viticulture wise however the harvest, fermentations and barrel maturations have progressed very well. The chardonnays are mineral and intense with excellent length and balance. The pinot noirs are perfumed, spicy, textured and harmonious and will cellar very well. The Pyrette shiraz is deliciously mineral, earthy, complex, creamy and balanced. We begin bottling some of the 2011s in late February and the remainder will be bottled in July.
The story of the 2012 season begins to be written
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 Read more …
Harvest 2011
Amongst ourselves, and to some winemaking colleagues, we said we might not make it. Many didn’t make it this year. There were a myriad of different challenges and anxieties to overcome and the feeling from November to April was that at any point the crop could be lost. This season more than any other we were ever focused and attentive to what the vineyard needed in response to the incredible weather conditions. For eight years now we have not used any systemic fungicides. It is now six years since we have applied systemic/chemical sprays for weeds – now we use straw mulch and slashing. We do not use systemic applications to eradicate pests. Our focus has been to promote life forces rather than to apply death to control our vineyard environment. This year we held firm to this regime with the exception of two systemic fungicide applications, the first in eight years, to the foliage in December. There was a temptation to used anti botrytis fungal sprays on the ripening fruit but we had done so much work to have an open, clean, airy canopy we felt more comfortable to take the risk than spray. Also, we dropped 30% of the overall crop on the ground before veraison/ripening as we didn’t want fruit on small shoots or in clumps where Read more …
The vineyard is patient. The vignerons must be also.
The vineyard is patient. The vignerons must be also. We have entered a period of nostalgia as we amble through a March that seems more like 1993 than 2011. The fruit is finally veraised. The nets are on. The vines are green. The fruit is exposed and healthy. The crop was thinned by 30% and what remains is calmly awaiting some sunshine. Hope is what we have. And an expectation of some testing weather but some confidence that our vines are able to work through the next four or five weeks to produce a worthy expression of the season and their unique place. Tasting the three bottled 2010 wines has been a delightful contrast to the shocks of local and global maladies and the difficulty of this growing season. The level of perfume, intensity, fruit purity and harmony that 2010 has delivered is exceptionally pleasing. And the remaining 2010 wines in barrel continue to develop beautifully. Their stories are evolving slowly.
Since when was the sub tropics moved to southern Victoria?
Since when was the sub tropics moved to southern Victoria? The cool, elevated Macedon ranges felt like central Victoria for a decade and now we feel like grape growers in Byron Bay. Without the beach, sadly. Dams that did not fill for a decade have continually overflowed from December to now. Long term, great for the landscape. Short term, a lot of focus on the vineyard with tractor work, shoot removal, fruit dropping, trimming and broken sleep wondering what the rain and humidity is doing to the canopy. So far the vineyard is healthy and fruit is clean. We will see. The first veraising berry was seen yesterday so we are still 10 days away from getting right into the colour change and sugar accumulation phase. After that we will need around six weeks to achieve ripeness. It looks to be a long, humid, frustrating push to harvest. We will delay putting the bird nets on as long as possible so we can continue to work on the canopy. I was speaking with Stuart Anderson last week and asked if he’d ever seen a season like this in his 50 years of wine life. “Never’ was the response. Sure, summer rain events and thunderstorms had highlighted some growing seasons but never the continual humidity and frequency of tropical weather being Read more …
And then the rains came
And then the rains came. After a decade of well below average rainfall we are about to break the 1000mm mark. The decade prior to the long running drought we were used to totals around 750mm. What a remarkable surprise this spring has been. Dams that had not filled since the late 1990s have overflowed several times over. We have completely saturated soils that are so waterlogged we are having troubles getting the tractor into the vineyard. This is a long forgotten problem but given the long, long dry it’s a healthy problem to have. South Eastern Australia has welcomed the rain but less welcome has been the warm, humid conditions that are creating huge disease pressure. We have made many passes through the vineyard by hand to remove water shoots and shoots from the vines’ crowns. The canopy is open and airy and any basic sulphur and copper applications are highly effective and we continue not to use any systemic sprays. So far, we have not had any outbreak of mildews. Timing in seasons like this is critical and timing has been made doubly difficult due to the wet ground and frequent thunderstorms and rain events. The 2010 red wines are nearly through malo and ready for raking off lees. The chardonnays are still on lees and will also Read more …
The winter was so cold my fingers froze and I was unable to key any blog entries
The winter was so cold my fingers froze and I was unable to key any blog entries. Well almost, but not quite. Hybernation aside, we have had a brilliant traditional winter of cold and rain. Our dams are nearly full and the vineyard has superb soil moisture to begin the season. The 2010 wines are still resting at winter temperatures of around 10 degrees but will soon begin to finish their malo lactic conversion (for the reds). Soon enough we will be racking and freshening the wines and getting a good take on their style and quality. At this point 2010 has very good intensity and concentration. Less suppleness than 2008, not the perfume of 2009 but structure and depth from an excellent season. We have had our recently installed frost fan doing its work the past two nights. The leaves are not yet out however the pushing buds are still susceptible to plunging temperatures and the frigid reality of Spring time frost. Two nights ago we had minus 3.5 degrees 100m outside the vineyard and the fan worked perfectly by drawing down warm air (3.7 degrees at ten meters above ground level) and mixing into with the frosty air. We can expect some more events between now and early November. The fifth edition of Langton’s Classification has come out Read more …
The onset of Winter
The vines are dormant and pruning has commenced. The ferments are done and the 2010 wines are peacefully resting in their barrels. It is a tranquil, if freezing, time of the year. The 2010 Summer was characterised by slightly higher than average temperatures of which the feature was 120 days where the Melbourne maximum did not fall below 20 degrees. It certainly was not a hot summer and we only had one day above 40 and very few days in the mid 30s. The acidities are very good and the wines have a lovely intensity and tightness. The chardonnays are quite piercing and the Quartz is displaying a pleasing richness and power. The pinot noirs have clear varietal and vineyard expression and seem to have a deeper than usual tannin structure and drive. After the much reduced volume of 2009 we have a good volume of 2010 where yields were around the five tonnes per hectare. We now have 27 solar panels adorning the winery roof harvesting the sun’s energy. Pleasingly, the roof pretty much faces north and is clear of shading so it is an ideal location. It is a great pleasure to both see the panels basking in the light and to see the meter turning backwards as we put power back into the grid. This system will Read more …
The contrast between February 2009 and 2010 could not be more dramatic
The contrast between February 2009 and 2010 could not be more dramatic. Last year we experienced four days over 40 degree whereas this year we have barely had a day over 30 degrees. A welcome added bonus has been over 70mm of rainfall which has help put the vines in excellent condition as we progress towards harvest. The weather has been, and continues to be, more indicative of mid to late Autumn conditions which is quite remarkable after the past four seasons. It is a very pleasing change. The 2010 Pyrette Shiraz has fermented well and is resting in barrel. It has an outstanding colour, very deep and complex fruit aromatics and the tannins are becoming quite voluminous and quite fine. In another few weeks when it has begun to settle it will be really interesting to observe its personality. On Saturday the 27th of February we bottled the 2009 Pyrette and the 2009 Bindi Composition Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines have gone very well into bottle and I expect them to be looking fantastic when they are released in June. The Chardonnay is very vibrant and pure with wonderful intensity. The Pinot is gorgeous for its red fruits and spice and balance. The Shiraz is complex with red and dark cherries, earth and spice and has lovely flair Read more …
The 2010 season is progressing well
The 2010 season is progressing well. We have completed our crop thinning and the first signs of colour change in a very few pinot noir berries is just appearing. We expect the full veraison to take place in the first week of February which indicates a harvest time towards the end of March. Next week we will begin putting out the nets to protect the ripening fruit from the birds. I visited the Heathcote vineyard yesterday and the fruit is looking very good. The crop is around the 2.5 tonnes per acre mark (about 6 tonnes per hectare) and the canopy is full and green but certainly not dense or vigorous. The crop will be hand harvested around the 20th February. The 2009 Composition wines and the 2009 Pyrette Shiraz are coming towards the end of their time in barrel and will be bottle on February the 27th. They are looking absolutely delicious and I am quite excited about their style and quality.