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 produce around three times as much power as we consume so we will be selling our excess to the power company. The payback period is expected to be between five to six years.

The other capital work going on presently is the installation of a ten metre high frost fan. We have used water sprinklers to combat spring frost for the last decade but with so little run off and a recently installed bore that is a bit too saline we have turned (!) to a turbine to protect the fragile spring shoots. Movement of air will work for most of the frosts (down to around minus 2) we experience but in the event of a black/inversion frost, where the above air is freezing as well as the ground air, we will revert to our sprinklers which will protect by continually applying water. As the water freezes energy is produced and stops the shoot/bud temperature falling below about -0.5. The vines look dramatic in the morning when they are covered in ice but the shoots remain undamaged.

There is always another project to take on. The old shearing shed is next in line, then there’s about five kilometers of fencing that needs replacing. It’d be lovely to sneak in a few more acres of vines on a couple of outstanding sites just over the ridge from Block 5. One year we keep saying. One year!

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.

The growing season is progressing very well after a cold start. Two exceptionally hot weeks in November have seen prolific shoot growth and the beginning of flowering (ten days earlier than usual). Over the past few days we have experienced nearly 100mm of rain which has provided perfect moisture levels for flowering. The forecast is for more rain over the next few days. For the first time this year we are experiencing some run off into dams. The only detractions from this timely rain are the possibility some berries will not set and the disease pressure will increase with the humidity.

We have made seven hand passes already in the vineyard. Three passes have been made to lift foliage wires to train the new growth vertically, one pass to remove water shoots/suckers and three passes have been made to remove superfluous shoots in the crown and on the spurs and canes. This then concentrates the vines’ energies on the correct shoots’ development and reduces canopy density. If the canopy is too dense light and air movement is restricted or blocked and disease pressure mounts. Further down the track fruit ripening is inconsistent as many of the bunches will be shaded. Also, a denser canopy requires more frequent, heavier spraying and perhaps use of non organic applications.

The 2008 wines are all sold out now and we are monitoring the maturation of the 2009s in barrel. The volumes in 2009 are down significantly. Soon we will begin to rack the reds off lees as the malo-lactic conversion is nearly completed and we will rack the chardonnays off lees and sulphur them up to keep them fresh after they have been building richness and texture over the winter.

On Tuesday the 18th of August I enjoyed tasting and discussing seven vintages of Block 5 with Matthew Hansen’s wine class at Carlton’s Tre Bicchieri. The vintages ranged from just bottled 2008 to the first release, 1997.
2008 Block 5
Having been bottled ten days ago this is unfair on the wine but interesting to see where the wine is at and to see it next to 2004, a wine it shares a bit in common with. The nose is very spicy. Fresh ginger (observed in the ferment, like 2005, and not an oak flavour) with fragrant red fruits. Interestingly more dark fruits showed in barrel and they will build back as the wine settles in bottle. The palate is harmonious, fresh and zesty on the finish. It is very textural, sweet in pinot fruit and has a lovely flourish. It is reassuring to see the usual mineral tightness and drive on the mid to back palate. From a mild season experiencing well timed rainfall with a finishing burst of heat. Requires three years to really settle and evolve in bottle.

2007 Block 5
Here is a very deep, fleshy, spicy wine. There is also some earth and game complexity with a creamy, subtle choc-mint character. The palate is fresh, supple, fleshy, juicy and tightens with mineral grip on the finish. It is very harmonious. Due to the warm, dry season this wine is richer and shows more flesh that the others. This wine should be given three years to develop and will mature well for at least three more after that.

2005 Block 5
Immediately very complex, even profound. It is actually hard to pinpoint exact characters of complexity but the impression is of outstanding depth and power. Let me start with spice, earth, undergrowth, complex red and dark small berries and minerals. The palate is fresh, firm, dry and savoury, tight, mineral and long. There is a core of lovely sweet fruit and pressure on the back palate. Looking very good now but another five years will see further improvement and I suspect it will live well for another 15 years. The season was very cool but the final two weeks of ripening were very warm and built a lot of power into the fruit.

2004 Block 5
Here is a wine that looked just medium bodied after bottling and quite fragrant and perfumed without the obvious depth and power of wines like 2000 and 2005. Four years later it is absolutely hitting its straps and in this tasting showed as the Block 5 providing the most pleasure alongside the 1997. The nose is creamy and pure, delightfully fragrant with spices, red cherry and subtle strawberry notes. The palate is fresh and supple, beautifully textured and smooth with a typical mineral finish. It should hold like this for the next four or so years and continue to drink well for several years after that. From a moderate season like 2008 without the finishing burst of heat.

2002 Block 5
Perhaps our most challenging season ever? A very cold summer with rainfall at the most inappropriate times. This is quite a strong statement of pinot noir for its deep, sweet, herbal, spicy forest floor characters. The palate is round and supple then dry and grippy with a fresh, mineral end. It is quite different from the other wines. It is immediately more overtly complex but lacks the finer layers of the more regular vintages. Pleasingly the mineral back palate drive is there bit the usual striking harmony of Block 5 and flourish is less evident. It is not fading fast and should hold well for another five years.

2000 Block 5
This wine has always been a favourite. The issue is the more than usual incidence of cork taint. Which is a pity anytime but particularly for this fabulous vintage. The wine had some slight mustiness but showed sweet, herbal red and dark berry characters with complexing forest floor and spice. The palate is fleshy tight, very intense and driven with deep fruit purity. A good bottle of this is equal to any wine we have made and has a 20 year drinking window from vintage date.

1997 Block 5
The first bottling (there was one barrel from 1996 that went into the then Bindi Pinot Noir (now Original Vineyard)). The nose is hedonistic in its fragrance, ripeness and lovely complexity: herbs, flowers and sweet fruit. The palate is fresh, balanced, pure and creamy with a lovely mineral core and a long, smooth finish. At 12 years of age it is not tired and remains a beautiful wine that will continue to drink well for several more years.

The highlights for me from this tasting were the consistent mineral back palate of the wines expressing the vineyard site, the longevity of the wines in general and the ability of less powerful, structured years like 2004 to evolve to a point where there is so much more complexity, intensity and textural length. Pleasingly, despite the warm and dry years the site is clearly expressing the seasonal influences and the vineyard site.