News

Summer 2008/9

In the Vineyard

Summer? We could dispute this after an event here ten days ago. Peeking over the windowsill of my bedroom window at 6.00AM on a Sunday morning I observed the rare sight of a late spring garden scene covered in a blanket of snow (see photo below). It was a beautiful wondrous scene for all except horticulturists, viticulturists and home tomato growers. My 6.30 inspection with camera showed vines bent over under the weight of snow, with shoots touching the ground in places. Temperature was just a smidgeon above zero with a wind chill factor of many negative degrees. Luckily the snow eased as I trudged home fearing the worst. Later inspection revealed a distinctly untidy vineyard, with shoots pointing everywhere but up, and some broken shoots on the ground, but no frost damage and only minimal loss of fruit. Thankfully the 2009 vintage is still on track after a frantic week straightening shoots and maintaining disease protection.

In the Winery

Our winemaker, Richard Parker, has finished, bottled and dispatched our 2007 reds and the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc. All have our new label, and I look forward to your feedback! Inner Circle members who ordered these wines are receiving separate notice about delivery arrangements. The Sauvignon Blanc will be released early in the New Year. The 2008 Chardonnay will be bottled before Christmas, and held for later release with a little bottle age, as will the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2007 vintage. I tasted the 08 Chardonnay and 08 Merlot with Richard last month. At this stage they are showing huge promise. Richard is a perfectionist who builds on his knowledge from one vintage to the next.

In the Cellar

Given that we now have several years experience with all our varietal wines, I think it is time to confidently state that our red wines need two years bottle age before they really show their true nature. It is a fraction too early to state that for Chardonnay, but again the trend is in the same direction.

We now have a reasonable spread of wines in stock that have some bottle age and demonstrate this point. To highlight one example, the 2006 Chardonnay has developed lovely soft fruit flavours that were not evident when first released.

The 06 Merlot and 06 Pinot Noir are other examples, whereas the 06 Cabernet needs more time. Luckily we have plenty of 05 Cabernet available and it again is a far better wine than I initially thought.