With the cold weather setting in at our winery and vineyards in the Barossa, now is a great time to reflect on the harvest period, and the blessings (or curses) that Mother Nature has thrown our way.

Vintage 2022 will be remembered for two things in particular. For those working in the vineyards and winery cellar, it was a very long vintage, with crushing at Thorn-Clarke starting mid-February and finishing in May! 12 weeks of picking and crushing is one of the longest seasons for decades, testing even the most experienced wine worker.

The reason for the long crush though, was the amazing weather! The very mild temperatures along with dry conditions led to a long growing season, without any weather events to force us to pick early or delay picking. When nature is kind to the vines like that, grapes ripen at a very even pace, allowing for lots of flavour and structure to accumulate in the berries. 

For white varieties this means a beautiful balance of aromatics and flavours with naturally balanced acidity, minerality and freshness.

In our reds, colour is off the charts, a deep, rich, inky purple-red. Fruit flavours are bold and intense with lovely natural tannin. These wines are set for a long life if you chose to cellar a few.

One more thing. When the 2022 wines are released, you may notice some extra labels on the bottles. As part of our commitment to the environment, both our vineyards and winery are now certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. This certification has been the result of years of hard work by many people to ensure that Thorn-Clarke is leading the way in sustainability. Look out for the SWA Trust Mark when these wines hit the shelves. 

Peter Kelly, Chief Winemaker