It’s late-February 2022 and in the Barossa, we would normally be flat out receiving grapes, fermenting batches and generally run off our feet with all things vintage related. This year though, we have been facing different weather than the average season.  

We’ve had good amounts of winter rain, followed by unusually cool conditions throughout spring and summer and this has delayed the ripening of the grapes by almost a month. This year that delay is a blessing in disguise as we are also expanding our winery by adding new tanks. Each day that the cool weather buys us means that we will have more places to store the precious wine once vintage does kick off. 

What does the later season mean for the grapes and ultimately the wines from 2022 I hear you ask? Firstly, cooler weather can definitely be a friend to ripening grapes, allowing slow accumulation of flavour and aroma while building colour and tannin as well. Added to the normal robust dark fruit characters, we should expectmore spice and perfumein the red wines. In our whites we might see someextra floral lift adding to the citrus and fresh cut fruit. The cooler season also maintains thenatural acidityof the grapes maintaining their freshness as berries and giving avibrancyto the resulting wines. 

While time will tell how vintage 2022 wraps up, as it stands right now, we could be looking forward to another amazing Barossa and Eden Valley vintage! 

- Peter Kelly, Chief Winemaker