From the vineyards…

Vintage 2020 will be remembered by those involved as a most unusual one. Harvest commenced at a somewhat “normal” time in mid-February with sparkling Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and continued with white varietals which excelled with the mild weather conditions leading up to harvest, displaying concentrated flavour together with high natural acidity. The acid retention was consistent through our red varietal harvest as well, making frequent vineyard flavour assessment more important than lab maturity assessments to ensure optimal quality at harvest.

Weather remained mild throughout, with no rainfall to delay or impact on the harvest, however this has made water management critical to ensure fruit freshness whilst not exceeding our allocation limit, and preserving some water for post-harvest top up and fertiliser application.

Although overall tonnage was down, we have harvested target levels of most varietals with excellent quality and rich colour and flavour.

– Steve Fiebiger, Head Viticulturst

From the winery…

April is upon us already and with it comes the end of our harvest and Vintage for 2020. In the winery, the cold mornings contrast against the last red ferments of the vintage as they warmly bubble away. This year’s harvest has been a trade-off between quality and quantity. On one hand the quality of both the reds and whites is amazing, with all varieties showing great fruit definition along with vibrancy and balance. This is great news, though the downside is only small amounts of wine will be put into bottle due to the low crop levels in the vineyard.

It’s been hard to pick a star of the vintage (aside from our tireless staff) but the whites from our Mt Crawford vineyard and the Shiraz from St Kitts would have to be right up there. The purity of fruit in the Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris are amazing. At St Kitts, we get a good combination of warm days and cool nights and this year’s crop is showing depth and power along with spice and elegance. A great combination in my book!

So a lot of the hard work is over and fermenters and presses will soon be cleaned and packed away, but with tasting, blending and filling barrels still to come there will be plenty to do for months!

– Peter Kelly, Chief Winemaker