It’s been a very successful month for the Bream Creek team, with numerous great results and accolades being received. Highlights included:

• Being awarded “Best Tasmanian Winery” at the 2018 Melbourne International Wine Competition.
• Double gold medal for our 2016 Reserve Chardonnay and gold medals for our 2017 Chardonnay, 2017 Riesling and 2016 Reserve Pinot Noir at the 2018 Asia Wine & Spirits Awards.
• Gold medals for our 2015 Reserve Pinot Noir and 2016 Reserve Pinot Noir at the 2018 China Wine & Spirits Awards.
• Gold medal for our 2016 Reserve Pinot Noir at the 2018 Sydney Royal Wine Show.
• Gold medal for our 2016 Reserve Pinot Noir at the 2018 WineWise Small Vigneron Awards.

The 2016 Reserve Chardonnay and the 2015 Reserve Pinot Noir are both currently available – the other wines are due for release in 2019.  You can purchase any of our current release wines via our secure online shop here – remember that you can mix and match and the minimum order is only 6 bottles.

Following a very early start to budswell, the vines have slowed a little over the last 3 weeks – which is great! But warmer, and in the south and east, drier conditions are seeing chardonnay showing green tips and most other varieties are well and truly on the move. Cabernet, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc however, still look a little sleepy. The exceptionally dry conditions in the south east – especially in the Derwent and Coal Valleys and on the East Coast – are somewhat concerning. Our main dams are very low but we are fortunate in being able to transfer water from a reserve dam, and also to get access to some scheme water, which we will need to start drawing in the next week. Very dry springs also traditionally carry an increased risk of late spring frosts, which in some blocks can be quite damaging. Most of our blocks have a very low risk factor, but never the less we shall be monitoring the situation closely. Our stately old riesling vines at Bream Creek are now commencing their 45^th spring – so I guess they have seen wetter and drier seasons before and simply take it pretty much in their stride!

Pruning is in full swing as our vines take a well-earned rest after a hectic vintage. So far a very mild winter, and in southern Tasmania a very dry winter! Whilst it would be great to fill our dams, a few more weeks of cold dry weather would be nice to complete our pruning, and then hope we have lots of rain in September to get some run-off and to refill the soil profile. At present it is looking like a very early spring, so fingers crossed we don’t get any really hard, late frosts which can set back the young vine growth. Cheers, Fred

We were very pleased to read the Australian Sparkling Wine Guide 2018, written by well-known sparkling wine writer Tyson Stelzer. Tyson nominated our current release 2011 Cuvée Traditionelle as one of just three “runners up” for the ‘Best Sparkling Wine Under $50’ – in addition to awarding it 93 points! Tyson also nominated us as a member of his “Hall of Honour”, being a list of the top sparkling wine makers in Australia. We feel quite pleased by this recognition.

Other great results we received included:

• Both of our 2016 Chardonnay wines were reviewed by Wine Showcase Magazine and awarded 94 points each.
• Winestate Magazine awarded our 2014 Estate Pinot Noir 4.5 stars and top of category and our 2017 Schönburger 4 stars and equal top of category in their March/April 2018 edition. They also awarded our 2016 Sauvignon Blanc 4 stars in their 2018 Special Edition.
• Tasmanian wine writer and journalist Winsor Dobbin joined James Halliday and Huon Hooke in praising our 2017 Pinot Rosé – his full review is here.

You can purchase these wines via our secure online shop here – remember that you can mix and match and the minimum total order is only 6 bottles.

I don’t think I have ever experienced a season with such a long, very warm and dry spring and summer. Almost certainly the “official” records will indicate this to be, so far, the warmest on record.

In late spring the vines attained a slightly deeper hue of green and powered away! The vine growth and berry development has been amazing, and the vines and bunches look fantastic.

Cheers, Fred

Last Friday, we were very pleased to receive the Trophy for “Best Tasmanian Riesling” for our 2016 Riesling at the 2017 Canberra International Riesling Challenge. This Riesling was also awarded a rare “Elite Gold”!  As we mentioned in our most recent newsletter we’re champions of the Riesling grape and thought the 2016 Riesling was looking fantastic when we released it last month – so we’re very pleased the judges agree!  You can purchase this here!

We are well through pruning with just some of the later varieties like Sauvignon Blanc to complete. It is still incredibly dry but we are fortunate in having plenty of water available for the coming season. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an earlier than usual bud break this season – every spring is different! Cheers, Fred

This has to be one of the driest winters for decades – even the vineyard posts are a little loose in the soil! But we have had some cracking frosts which, whilst a little nippy on the fingers, is just perfect for the vines. Deciduous plants require a certain amount of winter chilling to ensure optimal performance next season – much the same way as we need proper sleep! Pruning is well underway and on target, as we prune the various blocks taking into account which varieties have earlier or later bud-break. With such a cold, dry winter all expectations are for a fairly even bud break – but we would like to see some rain pretty soon!

Vintage 2017 will be remembered as one of our latest starting vintages and probably most compressed. Like most of southern Australia, we experienced our coolest February in over 25 years and hence commenced hand picking about 3 weeks later than usual. From March onwards we had great weather – warm and nicely dry and hardly lost a picking day due to rain. I think the cooler February helped our grapes to develop and also retain stunning flavours while achieving the “ripeness” we desired. I am very pleased with the quality of our Bream Creek wines across the board and think vintage 2017 will produce some of the best wines of the decade. Cheers, Fred

Taking 5 mins from preparing for Vintage 2017, I was very pleased to see 3 of our wines featured among the “100 Top New Release Australian Wines” featured in the most recent edition of Gourmet Traveller Wine!  Our 2010 Cuvée Traditionelle achieved 96 points, with the 2015 Riesling and our yet to be released 2014 Estate Pinot Noir both awarded 95 points.  Such recognition reinforces the suitability of these wine styles to Tassie’s climate conditions.  Make sure you’re on the mailing list so you’ll get priority access to the 2014 Pinot Noir!  Cheers, Fred

This is a most unusual season – with vines growing at an enormous rate and requiring additional labour to keep them “under control”. A wetter and cooler spring and early summer meant we have barely started irrigating and the vines look very healthy with powerful canopies. Weather conditions at flowering were somewhat fickle – showers and cool overcast days interspersed with the occasional warm sunny days has resulted in an average fruit set with the anticipated “hen and chicken” berries showing up in many vine blocks. This will mean these strong canopied vines will have more than enough ripening “power” to see some excellent quality fruit coming off and maybe a slightly earlier finish to vintage. Right now we are scrambling to get the bird protection nets on pretty quickly!

Our vines are waking up and a new season is about to begin!  We are seeing the first signs of ‘budburst’ in our Chardonnay (always an early starter), and our Pinot Noir vines are not far behind.  Pruning of our “late varieties” has just been completed  so roll on spring!  We’ve had about the wettest winter I can remember for several years, and it’s the first time for a while that the soil profile has been properly wet. It was a relatively mild winter so it’s not surprising that budbreak is looking about 10 days early.  The last few have been very like spring – cool nights but really sunny and quite still days interspersed with the occasional weather front passing through. After last season’s very warm conditions we are expecting a good “potential” crop – but of course that will depend a lot on what Mother Nature throws at us over the next few months. Never a dull moment in this game – but so far so good!

Cheers, Fred