It has been a very mixed bag so far – ranging from an exceptionally dry winter and spring, to a recent week of mizzly, drizzly weather here in south east Tassie. We picked up 20 – 30mm of rain across our vineyard blocks, but it was a pretty agonizing process due to the persistent, drizzly showers and the prolonged heavy could cover rather than shorter bursts of heavier rain. We had a couple of chardonnay blocks commence flowering during this weather, whilst one of our main pinot noir blocks was almost mid flower. I would love to see a few weeks of warm sunny weather – with perhaps the occasional “worthwhile “shower – as opposed to our recent dull, cloudy conditions. But so far our vines look healthy and the growth is pretty good. Courtesy of the prolonged warm dry season last year, there are plenty of flower bunches on the vines i.e. potential grape bunches, across all  varieties.  At this stage it is certainly not looking like an early season, in fact  I’m starting to think it could be one of the later seasons of recent years – but as usual time will tell! Long way to go yet!

We are very pleased to have been recognized on the world stage with a trio of trophies recently awarded at highly regarded international wine shows in Europe and Asia for our Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines.

The AWC International Wine Competition in Austria is the largest recognised wine show in the world and this year saw 12,402 wines entered from 1,716 wine producers in 39 countries. At the presentation ceremony in Vienna, we were awarded the trophies for ‘Best White Wine of Show’ as well as for ‘Best Chardonnay up to 12.9% Alcohol’ for its limited release 2016 Bream Creek Reserve Chardonnay. Winning these two Trophies – including the ‘Best White Wine of Show’ at the largest international wine show in the world is quite incredible! Chardonnay is sometimes overlooked in Tasmania, given the popularity of Pinot Noir, but this recognition reinforces my view that Tasmania does indeed produce world class Chardonnay.

We have also received recent recognition for our Pinot Noir. At the 2018 Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, the 2016 Bream Creek Reserve Pinot Noir (not yet released) was awarded the trophy for ‘Best Pinot Noir’ while at the 2018 Decanter Asia Wine Awards the 2016 Bream Creek Estate Pinot Noir won a “Platinum Best in Show” Medal. These results in international competitions provide a strong endorsement of the great quality of the wines we are producing in Tasmania. There is no doubt that the combination of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and the Tasmanian climate is the envy of many Australian and International wine producers.

Cheers

Fred

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