This has to be one of the most consistently warm vintages I have ever seen! Our grapes have ripened about 2 to 3 weeks earlier than ever before, and an even greater surprise is that the later varieties such as Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are much closer behind Pinot then I can ever remember. Flavour development has come quite early this season and acids are still looking bright and fresh, so the general “quality balance” of the grapes across all varieties looks amazingly good. We have also been very fortunate in that mildew and Botrytis have been very subdued this year, so our grapes are remarkably clean and pristine. We are almost finished – just one block of Riesling to go (amazingly we picked our Cabernet Sauvignon last Friday 20 April, around 3.5 weeks earlier than last year!). With a very good run of dry vintage weather, we’ve had virtually no hold ups and it’s been a joy to see so much high quality fruit going into our bins. I reckon this vintage could rival the great vintage of 2005 – time will tell! Cheers, Fred
Leave a Reply