Vintage 2012 Update & Snapshots

How time flies! Just 2 and half weeks ago we started picking and a lot has happened since then.

Beautiful ripening weather continued from the first pick on 27th of March, seeing the Pinot home with our last pick on April 11, bringing our total of Pinot Noir to almost 70 ton. While although all ferments are still going (all wild yeast) and are yet to be pressed and put to barrel, we already see the rudimentary nature of the wine emerging. With a generous core of great colour and structure, ripe plum, both dark and red fruits are apparent. We look forward to seeing more of its character develop over the next 1 to 2 years as it softens and complexs to reveal further subtleties. But like all good things, we’ll just have to wait!

All of our Pinot Gris has been picked which is looking fleshy, textured and in alignment with zesty acid. The Gris is still currently undergoing wild fermentation in a combination of both tank and neutral oak ferments. We don’t mean to call it a Gris as the jury is still out on whether it will be a Gris or a Grigio, again time will tell post ferment.

We now turn to picking the remainder of the Chardonnay which is looking extremely balanced with ripe fruit character and good acid tension. Again we have very high expectations of the it’s quality. With already two batches currently finishing primary ferment, we are looking forward to seeing more Chardonnay bubbling away in the winery. The sounds and not only the scents of a Chardonnay barrel ferment are truly one of the hallmarks of vintage. We should have all the Chardonnay in the shed by Tuesday – Wednesday next week, which will see us complete all picking for 2012.

Again sorry for the delay in the vintage update, but now that we’ve got you roughly up to speed, below are a collection of photos from Vintage 2012 so far. There will be more shots posted soon including more of the vineyard and then back to the winery as we guide our vintage to a graceful finish, hopefully much like the wine itself!