Steve James updates us with news from our benchmark award winning Margaret River Estate. Despite the cyclones on the horizon, things seem to be looking promising.
"Fairly hectic in the winery at the moment as we are in the middle of harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc with our first harvest of Semillon due tonight. The weather has been warm to hot averaging around 32 degrees Celsius during the day, with very mild evenings. Unusually for Margaret River the humidity has been high, with our weather being heavily influenced by the presence of tropical cyclones well to our north - thankfully!The Sauvignon Blanc fruit has been very impressive, with plenty of lovely tropical fruit flavours such as passion fruit, lychee and melon, whilst the Semillon component of the blend is showing the classic citrus flavours we look for with excellent weight and intensity.
The Chardonnay is fermenting beautifully in barrel, and the early signs of an exceptional wine look very encouraging indeed. Our use of new wood on Chardonnay is down to around 30%, as our vineyard is maturing and we are gaining more texture and complexity from the grapes. I expect we will complete the Semillon fruit by early next week, and spend some time walking the vine rows tasting the Shiraz which is also ripening quickly. Early tannin development on the reds looks fantastic, which will give us the luxury of harvesting the fruit with the flavour profiles we look for.
Currently 32 degrees and I can hear the Indian Ocean calling for a late afternoon swim!
Cheers Steve James."
