Part five of Steve James’ Harvest Update as we follow the progress at Voyager Estate. The Shiraz is in, which leaves just Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot to be harvested...
"The warm tropical weather has finally subsided and we are now enjoying classic Margaret River autumn weather, comprising beautiful warm, sunny days with cool nights. Perfect conditions for finishing off the red grapes which we started harvesting on Tuesday 8th March. Most of the Shiraz has been harvested and is showing amazing depth of colour with great concentration of ripe fruit flavours and excellent tannin structure. Due to the kind weather conditions, we have been selectively harvesting small batches on most days, and will complete the Shiraz early next week.
The Merlot is nearly ready, and we expect to commence harvesting this early next week with the Cabernet Sauvignon not long after. Our final red grape harvested is Petit Verdot which we love to blend into our Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot for its violet like aromatics and structural contribution to the palate. The weather forecast for the next week or so is very good, so we will continue selective harvesting of small batches which enables us to harvest each small patch at optimum ripeness. The Chardonnay has nearly finished fermentation in barrel, and a tasting late last week showed our early excitement to be well justified. Hopefully the weather will hold out for another couple of weeks to give the Cabernet Sauvignon a bit more hang time to complete another outstanding vintage for the region.
Cheers, Steve James."
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Voyager Estate - Harvest News March 2011 (V)
Posted by Julian Campbell, Buyer
