After our earliest ever start to harvest on the 2nd of February, our final harvest of Cabernet Sauvignon was completed on the 4th of April - a nearly 10 week long vintage period.
The ripening period for the reds was exceptional. The late summer heat gave way to classic autumn conditions, with warm dry days and cool nights, which ensured optimum tannin ripeness and flavour development of the grapes.
The yields were slightly higher than our targets, which in a warmer season was no problem, and may have helped avoid accumulation of sugars too quickly. This has resulted in grapes with moderate sugar levels at harvest, producing wines with great elegance and balance. The Cabernet Sauvignon looks outstanding at this early stage and, displays perfectly ripe tannins and fruit with great concentration of flavour and color. The grape skins are thick and leathery, which will stand them in good stead for three to four weeks of extended contact post fermentation.
We are really excited by all of the wines from 2012, however, the reds look to have great promise and the quality is extremely strong across all our vineyard blocks.
The blending components for our Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot are also very strong, with both the Merlot and Petit Verdot again showing layers of fine ripe tannins and great concentration.
Many of the Shiraz blocks have been pressed off and are being transferred to barrel for their maturation phase, and again the quality looks very good. The wines are showing a wonderful purity of fruit with added layers of earthy complexity, which I am sure is a sign of vineyard maturity and careful viticulture practices.
Margaret River has continued to deliver very high quality harvests for the past six seasons, which is exceptional even by our lucky standards. Where 2012 sits - time will tell - however to have such a plentiful harvest with such outstanding quality across the board at this early stage, makes me think it could be near the top!.
Cheers,
Steve James.
