We have
nearly completed our Chardonnay harvest with only one small block remaining.
The vineyard team have been steadily handpicking each morning for the past 10
days and, have brought in some of the most outstanding Chardonnay fruit we have
ever seen. The flavor development and concentration at such low sugar levels has the team very excited by the potential quality of the harvest. The Chardonnay fruit is all hand harvested and whole bunch pressed, with the free run juice being transferred to French oak barrels for natural fermentation.
This season has seen the introduction of some larger format oak barrels in the form of puncheons which we are using on our Chardonnay and Shiraz. The 500 litre puncheons will offer us the textural benefits of barrel maturation with slightly less oak influence on the resultant wine.
We have
commenced the fruit intake of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, with the first hand
pick of Semillon completed this morning and some machine harvested fruit coming
in this evening. This is the point where the vineyard and winery teams split
into two shifts, as we begin working day and night to harvest these
varieties. The machine picking is done during the cool of the evening and early
morning, to ensure these aromatic white varieties are at their freshest and
most vibrant.
The weather
conditions are close to perfect with a continuation of warm days and cool
nights the norm for the week ahead.
It is certainly looking like one of the strongest
white wine vintages for a long time - I think some really special wines
will be made!
