18 Mar Vintage 2020, what up?
“I can’t remember a better start to harvest with heat and fine weather from before Christmas. In some lighter soils, it has put pressure on to irrigate. We dry farm most of our best blocks and are seeing some amazing results.Chardonnay is all but in, with a couple of coastal blocks still to come. Sauvignon Blanc is in early to make sure we preserve natural acidity and punch. The flavours seem a couple of weeks ahead of the sugar which is something you often see in a hot year. Our best chance of managing those effects in a hot year is in the vineyard, so we’ve been putting a lot of effort in there.
This little cool spell now is gold. It’ll slow down ripening the late reds and increase hang time on the vines. Great for colour and flavour. We haven’t picked anything red yet apart from Pinot Noir and some Merlot for Rose. We might be into the Syrah next week or the week after. CAN’T WAIT!
That little sprinkle of rain yesterday was a bit of a treat. Means no picking for a day so we can catch up…and it keeps the dust down! So pretty exciting really. Just need another couple of weeks and we’ll be sweet!” RM
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