Viticulture

A late budburst occurred and the generally cool start to the season meant shoots were shorter than usual in most varieties. Many of our vines burst and then seemed to reconsider things as Spring continued to be cooler than normal. Our frost fan went off several times making us grateful we had made the investment. After several Downy Mildew primaries worried us we were glad that by November things had dried off and heated up. Shoot lengths finally caught up and disease pressure was low for the rest of the season. January and February were among the warmest months we have had in the last 7 seasons. March cooled and the final ripening took place with cool nights and warm days allowing optimal flavour development. Luckily we had a good yield in the Red Semillon which allowed us to harvest 2 rows just for the Red Semillon table wine while leaving the other 4 to raisin for our dessert wine. We harvested just over 4 tonnes on May 23rd.

Winemaking

With no botrytis on the fruit, the grapes were left to soak overnight before being inoculated to start ferment. Once we had reached our desired alcohol and residual sugar level fermentation was stopped by the addition of sulphur and fining with bentonite. Acid levels were adjusted to balance the residual sugar. Winemaker: Michael Sykes (Lodestone)