2010 vintage started a week or so earlier than usual, with some of the whites. Then the weather eased off and the ripening process slowed down, which means that we ought to have a lot of different fruit flavours in the 2010 whites.
Its also made everything a lot easier logistically, as we were able to really concentrate and focus on each batch of wine, as the next would be picked a couple of days later, rather than immediately!
After the hot weekend (16 & 17 Jan), everything has ripened up a bit quicker than we expected! Derek tested the fruit on Monday (18 Jan) and let us all know that ‘it’s starting’… so the first pick was Thursday 21 Jan, we picked the Chardonnay fruit for the Sparkling Wine, and it’s got great flavour!
First crush of the 2010 vintage, Friday 22 Jan, easily a week earlier than last year.
We tested the Verdelho juice which tasted fantastic.
Wine is really just fermented grape juice, so as the juice is full of flavour it suggests that the wine will too!
The red grapes were picked during and after another hot week.
Though the vines do struggle with the heat, our main concern is how the fruit tastes, the red fruit has more intense flavours and great colour we pressed the last batch of shiraz fruit this week.
So now Derek & James are busy in the winery messing around with barrels, filling them up with the 2010 reds and deciding on final blends for the 2009 red wines.
They decide exactly what batches of wine and which barrels will get included in which wine, this is one of the real wine making skills that can get forgotten about.
It’s exciting for us at the cellar door, as finally we can be fairly confident about what wine we’ll be selling in the future, but also they do keep bringing us little samples to try!