Hi folks…
Making any predictions about vintage when we are still about 2-3 weeks out from the commencement of picking always makes me nervous, especially when the year holds so much potential.
So far we have had a much cooler summer with regular but not excessive rain events. In fact I cannot remember a growing season that has been as kind as this 2014/15 season.
We have had a great run getting lots of fine tuning done in the vineyards with each site being managed in slightly different ways. Many small jobs have been done this last 5 months such as the hand mulching in the pinot and chardonnay at Woori Yallock (please see photo attached). This was a manual exercise which took a few days. But certainly getting these jobs done highlights the detail we are achieving now in all our sites.
We have also now established our phylloxera tolerant rootstock trials at Woori which is a big step towards better protecting ourselves from the ever threatening presence of Phylloxera currently located in the lower Yarra Valley.
Meanwhile, back at the winery we have already bottled all 2014 chardonnays and pinots as well as the 2013 Hugh. 2014 vintage shapes up as a delicious crunchy bright vintage with lovely vibrant fruit. All wines display a weight that highlights a total lack of stress from the season (and low yields) coupled with structure. These wines which will be released later in the year will be more savoury and red-blue fruited than the very popular and ever so more plush 2013’s.
I hope that we will see you at foot stomping and if not that we will catch up later in the year. We are currently working on a very fun and engaging range of events later in the year.
Cheers,
Mac
