Like harvest, Easter moves around the calendar year to year. Even the biodynamic farmers can’t lock in their picking dates in advance just by looking at the lunar calendar. They have to play it by ear like the rest of us mere mortals.
Sometimes Easter lands smack bang in the middle of vintage, and the long weekend break falls by the wayside. It looked like this may be the case this year, and it was for some, but luckily for us we finished picking on April 4th with the Grenache, and this was pressed off just before Easter. A lovely four-day break ensued.
While vintage is now near enough to complete, it feels like this vintage started back in winter. All the way back then the climate drivers looked positive, but the market – off the back of the Chinese lock out – was tentative.
As it turned out, we did have fantastic conditions. Not everyone was as lucky as us – this is farming, after all – but we coasted through a wet winter and spring, a mild summer and a drawn out ripening window with helpful bursts of rainfall.
A damaging hail storm in spring missed us completely, whilst writing off cars in Elizabeth to the south and flooding the main streets of Tanunda and Angaston to the north. A lot of vineyard damage was recorded and some growers had nothing left to farm back then.
The helpful rain in January and February was too much for some growers, with berry splitting and botrytis dotting the landscape.
As it turned out, we did have fantastic conditions. Not everyone was as lucky as us – this is farming, after all – but we coasted through a wet winter and spring, a mild summer and a drawn out ripening window with helpful bursts of rainfall.
A damaging hail storm in spring missed us completely, whilst writing off cars in Elizabeth to the south and flooding the main streets of Tanunda and Angaston to the north. A lot of vineyard damage was recorded and some growers had nothing left to farm back then.
The helpful rain in January and February was too much for some growers, with berry splitting and botrytis dotting the landscape.
We persevered and while the vintage was not without challenges, we’ve finished up with one of our better harvests, great natural acidity and the promise of top notch wines once again.
The hard work we put in last winter cutting out dead wood across several acres, yielded additional great quality fruit. We will continue this rejuvenation again soon, now that the weather is cooling and the leaves begin to fall.
We persevered and while the vintage was not without challenges, we’ve finished up with one of our better harvests, great natural acidity and the promise of top notch wines once again.
The hard work we put in last winter cutting out dead wood across several acres, yielded additional great quality fruit. We will continue this rejuvenation again soon, now that the weather is cooling and the leaves begin to fall.
