Quick note on #V21 so far….

All whites are in except our Hunter Valley Vermentino (late ripener). Our Palmers Lane Semillon in particular is looking exceptional, delicate flavours peeling of a long back bone of acidity. One to watch out for! We have just started bringing in some reds, with most still relaxing and cruising through ripening. I anticipate all reds off and in the winery by the end of next week. With some challenging conditions, dodging rain events and heavy soil moisture we have had to be quick on our feet, however the fruit, ferments and wines are all looking great. I am really excited with how things are going.

On another note I would like to introduce a new addition to the winemaking team, with Sam Boyd slotting in seamlessly as our new Assistant Winemaker.

Richard Done – Winemaker

#V21 wrap-up…

With the winery starting to slow down and wines being put to barrel for the winter or polished up for bottling, I feel this is a good time to recap vintage 2021. The 2021 growing season was off to a great start with some much-needed rain through Autumn and Winter in 2020. The drought if you like had finally been eased, dams were full, and the vines went into dormancy with much needed carbohydrates and energy to re-emerge in Spring full of life. We have been working really hard to ensure our vineyards are being well looked after, with the cultivation of midrows, sowing of cover crops, mulching under vine and pinpointed fertilising programs. So, onto 2021 harvest and the vineyard was lush, green, and full of life (making a few winemakers very excited). We did go through some challenging conditions, dodging rain events and some disease pressure, however the fruit and wines that have come through the winery this year are looking fantastic. We commenced harvest on the 7^th January for sparkling base Chardonnay, harvested our prized Semillon blocks on the 19^th January and finally finished our Hunter harvest on 12^th February with Shiraz. At this stage, the pick of our wines would have to be our 2021 Signature Semillon from Palmers Lane Vineyard (in fact being bottled in 2 weeks). It displays pure class and elegance of top shelf Hunter Valley Semillon, look out for it! Our Chardonnay’s are relaxing nicely in barrel and we have now put all our Shiraz to barrel. These are looking great, slightly lighter than the past 4 years of drought conditions, and back to silky, sexy, and delicious medium bodied Hunter Valley Shiraz.

I look forward to catching up with you all at our events we have planned for the year, all the best

Richard Done – Winemaker