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07 Apr Vintage Report 2023

Posted at 15:42h in General by

It has been a bit of a mixed bag for 2023 as weather continues to play a role in the quality of wine grape harvests across southern Australia.

After several years of warm and humid conditions early in Spring, this year we endured the opposite with very cool and wet conditions across Victoria over September and October.

Neither of these conditions are “normal” for Spring and both interfere with the process of flowering and fruit set in wine grapes. The result is that there are less full bunches of grapes and berry size can also be smaller than normal.

Our Pinot Noir was less affected by the weather and the yield was about on average with high fruit quality. The grapes have been fermented and pressed with the wine now in tank for the solids to settle our before moving to oak during winter.

Our Chardonnay was definitely affected by the cool spring and the yield was well below average. However, it still can be swings and roundabouts as the low crop means that the vines put all their energy into less fruit, so the flavours in the juice are fabulous. The Chardonnay is now fermenting slowly at low temperature which is also a positive for a very high quality wine.

Our Heathcote Shiraz was picked and delivered from the Coliban Glen vineyard in mid March. The weather through early March certainly cooled off quickly in Victoria this year so the fruit did not get a late season kick along as it often does in Heathcote. So the sugar levels are relatively low for vintage 2023 and we expect a slightly cooler climate style than usual – having said that the colour in the wine as it ferments is amazing and the flavours at harvest were excellent.

We are also receiving an allocation of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Heathcote vineyard which will be picked in the last week of April. As with the Shiraz, we expect relative low sugars but good flavours given the relatively extended period of time the fruit has been on the vines.

Overall 2023 is another vintage of lower yields than usual but will result in very high quality in the wines.