In a word – cracking!
That’s the only way we can sum up vintage 2018 now that the grapes are in the winery. Both the Semillon and the Shiraz grapes have been among the highest quality we’ve every produced. To say that we’ve got high hopes for the wines from this year is very much understated.
That’s not to say the season has not been without its challenges. Far from it.
The lack of solid rainfall over the entire season has tested water reserves a lot, and it started in winter. July and August were among the driest on record and the lack of early season rain meant irrigating the vines before budburst was mandatory. There is a big bonus with this, however – we can control the moisture profile of the soil and ensure the vines have exactly what they need to get going, without being too vigorous early in the season.
Some rainfall in mid-spring gave the vines some respite from the dry conditions, and brought a lush green to the vineyard and surrounding paddocks. Flowering was slightly early this year with even fruit set as spring turned into summer.
Veraison across all blocks was underway by Christmas and, despite the lack of rain, we were already looking at a very good season. Disease pressure had been low throughout and there was one point where the thought of picking Semillon around Australia Day did enter our minds.
January had other ideas and hit us with some very hot days, not unlike 2017. The main difference between this year and last was there were no strings of four or five consecutive days above 43, such as we experienced the January before. This gave the vines a break and enabled ripening to continue in an even fashion.
The Semillon was picked on February 8, one day later than 2017. The wine is nearly through fermentation and initial thoughts from our winemaker is that it looks ‘very smart indeed’. The wine will be bottled around May after sitting on lees for a small amount of time, ahead of an anticipated release in early September (with a possible preview at our Winter Fireside Chats to be held in July once again this year – watch this space).
Picking the Shiraz was completed over two days – February 14 and 16, roughly one week earlier than 2017. The quality of the fruit is exceptional with comparisons to the classic vintage that was 2014 almost impossible to overlook. With the wines a short time away from being ready for oak, we’re very much looking forward to seeing what the 2018 Stonybroke, Schoolhouse and Aristea Shiraz will become. They are infants now but we think they’ll grow to become very smart adults, indeed.
