So far, Vintage 2017 has been a polar opposite to 2016.

2016 was three weeks early and over in a flash. By contrast, 2017 is back to what Col and Malc would consider ‘normal’ with a slow and steady start.

We started on 17th February with Chardonnay and have only just ticked over 213T – that’s not even half way. In 2016 we had harvested 595T and the vintage was just about done and dusted.

After a cool start to summer the weather conditions have been near perfect and the grapevines are maturing nicely. There is no disease pressure and the flavour development is perfectly balanced with the grape chemistry. With the exception of Trebbiano, all of our whites have been harvested and finished ferment. The Moscato and Amelie have also finished and are set for bottling in the coming week.

Half of our Shiraz has been harvested and currently completing secondary fermentation in barrel. We are watching the weather closely for the remaining shiraz, muscat and other red varieties still to come in.

2017 is shaping as a vintage to remember.