Winter Journal
AUTUMN 2008 - 12 July 2008
AUTUMN 2008
Autumn 2008 has proved to be a relatively benign season overall.
Extensive canopy management of the Pinot Noir vines (about 35% of the vineyard) commenced mid-January 2008 with the emphasis being on leaf plucking to get the correct exposure of the fruit to sunshine.
Veraison arrived pretty much as expected by mid-February and the bird nets were on to the fruiting vines by the end of the second week in February 2008.
After some unusually hot weather in late February-early March conditions returned to pretty much “normal” though April. Consequently, the ripening processes accelerated through the first two weeks of March but slowed to normal through the two weeks to the end of March and April. In contrast to many of our colleagues in Tasmania our ripening patterns at Cape Bernier turned out to be very similar to those of previous years.
Our crop estimates for 2008 indicated a bumper harvest – at levels almost twice our previous best which occurred in 2006. We started picking with the bulk of the Chardonnay on 11 April – which was a week or so earlier than originally expected - on the advice from our winemakers that the berries were showing beautiful flavours. We thought so too! In the event, the harvest exceeded both the crop estimate and quality indicators.
Our 2008 Chardonnay will be barrel-fermented to achieve a “light” oak treatment in a crisp, but complex and succulent wine-style. The maturation process includes some of the special features used by winemakers on one of the “icon” Chardonnays. All the indicators are that this vintage will be superb – with our winemakers and their colleagues giving the wine rave reviews! So look out for this when it hits the market.
Vintage 2008 also marks the first occasion where we will be able to produce a Pinot Gris wine. These grapes were picked on 18 April and are being steel-tank fermented in the traditional Pinot Gris style. Similar to our Chardonnay, the flavours in the Pinot Gris are superb and so all the omens are good.
For the first time our Pinot Noir has been picked in two batches, matching the different ripening characteristics of the 114 clone and the D5V12 (2051) clone. The first batch was picked on 28 April and the second on 7 May. Each batch was fermented separately and is currently maturing in barrel. We are also using the traditional Burgundy approach of an extended period in barrel in cool temperatures (around 10C) before going to malolactic fermentation. This will increase the complexity in the wine. Our winemakers advise that this wine will be our best Pinot Noir yet – and shows the benefits of a range of vineyard management innovations throughout the season.
Following the pattern of the previous vintage, we have again purchased some very good quality Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes to produce a Cabernet-Merlot 2008. The style will soft and fresh, with a view to early release. This wine will have a little less Merlot than in previous vintages but the powerful characters of this variety will continue to make their presence felt.
Overall, vintage 2008 is turning out to be superb!! The quality is of the highest order for all three of our wines and the quantity is twice our previous best. Look out for these 2008 vintage wines – they will be really quite special!
The over-grafted Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris vines are finally looking like “new” vines and have produced substantial shoot growth in virtually all cases. This provides a very sound basis for pruning to the new structure and hence the promise of a crop in the 2009 vintage.
WINTER 2008 - 12 July 2008
WINTER 2008
STOP PRESS!!
Success at the 2008 Small Vigneron Wine Awards:
- Gold Medal (55.5 pts) for our Chardonnay Pinot Gris 2006
- Bronze for our Pinot Noir 2006
Now back to the news:
After our relatively benign Autumn, Winter started out with some threateningly low temperatures in late June, but only for a day or so.
As in 2007, we spent late-May and June catching our breath after a long season with tasks such as olive picking, building a loading dock, and organic fertilizer spreading.
After the overall success of several vineyard management changes in season 2007-08 we felt we should stick to the “formula” this coming season, with of course some fine-tuning! A key element of our new approach last year was to use a complex organic pelletized fertilizer containing a range of nutrients and trace elements. This is a slow-release source of nutrition and soil conditioning which does not rely on rains soon after spreading. In conjunction with liquid lime this helps to improve overall soil condition and quality. This has to be a long term objective!
Our broad aim is to achieve a steady growth pattern for the vines through the crucial early months of the season with limited irrigation if necessary to supplement rainfall, and a pattern of seaweed-based trace element foliar feeding through Spring (September to November) to enhance vine health and fruit-set.
Pruning started on 24 June and we expect to finish by mid-August 2008. Seven long weeks in total! And a bit challenging on the colder days! So far a temperature range of 5-7C together with strong winds and rain squalls have been experienced on several days. Very character-building but no-one has dropped out yet.
The bulk of our vines are bi-lateral (2) cane-pruned to a Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) trellis. We are aiming to increase bud numbers on each vine and after the success of the “Scott-Henry” double-bilateral experiment this year we have extended this to the whole block of Pinot Noir 114 vines. This provides for a “fold-down” lower canopy in conjunction with the normal VSP canopy and we are aiming for about 60% increase in bud numbers per vine. In 2008, this approach yielded about a 50% increase in crop per vine for the experimental block.
Pruning the olive trees (Barnea and Manzanillo) will follow during the last weeks of August 2007.
The biggest single issue for Winter 2008 is the ongoing “drought”. Notwithstanding the good rains in almost all other parts of our Island State, the East Coast has missed out, again. May and June were “the driest” on record and while some improved falls have occurred through the first two weeks of July they have been insufficient to cause any run-off into our dams. Reasonable rains are essential over the next month or so to offer hope for the new season. Without these, we are looking like a repeat of season 2006, which was intensely dry through winter and spring. If this is the case, the vines will have to survive without the “minimal” irrigation they received through the past season. Oh dear!! But we live in hope …
Currently no journal entries for winter.