2011 Red Hill Chardonnay released

Here it is folks – the inaugural release of our Red Hill Chardonnay from the Mornington Peninsula.

From the cool 2011 vintage, the vineyard has performed admirably and we're pretty happy with the results. Read on…

2010 Gruyere Syrah released

2009 was, to use the Queen’s parlance, an annus horribilis. Scorching temperatures in late January followed by the devastating Black Saturday fires and smoke battered our dry-grown vineyard. In the end, I made the only call possible that I was just not going to be able to make a quality wine from this year.

2010 saw the breaking of the drought and the welcome return of a cooler and wetter year. A significant rain event in early March saw many scurrying to get fruit in to the winery, but with no botrytis evident in the vineyard and the mildews under control we decided to hang ours out in the hope of an extended cooler ripening period towards the end of March.

The decision paid dividends with grapes eventually being picked on March 23, some 2 weeks later than in 2008, showing excellent levels of physiological ripeness but with still restrained sugar levels. In short, perfect for the traditional winemaking methods I favour.

Read more about the wine here…

Meanwhile, my Red Hill chardonnay has been racked from barrel after 12 months on lees and given a light bentonite fining in preparation for bottling in the next few weeks. I’m pretty excited about the results so stay tuned for more on this wine soon…

Walking Along, Singing a Song, Walking in a Pruning Wonderland…

Pruning time. Some people hate it, some think it mundane, others pay someone else to do it. 

I must admit, at times I have come to associate it with numb fingers and hypothermia. 

But just every now and again, there’s a day where you’re simply glad to be out amongst the tranquility of the vines.