Vintage 2025 is Looking Good
The burst of warm weather at the beginning of February helped to ripen the fruit and brough forward the picking of the chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. Different grape varieties become ripe at slightly different times during vintage and each variety needs to be harvested when they reach the correct balance of sugar and acid. In addition, the grapes must be flavour ripe, that is they must have developed the desired flavour profile, including tannin ripeness.
Chardonnay was the first variety to be harvested, with the grapes being hand-harvested on February 6th, marking one of the earliest starts to vintage that most can remember. The chardonnay was in pristine condition, nicely balanced and with intense flavours. The grapes looked and tasted amazing.
It was only a few days later when the sauvignon blanc was hand-harvested. The mature vines from the original plantings at Squitchy Lane can still be relied upon to produce fantastic fruit. The main advantage of the old vines is the intensity of flavour that their fruit develops and this year was no exception. We harvested around one tonne of beautiful, delicious fruit.
Pinot Noir was the next variety to be harvested on 15th February. We had a large team of pickers who pulled off a magnificent feat by picking over two hectares of fruit in a little over three hours. Rain was threatening and it was important to transport the fruit to the winery before the rain began. Fortunately the Pinot Noir came in very good time and in immaculate condition, and the rain held off as well. One of the advantages of hand-picking is that experienced pickers know to leave fruit that is not in optimal condition on the vine, which ensures that only perfect grapes reach the winery. We harvested a little over four tonnes of Pinot Noir that was nicely balanced and had good flavour. The best news is that the production of a Peter’s Block looks likely for 2025, the first vintage of this premium wine since 2021.
