Bindi Harvest No. 25.

The crop is in, long live the crop!  

In fact, the crop is now a crop no longer but rather has been transformed, by the miracle of native yeast fermentation, into beautiful wine.

The 2015 harvest has one similarity to 2014 (stunning wine quality and vineyard expression) however there the comparisons end.  Where 2014 produced an extraordinarily small yield, 2015 saw the vines return a yield in line with 2010 and 2004 at around five tonnes per hectare (comparing to below two tonnes per hectare in 2014).

Following a treacherous year like 2014 the temptation is to accept a very high yield, if that is the season and the vines response, in 2015 however we did considerable shoot thinning in Spring and followed up with a green harvest removal of 15% of the crop in early February.  This focus on vine balance saw the stunning crop ripen evenly and the harvest ran between March 25th and April 1st.

The fermentations have progressed very evenly, though, as is typical, half the Chardonnay barrels are still fermenting six weeks after harvest!  They continue on and some may even ferment for ten months.  The Pinot Noirs are resting in barrel with the odd barrel fighting the cold and throwing out a bung as some malo-lactic conversion takes place.  All the Pinot barrels contain fine yeast lees and the Chardonnay barrels will likely keep their solids and yeast lees until the end of the year.  Interestingly, all through the growing season and harvest our mindset was "patience, patience" and the same held for decisions on pressing (to achieve good tannin structure).  The same is holding true with the Chardonnay ferments and the time the wines spend on yeast lees in barrel.

Pleasingly the new High Density (11,300 vines per hectare) Pinot planting done in October 2014 grew very well and may even produce a few barrels in 2016.  All clones grew evenly and the enormous amount of hand cultivation care saw the soil remain generally weed free and gave the vines an excellent start.  This coming season will see the arrival of a specialist French over row tractor to manage this and the next three small plantings we embark upon.

As we enter the chill of winter our feelings are of good news, good news and challenging news.  Good news on the new vineyard, good news on the outstanding success of the 2015 harvest and a challenge ahead with the upcoming release of the tiny amount of 2014 wine.

The only sense of extreme experienced at this point the 2014/15 growing season is that it has been extremely mild.  Which in some ways makes it seem odd that harvest across Victoria is running very early however the whole season has tracked that way and, in fact, the lack of extreme heat has seen the vines progress in a very evenhanded way.

The flowering in late November and early December occurred during generally lovely stable weather and the lack of heat spikes during the summer has seen the inter-row and paddocks in general maintain a green tinge.  Whilst there have been several grass greening rain events along the way overall it has been very dry and a post harvest, strong autumn break would be much appreciated.

We expect to commence the harvest on about March 26th and have it completed over the following week or so.  This will see us running about a week earlier than is now usual and compares to picking from April 6 to 10 last year.  The fruit is in exceptional health and is not far off a perfect crop of around two tonnes per acre (five tonnes per hectare).  The flavours have developed very slowly and the mild autumn has seen the acids holding strongly as the sugars build.  The temptation is always to pick but the reward will be there for our patience and restraint.

Tasting juice samples from all parts of the vineyard sees the personality of each site already evident.  The racy, citrus fruit purity of the Kostas Rind Chardonnay area is there to see.  The volume and length of the Quartz juice is showing.  The fragrance and red fruits of the Original Vineyard and the structure and drive of Block 5 are emerging.  The drive and grip of Block K is emerging as well.

The season is concluding, the pickers are booked and the personality of the wines of 2015 are being glimpsed.

How quickly we move from the grey short cold days of winter dormancy (for vine, not custodian) to the green lengthening warm days of spring.  From the bud burst of mid September to the elongating shoots of October it is our most frantic time in the vineyard.  Mowing, cultivating under vine, applying sulphur, fish and seaweed emulsions as well as shoot thinning takes up a lot of time and demands a seven day a week commitment.

Add in establishing a new ultra close planted vineyard (finishing planting today) and it seems there's barely a spare moment to enjoy the splendour of the carpets of greens.  But take a moment we do and things are really looking beautiful.  The mature plantings are growing very well and we approach the rest of the growing season with much hope, and a little trepidation after several small harvests.  

Our new planting of Pinot Noir involves four clones (two new to us) and is mostly at a density of 11,300 vines per hectare.  A small section is planted to 22,600 vines per hectare.  This is very intensive (vines, materials and labour as well as some new equipment required) however we have high hopes for the specific site itself as well as the planning and work going into it.  Time, a long time, will tell!

The season starts off after a very dry winter which did not see any water run off in to the dams.  Which is obviously a concern however well timed rain during the season will be a welcome mitigation to this problem.  Pleasingly, the soil moistures are holding up very well and the composting work done in winter as well as the undervine cultivation sees the soil looking very healthy.

The task of winter pruning is upon us and forecasts of hail and snow are giving cause for digging deep into the winter clothing.  Thermals are a must.  The last of the 2013s are bottled and we will have news of these wines late in July.  Suffice to say that despite the crop being 30% down on ideal yields the quality is exceptionally fine and as the wines settle post bottling they are beginning to sing their sweet tunes once more.  The upsetting shortfall in 2013 is given context by the horrendous flowering experienced for the 2014 crop which has seen a reduction in yield in the order of 65%.  As Bindi's dad would say, Crikey!

Things move on, regardless.  The peas and oats established in the new vineyard sites we are preparing are growing well and will form an enriching 'green manure' in the Springtime before we begin our planting.  An interesting observation; we planted in 1988 and more in 2001 and will again in 2014.  Thirteen year gaps.  Nothing unlucky there (maybe the tiny addition in 1992 with Block 5 broke that hoodoo?).  The new sites being prepared are all on the same contour as Block 5 and will have a diverse mix of high quality clones planted at very high density (11,500 vines per hectare).  Exciting.

Until release time in late July.............

Frost.  Hail.  Cold.  Dry. Hot.  Fire.

Dear me.  The romanticism of grape growing and wine making is being tested continually at every stage of this gruelling season.  Yes, of course, we are well versed in the various ways the weather can affect the crop quality and quantity and we are always prepared for some of these challenges to occur during any season.  However this season has been quite breathtaking in its audacity to throw down challenges, to both vine and grower, month on month.  We press on!

We began in September with some unseasonal warm weather which pushed the buds out earlier than usual.  Our usual diligent attention to our frost protecting fan saw it serviced by the installer just prior to the first frost of the season.  Unfortunately, the fan was rendered useless by a basic servicing error and it failed to run during a -2.7 degree frost event.  We are still assessing the extent of the fruit loss, but it was certainly significant.  Perhaps even more troubling was the weather in December when the vines began to flower and set their crop.  The ideal is calm, warm, even weather.  We had windy, cold, erratic weather highlighted, in the most perverse way, by hail.  The result has been a poor fruit set.  On the positive side, the good rains through October and November have seen the canopy grow very well and regardless of what occurs crop wise this season, the vines will be set up for winter pruning and a likely strong start to the 2015 season.  Yes, we do think in long timeframes with these vines!

The start of December saw the rain clouds turned off and it has been unremittingly dry for two months now.  We have had 25mm and a startlingly long run of hot weather, peaking with five days of 40 degrees or above in January.  And on it goes.  The day after the five year anniversary of the catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires we experienced a high wind, 41 degree day and a fire exploded into life just over the hill from us, thankfully to the east.  This fire, three days later, is no longer threatening towns but continues to cause anxiety and the risk of burning stumps and trees reigniting another front remains.  So, we do have some smoke haze around us however the grapes are yet to begin ripening and the expectation, like in 2007 and 2009, is that we will mercifully be unaffected in a qualitatve sense.

Some good news; this season we have moved to under vine cultivation, as opposed to previous regimes of straw mulching (loved by wildfires) and undervine mowing (vineyard looks like a park however weeds push their roots deeper to compete with the vines' roots).  This move has been a wonderful success.  As well as turning the undervine competition over and having the weeds die off and break down back into the soil it also opens up the soil (reducing any hard layer/compaction), to air and moisture, and it also has the ability to work compost into the soil.  Like all things vineyard related, timing is the key and when this activity is done correctly the result is really excellent.

So, here we stand in February and wonder where the season is going.  Hot and dry, a small crop.  Where earlier in the season the expectation was for a mid April harvest this is being revised to an earlier start.  Maybe early April, depending on the twists and turns of the Autumn.  The Heathcote Shiraz vineyard is looking healthy and strong and the fruit will be ready in another couple of weeks.  We have a bottling in mid March to begin to ready the 2013 wines for release later in the year.  

For sure, it's a testing cycle that makes up vineyard and winery work, but contemplating new wines beginning their evolution in bottle and another harvest, regardless how small, is very exciting.

After a winter that gifted us 14 frosts, plenty of rain and some biting, blustery weather we have broken through into an early Spring break.  Whilst the drenching of warmth and the invitation to the birds to bring us musical cheer is lovely the less pleasing aspect is the vines' buds pushing early and possibly exposing their new flush to damaging springtime frosts.  We will see.

There is rather a lot of news to do with new bottlings, the evolution of the 2013s in barrel as well as the important work that has begun on preparing four new vineyard sites for planting over the next four years.  More about these new vineyards in the next newsletter finalising the 2012 vintage release.  Also, though perhaps more exciting for us that work here rather than those buying the wine and interested in less mundane things, we have been doing some much needed works at the winery and sheds.  These projects on top of the normal vineyard and winery work are certainly demanding however it's always very exciting seeing long planned projects begin and evolve.

The 2013 wines are still on yeast lees and are evolving well.  Like the previous two harvests 2013 was quite reduced from the 'normal' crop level but the pleasing aspect of the vintage is the very good depth of flavour and balance the wines show in barrel.  The 2012 wines continue to evolve slowly in bottle and as we always council, two years post bottling sees the wines relax and begin to open up and begin to really show well.  Some recent tastings and dinners have seen the 2005 and 2006 wines drinking superbly and the 2008 and 2009s just beginning to show their beauty.  

We shall send out the final offer for the 2012s in early October.

Wines on Offer

We are offering the 2012 Bindi Composition Chardonnay, 2012 Bindi Composition Pinot Noir  and 2012 Pyrette Heathcote Shiraz for immediate purchase and delivery. 

We are also offering the 2012 Bindi Quartz Chardonnay, 2012 Bindi Original Vineyard Pinot Noir and 2012 Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir as a pre-release offer (with credit card charging and delivery early October 2013).  These wines will be released by way of our newsletter at the usual time in mid October however you can reserve your wine now.

Please click here to order.

2012 Season

The 2012 season is considered to be a fine success across Victoria for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz: at Bindi we hold a sentiment consistent with this view.  Overall, the season produced a very small crop of healthy, balanced, expressive fruit.  The wines are typical of the vineyard origins and, overall, they are harmonious, elegant, pure and worthy of ageing.  

The spring of 2011 indicated we were in for a similar season to that that led to the 2011 harvest; rain and humidity and very slow ripening.  Things changed, however, and changed again and again.  December saw cold, windy weather disrupt the flowering significantly.  From late December to late February 2012 we received barely a drop of rain and had eight weeks of contrast to the start of the vines’ season.  Then, what was for many harvest interrupting, a deluge of 150mm of rain freshened the vines, pushed them through veraison and a stunning run of perfect autumnal weather ripened the very small crop.

2013 Season

The just completed 2013 harvest was a success in terms of quality with the wines showing power and drive and purity and depth of flavour.  With hail and cold snaps twice at flowering in December and again at veraison in February the harvest was small, however the quality (being our objective, of course) is very exciting.  The wines fermented well, in fact several barrels of chardonnay are still fermenting in early June at 15 degrees in a warmed room.  This is not atypical, as the wines  ferment without the addition of yeast and each barrel is its own unique fermentation with its own volume of solids and yeasts.

BILL D.S. DHILLON

2/10/1937 - 26/1/2013

Bill Dhillon, founder of Gisborne Squash Courts (1972) and Bindi Vineyard (1988), passed on January 26th aged 75.

Bill was born in Punjab in northern India in the small farming village Bahman Wala, just to the south of Amritsar.  His name was Darshan Singh Dhillon.  He would be dubbed 'Bill' two decades later at Ballarat Grammar School.

He was the youngest of six children.  His parents farmed a small holding, just a few acres, which was insufficient to support the family.  His father moved to Malaya (now Malaysia) before he was born to establish a plantation of rubber trees and would return every two years to India to see his family.  The three youngest children were born two years apart, the timing coinciding with these annual visits, plus nine months.

The family's village is now located alongside the India/Pakistan border and close to a major railway line.  During the time of the partition, following the departure of the British in 1947, this area witnessed much violence (estimates number those killed as approximately 500,000) as Hindus and Muslims crossed the border.  Bill (aged 10) and his youngest sister were sent away from this violence to live with another family for a year and a half to a safer town, Preet Nagar (Town of Love).

In 1950 his mother took her family to re unite with their father after he had successfully developed the plantation in Baling, in Kedah, Malaya.  For seven years Bill attended Saint Xavier Institute on the island of Penang where all classes were conducted in English.

In 1958 Bill came to Australia to complete two years of matriculation in order to gain entry to Civil Engineering at Melbourne University.  This period had a profound influence on his life.  Teaching at this time was Kostas Rind, a Lithuanian academic who escaped the Russian persecution (which saw 10% of the population deported) and arrived in Australia as a refugee.  At Ballarat Grammar he rose to become it's leading maths and physics professor.  Kostas became a mentor and father figure to Bill and introduced him to the culture and pleasures of cellaring and drinking fine table wine.  After two years at Ballarat Grammar School Bill went on to complete his Civil Engineering degree, during which time he met Kaye King (of Bundaleer) whose maternal family, the Dixons, have a continuing connection with Gisborne dating to 1853.

Bill and Kaye Dhillon farmed sheep at Bindi, formerly part of Bundaleer, and to support the family established the Gisborne Squash Courts and Wool and Wheel craft shop in 1972.  This business grew to four courts and played a significant role in the sporting and social lives of the then small township.

After Kaye's death (1985) Bill determined he would pursue a venture on the land which would give it the opportunity to become self sustaining.  The establishment of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards, now six hectares, in 1988 led to the building of the winery and Bill developed further projects such as farm forestry (15 hectares), reforestation and the preservation of important, rare grasslands.

As the vineyard matured and Bindi wines became established here and overseas he turned his mind to other activities.   Bill learned of Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Nobel Peace Prize recipient.  Bill visited Yunus several times to learn more about micro credit (lending to those too poor to receive loans from normal banks, particularly disadvantaged women).  With this in mind, he sought meetings, and developed a rapport, with Noel Pearson at the Cape York Institute.

Bill Dhillon's motto in life was Balance.  To this end he balanced his energies for family, community, work and the environment.

A spring of sorts is emerging after a bitterly cold and wet winter. A rather nostalgic three months it has been.  If a little confronting, not unwelcome.  At this time of year we hold high hopes.  Vines pruned and prepared.  Old canes mulched back into the soil, new canes layered along the wire ready to shoot their new foliage, ready to set their crop for a harvest seven months away.  The journey towards Vintage 2013 begins.

Recently Bindi was involved in tastings in Brisbane and Sydney with nine other family vineyard/winery operations, each having more than twenty vintages released.  Small vineyards, hands-on wineries, operators working the same terroir into their third, fourth or fifth decades.  Several sites were even established over 150 years ago.  It was a lot of fun tasting wines going back to the ‘80s.  There exist a lot of opportunities in the wine world today.  There’s more diversity than ever before for maker, seller and consumer.  These tastings and conversations, of families discussing their land, their decades of learning and evolving in the winery, of relationships with customers enjoying the wines for twenty plus years were incredibly rewarding.  We were left with the thought ‘we should do it more often!’.  So, Melbourne will be next then we’ll revisit it all again in a couple more years.

We also have two upcoming Bindi events which may be of interest.   Bistro Vue in Melbourne will host a dinner on 16 October 2012 featuring Bindi sparkling (a blend of 1993 to 2000 with ten years on lees) and multiple vintages of the Original Vineyard Pinot Noir.  Please contact Bistro Vue directly on (03) 9691 3838.  And on 23 November 2012 The Dispensary Enoteca in Bendigo will host a 5 course degustation matched with Bindi wines.  Please contact them directly on (03) 5444 5885.

After a real sumer then a real autumn we are really having a proper winter! Cold, wet and windy in Gisborne was a norm that was disrupted by the decade long drought. This uncomfortable nostalgia is welcome for vine dormancy and soil moisture but makes for robust pruning conditions which ensure we draw upon the the very best thermal wear. With this a few things are certain; the job has to get done and every evening after pruning warmth derived from water, wood, food and wine is enjoyed for its elemental reviving gift.

The last of the 2011 wines are now bottled and starting to emerge from their subtle trauma. The wines of this vintage are really evolving beautifully and are such a joy for their seductive aromas and pure, intense, flowing palates. They certainly require another twelve months or so to really begin to show their truest form and will improve for many years onwards.

June 2012 release

We are currently releasing 2011 Bindi Composition Pinot Noir, 2011 Bindi Composition Chardonnay, 2011 Pyrette Heatcote Shiraz and a mixed six pack of Bindi Sparkling Museum Stock. To order, please click here.

A quick note on the just completed 2012 harvest and season. The spring of 2011 indicated we were in for a similar season to that that led up to the 2011 harvest; rain and humidity and very slow ripening. Things changed, however, and changed again and again. December saw cold, windy weather disrupt the flowering significantly. From late December to late February we received barely a drop of rain and had eight weeks of contrast to the start of the vines' season. Then, what was for many harvest interuppting, a deluge of 150mm of rain freshened the vines, pushed them through veraison and a stunning run of perfect autumnal weather ripened the very small crop. At this early stage, despite the meagre volume of wine, 2012 looks very exciting.

A quick note on the just completed 2012 harvest and season. The spring of 2011 indicated we were in for a similar season to that that led up to the 2011 harvest; rain and humidity and very slow ripening. Things changed, however, and changed again and again. December saw cold, windy weather disrupt the flowering significantly. From late December to late February we received barely a drop of rain and had eight weeks of contrast to the start of the vines' season. Then, what was for many harvest interuppting, a deluge of 150mm of rain freshened the vines, pushed them through veraison and a stunning run of perfect autumnal weather ripened the very small crop. At this early stage, despite the meagre volume of wine, 2012 looks very exciting.

We have had an eventful few weeks.

The white veil of netting covers the ripening fruit only to be disturbed by the fickle winds and willie willies that give the birds occasional access to what is rather a small crop. Harvesting the chardonnay and pinot noir appears to be about five weeks away (2011 was concluded April 25th, 2008 March 18th).

We have successfully bottled the 2011 Composition Chardonnay, 2011 Composition Pinot Noir and the 2011 Pyrette Heathcote Shiraz. The wines looked very fresh and intense prior to bottling and will now require four to six months to fully settle down and emerge again. The 2011 Quartz, 2011 Original Vineyard and 2011 Block 5 will be bottled in July.

The Pyrette fruit for 2012 was picked on the 21st of February and has just begun to ferment. Quite a bit of whole bunch fruit was added to the bottom of each open fermenter and the rest of the fruit de-stemmed on top. A little sulphur was added and thereafter it is up to the ambient/native yeast to ferment the sugar. This has taken five days to really get going and now we have raised caps/skins and fresh, bubbling shiraz ferments. The fruit this year is exceptionally balanced, fragrant, spicy and complex in red fruits. The potential alcohol is 13.5% and the acidities are very good.

After eight weeks of extremely dry weather we have had over 40mm of rain in the past 18 hours. With the temperature and humidity quite high it is a slight concern, but the rain is very welcome this far from harvest. We await some warm, even ripening weather.

The summer has finally emerged from another very wet spring. This growing season we have moved straight from a wet, warm spring to a cold, unstable early summer and now to the typical January weather we expect. Quite a change to last summer which had staggeringly high rainfall.

December, our important period requiring stable, warm weather for flowering, saw high winds, rain and cold snaps. Consequently, the crop level is quite reduced and our expectation is for a very moderate yield. Quality is, of course, our primary focus and we are hopeful of making some intense wine at low yields. We are looking at yields around three to four tonnes per hectare this year whereas our aim would be to crop around five tonnes per hectare.

We have recently racked and returned to barrel the 2011 wines post malo lactic and they are looking quite promising. It was a difficult year viticulture wise however the harvest, fermentations and barrel maturations have progressed very well. The chardonnays are mineral and intense with excellent length and balance. The pinot noirs are perfumed, spicy, textured and harmonious and will cellar very well. The Pyrette shiraz is deliciously mineral, earthy, complex, creamy and balanced.

We begin bottling some of the 2011s in late February and the remainder will be bottled in July.

The vines are exiting their winter dormancy and we are joining them at the beginning of a new season's journey. The story of the 2012 season begins to be written.

The pruning was successfully completed in good time and the new canes wrapped down well before any sign of bud swell. Despite the difficulties of last season's challenging humid conditions the vines had good mature wood to use for this season's canes and we expect a consistent budburst. We have aerated the vineyard several times to open up the soil for air and moisture penetration and to alleviate the problem of compaction from using the tractor on saturated soils. This method creates punctures about 120mm deep in the mid row, about 250mm from the base of the vine, and three passes gives a very good coverage. Some superficial roots are cut and the structure of the soil is improved.

The 2011 vintage wines remain on heavy yeast lees in barrel and are at varying stages in regard to the completion of malo-lactic. The wines are looking very good and have excellent intensity and balance. It is, of course, early days for the 2011s but it is at least a very successful vintage which exhibits excellent fruit purity, intensity and balance. We must wait until the end of Spring and for the malos to be completed. The best indication will come post racking when the wines are taken off lees from barrel and returned to the cleaned barrels as they always look freshened up and more complete.

We are now releasing the last of the 2010s. The wines are showing quite well but are clearly very young and un-evolved. I expect the release to sell out rather quickly and apologise if we are unable to fulfill all orders satisfactorily. The reality is we have not increased our production while we have seen a large increase in our customer base.

Thank you for using our website and your interest in our wines.

Harvest 2011

Amongst ourselves, and to some winemaking colleagues, we said we might not make it. Many didn't make it this year. There were a myriad of different challenges and anxieties to overcome and the feeling from November to April was that at any point the crop could be lost. This season more than any other we were ever focused and attentive to what the vineyard needed in response to the incredible weather conditions.

For eight years now we have not used any systemic fungicides. It is now six years since we have applied systemic/chemical sprays for weeds - now we use straw mulch and slashing. We do not use systemic applications to eradicate pests. Our focus has been to promote life forces rather than to apply death to control our vineyard environment. This year we held firm to this regime with the exception of two systemic fungicide applications, the first in eight years, to the foliage in December. There was a temptation to used anti botrytis fungal sprays on the ripening fruit but we had done so much work to have an open, clean, airy canopy we felt more comfortable to take the risk than spray. Also, we dropped 30% of the overall crop on the ground before veraison/ripening as we didn't want fruit on small shoots or in clumps where fruit ripening rates would be compromised and disease would be more likely to develop with bunches touching one another. Also, a larger crop would have required another week to 10 days of ripening and this was clearly not the season to risk exposing the fruit to extra adverse weather events.

As a reward for the hard work April provided some important warm, sunny classic autumnal weather and the flavours and sugars developed beautifully. The pickers were very diligent in removing any fruit not in optimal condition and the quality of the grapes arriving at the winery was quite remarkable. All the pinot noir has been pressed out post fermentation and is resting in barrel. There are still some barrels of chardonnay fermenting. Overall, the volume of wine is very reasonable (30 tonnes from 16 acres/6 hectares) and, whilst clearly early days, the style of the wines looks to be intense and balanced. For this stage the wines are representative of their site and usual style.

The vineyard is patient. The vignerons must be also.

We have entered a period of nostalgia as we amble through a March that seems more like 1993 than 2011. The fruit is finally veraised. The nets are on. The vines are green. The fruit is exposed and healthy. The crop was thinned by 30% and what remains is calmly awaiting some sunshine. Hope is what we have. And an expectation of some testing weather but some confidence that our vines are able to work through the next four or five weeks to produce a worthy expression of the season and their unique place.

Tasting the three bottled 2010 wines has been a delightful contrast to the shocks of local and global maladies and the difficulty of this growing season. The level of perfume, intensity, fruit purity and harmony that 2010 has delivered is exceptionally pleasing. And the remaining 2010 wines in barrel continue to develop beautifully. Their stories are evolving slowly.

Since when was the sub tropics moved to southern Victoria? The cool, elevated Macedon ranges felt like central Victoria for a decade and now we feel like grape growers in Byron Bay. Without the beach, sadly.

Dams that did not fill for a decade have continually overflowed from December to now. Long term, great for the landscape. Short term, a lot of focus on the vineyard with tractor work, shoot removal, fruit dropping, trimming and broken sleep wondering what the rain and humidity is doing to the canopy.

So far the vineyard is healthy and fruit is clean. We will see. The first veraising berry was seen yesterday so we are still 10 days away from getting right into the colour change and sugar accumulation phase. After that we will need around six weeks to achieve ripeness. It looks to be a long, humid, frustrating push to harvest. We will delay putting the bird nets on as long as possible so we can continue to work on the canopy. I was speaking with Stuart Anderson last week and asked if he'd ever seen a season like this in his 50 years of wine life. "Never' was the response. Sure, summer rain events and thunderstorms had highlighted some growing seasons but never the continual humidity and frequency of tropical weather being pushed south.

On a joyous note, we bottled the Composition Chardonnay, Composition Pinot Noir and Pyrette Shiraz from 2010 last Sunday and they are all looking to be of excellent quality. Sure, they now need several months to settle but the harmony and depth of the vintage is very pleasing and come release time in June they will be opening up again. The Quartz, Original Vineyard and Block 5 will be bottled in June and they have wonderful depth and structure.

And then the rains came.

After a decade of well below average rainfall we are about to break the 1000mm mark. The decade prior to the long running drought we were used to totals around 750mm. What a remarkable surprise this spring has been. Dams that had not filled since the late 1990s have overflowed several times over. We have completely saturated soils that are so waterlogged we are having troubles getting the tractor into the vineyard. This is a long forgotten problem but given the long, long dry it's a healthy problem to have.

South Eastern Australia has welcomed the rain but less welcome has been the warm, humid conditions that are creating huge disease pressure. We have made many passes through the vineyard by hand to remove water shoots and shoots from the vines' crowns. The canopy is open and airy and any basic sulphur and copper applications are highly effective and we continue not to use any systemic sprays. So far, we have not had any outbreak of mildews. Timing in seasons like this is critical and timing has been made doubly difficult due to the wet ground and frequent thunderstorms and rain events.

The 2010 red wines are nearly through malo and ready for raking off lees. The chardonnays are still on lees and will also be racked in the next few months. The wines are showing a lot of power and intensity with particularly deep, long finishes. It will be very interesting to see their form after racking and being returned to barrel.

Yesterday we noticed the first sign of flowering and today there is a little more widespread. We require warm, even weather during this time and I note the forecast is for thunderstorms and wind. It really is that type of contrary season.

The winter was so cold my fingers froze and I was unable to key any blog entries. Well almost, but not quite. Hybernation aside, we have had a brilliant traditional winter of cold and rain. Our dams are nearly full and the vineyard has superb soil moisture to begin the season.

The 2010 wines are still resting at winter temperatures of around 10 degrees but will soon begin to finish their malo lactic conversion (for the reds). Soon enough we will be racking and freshening the wines and getting a good take on their style and quality. At this point 2010 has very good intensity and concentration. Less suppleness than 2008, not the perfume of 2009 but structure and depth from an excellent season.

We have had our recently installed frost fan doing its work the past two nights. The leaves are not yet out however the pushing buds are still susceptible to plunging temperatures and the frigid reality of Spring time frost. Two nights ago we had minus 3.5 degrees 100m outside the vineyard and the fan worked perfectly by drawing down warm air (3.7 degrees at ten meters above ground level) and mixing into with the frosty air. We can expect some more events between now and early November.

The fifth edition of Langton's Classification has come out and we are pleased to have Block 5 and Original Vineyard included amongst the 123 wines. Twenty vintages in we feel we are maturing across the facets of our work and are looking to put our increasing understanding into ever more detailed, focused projects. More on that as it unfolds over the next few years.

For those who are passionate about Burgundy, food and travel please have a look at our friend Jillian Francis' website, www.tastesofburgundy.com. Jillian is working with some exceptionally talented chefs and has trod the ground, descended into the cellars and dined at some of the most inspiring tables in Burgundy to create a hedonistic experience.