The 2016 growing season looked very promising, with good Winter and Spring rainfall until October. November and December were dry and warm, leading to a relatively mild January. Supplementary irrigation was required to maintain good soil moisture levels and canopy health.

The first week of February saw two inches of rain fall, which was just before the onset of harvest, so certainly created a few nerves at the beginning of vintage.

Fortunately the rest of the harvest remained dry, and all grape varieties came in very early, with picking starting on the 10th February. Vintage progressed at a fast and furious pace, due to three very warm weeks of temperatures between 35-40C, with incredibly rapid ripening across all varieties. Early blocks of Cabernet, Durif and Muscat were all harvested in February!
March saw the warm and dry conditions continue, along with the fast pace of the vintage. All varieties were harvested by the end of the month, with the exception of Muscadelle for Topaque, which was picked in April.

Overall cropping levels were average and the quality of the vintage is good, with ripe and full flavours, with Muscadelle for Topaque the highlight.

The fruit for our 2016 Pinot Noir was picked from two vineyard sites – our Sunday Creek vineyard in Rutherglen; and Trevor Bussell’s King Valley vineyard in Cheshunt. Both parcels received a cold maceration for 3 days, before being fermented on skins in open fermenters, with 10% stalks added back to each tank. Fermentation temperatures varied from 20-25ºC, with gentle pump overs occurring twice daily. At the end of the fermentation, each wine was pressed into a stainless steel tank, then blended prior to oak maturation.

The blended wine was matured in two to five year old French oak barriques for 12 months, before blending, fining and clarification occurred prior to bottling in August 2017.

Our 2016 Pinot Noir is still displaying lifted cherry and red berry aromas, with hints of spice. The palate is soft and supple, with earthy berry fruit flavours that persist to a fine, long tannin finish.

Duck Breast with a Cherry reduction