Vintage Reports

At 5.30am on the 30th of January, the first load of Sauvignon Blanc was delivered to the winery signalling the earliest start to a d’Arenberg vintage by one day. There have been two separate vintages commencing on the 31st of January but Vintage 2007 has set a new benchmark. According to d’Arry Osborn the 10th February in the early 60’s was the earliest start for reds here at d’Arenberg, well before irrigation.

I asked d’Arry if the lead up to vintage this year was the driest he had experienced and are there any similarities to past vintages which triggered a range of interesting comments;

‘The growing season of ’59 was the driest. It was the worst I’ve ever seen. In ’06 we experienced moderate levels of rain fall through May & June (66mm & 3.6mm) whereas for the total year in 1959 we received only 11 points (2.7mm)!’

‘It was so dry; there was no greenery to be seen anywhere, even under trees…even weeds didn’t grow. It was the easiest cultivating year ever-we didn’t have to plough the rows as we normally would as there was nothing to plough.’

Crop loads on early picked vineyards are down as much as 50% from a normal year (what ever that is) and is most obvious with vines planted on the heavier soil structure. So far we have picked and crushed all of our McLaren Vale Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc with Viognier and Rousanne close to being finished. We are progressing through the McLaren Vale Chardonnay and Shiraz is now underway. A lot of whites were lost to berry splitting that occurred from the rains over the 19th, 20th & 21st. January. As Chester Osborn points out what we lost in yield is not comparable to overall fruit quality, in particular for reds; Grenache benefited greatly from the rains.

Vines planted on sandy soils have experiencing minimal problems and the canopies are more balanced overall. Crop sizes are larger and the vines have minimal levels of stress with the fruit being more uniform in size showing better characteristics and acidity. A small increased berry size will improve the ratio of skins to juice level which will have a positive outcome on quality.

On the 3rd, 4th and 5th of February we experienced very hot temperatures which weren’t appreciated but the heat did encouraged a further rapid level of ripening. In some cases early ripening vineyards have ripen too quickly, yet the acid sugar level are good compared to flavour development.

Most vineyards in McLaren Vale look good and on a positive note there are very few vineyard through out the district that show obvious signs of excessive vigour and big bloated berries simply don’t exist which will lift the overall quality of the district.

The Adelaide Hills is still a long way off but looks promising though demand for fruit is high particularly for Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.