Hi everyone,
Vintage has been racing along for 8 weeks now and the finish line is in sight. It has been fast and furious! After a wonderfully mild January, fruit started coming into the winery on January 30. That is the first time in my ten years in McLaren Vale that I have seen fruit processed in January. I guess there is one bonus to an early start and that would be an early finish!
As I mentioned, January was very mild, perfect for ripening fruit. The vineyards looked sensational and the white grapes arriving at the winery tasted terrific. In mid February the mood changed somewhat as we endured a couple of mini heat waves. Two weekends in a row, temperatures hovered close to or above 40 degrees, bringing on the ripening of many red grapes at a rapid rate. As a consequence, it seemed like nearly all of the fruit in McLaren Vale was ready and had to be picked. Local wineries were sent in a state of mayhem, trying to squeeze in what fruit we could, as fast as we could.
Shiraz grapes in ferment tank
We are now out the other side of that frantic period and the reds are looking great, particularly Shiraz. Grenache fruit is now coming into the winery, a sure sign that the end of vintage is just around the corner. As we all know Grenache loves the heat and the fruit I’ve seen so far looks superb. After a couple of lean years for Grenache, this is going to be one out of the box.
At Semprevino we are going to have a fantastic 2015 Pinot Grigio available in the not too distant future. This wine has now finished its fermentation and preparation for bottling will commence shortly. We will also be producing a Shiraz and GSM, both of which will be barrelled down for 12 or so months. This year we also plan to release a 2014 Shiraz and maybe another little surprise. You’ll have to watch this space for more updates on that one.
Russell tasting the pinot grigio ferment straight from the tank
With the hot weather seemly behind us, it feels like Autumn is in the air. I can’t wait for the couple of months to pass when all the hard work is well and truly over. I’ll be sitting by the fire, glass of Shiraz in hand watching the footy!
Cheers, Russell.
