with flowering now upon us in the estate, vintage 2026 is 120 days away
Pre-Pruning, things have moved fast in a few months
Vintage 2026 Expectations
Vintage 2026 to date
After a busy winter, Mandy started pruning in early July. It normally takes a month or so to prune, but her new found fame (recently inducted as a Barossa Baron) and a thriving consulting business, and of course holidays, she enlisted some help. Pruning took about a month, but with some reworking of euctypia impacted Shiraz (particularly Block 1 which suffered through the recent drought) and the ongoing transition of the Grenache back to bush vine, we were done by end of July. The Vineyard looks pristine. We also took the opportunity to do some layering to replace a few missing vines.. The vineyard looks as good as it has for a number of years for the unknowns that we face every year with vintage.
Weather conditions to date have been relatively kind following the drought conditions experienced in 2024. Reasonable rainfall (350mm recorded for calendar year 2025 to date) does not sound much but the timing although a little late has been good. We received the right rainfall at the right time. If I could have one more wish, I would ask for an inch in early February, but I suspect that will be one wish too many.
Temperatures have been average or close to average, a few warm days but nothing unusual. Vines are probably running a few weeks behind the 2025 vintage at the same time due to the cooler conditions at budburst. With flowering now underway, we are hoping for no wind for the next few days for a good set and a good crop. Time will tell.
Vintage 2026 schedule - now to the crystal ball!
Still to early to predict too much around timing, yield or potential quality. But I do expect we will pick 2-3 weeks later than 2025. 2025 was hot and dry. and with the late start I would anticipate back to a normal type vintage. We will know more in the new year.
WHAT are we doing?
In the winery
In the new year we will get into preparation for vintage, but for now, Andrew is working his way through the 2024s and 2025s that are due for bottling in the new year. Just checking, assessing and finalising the blends.
In the Vineyards
The vineyards are all about monitoring this time of year. And of course hoping, no wind during flowering, warm but not too hot, and preferably no heavy rain and and low humidity. Not much to ask surely!
Bottling
We chose to leave bottling of the 2025 Grenache and Mataro based wines to the new year. Likewise for the 2024 Shiraz based wines. We are finding that a little longer in barrel is certainly helping the quality. At this stage, we will bottle the grenache and mataros prior to vintage, the Shiraz after vintage. These vintage look really good. The 2025 Grenache crop was down about 90%, but we have, one barrel of a few of the single vineyards will be excellent. 2024 Shiraz’s look a little like 2021, fruit driven and likely to be very approachable from the start.