Vineyard and winery update – March 2020
2020 – A TRICKY YEAR IN THE VINEYARD
At risk of potentially sounding like a broken record, we have endured another underwhelming winter where the rains again failed to hit historical averages. Luckily the rain that did fall was well timed, ensuring that budburst showcased some potentially impressive numbers for a fruitful harvest. Unfortunately, it does not look like this fruitful harvest is eventuating. The early onset of heat in December combined with high winds gave us a relatively small fruit set, that will mean our yields are again down on averages.
Peter, Conrad and Steve have being hugely proactive in the vineyards, and are mulching, composting and using our scarce water resource to ensure the fruit we do get is absolutely stellar. Veraison occurred in early February and from the small bunches of small berries we are expecting wines of great structure and flavour.
VINTAGE READY IN THE WINERY
Things are also busy in the winery, with Jules Ashmead and Brock Harrison preparing for their first vintage together! They are in charge of our assembled young crew of local and international Cellarhands, all working together to make the best wines possible.
Both Cam and Al are very excited that these two are holding the reins and know from the many tastings and planning meetings that the wines will not only continue to be the best of the Barossa, but hopefully even improve on the best we have done.
Story from our newsletter, the Elderton Buzz – March 2020 edition
