Vintage news, April 2017

Today the sun is shining and we’re all enjoying it and hoping it will last because Mother Nature hasn’t been overly generous when handing out the hot days this year.  For the curious, the statistics shed some light on what this means for the vineyard.

We have so far harvested Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.
Not unexpectedly for a coolish year, all display lifted fruit aromas and accordingly, we have very high quality expectations for the finished wines.  All have been at least a week behind average but being earlier ripening varieties, they’ve all comfortably reached full ripeness.
The Pinot Noir is finished fermentation and now in barrels and has lots of the bright, spicy fruit notes associated with wines from the north of the Cote de Nuits, a level of complexity we don’t often see.  Likewise, Sauvignon Blanc has finished fermentation and been returned to barrels for aging and during the transfer the winery was filled with grassy, passionfruit Sauvignon Blanc smells.  It’s very early days for Chardonnay and Semillon which are only just beginning fermentation but the aromas emanating from the juices are very encouraging.

The Cabernet varieties are coming to the final stage of ripening – they are all almost, but not quite, there.
Cabernet Sauvignon itself is the best illustration for exactly where we have got to.  First thing to note is 113 days have elapsed since Cabernet Sauvignon went through flowering and we would normally be expecting it to be ready to pick in around 4 days.  In an average year, this 117th day would fall on 26th March whereas this year, it will be 3rd April, and this tells us that flowering occurred around 7 days later than we would expect. In addition, temperatures have been below average, and we know from our history, Cabernet Sauvignon will need more like 124 days to reach full maturity in these conditions.  Some quick sums says this will likely happen on or around 10th April.

Our fastidious record keeping will tell you, there’s nothing wrong with an April harvest date and having been at Moss Wood for so long, 32 and 37 years respectively, we have seen a few of them.
Indeed the, great 1990 and 1991 vintages were harvested on 12th April and 11th April, respectively, so that gives us real optimism. However, after the luxurious warmth we’ve enjoyed over the last decade, 2017 has been a genuine viticultural reality check.  To put this in perspective, since 2007, the average harvest date for Cabernet Sauvignon has been 16th March, some 10 days earlier than average. A likely harvest date at least three weeks later has been a big wake up call.
Since we’re now so close to harvest, the last threat to quality is rain and given we are moving well into Autumn, we are nervously monitoring each 7-day forecast update from the Bureau of Meteorology. As of today, Mother Nature is showing her benevolent side with warm days continuing and very low probability of rain. The maths aren’t complicated.  With 7 more fine days, we’ll be home and hosed, but we’d like all Moss Wood fans to please keep their fingers and toes crossed!

We’re also very thankful for our patient picking team.
We normally have about 25 days of picking, spread out over 6 weeks and generally there is some continuity as we move through each variety.  This year, there have been long gaps between batches but the pickers have persevered, despite the relative lack of work. They have even tolerated a rainy day when picking the Semillon. There is an aversion to wet weather viticulture at Moss Wood and we wouldn’t normally work on a rainy day but we were hopeful conditions would improve.  The weather bureau did indeed forecast clearing showers but they didn’t clear until just before we finished.  The fabled Laws of Maximum Inconvenience were once again interfering at Moss Wood, as they so often do!