Musings

Vintage 2017 Report

By Rosie Finn

No two vintages are the same but 2017 was one that did challenge the boundaries of what we typically expect.

Spring was mild, if not cool, with regular rainfall events that persisted deep enough into the season to affect flowering resulting in lighter than average yields. The cool / mild temperatures persisted into the early summer months followed by a dry February to position us nicely for a potentially exciting harvest. And “exciting” it was ! … 2 cyclones to challenge the end of the season. Debbie (early March) brought unseasonal rainfall thus abruptly ending the dry period and Cook (mid-April) tested any fruit, and resolve, that remained. What was looking to be a prolonged harvest was in the end short and condensed.

The cooler season, along with a lighter crop load, resulted in fruit ripening more gradually and harvest beginning approx.1 week later than previous years. Perhaps going someway to explaining why the wines are, pleasingly, physiologically ripe at lower sugars, with juicy acidity, than other “less eventful” vintages. Despite the vagaries of the season, and with time to reflect, we feel the wines are in fact exciting - they are wines of focus, elegance, and graceful in stature.

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