Once again, the effect of Auckland lockdowns saw a smaller team at work in the vineyard, without our usual international backpacker support and winter pruning, all done by hand, was particularly challenging. A very early although uneven budburst gave us a long flowering period this vintage, something experienced in most grape growing regions in the country. Veraison (colour change and softening of the berries) also was early, with all the vines netted in early January.

Our vineyard team did their usual meticulous job of creating an open vine canopy by removing excess foliage by hand to allow air movement to dry the fruit and allow sunlight penetration. We are clearly reaping the benefits of the application over many years of organic soil health-enhancing products, producing healthier vines which can better withstand disease.

A mild but rainy winter gave way eventually to a dry hot summer, with just the odd unwelcome rain event. Nevertheless we were able to carefully monitor the developing fruit ripeness and hand harvest an exceptional quality crop. As with most regions in the country, our yield for this vintage was generally 20% less than the previous year, a reflection of a cooler, damp spring during the flowering period.

In the Winery