This season we had a very dry winter resulting in earlier bud-burst by 7 to 10 days. Fortunately good rains in early summer provided some relief. Mild conditions during flowering provided good fruit set. Early canopy management has eased the disease pressure following the 2 weeks of abnormally wet and humid weather in late January.
Bird pressure has been higher than normal with no Marri flowering. This was most evident in our strawberry and tomato patch at home, so netting the vineyard was brought forward 1 week for the Chardonnay and 2 weeks for the reds. This was completed by mid-January. I suspect vineyards who have delayed netting will face significant disease pressure from the bird peck, high humidity and summer rains. The balance between fruit and foliage is very good with average yields predicted. Current baume readings indicate we are on track to pick early March for the Chardonnay and the Cabernets, Malbec and Shiraz late March/early April. Cyclones or unforseen weather events aside, we look set to have an excellent 2011 vintage! Cheers Dave
You’ve probably heard that the presence of frogs in an environment is a great indicator of how balanced that environment is.
Trying to anticipate the weather gods, and the likelihood of weather forecasts to be accurate indicators of pending weather, can be a stressful task around vintage. Dave spends many hours poring over the weather websites, in an effort to get the grapes off at the best possible time.
An unusually warm, and sultry morning awaited us as we prepared at first light for the 2009 vintage Chardonnay pick.
Wine News & Feedback
October 11th, 2009 by MelissaSome recent comments about the 2005 Reserve:
“we are having a MOOMBAKI night; the 07 Chardonnay was great, but the 2005 Reserve was superb . . . it is just drinking beautifully, an outstanding wine”
“as soon as you let it sit for even 15 minutes or so was wonderful . . . terrific”
“I tried this wine over the weekend……it was simply superb”
Only 100 bottles of this wine left for sale, so if you were planning on squirreling a few away in your cellar you’d better get a move on.
PS. The Premium RED mixed cases have proved popular with 2 x 05 Reserve and 5 each of the 07 Cab Blend & Shiraz wines [$325] or try our Dinner Party 6 Pack [$180]
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