Growing Conditions
The winter was a long one in 2016, so bud burst and flowering occurred much later than we’ve seen in
recent years. The weather pattern over this period was very favourable, however, and so we saw very
even and consistent flowering across the board. Fruit set was excellent as well, which meant we were
looking at a healthy crop across all varieties by the end of spring. In anticipation of a cool vintage Chris
decided early on to do lots of additional work in the vineyard, which really paid off when the summer
months that followed proved to be unusually cool and saw above average levels of rainfall. Throughout
spring he had thinned out the crowns in order to open up the canopies and promote airflow, fruit was
dropped to manage yields, and the red varieties were all heavily leaf plucked around the bunches to
give the fruit ample sun light exposure in order to ensure full phenolic ripeness was achieved even in
this cool vintage. We therefore did not experience many of the difficulties with disease that were
reported by other growers across the region, and with very little bird pressure this year we were on
track to pick some gorgeous healthy grapes from early March onwards.
There’s no denying it was a long and arduous vintage this year, it was actually the longest on record for
us. But the results more than justify the effort, and the fact that several of our hand pickers commented
on our fruit being the cleanest they had picked this season is testament to the effectiveness of Chris’
hands-on approach to managing his little vineyard. Secretively, we are in fact quiet fans of these cooler
years since the longer hanging times associated with the slower ripening process allows the fruit to
develop both a very layered and complex aroma and flavour profile and beautifully ripe tannins before
the sugar levels soar and the acidity begins dropping away, which results in more structured and very
elegant wines with lower levels of alcohol.
Winemaking
This wine is our somewhat more layered and complex take on Margaret River’s classic white blend. The
Semillon is clearly in the driver’s seat, making up an unusually large 76% proportion of the blend. The
focus with this wine is on picking the grapes when the vineyard’s canopy was in good condition and the
juice’s natural acidity still high. The Semillon component comes from our main vineyard planted on a
Ironstone/laterite ridge and contributes beautiful grassy, citrus characters to the blend. The Sauvignon
Blanc on the other hand was grown in soil with a greater clay/quartz component, providing fresh and
zesty aromatics and a mineral acidity to the final blend. Both components have been fermented with
natural yeasts and a portion of the final blend has been aged in French barriques, which has added a
wonderful textural dimension to the wine. A complex textural wine that will age gracefully for 5+ years
and will develop some subtle toasty and honey notes with more time in the bottle.
