2008

A mild spring and early summer ensured a good crop setting on the vines.  The weather then became increasingly hot and dry, causing us to be anxious that the plants would become stressed and that the fruit would suffer.  A downpour in mid-February broke this drought pattern and from then on we had enough moisture to bring the season back into balance so that when picking the pinot it was ripe, mature and healthy.

A mild spring and hot, dry, early summer shaped this growing season and ensured excellent physiological maturity of these Bordeaux red grape varieties.  Near drought conditions were staved off by late summer rains, which brought the season back into balance and enabled this hand-selected fruit to be picked in optimum condition.

The growing season was very kind with a mild spring and a warm summer.  A period of rain in the autumn caused some initial anxiety, but it was followed by fine weather enabling us to harvest optimally ripened, healthy fruit.   

This growing season was definitely one where “the best wines were made in the vineyard”.  A large crop of grapes set on the vines in Marlborough and, after naturally modest to low levels of crop in 2007, some growers were tempted to leave an excessive amount of fruit on the vines. The grapes for this wine, however, were thinned at an early stage to ensure better ripeness and concentration.

The spring and early summer were warm and so exceptionally dry that we felt the vines might suffer from the effects of drought.  In February we had the unexpected; a torrential downpour set the dry streams gurgling merrily and totally replenished the ground water reserves.  Late in autumn we had humid conditions which led to some botrytis developing in riesling.  Many producers picked early to minimise the effect of this, but fortunately we braved it out until the weather cleared and the patches of botrytis became beautifully shrivelled and noble.

The spring and summer were particularly dry and hot, which lead to the development of ripe tannins and flavours.  We were becoming worried that the vines might become too heat and drought stressed when we had an unexpected downpour, which relieved the vines and set the streams gurgling.  This season was subsequently brought back into balance by a cool autumn, which helped conserve vibrant red fruit characters in the berries, while allowing full ripeness.

The spring and early summer were generally mild and warm leading to a good, but not excessive number of berries “setting” on the vines.  The weather throughout the rest of the summer was excellent.  Autumn rain caused some initial anxieties but cleared without causing a problem.  We were thus able to pick beautifully ripened,