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The Season

An early bud-burst was followed by a very mild spring, a warm summer and a long, balmy, dry autumn.  The weather allowed us to leave the fruit on the vine until it was optimally ripe and could produce wines with balance and length.

The Vineyard and the Vines

The Season
The growing season was influenced by La Nina weather conditions, resulting in a very mild spring, a warm summer with high sunshine hours and a long, lingering autumn.  In spite of being dry we had infrequent, but well spaced showers keeping the vines very happy.  These conditions enabled us to harvest beautifully ripened, healthy fruit .
 
The Vineyard and vines

The Season

The spring of 2009 was one of the warmest ever recorded so the vines got off to a good start with an early bud burst. Late spring and early summer however, were unseasonably cool and cloudy, sufficiently slowing the development of the grapes to cause us concern. The skies then cleared and we had three to four months of unbroken sunshine. This enabled us to leave the fruit on the vine to attain excellent maturity and ripeness.

The Vineyard and vines

The Season

The growing season was influenced by La Nina weather conditions, resulting in a very mild spring, a warm summer with high sunshine hours and a long, lingering autumn.  In spite of being dry we had infrequent, but well spaced showers keeping the vines very happy.  These conditions enabled us to harvest beautifully ripened, healthy fruit .

The Vineyard and vines

The Season:   An early bud-burst was followed by a very mild spring, a warm summer and a balmy dry autumn.  The weather allowed us to leave the fruit on the vine until it was optimally ripe.  It was a splendid season in general and an exceptional one for pinot noir resulting in high quality wines.

The Vineyard and the Vines: The grapes were grown on a mixture of clay and stony soils.  The fruit was exposed to the sunlight to optimise ripening and keep the berries well ventilated and healthy.

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 spring of 2009 was one of the warmest ever recorded so the vines got off to a good start with an early bud burst.  Late spring and early summer however, were unseasonably cool and cloudy, sufficiently slowing the development of the grapes to cause us concern.  The skies then cleared and we had three to four months of unbroken sunshine.  This enabled us to leave the fruit on the vine to attain excellent maturity and ripeness, while the earlier cooler weather helped retain excellent natural acidity.

This was an ideal growing season for sauvignon blanc as a warm spring and summer were followed by a long, dry autumn, which produced extra ripening, while at the same time allowing the grapes to retain good natural acidity.

Unseasonably cool weather when the vines were in flower impaired pollination, leading to a reduced number of berries in the bunches.  The rest of the growing season, however, was excellent so that the vines could easily ripen their modest crops and  produce beautifully mature fruit that was in optimal condition when picked.