As we start to move into the growing season we will begin to give regular updates on the goings on, both in the vineyard and in the winery.
Viticulture
Long drive to the vineyard on Monday to see perfectly healthy vines at Terre à Terre vineyard. Past E-L stage 12 (5 to 6 leaves and inflorescences clearly visible) for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc and E-L stage 15 for the Shiraz and the Cabernet Franc. Very uniform growth across each grape variety, which means we did the right thing at pruning.
Winemaking
2012 Terre à Terre Sauvignon Blanc (barrel ferment) bottled on Friday 19 October 2012. First taste this morning, very reminiscent of the previous vintages, with more depth and more length, sign that vines are slowly maturing. Very serious wine, great structure, all “classic” Sauvignon Blanc volatile sulphuric compounds gone to leave place for gentle oak, spice and citrus flavours, and a very fine texture finishing on a salty/sweet note (2g/L residual sugar). The wine is still bottle shocked and will probably not be released before 3 weeks.
2012 Terre à Terre Pinot Gris (Late harvest) bottled on Thursday 18 October 2012. First taste on Friday, bottle shocked. Retasted on Saturday… finished the bottle quickly, soooo good! This year we let fermentation go further and have higher alcohol / lower residual sugar, since we had very low levels of Bortytis infection. The finished wine is very well balanced, clean, loads of Pinot Gris fruit (apricot) with a very good length. Residual sugar brings texture and lusciousness, but well balanced with alcohol and acidity on the finish.
