From the vineyard

Here we are week 3 of vintage and 2 grape varieties have gone to the crush. Last week we saw the beautiful Pinot Grigio reaching 12 baume and sent to the crusher. The grapes were delicous straight off the vine, their skins are fairly tough and require just a small amount of pressure to release the flesh from within.

We have had a few bunches of grapes from the vineyard in the Cellar Door as we need to monitor their ripeness and most people have commented on the berry and bunch size. For me it is interesting to see some people think the size of table grapes are the same as those used for wine, but they are two completely different specimans. Table grapes grow in larger loose bunches and the berries tend to be a lot bigger, their skins are strong but thin. While grapes used to produce wine are much smaller, the bunches tend to be very tight as though the berries are all holding onto each other.

Today we prepared the Cordon Cut Shiraz for harvest. With the hot weather which is predicted over the next few days we should be going back to pick the grapes this time next week. If you would like to read more about the Cordon Cut process click here.