2023 vintage is a wrap!

We started out the growing season in the Barossa with a very cool spring with good rainfall, followed by another mild summer, courtesy of La Niña. We started picking about 2 weeks later than average which meant we were treated to long, slow ripening that developed fantastic colours and intense, ripe flavours at relatively low sugar levels.

I’ve been really happy with the fruit as it came in this year and went through ferment. At the end of fermentation, everything was tucked away in barrel and is now going through malolactic fermentation. This is a secondary fermentation that converts malic acid (think green apples) to the softer lactic acid (think milk). It helps to stabilise the wines while softening the palate giving a richer, plusher mouthfeel.

Now that the whirlwind of vintage over, it’s time to go back through and assess all the wines, which I’m looking forward to – vintage is sometimes so action-packed, there’s not much time to revisit the wines that came in early in the season, and once they’ve been in barrel for a while, the wines do tend to taste more ‘complete’.

So that’s the next job on the cards. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in the cellar and expect to see some absolute crackers that will eventually translate into some delicious wines.