By Luke Tyler
Riesling grapes
Vintage is the most exciting time of year in a winery and the buzz around the d’Arenberg cellars in 2010 is electric. Healthy winter and spring rains set up the vines well with good canopies. A heat spell in November prevented a lot of Grenache from setting, but did not harm any other varieties. There was some more heat during veraison which is not an issue, and most importantly conditions have been mild during ripening with cool nights.
4/2/2010 Riesling grapes on their way to the gentle Demoisy crusher.
Vintage started on February 2 with the arrival of hand-picked Riesling destined for The Dry Dam. McLaren Vale Sauvignon Blanc and a very small amount of Shiraz was also picked in the first week.
There are some Shiraz Roussanne co-ferments underway for the Wild Pixie and parcels of Viognier, Chardonnay and Grenache have been crushed. So far there have only been small amounts of fruit coming in steadily, however next week the grapes will come in thick and fast with little rest until the end of vintage.
11/2/2010 Shiraz and Roussanne co-fermeting.
Chester is very excited about the red varieties in particular as they have very dark, thick skins with a lot of tannin and flavours that are developing nicely.
There is not a vintage beard in sight on any of the winemakers, which is a sure sign that things are under control, when they stop shaving you know vintage is really under way.
23/22010 Foot treading is hard work. Ben has run the London Marathon a few times but says he woke up with more aches after his first foot tread than his first marathon!
For live harvest reports check d’Arenberg’s Facebook and Twitter updates.
Tags: Australia, d'Arenberg, Harvest diary, McLaren Valle, News