 A
cloudy and damp day in Bannockburn today, just about the only one
we have seen in months, after one of the most even and consistent
summers for many years. With everything safely gathered into the
winery, a bit of rain would be gratefully received right now. The
vines have produced a small crop due to the cold spring, but the
near perfect ripening season has produced wines which are proving
thrilling to taste as the ferments finish (along with quite a few
scares with the one’s that have been reluctant to finish).
I’m always a bit distracted amid the winemaking, knowing
that I have this newsletter to write; but it has a really positive
aspect as it forces me to focus on what changes we are seeing, what
is worthy of jotting down on paper for you all to read. This year
I am struck by the tiny global enclave of which we seem to be a
part.
In some ways this is a story that starts with Eric, the eponymous
ploughman from Burgundy, who we featured in the last newsletter.
Shortly after we printed it, Claudia Weersing, from Pyramid Valley
Vineyards picked up a copy: “Oh, there’s Eric!”
she immediately proclaimed. Some four weeks later we had a couple
of Burgundian winemakers drop by to look around. They saw the picture
and one told me he would be having dinner with Eric in just a few
days time. We were able to send him off with some wine for Eric
as a thanks for the use of his picture, but it reinforced awareness
of this tiny global village of which we are so lucky to have become
members.
Our viticultural team here have always been very international.
This year we have had three Chinese viticulture graduates on the
team, joining those from France, Germany, Japan, the Czech Republic,
and Slovakia, not to mention the Kiwis! For vintage it has been
great to have Yoshiaki Sato, from Tokyo, working in the winery as
a very enthusiastic and solid cellar hand.
Then a continuous stream of international visitors; it was both
very interesting and a great honour to welcome the eminent soil
scientist Claude Bourguignon to our vineyard. He is a legend in
Pinot Noir terms, having done more to revitalise Burgundy than almost
any other single figure of the past 50 years. Claude is one of the
founders of the modern organic movement in viticulture and it was
wonderful to have him and his wife burrowing three metres down beneath
Block 3, rejoicing in the Calcium deposits they were finding there.
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Right after that we went off to Wellington for Pinot Noir 2007
and a chance to meet friends from across the whole world of Pinot
Noir. A quick dive over to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria
the next week saw a weekend of more intensive tastings including
a look across the 2004 vintage of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
It was there that Aubert de Villaine, proprietor of this legendary
Domaine told us that he is converting all the estate to a full biodynamic
regime, a further reinforcement of our choice to follow this route.
A fun project has come out of a meal Nigel had at Sydney’s
famous Tetsuya’s restaurant. In chatting with Tetsuya Wakuda,
the idea came of creating a special cuvee of Pinot Noir that would
be especially suited to his modern Japanese cooking. As I write
this we have a small stack of barrels with Tetsuya’s name
chalked on them awaiting bottling. If you are in Sydney and are
lucky enough to get a reservation, be sure to try this wine.
Which brings me to the 2006 wines which we are releasing. We bottled
the Pinot Noir just before vintage and I am delighted with how it
is looking: riper and a more elegant than the cooler 2004 and 2005
vintages, it has lovely silky tannins and is drinking very well
even this close to bottling. We know from our experience of these
warmer vintages that the wines age very well indeed, so this is
likely to be a wine one can enjoy and watch evolve over many years
to come. The Chardonnay is sitting patiently awaiting bottling and
again a little riper than the 2005, but with good tension and minerality,
I feel this is one of our finer Chardonnays to date.
We showed the 2006 Pinot Noir for the first time at our birthday
party at Easter where some 300 of you were kind enough to come along
and taste wines from the past ten vintages. It was great to meet
so many people who have been loyal customers, but have never managed
to make it to the winery before and also to have the feedback on
a decade of our past efforts. Thanks to all of you, both for your
making the journey, and for your many cards, letters and emails
of appreciation for the event. I have suggested to Nigel that we
may have a party every Easter, though the cooking for 300 guests
was a fair challenge for his team in our tiny winery kitchen.
Lastly, a new full time member of the team. Jancis, the winery
cat joined us just before Christmas and has been both delighting
visitors and terrorising vineyard mice and rabbits ever since. She
can be found on her namesake’s website: www.jancisrobinson.com,
though after receiving so many hits, you now have to be a subscriber
to access her picture and text.
Cheers
Blair Walter
Winemaker |
