The final piece of the puzzle has come together for many of our wines over the last month - packaging! It's a great feeling to have them safely in bottle, ready and waiting for everyone to enjoy.

The 2022 white wines and rosé have already hit the cellar door and most of the 2021 red wines are now not far behind. I've been barrel selecting each wine for our various products and making final blending adjustments before they hit the bottle.  We use minimal filtration at this final stage in order to maintain as much character as possible.  This week has been a big Shiraz week, with Cabernet Sauvignon and our Pinot Noir due to follow next week.  

Once the 2021 red have been bottled, I'll then turn my attention back to our current vintage, 2022 red wines. They've been sitting in oak since the end of malolactic fermentation and over the next few months will be 'racked' off lees in barrel. Batches will be blended and assessed, which is an exciting time as it will give us a good indication of how this vintage is faring. It's also at this stage I will review our oak barrel selections (we source barrels from five different French cooperages) to make sure they are a successful fit for our wine styles - and also start thinking about oak orders for 2023.  With global freight issues affecting everyone our oak is normally ordered six months before vintage starts - always thinking ahead!

 Cheers,

Bec Swincer
Winemaker