Three Paddocks Harvest

Expect a Two Paddocks Shortage

While the Suits are abroad, at home the grapes are undergoing their annual migration to the Winery, under the stern yet benign  eye of Mike. This coincides with the annual migration of The Dog to the Fireside, where she undergoes a slow and blissful cooking process until about October.

So – what kind of a harvest are we enjoying this year? Well, here’s the cruel, cruel effect of a frosted crop  - it will bite you on the rear-end not  just once, but two years  in a row. Because of frost damage in 2009 (it may be remembered we lost our entire pinot crop at Redbank)  – we were unable to lay down enough cane to get back to our normal cropping levels this year.

Thus at Redbank we have picked only 6 tonnes of Pinot Noir, probably  a quarter of what we should reasonably expect.

And  at Alex Paddocks, only  5  1/2 tonnes of Pinot, again half  of what we would normally assume would be ours.

A little bit of a heartbreak.

On the upside, the quality has been rated by Dean as very good indeed – all the stats are good (brix, PH, etc.).  And our Riesling has again sailed through unscathed, at about 9 tonnes in all. We intend to make a slightly drier style this year, and lower in alcohol – 10 or 11%.

Also, Gibbston First Paddock is still a week away from picking, and all things being equal we may take 11 or 12 tonnes there of excellent quality.  Again, anything can happen, and right now it is raining quite heavily.

We cannot see much in the way of profit, if any, for Two Paddocks this year. The dog will have to put up with last year’s coat we fear…