Summer | 2024 Fumé Blanc Release | 14 Dec 2024
I hope you are well and enjoying some great wine.
What’s happening in the vineyard?
It’s all systems go in the vineyard for the 2025 vintage. After a dry and early start to the season, all of our varietals have gone through flowering. We are approaching the summer soltice, where the days and sunlight are longest and the UV intensity is strongest. It is an exciting, busy and somewhat stressful time for us. Getting the sunlight, rainfall, humidity right is always a challenge. A random hail or high wind event could derail everything at any time; however, we have been blessed this season so far with lots of sunshine and low rainfall.
We are expecting a higher-than-normal crop this year. Steve and the team have been busy shoot and bunch thinning to keep the yield down to enhance fruit quality.
Irrigation, post-replacement and wire lifting have also been occupying our time. We have deferred our decision to plant Chenin Blanc this year but will have a go next spring. The new blocks of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are up to the wire, but it will still be a few years until we see our first crop.
In the winery
The 2024 vintage is quietly ageing in barrel, ready for release mid next year. Chardonnay is almost ready for bottling after we lock down our blending trials.
This year we have purchased two dozen new french oak barriques and two 3,850 litre fermenters for the 2025 wine production and will move all of our winemaking operations to Provenance in Fyansford as we wait for our approvals at the farm.
Our ordering and distribution bugs have been ironed out, with our first allocation sent out to supporters better late than never. We still have around a dozen cases of each varietal left.
In other news, our 2024 Fumé Blanc has just been bottled and is due for release imminently. Only 300 bottles have been produced. Its unlike a traditional Sauvignon Blanc - whole bunch fermented, full MLF and aged in oak.
Sharing some success
We submitted our 2023 wines into the Geelong Wine Show and picked up three medals. It was a moment of nervousness and vulnerability but having the endorsement of our peers and benchmarking our wines with the best in the region gives us energy to continue to tweak and improve on what we are already doing.
Our branding and marketing agency Ruck, who designed our amazing website and labels picked up nominations and awards for packaging and brand identiity.
We have also been picked up on the wine list in local Geelong restaurants and wine bars.
