Wednesday, 14th February, 2006

The full colour has almost finished but the full ripening is still two months away. The colour may deepen a bit but not much. What will happen is profound changes in the grape skin flavours.

Thursday, 15th February, 2006

The bush is in prime health with no sign of stress. I am relaxed and comfortable at this stage.

Tuesday, 21st February, 2006

The short green stalk leading into the bunch of grapes is called the peduncle. Notice how it is getting woodier and stronger, in others words it is hardening. This is what I look for as it means to me the bunch of grapes is being well fed. Notice how the grapes have taken on a touch more colour. The chemistry in the skins and pulps is now going in the direction to make good wine.

Tuesday, 28th February, 2006

We have had reasonable weather. Not to hot and not to cold. The grapes are coming along nicely.

Tuesday, 7th March, 2006

Yes, still looks good and I did the first baumé test. It came in at 12.2%.

Thursday, 9th March, 2006

I’m pleased, make that very pleased. Note a slight shrivelling in the grapes. The rest of the harvest has been a rush and I do not like that. These grapes though are hard to move so it will be April before they come in. It’s the glory of bush vines.

Wednesday, 15th March, 2006

Almost perfect development occurring. I'm getting excited about making this wine.

Tuesday, 21st March, 2006

The weather has been perfect without any blistering hot days. The grapes look good and I can tell the skins are thickening. These are at 13.5% baumé. They have a way to go yet.

Thursday, 30th March, 2006

What a disaster. From perfect to a flood as the rain comes tumbling down. It started on the 26th March and it has been low grey clouds and lots of rain ever since. The last dump like this during harvest was in 1992. Now this Mataro is a tough grape but it has to hang out for a month yet so let’s keep our fingers crossed. Generally I have found that rain does not alter the baumé all that much although it will probably dip a bit. The grapes have plenty of time to recover but the sun has to come out again.

Tuesday, 4th April, 2006

The rain continues. This is no good at all as machine harvesting of grapes has ground to a halt and hand pickers can only be afforded to pick the very best fruit. My experience with this block of old vines tells me that the grape skins have softened; I know this by looking at the bunches. They have started to sag and just lose a bit of shape.

Tuesday, 11th April, 2006

It continues to rain on and off but the grapes look fine. The flavours are still building and the juice is getting is characteristic spicy quality. I crush a handful of grapes and drink a cup full to gauge the taste profile.

Wednesday, 26th April, 2006

I was away in Sydney so missed the photo last week. The rain stopped on the 22nd April so a good burst of sun shine has bought the grapes back to peak condition with just the required amount of shrivel which I like. These old vines never cease to amaze me as year after year they come through with perfect fruit and seem to regulate their own fruit set which this year was a steady 2.5 tonnes per acre. I did a test and found the ph was 3.6, 6.3 gm of acid and an indicative alcohol of 14.4%. This is perfect so I decided to pick this afternoon. This old vine block is only metres from the grape receiving bin and the gentle crusher so naturally the grapes are in perfect condition when they arrive. If only all vineyards were next to the winery!