Évoque

A wet winter gave way to a calm, dry spring and resultant great fruit-set. This enabled us to scupt the vines to our design, every bunch manicured swinging freely in its own bit of premium real estate.

Temperatures started off a bit cool but by December were well above average. January was one of the hottest and driest on record with 25 days above 30C and only 12mm of rain for the month. This set the scene for small berries with great concentration. February saw these extremes return to more normal levels with the warm dry conditions continuing through the all important ripening period becoming more autumn like around the 10th April. The resulting wines are as expected, very ripe, deeply concentrated and exquisitely balanced.

A dry winter made pruning enjoyable and as such we were finished in record time. Late August brought with it a wet spell which replenished ground moisture prior to the season. Budburst was nearly 2 weeks ahead of normal.

A settled spring brought with it a good fruit set, the odd Southwesterly kept the crop loads in check. Dry warm weather through to mid January set us up with some very healthy fruit. The season did a bit of an about face in February and turned wetter and cooler than we are used to.

The majority of the work had already been done as we guided the crop to harvest by strategically hanging out individual parcels to gain optimum ripeness. The resultant wines are rich and plush with great presence and length.