South Australia vintage '21

[REDRUM]

It's the end of summer so that can only mean one thing... vintage time.
I've got involved with a local amateur winemakers' club in Adelaide and am part of a syndicate making a few different wines ... shiraz from two different vineyards in McLaren Vale, and a sparkling pinot noir / chardonnay made in methode traditionnelle style from Adelaide Hills.
On top of that I am making some shiraz with my father-in-law (which I've been doing for the past few years) ... so I'm going to have shiraz coming out my ears over the next little while

One of the parcels of shiraz came in over the weekend - about 360 kg at 14.1 Baume. Really nice fruit, we made a little acid adjustment and added some oak chips into the must to help colour extraction.
Next few weekends are going to be all picking, crushing and pressing ... the fun begins!

 

[Boatboy24]

Pics! We need pics!

 

[REDRUM]

Blewitt Springs in the McLaren Vale region (just south of Adelaide)



Shiraz picking

 

[REDRUM]

The Blewitt Springs shiraz is a bit more tannic and flavoursome than the Aldinga - different parts of McLaren Vale. Blewitt Springs ripened a week later at 13.8 Baume.
Pressed the Aldinga after 5 days on skins.
Both fermented with Lalvin Rhone 2226 yeast.

This coming Saturday we will be heading up into the Adelaide Hills to pick pinot noir and chardonnay for sparkling!

 

[Khristyjeff]

The Blewitt Springs shiraz is a bit more tannic and flavoursome than the Aldinga - different parts of McLaren Vale. Blewitt Springs ripened a week later at 13.8 Baume.
Pressed the Aldinga after 5 days on skins.
Both fermented with Lalvin Rhone 2226 yeast.

This coming Saturday we will be heading up into the Adelaide Hills to pick pinot noir and chardonnay for sparkling!

Exciting to see you doing this when we're in the great melt in Illinois. Keep it coming. Enjoy seeing your progress. BTW, snow is about half of what is shown here as this was taken a week ago.

 

[REDRUM]

Exciting to see you doing this when we're in the great melt in Illinois. Keep it coming. Enjoy seeing your progress. BTW, snow is about half of what is shown here as this was taken a week ago.

That looks beautiful! But I can see why you'd be ready for spring to arrive ...

 

[ibglowin]

How was you guys Summer this year? Have not seen any news of fires like last year. Has it been hotter than normal? How was your rainfall? Harvest early or.......

It's the end of summer so that can only mean one thing... vintage time

 

[REDRUM]

How was you guys Summer this year? Have not seen any news of fires like last year. Has it been hotter than normal? How was your rainfall? Harvest early or.......

Harvest is pretty much on time this year. It has been a slightly milder summer than usual here - thanks mostly to La Nina effect in the Pacific I think. Glad to avoid all the heat waves and fires this time around (but it's a different story over in Western Australia). Growing conditions have been pretty much perfect, some nice rainfall over winter but not humid leading up to harvest, mild sunny days for steady ripening ...
2020 was a terrible vintage in terms of yield so it'll be very nice to have a good season!

 

[ibglowin]

Excellent news! Good luck on this years harvest and future wines!

Harvest is pretty much on time this year. It has been a slightly milder summer than usual here - thanks mostly to La Nina effect in the Pacific I think. Glad to avoid all the heat waves and fires this time around (but it's a different story over in Western Australia). Growing conditions have been pretty much perfect, some nice rainfall over winter but not humid leading up to harvest, mild sunny days for steady ripening ...
2020 was a terrible vintage in terms of yield so it'll be very nice to have a good season!

 

[REDRUM]

On Saturday the winemaking club picked Pinot Noir & Chardonnay in the Adelaide Hills - a bit cooler up there, so perfect for those varieties. Picked at about 11.2 Baume. Bunch pressed, added pectinase, kmeta and gelatin. This is going to be a champagne-style sparkling wine. Also ran the pressings through the crusher to get some extra juice, which will be made into a pink sparkling!