With the warming soil and air temperatures, the vines are finally bursting out in bud after their dormant period over the long cold winter. By mid-month, the vine rows will be a sea of green with the emerging shoots and leaves. Gareth and his vineyard team are on high alert with the tender new growth being particularly vulnerable to damage from frost. Frost protection systems are maintained to be ready and reliable in order to protect the vines. Trying to service broken gear at 4am in pitch darkness and freezing conditions is not something anybody does happily. Depending upon the ground cover growth, a pass with the under-vine weeder may be required to help keep the air circulating below the shoots to reduce frost risk.
Some redevelopment is happening across The Elms Vineyard where we have removed some own rooted and lesser performing clones of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, to be replanted with our own selections grafted onto rootstock. This will be at a higher vine density and further fine tunes the vineyard to vine material that over 25 years of experience has proven to maximise quality and personality.
The 2019 vintage Rieslings are released at the end of the month along with the 2018 Chardonnays from Blocks 2 and 6, as well as the 2018 Calvert and Block 5 Pinot Noirs. The malolactics in the 2019's are starting naturally in the warming cellars and apart from checking for popped bungs, it is usually a very quiet period in the winery.
