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With a cold winter and frequent dumpings of snow on the Tararuas, it was nice to have a settled spring in which good budburst and even shoot growth occurred. Everything was progressing well with many people around town looking forward to a dry warm summer when we were hit by three cold weekends in a row in December right during the crucial time of flowering. This left us with a low crop level across most varieties and vineyards. So for the second time in the last three years, mother-nature had set our crop level meaning we had virtually no fruit thinning to do and instead we could put all our energies into getting the vines into the best shape for the upcoming summer. And what a summer it was - with the weather from the first week of January right through to mid March being idyllic: warm, settled and dry. This was the summer that we had been waiting for. Everything was looking in fantastic shape leading into harvest until.....
Just when we were getting ready to harvest the rain started and Martinborough was subjected to another flood similar to the one that struck in February 2004. All we could do was sit and wait for the rain to stop. When it did stop we were able to leave the grapes on the vines for a few days of drying out to allow any dilution that had taken place to drain from the vines. We did however see our crops reduced by one half in some blocks with lots of our lovely small berries splitting under the pressure. Conversely, the result of the small crops remaining to maturity; was the reward of concentration, great structure and flavour.
The first grapes were harvested on the 1st of April and harvesting carried on steadily through to the end of April. The wines all look very good with the Pinot Noir showing amazing depth in colour and very structured tannins. |
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| The Sorting Table, LLC 1700 Second St. Suite 380 Napa, CA 94559 (707) 603-1460 |
Content and Images ©2013 The Sorting Table, LLC. |
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