After a brief post-harvest lull while the winemakers got busy, there was plenty of action in the vineyard again in June and July. Most of the vines have been pruned and our custom blend compost has been spread to feed and replenish the soil.
This year we are going to give the Chardonnay a bit more love by spreading a thick layer of mulch under the vines to encourage them to give us a bit more fruit. We have also continued with our restructuring of the Cabernet Sauvignon vines, so you will notice the heavy cuts they have been given as you are driving through the Cabernet on your next visit to the cellar door.
June and July are two of my favourite months because this is when I get together with our winemaker Stuart Pym to taste the new season wines, and make final decisions on the current vintage whites and earlier vintage red and sparkling wines in preparation for bottling. Over the past few weeks we have bottled the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2016 Silver Lining and the first of the 2018 wines - Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon Sauvignon Blanc and Botrytis SBS.
As expected, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2016 Shiraz that were released in March did not last long and we are already down to our last stocks and have taken them off tasting. The last few dozen cases of each have been reserved for our Usual Suspects and will be sent out with their next regular order in November. The next releases of these wines will be around March 2019. We also sold out of the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc in May and those Usual Suspects who are waiting for the 2018 vintage should receive their orders within the next two weeks.
The Must Wine Bar dinner in May was great fun and it was really good to see so many people there who were already supporters of Stormflower. Russell Blaikie’s new menu was delicious and for those of you who have not yet tried it, you really should as soon as you can.
As our next event, I am planning a tasting of older red vintages at the cellar door on the first weekend in October so if you are planning to be down south that weekend save the date.