20 March 2006
Vintage 2006 is shaping up to be very promising. Like most of south eastern Australia, we will be early, perhaps two weeks. Usually with early years, with reduced hang time, flavour development lags the sugars and there can be a risk of high sugars, hence high alcohol levels. So we are surprised at the early flavour development, which augers well for harvesting the fruit at moderate sugar levels (hence moderate alcohol level).
July 10th, 2005
The focus in the vineyard in mid-winter is pruning.
As in the past couple of years, we start the pruning season with a one day workshop conducted by our Viticulture Consultant, Ben Rose of Performance Viticulture. The workshop involves a four-hour indoor session where we revisit the theory of pruning, go over the techniques to be applied and agree the objectives for each vineyard block for this year. Then in the afternoon, it is into the vineyard where, initially, we watch as Ben takes us from the theory to the practical and then he works with each of the vineyard team to ensure a consistency across the team.
Pruning is not simply about the coming season – we think several seasons ahead, and if necessary will sacrifice crop this coming year in order to improve the structure of the vine for future years.
We regard these workshops as an integral step in our annual pursuit of the best quality fruit that we can grow.
We separate the pruning activity into three components – first it is the key cuts to leave the vine with the canes that will be laid down for next year plus replacement spurs for the year after – then it is cleaning out all of the excess cane material (approximately 80%) – then it is wrapping the canes down onto the fruiting wire and securing them with a bio-degradable cable tie. In choosing the canes to remain, we look at positioning on the vine, condition and length of the cane and overall structure. Initially we leave four canes a side (two to be laid down on the fruiting wire + two to be cut to two bud spurs) – we do not cut the canes to two buds until we have wrapped the canes down, for frequently (despite all the care humanly possible), a cane will be snapped as it is being rolled onto the fruiting wire. By delaying the spur cuts, at least you have another option should you snap a cane. The snapped canes can usually be cut to tow bud spurs, leaving you with the “perfect” picture, despite the mishap of snapping a cane.
The canes that are cut off the vine are mulched into small pieces by a heavy duty mulcher that is attached to the tractor. This way, the nutrients in the discarded parts of the vine breakdown and are dissolved into the soil, from where they will flow next season, providing the vine with the essential macro and micro nutrients, without the need to use ‘artificial’ or ‘chemical’ fertilisers. The only fertilisers we use, and then it is only if analysis detects a need to do so, are natural seaweed and kelp products.
One change to our pruning approach this year will be reducing bud numbers when laying down the cane, rather than waiting until after budburst and reducing the shoot numbers by ‘green pruning’ the shoots. Our objective in this ‘new’ approach is to reduce the workload during the critical early budburst period and to help the maximise the nutrients available to the plant by avoiding removal of growth that has drawn on the vine’s reserves, that is then removed.
Pruning is progressing very well – the best season so far in terms of progress at this point in the yearly cycle. This is due to the detailed planning and attention to detail that Robert (Jeni’s brother) and his Vineyard Team are bringing to the task. Each year they learn more and never cease in their pursuit of producing the very best fruit possible – and they are well aware that what they are doing is such a key element of what eventually becomes Curly Flat wines
April 3 ‘05
First – we are approaching harvest – we expect to start in two weeks – and things are looking very promising.
Much of the recent activity has focussed on reducing crop and managing the canopy. Like last year, the vines set an unusually high number of berries per bunch (which will result in bigger than normal bunch weights) and an unusually high number of bunches per shoot/cane. This could be a reaction to the prior years of drought, and with the good conditions of this year, the vines are trying to make up for the low production forced on them by the difficult conditions – though there is no scientific evidence to support my theory. Whatever the reason, we needed to cut off a considerable quantity of fruit to get down to what we consider an optimal balanced vine yield.
Conditions are very good this year with adequate ground water, good canopy (shoots and leaves) growth, ample heat and good light intensity. The rains of early February while significant at 125mm, were not as heavy here in the Macedon Ranges as they were in the Yarra Valley and Mornington. Since that rain, there has been almost nothing with March only yielding 6mm.
The bird activity is usually a good indicator of increasing ripeness – and netting has always been necessary to avoid heavy losses – and even then, the nets have to be put on early enough to avoid the birds establishing a feeding pattern. 2003 was a very early year and the nets were not put on early enough, leading to serious losses (50%) of the Chardonnay.
This year we are not netting at all as we are using a radar based bird detection and deterrent system. The radar detects when birds enter the vineyard and sets off the gas guns and pop-up scary men, and various speaker sets broadcast distress calls of the four species that plague us – crows/ravens, silver eyes, minor birds and starlings. We have been using the system for five weeks now and losses are minimal. The major offenders are starlings – the crows, being the smartest of the birds, are most affected by the new system. The new system has a data logger with collects information on the number of birds detected and the number of times the system is activated – all on a time of day basis. This is downloaded to my laptop and I can graph the information to show the amount of bird activity and the effectiveness of the system.
This week we have been continuing with fruit testing and analysis, together with further crop estimates, now that the fruit thinning is finished. The results indicate that harvest is about two weeks away – which puts it right on average. The figures are very encouraging - the acid levels and pH numbers are indicating very good natural acidity for the level of ripeness. Further, the flavour of the grapes is very good, given the sugar leverls.
So now I am off to the winery to continue with preparations for vintage.
January 9, 2005
The cool weather continues. But we have had great conditions for the flowering of the berries – resulting in very productive loads per bunch. How can it be that we have the house fires burning to keep us warm when it is early January – this is truly cool climate viticulture, yes? At this juncture, it looks like being another 2004 – hey, that we may be so lucky. No, there are many differences – this year we have had great early summer rains, but not of the damaging or disease impacting type – these are the best rains in five years – slow, steady rains, bringing the soil moisture content up to the point that the vines are active without being overly vigorous. Oh that we may have the glorious long slow ripening conditions of 2004?
The bunch counts and berry counts of this week suggest significant green pruning to prevent excessive crop loads – again similar to 2004. The extent of green pruning will vary with variety, clone, vine age, position on the farm, and more – in some cases it will be up to 60% of existing fruit loads. In those areas where we have already shoot thinned, the crop reduction will not be as severe, but it will still be necessary to reduce the level to one bunch per shoot, and with some varieties & clones, even less – this is the only way we can be sure of having fruit of the intensity that is required to meet the benchmark of Curly Flat.
The under-vine lucerne mulch has now been spread in the 1995 and 1996 blocks – while it is improving the health of all the vines, it was fascinating to note those rows that were mulched last year have got bigger leaves, with stronger colour and generally look more robust. The difference is very noticeable as last years trials were done by mulching two rows then missing two rows, and so on – and this year it is very easy to identify those rows that were mulched last year. This indicates that the benefits are more pronounced in the second year and beyond.
November 15, 2004
After a very dry start to the season with below average October rainfall, we are now seeing some wonderful rains. Rains that are steady and soaking – the vines respond immediately; there is no substitute for water from the sky. This also allows us to refrain from irrigation, which is only a last option for us, preferring instead to let the vine physiology reflect the seasonal conditions – rather than smoothing them out with irrigation.
Shoot thinning has commenced but is very slow – due to the rainy conditions. We cannot have people out in the vineyard if there is any risk of lightning and the growth conditions are more vigorous than usual, hence the vineyard team is slowed down.
Despite the rain, the weather conditions have not been conducive to disease – but we will continue to monitor; mean while we will continue to do regular preventative sprays.
We are also busy spreading lucerne mulch under the vines in several blocks – following last year’s mulching trials that showed considerable improvement in soil health, improved soil water retention, enhanced vine performance and reduced use of weed sprays.
June 2004 Update
During our successful harvest in April-May, our focus shifted temporarily to the winery. We have now resumed activity in the vineyard, with staff training to be followed by pruning and other winter activities.
The vineyard team received a full day of training from Ben Rose of Performance Viticulture, on the theory and practical aspects of pruning vines. One of the key techniques addressed was cutting to promote efficient growth next season as well as in the subsequent year.
March 2004
We are right in the middle of veraison – when the berries soften and change colour – and ripening begins in earnest. The birds have started to get interested so we are doing regular rounds to keep the fruit thieves away. The main problem birds for us are crows (ravens), minors, sliver eyes and starlings. Netting will begin on Tuesday (the 9th) and we will be relieved to see the fruit protected. The timing of netting is a balancing act – once netted, it is not possible to put on any protective sprays, or do any corrective spraying – hence we leave it as late as possible and put the nets on immediately after the last spray for the season. It cannot be left too late for the birds develop a feeding pattern and losses can be very large and very quick. In 2003 with the drought and the very early season, our Chardonnay losses were in the order of 50% and there is only 320 dozen of the 2003 Chardonnay – when the wine is released in September 2005, it will be on a strict allocation to prior Chardonnay purchasers – so make sure you are eligible for an allocation.
Over the past three weeks we have been thinning the fruit load – cutting off bunches and leaving them on the ground to cycle the nutrients. Some of the Pinot Noir clones (particularly the Swiss clone Mariafeld and the Davis clone D5V12 – together they make up 15% of the total Pinot plantings) are requiring a very heavy cut back. Many of the shoots have three bunches – and bunches have above average number of berries, hence are rather large.
Once the nets are on we will continue the fruit thinning – another pass through to just fine tune the vines to achieve the optimum intensity.
Things continue to look good – however, the season could be a little later than usual for we would normally be finished veraison by now. The Pinot harvest will start somewhere around 21 of April with the Chardonnay coming in at the end of April, perhaps early May.
February 2004
Here it is mid February, and in Australia’s coolest viticultural region, the temperature is pushing past a searing 44oC (111oF). Ten days ago we were worrying about the cool temperatures after a near record cool January that followed a record breaking hot December. Yes, a very variable season.
December also saw good rains – short sharp down pours. Fortunately we missed the big January down pours that created havoc in Melbourne. Again it was very variable – we got 8 mm while our neighbours just over a kilometre away recorded 58 mm. The savage down pours do more harm than good and are not effective rainfall as most of the water runs off to the dams, rather that infiltrating the soil and providing moisture for the vines.
The vineyard has been growing strongly – a result of good winter rains, on going rain through out Spring and Summer and very good heat accumulation. We have experience the highest vine vigour since the 2000 season. We purchased a vine hedging implement for the tractor in 2001 and it has not been used until this season. The canopy is strong with many leaves, and they are all in good condition.
And there is plenty of fruit – in some areas too much, but that will be thinned ahead of the ripening period. The crop load is surprisingly heavy, particularly in those areas what were frost affected – the secondary buds are usually much less fruitful than the primary buds that were burnt off by the frost. Overall the vines are very fruitful – high average number of bunches per shoot and big bunches due to a high number of berries per bunch and very good flowering.
The vine canopies in all blocks are neatly arranged and hedged – the vines are now concentrating on ripening the fruit. We noticed the first colour change (verasion) on Thursday, but only on the odd berry, and then only in the Burgundy clones (114 and 115), but verasion is now starting to be evident in the other Pinot clones – no sign of verasion in the Chardonnay.
Our primary focus now is getting the crop load in balance – there is little to be done with the Chardonnay blocks, but two of the Pinot clones will need a significant portion of their bunches to be cut off – in the case of the Swiss clone, Mariafeld, up to 60% of the bunches will be cut off and left on the ground to breakdown and re-cycle the nutrients.
Soon it will be time to put the nets on as the birds will start taking an interest in the grapes once the sugar levels rise to the point that counters the acid levels. Given last year’s heavy losses to birds, we are being very vigilant – the dilemma is that once the nets go on, we cannot spray; so we leave it as late as possible to put the nets on, but not to the point that we see any significant bird losses.
In addition to the fruit thinning and netting, the regular tasks of spraying for the control of mildews and weed control will continue, as well as mowing and general vineyard maintenance. The opportunities for spraying the vines are limited by wind velocity, air temperature (too hot) and dew point (too cold, so moisture forms on the leaves). This generally means that Phillip or Robert have to spray in the middle of the night and the very early morning – a good opportunity to catch up on current affairs or listen to our favourite CDs.
Things are looking very promising!
December 2003
The seemingly never-ending days of pruning, with their hard to appreciate wet and windy conditions are behind us. The vineyard now slowly creates the new vintage.
In our July update we spoke with some delight of the much needed rains - we should have known the rains were coming. One old-timer said the plentiful autumn mushrooms were a portent of good winter rains.
While it is a little disappointing that September and October saw rainfall well below average - we should be thankful for the good winter rains that have seen the vines off to the best start in four years.
Greater disappointments awaited - there have been several frosts - the first being at the end of September and the most recent on November 4, Melbourne Cup day. The impact of the frosts vary across the vineyard, but overall losses will be at least 40%, with the Chardonnay more impacted. Many wine regions have suffered frost damage - much of south east Australia, from the Hunter Valley in NSW to Langhorne Creek in SA.
This season’s frosts will present some vineyard management issues but we should not forget that our very good wines of the 1999 vintage were from frosted vines. We are now working with a consultant to design a frost protection system that will involve a network of misting spray heads that, during the spring frosts, will coat the tender young shoots with water that will freeze and provide an igloo shelter.
The vineyard team's focus now turns to ensuring our vines can optimise their use of the scant sun and heat the Macedon Ranges receives. Shoot thinning to avoid canopy congestion, positioning the shoots to expose each leaf to the sun achieves this, resulting in intensely flavoured, ripe grapes in the autumn months. It also reduces the dependence on chemical agriculture for disease control - this cornerstone of 20th century resource production results in many negative effects - something our low impact agriculture aims to avoid.
Until out next update, when we trust we will be waxing lyrically about the regrowth of the frosted areas - more important now is some sustained warm weather, with light winds and occasional rain, thus ensuring active healthy vines.
