Budburst was late but by Christmas, the phenology had caught up and after some warm weather around Christmas, we were looking at whites in late February.

March brought some very cold nights with temperatures getting down below 3°C, which was very concerning from a frost point of view and this also delayed ripening. This extra hang time and our ability to irrigate during the dry harvest period, helped get the flavour density up in the reds and chase riper tannins. Vintage was completed on the 1st of May.

This year the red wines are dark fruited with good colours and have a slightly cooler vintage look, reminding me of 2015. Cabernets in particular are very strong, with some very nice Merlots. Whilst the intake tonnes were down we are very happy with the quality.

Peter Bissell