This vintage appears to be a ‘tale of two seasons’… Winter & Spring were cool and very wet, delaying growth and interfering with flowering of the early varieties (Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir) leading to a subsequent reduction in yields. The later varieties, including Merlot and Shiraz, were unaffected.
Even by the end of December a late harvest seemed inevitable, but suddenly we entered a hot dry summer that ran in to mid March. Although we have had three nice falls of rain in the past fortnight, temperatures haven’t plummeted, so harvest dates look to have returned to average. Botrytis is a risk if we don’t get some wind to dry the foliage on dewy mornings.
On 2nd April Hobart had its hottest April day of 31C, and it’s warmest overnight minimum for April of 18.5C. See ‘Bob’s Blog’ on climate change.
We have our Autumn ‘Australian Open Garden’ event over the 3 day Easter weekend (Sat, Sun & Mon) which will give visitors the opportunity to see not only our garden in it’s autumn colours, but the vineyard (with most of the fruit awaiting harvest) and try our wines..including our 2 new releases..the 2012 Pinot Gris (as spoken of by Max Allen in The Australian, Executive Living, March 29 ) and the 2009 Chardonnay/Viognier.
The open garden will be the first public showing of these new releases. (See tasting notes at end of Newsletter).
The other wines on show will be our 2009 Pinot Noir, 2007 Merlot and 2012 The Mattock. We still have 2007 and 2008 Pinot Noir, 2010 Pinot Gris and 2005 Merlot available for purchase, but these won’t be ‘on tasting’ as there are limited quantities.
Later this year we will be releasing our 2013 Romanesque which will be based on Aglianico, Petit Verdot and Touriga Francesca and a varietal 2013 Shiraz…being a particularly warm vintage, the later varieties shone!
Just a reminder that we made no wines in 2011.
This was a quality decision made at the very end of the ripening season, and after seeing the discussions about this vintage since then, we are very glad we didn’t.
We always want ‘Grey Sands’ to mean full bodied and concentrated, something you can drink with pleasure over many years, and be pleased to show to/share with others.
If we can’t achieve this, we either use our second label (Glen Grey) or don’t make any wine at all.
We wish you all an enjoyable Easter break, and hope you can come and visit us.
Bob (and Rita)
Chardonnay/Viognier 2009
Tasting Notes 19.2.14
Mid-straw in colour, the nose has subtle banana, wattle flower and candle wax aromas. The palate is intense and mineral with restrained lime and nectarine fruit, soft acid and a long dry finish.
Pinot Gris 2012
Tasting Notes 19.2.14
Light gold in colour, the nose shows complex aromas of dried banana, baking spices and a hint of incense. The palate presents rich fruit characters of ripest peach and oven-baked quince, perfectly balanced by natural acidity. The densely textured mouthfeel is backed up by a very long, satisfying finish.
