So, that's it. All the fruit is now in the winery and our 2015 vintage is done. Hard to believe really. The whole farming year builds towards this moment and a few weeks of frenzied activity - and this year, it was even fewer weeks than normal!
A fierce frost in November, combined with a long hot summer and incredibly dry growing season, has meant that we have a smaller than average crop this year. However, as small it may be, 2015 is also looking like a good vintage. Of course, it's very early days at this stage, but the fruit all came into our winery in great looking condition and tasting delicious. Interestingly, despite the very warm summer, we have not been working with super-and-over-ripe fruit. Instead, we have seen quite low sugar levels and also relatively high acids. This is great news for us, as we consistently work towards making wines with lower alcohols, while retaining vibrant and interesting structure. Hopefully 2015 will give us just that!
Later today we are holding our end-of-vintage celebrations, and will raise a glass or two to the end of another season. 2015 has tried our mettle in more ways than one, but it's a year that we can look back on gladly as a job well done. So, cheers to that!
