Warm and dry conditions prevailed during spring and early summer so that we became concerned the vines might be affected by drought.  Luckily we had a brief torrential downpour in February, which set the dry streams gurgling merrily and replenished the groundwater reserves. The rest of the summer was excellent.  While we had humid conditions in late autumn we had exposed the fruit to the sunlight so it  ripened beautifully and remained perfectly healthy.

The grapes from which this wine was made came from the oldest gewürztraminer vines in the Waipara Valley and were planted by the pioneer vigneron John McCaskey in the 1970’s.  With an early budburst, a warm summer and a lingering, dry autumn, the season was ideal for this variety.  We waited until the fruit was ultra-ripe (28 brix) late in the season before picking a small crop.

The spring and early summer were warm and so exceptionally dry that we felt the vines might suffer from the effects of drought. In February we had the unexpected; a torrential downpour set the dry streams gurgling merrily and totally replenished the ground water reserves. 

MaestroThis was a very balanced and even growing season without extremes.  Mild spring weather resulted in early bud burst.  There was good accumulation of summer heat and a long, dry autumn.  As we did not harvest the fruit until May it had plenty of time to become physiologically ripe with a good balance of sugars, acid and tannins. 

This was a very balanced and even growing season without extremes.  Mild spring weather resulted in early bud burst.  There was good accumulation of summer heat and a long, dry autumn.  As we did not harvest the fruit until May it had plenty of time to become physiologically ripe with a good balance of sugars, acid and tannins. 

The spring and early summer were warm and so exceptionally dry that we felt the vines might suffer from the effects of drought. In February we had the unexpected; a torrential downpour set the dry streams gurgling merrily and totally replenished the ground water reserves.  Late in autumn we had humid conditions which led to some botrytis developing in riesling.  Many producers picked early to minimise the effect of this but fortunately we braved it out until the weather cleared and the patches of botrytis became beautifully shrivelled and noble.

Naturally low levels of crop resulted from frequent blustery winds over flowering.  The season was otherwise excellent and produced beautifully ripened semillon, from which this wine is made.  Over the late autumn and winter the berries developed botrytis. 

Waipara was buffeted by frequent strong winds in late spring and early summer which coincided with the period when the grapes were in flower.  It impaired pollination and thus quite markedly reduced the crop level.  The rest of the summer, however, was excellent and the autumn was warm, dry and lingering.  We were thus able to harvest beautifully ripened grapes in optimum condition.

Spring and early summer were exceptionally dry and we felt the vines would be adversely affected by lack of water.  Then the unexpected happened.  We had a downpour in mid-February which set the dry streams gurgling and recharged the ground water levels.  After this the vines had enough water to keep them happy until harvest. 

Bel CantoThe spring and early summer were warm and so exceptionally dry that we felt the vines might suffer from the effects of drought. In February we had the unexpected; a torrential downpour set the dry streams gurgling merrily and totally replenished the ground water reserves.  Late in autumn we had humid conditions which led to some botrytis developing in riesling.  Many producers picked early to minimise the effect of this but fortunately we braved it out until the weather cleared and the patches of botrytis became beautifully shrivelled and noble.