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....

The growing season was longer than usual as mild, spring weather resulted in early bud-burst, but was followed by cool nights which prevented excessively rapid growth.  We had good accumulation of summer heat and a long, dry autumn.  Harvest was, as usual, in early May.  This extra time on the vines meant the fruit was beautifully physiologically ripe when picked, but yet had good levels of natural acid...

December, when the vines were in flower, was the coldest and wettest in over a century. This resulted in an exceptionally low crop of grapes “setting”, which has given the wine special concentration and depth. At the start of January, however, the berries were lagging behind in their development...

The early summer was extremely hot and initially it seemed as though it might be too much for this cool climate variety. Fortunately, February was a typically cool, which slowed down development. There followed a long, dry, warm autumn, which allowed the grapes to ripen perfectly.

The season started with a cool spring, which lead to a small crop of grapes setting in our riesling vines. Following this, the temperatures began to rise and the summer was really warm. This, combined with a small crop, lead to advanced maturation and we picked the grapes earlier than usual in order to retain good acidity in the fruit...

The pattern of the weather during the growing season was similar to that of the previous year, but even more marked. That is to say, the summer was not overly hot, leading to the development of true cool climate riesling aromas and flavours, with the retention of good acid. Then followed the most perfect, lingering autumn with warm, dry, calm days...

Spring was mild leading to the buds bursting early and the flowers pollinating well so that there was a good "set" of grapes on the vines. The weather then became cooler and remained like this over much of the summer, ensuring good retention of natural acidity. There followed the most amazing Indian summer with an incredibly warm, dry, long autumn...

Spring was mild and encouraged early budburst and development of the new growth on the vines. The weather became cooler over flowering in early summer, resulting in a relatively small crop of grapes setting. The rest of the season was warm but not excessively hot and there was a long Indian summer...

A warm spring brought early budburst and flowering. The La Niña summer gave us balmy days but coolish nights, encouraging perfect ripening with the retention of good natural acidity. Harvest was delayed until late April to allow the development of a small amount of botrytis or noble rot to develop...