Mild spring weather resulted in early budburst but there followed a period of cool nights, which prevented excessively rapid berry growth. There was good accumulation of summer heat and the autumn was dry, warm and long. We thus had a somewhat longer growing season than usual and this extra time on the vine lead to the development of zesty, ripe fruit flavours...

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...

The whole growing season was ideal apart from the period when the vines were in flower.  This was the coldest and wettest December Waipara has ever experienced and as a result the number of berries setting was extremely low, resulting in the smallest crops we have seen.  Because of this the wine has extra concentration and depth...

A mild spring was followed by extremely hot weather over the early and middle part of summer. Initially we thought the season might be too hot for pinot noir but the latter part of summer was quite cool, bringing things back into balance. The autumn was dry, lingering and warm...

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 atypically cool, slowing down the grapes’ maturation.  There followed a long, dry autumn which allowed the riesling to ripen perfectly.

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” and thus giving the wine special concentration and depth. At the start of January the berries were lagging behind in their development. The rest of the summer and autumn were warm and dry which enabled the grapes to catch up, ripen perfectly and yet retain fresh vibrant fruit flavours with good levels of acidity...

Early and mid-summer were extremely hot, raising the concern that the sauvignon blanc and semillon might lose their freshness and zesty varietal aromas and flavours. Late summer, however, was unusually cold, which slowed development and allowed the long warm autumn, which followed, to draw out ripening. We were thus able to harvest fully mature, perfect fruit in late autumn, which is our aim...

Cool weather during the flowering period of the grapes led to a small crop setting on the vines. This has given the wine extra concentration and character. There was good heat summation over the rest of the growing season, but it was not excessively hot...

The growing season was ideal for sauvignon blanc and semillon in that the summer was not excessively hot, while the autumn was warm, dry and very prolonged. This led to the development of intense cool climate varietal flavours with retention of good levels of natural acidity...

Warm days were intermingled with cooler ones which meant that the summer was not too hot. It was followed by an exceptionally long, lingering dry autumn. These growing conditions ensured the development and retention of intense sauvignon blanc and semillon characters, while allowing the fruit to obtain optimal ripeness. Low crop levels lead to extra concentration in the wine...