Vintage 2016

A warm spring followed a winter of high rainfall meant shoot growth burst out of the blocks, this continued well into November and whilst the heat slowed the winds never let up creating havoc on young or weak growth. We then had a couple of months of both high diurnal shifts and continuing wind which whilst allowed great flavour development also reduced crop and available canopy for ripening. A hot February combined with the drying effects of all that wind advanced veraison which then meant the vines were ripening in a slightly earlier period than normal. Early March delivered even more cool night time temperatures giving rise to densely flavoured wines that still had lots of acidity, all picked relatively early starting mid March.