Well here it is not yet the end of October and The Grange harvest is already over! It’s funny because although we early, we never really felt a sense of urgency - in many ways it seemed to be a more relaxed pick this year. We had time for some skin contact on the pinot gris and are anticipating a lovely pink hue on the 2008 vintage…… watch for it in the spring.
We are making two sparkling wines this vintage; one a chardonnay - pinot noir blend and a smaller quantity of a straight pinot noir sparkling, which had some skin contact before pressing so we are hoping for a pink sparkling as well.
We hand sorted the pinot noir again this year and this vintage’s Victoria Block barrel fermented chardonnay is all in the larger 300 litre barrels Jeff is so fond of. We finished picking Cabernet Franc on October 24 just in time to avoid all the rain last weekend!
It always seems so quiet when we turn off the bangers and the fans. The other day I was outside enjoying a glimpse of sunshine and found myself wondering about the strange noise I was hearing. Then I realized it was the birds! We haven’t heard them around here in months and they are having an "all you can" eat bird buffet with the secondaries left in the fields.
For now the cellar is full and everything looks and smells amazing this vintage. Hope you’ll have a chance to visit before the holidays.
