SQUITCHY LANE WINE CLUB

Squitchy Lane wine club members were invited to the cellar door on Sunday to taste the 2013 wines.

 These wines have only just finished fermenting, are still cloudy, as you can see in the photo above, and are not in any way finished and ready for drinking. Nevertheless, it is a good time to assess their potential and gauge the quality of the harvest.
I think all present agreed that 2013 was an excellent year, especially for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Most notable was the approachable nature of the wines. They seemed almost ready to drink, even the usually severe Cabernet Sauvignon. I have always maintained that good wines taste good from the very beginning--ugly ducklings don't turn into swans in my experience. So if we are correct in our assessment, then 2013 looks very good indeed.

Some good discussion took place, our vineyard manager gave us his views on the season and then it was time for lunch.

 For most members, this was the first time they had tasted such young wines.

 This opportunity seemed to inspire them to discuss the tasting in great detail.

But now back to lunch.....

Or what's left of it......

A stroll through the vineyard, followed by a pruning demonstration from Steve....

and then time for some reflection on the day's events......

Last, just to show that it wasn't all old folk reminiscing about the good old days when you could buy a decent bottle of claret for $1.25.....

We would like to conduct this vintage assessment every year. It is a great chance to show our wine club members what we have in store and also for them to get a better appreciation of the winemaking process. If you would like to take part, please contact us for details of wine club membership.