2010 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

The 2010 Squitchy Lane Cabernet Sauvignon is now available, at cellar door and in restaurants and bottle shops in Melbourne. It will soon be available in Sydney also.
As you are probably aware, we didn't release a straight Cabernet from the 2009 vintage, so this is the first since the highly succesful 2008. There is some good news--we think it's pretty good--and some bad news--there isn't much of it. The barrel selection process for this wine is ruthless and unforgiving. If a barrel isn't of the highest quality, it doesn't make the cut. Such barrels are blended into our Red Square wine where they add some backbone and authority to the Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Now, normally at this point I would write a detailed tasting note for this Cabernet. However, this time I would like to ignore that traditional approach and focus instead on a particular feature that makes this wine what it is (the tasting notes can be found on our website if you are interested).
The striking feature of this wine is its sheer drinkability. It's just about the most enjoyable wine I can recall drinking--so much so that I am not inclined to evaluate this wine in the normal terms when I drink it but rather just take a purely sensorial delight in its flavour.
I can best explain what I am driving at in this way--you open a bottle as you are cooking dinner, thinking you will have a glass and then enjoy the remainder at the table as you eat. Unfortunately, when it comes time to sit down, you find the bottle is nearly empty. The wine is so damn tasty that you haven't noticed how much you have drunk.
My wife and I have fallen for this trap a few times so now I delay opening the bottle.
This wine has harmony, balance, lightness of touch, elegance and finesse and it just TASTES GOOD.
No need for intellectual tasting notes. One word will suffice--MORE!

SIMPLE BEAUTY

Visitors to Squitchy Lane often comment on the beauty of the vineyard and of the views to the Yarra Ranges beyond.
Indeed, but there is also beauty closer at hand, in the trees surrounding the cellar door.

  It's hard to recall the decade of drought that we have only recently escaped. The trees have benefited from the last two years of heavy rainfall.

WHY DO WE CALL IT SQUITCHY LANE?

People often ask us about the origin of the winery name, Squitchy Lane. Well, here's a tongue-in-cheek answer, taken at yesterday's wine and food festival at Southbank. You don't find lanes much more squitchy than this (it's taken from behind our stand):

 It certainly was an interesting day. Sincere thanks to all the lovely people who turned out in the rain to taste the wines of Victoria, the great majority of which were from small producers who don't often get a chance to show their wines in Melbourne.
Here's a shot of Robyn pouring a glass of 2010 Pinot Noir:

I was continually amazed at the enthusiasm and knowledge of the visitors. They loved wine, so much so that they were willing to wear one of those silly ponchos, ruin their good shoes and generally squelch around in mud in order to taste some of Victoria's best wines.
Woodstock or Glastonbury, depending on your generation.......

And it's on again today but at least the rain appears to have stopped.
Once again, thanks to all our visitors. I hope you had as much fun as we did. We look forward to meeting you again at the cellar door, especially at our sausage day on April 28.
Of course, there is a real reason for the name Squitchy Lane but you will need to look on our website to find it.

HARVEST 2012

Here is a bin of our 2012 Sauvignon Blanc awaiting transfer to the winery for crushing, pressing and fermenting in barrels whence it will become our 2012 Fume Blanc. In barrel, the ferments have a similar character to the 2011 wine, probably tighter and more lifted in fruit profile than the 2010. By the way, I think the 2010 Fume Blanc could lay claim to being the most successful Squitchy Lane release ever. Now, success can be measured in many ways and I will admit to a rather non-scientific approach but I base my findings on the following:
--it's just about sold out
--more restaurants list this wine than any other Squitchy Lane release
--just about every cellar door visitor who tries it is immediately won over. I think it has the best strike rate of any wine on tasting
--it's a new label, with a new name, and therefore has no precedent  
And what's more, the 2011 is every bit as good. In fact, I think it's a little better.
The 2012 harvest was going beautifully until the rain. We have picked the Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot  Noir and Chardonnay and now have to wait a few weeks for the Cabernets and Merlot. We were lucky in that we picked most of the fruit before the rain. We finished yesterday with a small parcel of our Burgundy clone Chardonnay. 
So far, everything looks good. I'll give a special mention to the Pinot Noir--and even though it is very early in its life, this vintage looks exceptionally promising. To be continued......

GRAPE TASTING

SQUITCHY SATURDAYS- VINTAGE SPECIAL

VINTAGE is here and Squitchy Lane is a hive of activity as the many varieties of grapes are harvested from our Gruyere property.

Come and join the team at Squitchy Lane, as Steve Sadlier, viticulturist, explains in detail the wine harvesting process- from planting to picking and crushing.

Challenge your taste buds on fresh grapes snipped from the vine of Merlot, Cabernet and Cabernet Franc. A blind tasting is sure to test your palate.

We hope to also offer a small selection of grape juices, fresh from the press, for you to try.

An intimate experience at a boutique vineyard where you can speak directly to the producer.

If you've always been intrigued by the how and why of a Yarra Valley harvest, drop in to the cellar door between 11am- 4pm and get involved with vintage 2012!

Of course the finished product will also be available for sale and tastings on the day. Sit back under our umbrellas and enjoy a glass of wine in the peaceful setting of our Yarra Valley property.

WHAT: Tasting of grapes, freshly pressed juice and current vintage wines at Squitchy Lane vineyard in the Yarra Valley.

WHERE: Squitchy Lane Vineyard, 9 Medhurst Road, Gruyere

WHEN: Saturday March 3, 2012

TIME: 11am to 4pm

WHAT’S INCLUDED: Informative session with viticulturalist Steve Sadlier as he describes the harvest process from planting to picking and crushing. Tastings of different grape varieties, freshly pressed grape juice and current vintage wines.

COST: No charge.

CHARDONNAY HARVEST

2012 harvest starts tomorrow. We will be picking our P58 clone of Chardonnay (P stands for Penfolds since this is where this clone first came to light in Australia). It looks good, still retains good natural acidity and has all the tropical, limey fruit characters we are looking for.

 Bunches are small, as are individual berries. The clusters are not as tightly packed as usual which is great for air flow through the bunch to reduce moisture and humidity build-up. This greatly reduces any potential for damaging disease outbreaks. 
We bottled the 2011 last week. It will get a year in our temperature-controlled storage before it is released. It's slightly different in style from our previous wines, with the inclusion of a small amount of malo-lactic fermentation to add depth. 
Here's to 2012!

RIPENESS

The Pinot Noir bunches are ripening quickly--look back in the blog at earlier posts to see just how rapid the colour change and berry fulness has occurred--and I expect that we will harvest them within ten days.
It's been a marvellous ripening period for the early varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Acids remain high, thanks to the cool nights, and the rather mild conditions during the day have helped retain fruit flavour. Contrary to what might be called received wisdom, I like to see the grapes ripen quickly. The common view that long growing seasons give the best flavours is widespread--you'll see this opinion on back labels, on websites, in the media, in wine books and you will hear it in conversations with experts and opinion leaders. Well, I don't buy it. Given the choice, I'll take rapid veraison and ripening.
Often, grapes that take a long time to ripen lose natural acidity which must then be added at the winery. What's more, this long ripening can mean that the vines are over-cropped and struggling to ripen the crop load.
That's why I like the fast and even ripening we get at Squitchy Lane. It tells me the crop is in balance and that we will not be forced to add acid at the crusher. It also tells me that we have the right site for the grapes. There's a hard-to-define freshness that comes with all this--you can taste it in the Pinot Noir and the Cabernet especially although the Chardonnay also has it.
More on Chardonnay in the next post.