For all you Pinot Noir fanatics, here's a great opportunity to taste some of the best that the Yarra Valley can produce:
http://www.wineyarravalley.com/www/338/1001785/displayarticle/1010512.html
This will be a great tasting, with some gourmet plates to share, hosted by the winemakers. If you have ever wanted to know how and why Yarra Valley Pinot Noir tastes the way it does, here's your chance.
Easter is nearly here, we have harvested all the grapes except for the Cabernets and the cool weather has arrived at last.
Three good reasons to cook up some gourmet sausages at the cellar door on Easter Saturday.
I haven't had time to catch up with our butcher yet but I am sure he will be able to provide something interesting--the duck and hoisin sauce plus the blackeyed beef and maybe a chicken and asparagus. Whatever we decide on will be matched with Squitchy Lane wines and you can be assured of a warm welcome.
We will start cooking about 12 noon and continue until we run out of sausages or till around 3 pm.
We will be conducting a preview tasting of the 2010 Red Square blend--I think it's the best yet (thanks to the wonderful vintage conditions) and maybe one or two other wines yet to be released. Hope to see you there.
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc were all harvested before the remarkable heat wave now engulfing Victoria.
This unprecedented weather pattern should end this week and we hope that the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc will start to ripen again. During this hot spell, they have just closed down to conserve energy and the sugar levels have barely moved.
Merlot was harvested on Saturday--the fruit looked great and more importantly, the flavours were fresh and bright with the natural balance of acidity and sugar that I look for in our vineyard.
In the winery, the Pinot is now in barrel. It looks strong and forceful, clearly a product of the warm, dry season. To make sure it didn't go too far down that path, we included about 15% of whole bunches for the first time. The result is pleasing--it's pulled back the flamboyance and added a brightness.
The Chardonnay is still fermenting. As I mentioned before, it's looking like the 2010 at this stage. It will be tight and somewhat inhibited when we bottle it next year but will unfurl with a couple of years ageing.
The Sauvignon Blanc (destined for the Fume Blanc) is also still fermenting--the natural yeasts take their time--but has a good line and clean flavour.
The Merlot is already showing a chocolatey varietal note along with good colour.
In the last post, I suggested that harvest could be finished soon but I have had to revise that opinion due to the weather. The Cabernets will need another two weeks of "normal" weather but should be in by Easter.
Which reminds me--on Easter Saturday, we are having another gourmet sausage sizzle. Put it in your diary.
Last weekend, the Melbourne Wine and Food Festival event of note was the cellar door and providore show at Como House in South Yarra. Accompanied by forty other wineries, Squitchy Lane was there, in glorious sunshine and with a fantastic audience of enthusiastic and aware patrons.
Both Saturday and Sunday started quietly but soon grew into a great tasting session where we were able to show our wines to a great number of people.
Many hadn't tried our wines before and it was a real pleasure to meet some of our old friends again. The overall reception for the wines was tremendous--I soon lost count of the number of Fume Blanc bottles we opened. The Chardonnay was also a highlight, assisted by the weather, while the Pinot Noir continued to impress.
Events like this, while time-consuming and tiring, are a real highlight for us. We love to show our wines and to meet new customers and welcome them to the Squitchy fanclub.
The Pinot Noir has been picked, along with the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc. They are all happily fermenting in the winery. At this early stage, the Pinot looks like the standout.
Meanwhile, we wait for the Bordeaux varieties to ripen fully. This year, the Merlot could be the star. It often shows a mean edge, as if it is rebuking us for planting it in the Yarra Valley--but this year, there is a long tannin profile, loads of flavour and a genuine richness.
Recent rain has helped these later varieties withstand the rather difficult and dry conditions. The vines look refreshed and I predict that within two weeks we will have completed harvest.
By the way, that's a bunch of Cabernet Sauvignon in the photo. Doesn't it look great?
Comment is not required. Except to say that it was just about a perfect day.
With six different varieties in our small vineyard, we pay close attention to ripening patterns so that we can harvest the grapes at exactly the right time. Luckily, we are assisted by the natural growth patterns of the varieties. I took these photos today to illustrate how great the difference can be. The first is Pinot Noir--also the first red variety to ripen. The berries are beginning to fill out and form tight bunches, as you can see. We expect harvest to be in late February or perhaps early March if the weather is cool.
It makes sense that this variety has found its true home in Burgundy. In such a northely region, any red grapes that did not ripen early would be unlikely to ripen at all.
By contrast, Cabernet Franc is a much later ripener. Just look at the bunches below and compare the development to the Pinot Noir above. This Cabernet Franc will be picked at least three weeks later--maybe even in April.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the last variety to be picked.
That will certainly be in April unless the weather is very hot and dry over summer.
