Just when I thought there was a trend to earlier drier vintages as the norm, we have 2017 vintage to blow that out of the water. The 2016 Winter/Spring was the second wettest in the Riverina on record since 1957 with 686mm of rain for the year 286mm above average (400mm) for the area. Winter was mild not cold and this continued right through to December and as a consequence the vines budded late and the season progressed slowly. Many old timers recalled that "this is how it used to be, we wouldn't start picking until well into February".

Interstate fruit was machine harvested during the warm night conditions and transported in bins up to our Riverina Winery, whilst local fruit was machine harvested through the day. The parcels were fermented in stainless steel vertical fermenters on premium French oak for 4-6 days between 26 and 30 degrees. The wine was then pressed at 1 baume and left to ferment until dry, then racked onto French oak staves for malolactic fermentation. Wine was then clarified via centrifuge into stainless steel storage. Once these parcels were completed, we looked at several different blends over numerous days, working our way to this amazing blend which we are very proud to present.