The 20th of December 2019 is a date which will not be forgotten in the Adelaide Hills. This day brought the devastation of the Cudlee Creek fires which ravished the Hills. Many homes, agricultural properties and vineyards were lost, including our Chardonnay and Pinot vineyard at the winery in Woodside. Many of the vineyards from which we source our Sauvignon Blanc were ravished by the fire as the fruit was directly burnt or affected by smoke. Fortunately, many of the vineyards from which we source our fruit on the south western flank of the fire were not affected allowing us to harvest this unspoiled fruit. Due to the limited fruit supply we sourced 30% of the Sauvignon Blanc from the Sharefarmers Vineyard in Coonawarra which Petaluma planted in 1983.

Leading into the growing season in the Adelaide Hills the region received lower than average winter and spring rainfall and was also relatively hot until January. This skewed the overall average temperatures as February and March were cool thus the vintage was only slightly warmer than the long-term average. Similar conditions were also experienced in Coonawarra. Yields in both regions were on par with the long-term average at 7.5 to 8 tonnes per hectare.

We began picking in the Hills on the 5th March, finishing in Coonawarra on the 14th March with each of the individual parcels of fruit transported from the vineyard to our winery in Woodside.