Winter 2008

The rhythm of the season flows in the winter ritual of pruning – the art of refining and shaping the vine's architecture to the purpose of the next growing season. The old wood cut out, the new bud wood positioned, and the vines and trellises "dressed" for the coming Spring. The cycle of renewed hope begins …

In early June, we completed (after the successful Yarra and Heathcote grape harvests) our last harvest - by hand picking our olive grove – which this year has yielded some stunning Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

It is the real thing – extra virgin, cold-pressed virtually immediately, by our friends at Manse Hill Olives, Seymour, made from olive trees grown in pretty tough conditions. The ground is dry and infertile and the yield is only about 1.5kg per tree.

Our oil is produced in the traditional way – no heat, no chemicals, no further refinement of any sort, not even filtration. The aroma and flavour are succulent and pure, but the economics are challenging – we crushed 450kg of olives for only 75 litres of oil – the equivalent of about 5kg of olives in every 375ml bottle.

We hand pick our olives to avoid bruising. If the olives are machine harvested, if processing is delayed or if hot water is used in washing, the anti-oxidant polyphenols are lost and with them some of the healthful properties of the olive oil are lost.

To start with ripe green/black olives in the morning and have pure, fresh oil in the afternoon is a real joy!

We use the Olive Oil in the Whistler Café kitchen, and a very small amount is available at the Cellar-Door (375ml bottle, $20).

Our vintage 2008 wines are all tucked away, and after a record early start and a record early finish, the initial assessments at harvest are now being confirmed. The wines are intense, with beautiful fresh aromatics and balanced flavours; expressive of our unique sites in the Yarra Valley and Heathcote; and consistent with the finesse, elegance and subtlety we believe distinguishes fine wine.

We are now making final preparations for bottling the 2008 Heathcote Riesling and Viognier, and the 2008 Yarra Valley Sauvignon and Pinot Noir Rosé, and closely watching the evolution of our 2007 Heathcote reds which were bottled pre-vintage.

At Tooborac, our Whistler Café, Cellar Door and Granite Native Garden have just recorded their second anniversary. We have been delighted with visitors' and guests' responses to the authentic, relaxing and innovative experience offered in the uniquely serene and breath-taking landscape, and to the rustic menu and themed wine and food events our Cellar Door Manager and Executive Chef, Simon Fenwick, has been presenting.

With winter fogs, frosts and wood fires, our thoughts naturally turn to red wines. We are pleased to offer our quartet of 2006 Heathcote reds – Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and our flagship Merindoc Shiraz - all, we believe, destined to become classic Heathcote wines.

Our Willoughby Bridge Vineyard's deep red Cambrian soil and dry continental climate provide excellent conditions for Merlot, and the 2006 has Merlot's trademark soft, plush, supple, ripe berry mouthfeel moderated by some fine-grained tannins.

Equally, the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon (which includes a judicious amount of Merlot to soften the abundant savoury tannins) has the characteristic black-currant, cassis and cedar notes of ripe Bordeaux claret, and confirms the consistency of Northern Heathcote for producing exceptional Cabernet-based wines. In February 2008, the UK's distinguished Jancis Robertson wrote of our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon; "very sophisticated and elegant .. rich and complete and not forced, lively and long and already a pleasure to drink..." We contend that the 2006 is a worthy successor.

Our 2006 Heathcote Shiraz (with 1% Viognier adding to its graceful silkiness and rich colour); is typically very Northern Rhone-like with restrained elegance, firm tannins and acid, and capable of long bottle-maturation. While best decanted or opened in good time before drinking now to permit the wine to breathe and "open-up", it will evolve in bottle into a truly delicious wine. We recently did a retrospective tasting for some Fine Wine Managers of all 6 of our Heathcote Shiraz wines from 2001 to 2006. While the vines have matured, the drought has intensified in recent years, and our approach become more refined, the wines all demonstrated the pedigree of their Willoughby Bridge and Merindoc vineyard origins, and reflect our commitment to producing fresh, vibrant, complex wines of moderate alcohol, that are a pleasure to drink.

Finally, our ultra-premium, ultimate terroir - Merindoc Vineyard Shiraz. The 2006 is the third in the line after the monumental 2004, (95 points, James Halliday, 2008 Wine Companion) and the profound and somewhat funky 2005, described thus by Campbell Mattinson: "Fermented over thirty days in open-topped wood, made in small quantity, matured in French oak and picked from a small section of vineyard in the south of the Heathcote region – another view of the new face of Australian wine. The result is fruity, aromatic, deliciously structured, flecked with flavours of meat, pepper, eucalypt, minerals and cedar, and textured like a soft wet slice of mango".

The 2006 Merindoc is very firm and closed at this stage with a long life ahead.

With a busy Winter and Spring ahead, please also find enclosed our upcoming Calendar. Events of special note are our Hat Wines Celebration (19th & 20th July 2008), the Merindoc Spring Lamb and Shiraz Focus (20th & 21st September) and our regular events – the Heathcote Wine and Food Festival (4th & 5th October) and Shedfest (11th & 12th October) at our Lusatia Park Vineyard in the Yarra Valley.