We have had another very good vintage to back up the 2024 vintage. The similarities to the other ‘twin’ vintages of 2018 and 2019 are remarkable. The big news for Tasmanian wine is the rise in yields this year that caught many by surprise and led to much scrambling at vintage time to accommodate the volume rise. At this point this is a ‘good news’ story for all concerned but the big rise in recent plantings, especially by new entrants, will give rise to concerns of oversupply and quality doubts affecting Tasmania’s premium brand.
Although Autumn was quite dry and beneficial for us to ripen our late varieties, the dryness continued into June and without irrigation we need good winter rains. Luckily July has seen better falls and a sense of normality has returned. Visions of drought as in South Australia are disturbing. The nearest to drought conditions occurred here over 2005, 2006 and 2007. Our yields shrunk and the vines looked very ‘bony’ especially at pruning time.
We have had Working Holiday Visa holders working for us for many years & met lots of lovely young people…some of whom we’re still in contact with many years after they have left. We have always ‘direct hired’, and we have had WHV workers at all different times of the year, as vineyard work is seasonal.
Harvest 2025 was a complete nightmare!!!!
Ever since Covid, this type of workers have changed in character & become progressively more demanding (wanting 60hrs/wk work + accommodation + transportation) and less reliable…at 1030 the morning before our first pick we had 18 pickers lined up. We needed 20 but could only get 18. I texted everyone mid-afternoon to confirm they were coming the next morning & only 10 replied, so we were only able to pick half of the fruit & had to add another picking day. As a result, we reluctantly had to turn to Labour Hire companies. The idea is that, when a group of these workers (who are on a different type of Visa) are brought to the workplace, there is meant to be a ‘leading hand’ with them who can understand & speak English & be able to relay instructions from us to the workers… The first pick was a disaster…it was like trying to ‘herd cats’…there was no ‘leading hand’ & the workers would just wander off & not respond to our instructions at all.
For the next pick we went with a different company. They were far more organised, had a fabulous ‘leading hand’ and they were great workers.
Our ‘ideal’ would be to have local workers who are happy to have intermittent work…sadly, Tasmanians don’t seem to want to do manual labour.
Now some news about some new releases…
We have just released the 2018 Merlot after a long break. As 2018 was a warmer season than 2010 (our last Merlot release), this wine has opened up a little faster than the 2010. A varietal Merlot will only be available from the best vintages, so expect 2019, 2022, 2024 & 2025 in the future. The 2018 is an exceptional wine and will repay further cellaring.
Tasting Notes:
Deep red colour. Aromas of plum, black currants and black olive lift from the glass. Mouth filling and intense initial attack, the wine expands across the palate with deep fruit, plum skin bite and loads of tannin delivery a very long finish.
A powerful wine that will reward good cellaring.
Malbec will be available from most vintages but the 2018 is our best to date and like the Merlot from this vintage, it will continue to build in character for many years.
Tasting notes:
Deepest red with purple hue. The nose shows remarkable fresh black fruits like a bowl of boysenberries and tayberries, floral and aromatic. The palate is bursting with more succulent berries but finally checked by plenty of fine drying tannins. Cellaring will tame its exuberance and add greater complexity.
The Romanesque 2022 is also available, a younger lighter styling and complex mouth- watering juiciness.With increased plantings of Lagrein, Primitivo and Barbera, we hope to satisfy demand and allow more bottle aging. Please note: This vintage of Romanesque is bottled in a ‘claret’ bottle rather than the usual ‘burgundy’ bottle…we ran out of burgundy bottles!
Deep red in colour with a purple rim. The aroma shows mulberry fruit with black pepper and dried herb notes. On the palate the wine has medium body with savoury elderberry and briary juiciness. A good wine to pair with salumi.
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Cheers
Bob & Rita
