Louis Latour Agencies

2015 Vintage Report: Australia

23 June 2015

McHenry Hohnen, Margaret River

The 2015 harvest at McHenry Hohnen broke records on various fronts. A mild and warm winter in 2014 resulted in a very early bud-break exposing sensitive young shoots to wild early spring conditions. The result was a significant reduction in yields across all varieties particularly Chardonnay which was hampered by wet and windy conditions at flowering.

The warm and dry summer that followed with plentiful sunshine and no significant heatwaves set them on the path to two distinct harvest periods for white and red varieties. They experienced their earliest Chardonnay harvest on record with their Burnside (5th February), Hazel's (formerly known as Rocky Road) and Calgardup Brook vineyards picked and fermenting a full two days earlier this year than our previous start date.

While the whites were harvested early a significant rain event mid-February delayed ripening of red varieties however due to low yields the rewards were full tannin ripeness and flavoursome wines.  Winemaker Trent Carroll says: ‘It was a challenging season that saw bushfire smoke, a record number of hungry birds, low yields and significant rain events make for an edge of your seat ride that has produced stunning wines across all varieties albeit on a much reduced volume.’

Wakefield Wines, Clare Valley

Vintage officially began on the Taylor family’s estate on the 19th January with processing of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for their new sparkling wine. The still wine harvest began on the 3rd of February with Semillon followed later that week by Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer all picked from blocks on the Clare Valley estate.

The red harvest started early on the 11th February with Tempranillo. The Sauvignon Blanc from the Adelaide Hills was finally harvested on 20th March with the remaining red varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère picked in April. All in all Wakefield experienced a ‘fast and furious’ harvest well ahead of the previous record set during the 2007 vintage. Fortunately, the Taylor family's cellars and winery are designed with both gentle handling and capacity in mind and were able to receive the grapes as soon as they were ripe enough to be picked.  

Wakefield Wines are always ahead of the curve and this year is no exception with two new machines unveiled at their winery in time for vintage.

 The first, a stainless steel egg shaped fermenter was a world first.  The egg-shaped vat provides a very gentle and efficient way of extracting colour and flavour is key to producing quality wine.

The second, known as the Oak Experience, is a large 20100 oak vat crafted from 50mm fine-grained French oak staves. The vessel comes complete with an in place submergible header board to ensure the cap is completely drowned. This ensures optimum colour and tannin extraction from the red ferments. The vessel allows soft and gentle extraction whilst protecting the primary fruit characters. In addition, wines can be left to soak on skins for extended periods.