Louis Latour Agencies

Vintage 2020: A Year to Remember - Australia

22 April 2020

The 2020 vintage has certainly been usual. Coronavirus lockdowns hit at a key point in the viticultural timetable but our partners in the southern hemisphere have risen to the challenge and we can't eait to try these wines when they are released.

To learn more about the vintage at Viu Manent, Smith & Sheth and Pyramind Valley Wines please see our second article.

McHenry Hohnen, Margaret River
2020 Vintage Report from Japo Dalli Cani, winemaker

We are at the end of one of the most unusual harvests at McHenry Hohnen. Today, we are pressing off skins the last batch of Cabernet Sauvignon in self-isolation while, in other parts of Australia, some wineries didn't harvest at all following devastating bushfires.

We were blessed with near perfect growing conditions in Margaret River. A warmer than usual Spring, a dry, sunny Summer and cool nights. Significant diurnal temperature variations meant perfect ripening conditions across all of our dry grown vineyards.

No disease and virtually no bird pressure (particularly at the start of harvest) meant we were able to pick beautifully clean fruit at ideal ripeness and flavour levels ... a real treat for our winemaking team.

The only downside was exceptionally low yields across all varieties. Our dry farmed vineyard responded to the drier seasonal conditions by producing tiny and light bunches with small berries. Consequently, the fruit has incredible concentration and has retained a lovely natural acidity.

Our vineyard and winery teams were very busy from the get-go. Harvest began at the Hazel’s Vineyard Chardonnay block on 6th February. This was around 7 to 10 days earlier than average. The Burnside and Calgardup Brook Chardonnay picks were completed within just 5-days! Our single vineyard Chardonnays all show wonderful complexity, texture and loads of vibrancy.

Sustained warm temperatures throughout February meant a quick harvest also for our other white varieties. The Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Marsanne and Roussanne were all completed by the 21st February.

Our Hazel’s Vineyard Tempranillo was the first red to be harvested on 25th February - just a few days after the end of the whites. This was followed by Zinfandel, Syrah and Grenache which were picked between 12-14th March. These Rhone varieties loved the warm weather and already display great fragrance, spice and depth of flavour with fine and persistent tannin structure.

Milder temperatures and some minor rain events mid-March allowed for our top blocks of Bordeaux varieties to hang on the vines for longer and achieve full phenolic and flavour ripeness.

Our Hazel’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, destined to Rolling Stone, was picked on 28th of March which is inline with the average for the past few seasons. The wine is already showing excellent potential with nerve, a beautiful purple colour, blue fruits vibrancy and the violet notes typical of this southern Margaret River vineyard. With a record breaking low yield of less than 4 tonnes we will only produce a few barrels of this very special wine.

We are confident in saying that, across the board, the quality of the 2020 vintage is outstanding.

22nd April 2020.

Wakefield Wines, Clare Valley

The season
The 2020 season began with a dry winter and rainfall well below the long-term average. However the vineyard team were swiftly on the case and purchased extra water during the off-peak season to ensure there was enough for the vines in the height of summer.

Dry weather over winter and spring brings the risk of frost and by November Wakefield had already endured 23 frost events. To counter this, eight new fans joined the existing eight and went into overtime to protect the vineyards, moving the cold air before it had chance to settle.

In December Australia was reeling from the horrific fires that affected a large part of the country. The fires themselves did not reach Clare but smoke did and the smoke taint was a cause for concern. Sadly some of Wakefield’s grower partners in the Adelaide Hills were affected by the fires.

During the last 17 days of December the maximum daily temperature was above the long term average equalling a VERY hot month.  2019 was the Estate’s driest year recorded since 1972 with only 225mm of rainfall.

January was a month of extremes and wild variation ranging from searing heat to chilly, gusty winds.

In February the weather tracked close to the long-term average. Rainfall at the beginning of the month was welcomed because it re-invigorated the vines after the dry summer.

March was mild and allowed the grapes to ripen gradually and the harvest to progress steadily.

The weekend of the 4-5th April saw plentiful rain across South Australia which was welcomed because all the estate fruit was in. In total 24mm was measured in Auburn by Wakefield. March had been drier than average with a total of 6.8mm measured versus a more usual 23.1mm.

In the vineyard
The beginning of the season saw the installation of eight new frost fans and planting of 12 hectares of Shiraz on the Clare Valley Estate.

Budburst throughout the vineyard occurred on track from August through to September with developing inflorescence clusters evident throughout and many of the earlier ripening varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling already bursting into flower.  Flowering continued through November with fruit set following on into December.

Unfortunately the conditions for flowering were less than ideal resulting in problems with fruit set and predicted lower yields.  The plus side to this is the lower yields often mean higher quality so the team was still hopeful for the 2020 vintage.

Vintage officially began on the 6th February when Pinot Noir for the sparkling wines arrived at the winery. The Riverland Chardonnay arrived later that week and the winemakers were expecting a quick harvest due to low yields and predicted warm and dry weather.

By the 25th March all the whites, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills fruit from the estate and partner growers were picked and in the cellars. The Clare fruit was in before the end of that week. Mild weather in Coonawara caused slower than usual ripening so at the end of March the grapes were still on the vines. This was not a problem because cabernet sauvignon benefits from a long ‘hang-time’.

All in all the winemakers were very pleased with the fruit coming into the cellar, that despite a less than ideal season was very high in quality. The last fruit was harvested by the 6th April and most of the fruit, including that from Coonawara, was harvested by Easter.

In the cellar
In November the winemaking team were busy blending the 2018 and 2019 wines to make room for upcoming 2020 vintage. November through to January represent a very busy period as preparations get underway to receive the new fruit. It’s an exciting time of year when the winery comes to life and everyone gets involved.

December saw the team busy with the major cleaning, repair and maintenance tasks that go on in the lead up to vintage and one task in particular – preparing for the installation of a brand new Pera press – was the cause of great excitement. The press arrived like a late Christmas present and was installed and commissioned in January in time for the beginning of vintage.

By early February the newly installed Pera press was fully installed and being tested ready for when vintage was in full swing. The team were very happy with its performance and looked forward to the wine and productivity improvements it would bring. In March it was performing well and, the primary fermentation and malolactic fermentations were moving along nicely.

By early April the winery was very busy vinifying the 2020 vintage and preparing some of the 2019 red blends. Activity will continue well into late autumn and the vintage is not considered complete until the last 2020 wines have completed malolactic fermentation.

Wakefield MD Mitchell Taylor joined us on the 17th April to discuss the 2020 vintage. Follow this link to our You Tube Channel to watch what he had to say.

board which should make for some really exciting wines from the 2020 vintage.