vintage report 2007

 

Well, it all started out not too bad in September.  But like usual we got off to a false start, cold and wet southerly weather patterns attacked right through flowering.

 

December 2006 was the second coldest on record.  The Pinot Noir fared the

 

best at flowering, however, overall it was no surprise the resultant crops were modest to average in quantity (very accurately estimated by Stephen Dempster I must say).

Finally ... warm, sunny weather came around in February and we had another of Marlborough's famous "Indian summers" through March and April which meant we could plan harvest of each block at optimum maturity with minimal disease pressure.

Our Sauvignon Blanc was only slightly down on volume at harvest and along with balanced crops on the Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, not a lot of fruit thinning was required.  We, once again, roared through at veraison (when the grapes change colour) on the Gris and Noir removing green fruit and any second set.   Two passes did the job and the resulting even crop made it a dream for the hand-pickers.

All in all pretty typical stuff but with the crop load being spot on it has meant some amazing flavours in the wines and especially the Sauvignon Blanc.

 

2007 will go down as a classic vintage across the spectrum of varieties in Marlborough.