Like many of the recent seasons, 2024 was a difficult season to predict. Had anyone told me in August 2023 what was actually going to transpire, I wouldn’t have believed them.

We entered spring after a warm winter looking at a forecast El Niño weather system for the months ahead. As spring unfolded, the dry forecast became a little confusing to understand with each spring month having average-to-above-average rainfall and above average temperatures. The warm and wet conditions made for another season of high disease pressure where it was absolutely necessary apply more sprays than typically required. This made for extra stress for the vineyard team as they were constantly trying to find ideal conditions to spray under very difficult weather conditions.

After a worryingly wet January, the tap just turned off. We had some of the driest and mildest conditions ever for our harvest months of February and March. As the harvest period shaped up to be ideal, there was lots of opportunity to wait for perfect ripeness to pick. We consciously chose to wait an extra few days to pick a number of parcels in order to slot the grapes into a magical zone of flavour, sugar, acid and phenolic balance.

Most batches have been a pleasure to make and I’m positive they will be wonderful, defined and complex wines. They will be a pleasure to pour and enjoy in the coming years.

Stuart Dudine

Senior Winemaker

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