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MASTERS: We’ve ended up with
a vineyard that is possibly the
healthiest it’s ever looked through
to harvest. This is due to the lower
incidence of wind over the whole
season and because harvest was
much earlier/compressed so leaves
were still in good condition. The
rapid growth did make canopy management
challenging and also meant
canopy spraying was a constant
pressure logistically, as there was a
high risk for powdery mildew with
the speed of growth. The wind
arrived just at the time we needed
to put on bird nets, which made the
application quite challenging. The
bird pressure was high this year,
possibly due to a lack of alternate
food sources and unseasonal snow,
which often sees them looking for
easier food sources.
Overall, the fruit has come in disease
free and in good balance. From
a winemaking point of view, acids
have been lower than normal, but
pHs have also remained satisfactory,
which possibly reflects healthy
canopy condition. Sugar levels were
initially slightly lower than normal,
possibly due to the vines occasionally
shutting down in more extreme
temperatures but then quickly
increased as fruit softened. Seed
ripeness was achieved early and
the overall crop level was not high,
mostly due to lower-than-average
bunch weights.
The smaller bunches meant good
fruit concentration across all varieties.
Particular highlights are the
Gewürztraminer, which has some of
the nicest looking fruit we’ve ever
seen on this variety. The Riesling
was also very consistent in its
fruit profile, and the Pinot Noir had
good weight and fruit ripeness. In
general, ferments are proceeding
well and finishing cleanly, reflecting
the healthy nature of the canopy at
harvest. We will be pressing some
Pinot tanks early to make sure we
don’t over-extract tannins. Malic acid
levels are much lower than normal,
due to the very warm summer, so
malolactic ferment may go through
earlier than normal, just like the rest
of the season!
HAMILTON: Fast and furious is how
I would describe the 2018 season!
Talking with local veteran viticulturists
and winemakers in the region,
no one was sure what to expect! It’s
still hard to believe we harvested all
our fruit (with the exception of the
late-harvest gewürztraminer) in just
12 days, spanning a three-and-a-halfweek
period – and an entire month
earlier than usual! However, the fruit
was in sound condition and the juices/
wines are looking great. This is a
great outcome, especially considering
what it took to get there.
The 2018 season was
characterised by the
following:
• Soaring temperatures early season,
often for several consecutive
days, which made for an extremely
condensed growing period.
• Record low rainfall in the early part
of the season.
• A rate of growth and vigour in the
canopy that presented a logistical
challenge in terms of disease
prevention, since young plant material
is most susceptible. (In fact,
we saw new growth throughout
the season, right up to harvest in
some blocks).
• Heavy rains early-to-mid February,
which contributed to canopy
vigour, as well as powdery mildew
pressure and the risk of botrytis
• Wind, which was atypically absent
early in the season, finally coming
on full force just at the time of net
application.
• A cold snap late January delivering
snow down to 800m, which drove
wax-eye birds down from the
mountains, increasing pressure to
get nets on.
• Weeds which responded vigorously
to the weather, and the subsequent
challenge to try and manage
them and reduce competition.
Finally, the ripening slowed in
March, due to cooler temperatures,
and we started harvest with
pinot noir for our Rosé on March
11. Overall, bunch weights were
lighter than historical averages,
though not surprising considering
the carbohydrate reserves stored
last year would have been low from
being such a cool year. Although
some blocks had slightly lighter
than desired crop loads, we had
impressive uniformity in terms of
berry size and cluster maturation
- a notable contrast to last year.
Despite the season’s challenges, our
rigorous spray programme kept the
incidence of powdery mildew to a
minimum, and we saw virtually no
botrytis infection. The canopy was
quite healthy throughout the season
including post-harvest a rarity at
Misha’s Vineyard. This is partly due
to seasonal influences as well as the
new leachate programme that was
implemented to promote soil and
vine health.
Whilst conditions this year resulted
in a remarkably compressed season/
harvest with high bird and disease
pressure, we believe the sunshine,
heat and nutrition programme will
certainly have had a very positive impact
on next year’s crop in terms of
yield, as well as overall vine health.
I’m happy with this year and think
we have a very exciting prospect for
next year.
* Note - GDDs reflected over shorter time period due to earlier harvest – and time of this report.
Statistics
2017/18 2016/17 2015/16 2014/15 2013/14 2012/13 2011/12 2010/11 2009/10
Growing Degree
Days (GDDs) 1322 960 1246 1150 1035 1109 1021 1119 1152
Time period 1 Oct –
- 9 April*
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
1 Oct –
- 5 May
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