A Visitor in the Cellar

The winery was hugely busy throughout harvest but amongst the organised chaos this little bearded dragon was spotted in the winery. We took him back to the safety of the vineyard but not until he had a full tour of the cellars and met everyone!

A Battle of Grenache

One of the reasons I am out here is that South Australia is home to some of the world’s oldest Grenache vines and I wanted to see and learn how they do things out here. I have already seen similarities between Grenache here and at home in Maury but new methods, ideas and techniques can only enhance the perfection in my Grenache wine that I aim for.

I have been working with Stephen Pannell for the last 4 weeks solid, absorbing all his energy, ability and passion for wine. Stephen Pannell is a winemaker of enormous reputation and has worked at the highest level for some of the best wineries, making some of Australia’s most iconic and most expensive wines. Steve is also twice winner and current holder of the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy.

S.C. Pannell Cellar Door

However Steve has returned to the Vale to set up his own winery, driven by his love for certain varietals including his beloved Grenache! 

We had a great night with Steve and co at his S.C. Pannell cellar door and restaurant and were seated out on the ‘deck’ as they say down under!

On the deck

I knew Steve’s love of Grenache so I sneaked in my own 2012 Vent de Folie I had brought in my suitcase from home alongside his highly rated Grenache. 

Two Grenaches

Steve loved the Vent de Folie and it was talk of the winemakers’ table. I am thrilled about this and after many years working with old-vine Grenache it is always a pleasure to have great compliments and enjoyment from one of the most respected winemakers in the world.  Honestly, the Vent de Folie stood up to Steve’s Grenache, shoulder to shoulder. It may not have won hands down, but don’t tell Steve. My Vent de Folie does however win hands down with the price,a complete steal at only £14.99!!

A Compressed Harvest

My word, what a vintage it has been here in McLaren Vale! 2015 has seen remarkable weather here in South Australia starting with a mild winter, a cool spring and start to the growing season and a good dry, warm summer.  However there have been some extraordinary heat waves or heat blasts as they are saying over here with 2-3 days of intense 40+°C heat, comparable to a microwave being turned on full for three minutes at a time. This has accelerated the ripening in bursts and along with the near perfect growing season has created a phenomenon rarely, if not ever seen here in South Australia. 2015 is being labelled as ‘a compressed harvest’.

Normally the harvest here in the Vale starts in March and runs for 7-8 weeks starting logically with whites on the lower slopes, then the reds on the flats followed by the whites then reds in the hills. This ‘normal’ cycle has been turned upside down and almost everything, regardless of grape varietal, has ripened at the same time!! We have picked Cabernet before Chardonnay, Shiraz the same day as Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling whilst harvesting old vine Grenache … just crazy.  Added to this the harvest was 2 weeks early and the earliest on record!  

The result?  Complete mayhem and a logistical nightmare in the field and in the winery.  The early date caught cellars by surprise and they lacked the extra vintage help that would mostly be arriving (including myself) from overseas for the start of harvest. But the most incredible thing was that an 8-week harvest was completed in just 4 weeks with the same volume of grapes, the same man hours in both the cellar and vineyard, hence ‘A Compressed Harvest’!  The risk however was that grapes at optimum ripeness and ready to pick couldn’t be harvested, no harvesters available and even if they were the wineries were full to the brim!

Full tanks

Extra vats were being rented and old vats being cleaned up for ferment use, it seemed every vessel in McLaren Vale that could hold liquid was being used!! Unfortunately, some of the grapes on the vine started to shrivel into over ripeness and many winemakers struggled and sadly, some potentially high-quality grapes were lost. 

I landed after a 25hr non-stop journey from France at 2pm on the Friday and hurled myself into the thick of harvest the following morning at 6am. I was soon at the ferment tasting bench where we had to get through over a hundred ferments to decide the next 12 hours’ work schedule. This was then repeated 12 hours later to organise the nightshift jobs.

At the tasting bench

I have never experienced anything quite like it, but after 30-odd days straight and 20hrs a day of ‘organised chaos’ it was over. Quite a blur, but I do think the simple sandwich is vastly underrated!

Overall the harvest was a triumph and quality was superb from vine to wine. 2015 is certainly an exceptional vintage and one to ear-mark for its release in 2016.