Vintage 2012 stated with a bang with fruit arriving from the Geographe region as early as the 31st of January. The lead in to vintage was typified by warm to hot ripening conditions. The whites seemed to come on thick and fast with early ripening varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling base wines coming in first. Some beautiful Chardonnay fruit from Margaret River followed and these wines will be destined for our Chardonnay and reserve chardonnay wines.

This year we have harvested Chardonnay as whole clusters and whole bunch pressed a select parcel for our reserve wines. So far this wine shows great promise with lovely classic Chardonnay citrus and stonefruit characters shining through already. Following Chardonnay was Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon which again showed why it is the mainstay of Margaret River white wine production. Beautiful fresh, zippy and aromatic wines result from the these two classic varieties.

The reds have shown some amazing potential. Deep intense and inky colours, with great flavour and tannin maturity seem to be the order of the day. We all look forward as a winemaking team to more years like 2012.