THE SEASON SO FAR: Winter conditions were fairly normal - not especially wet or cold, although we did have the usual number of -5 mornings to contend with. 

Pruning went smoothly, with Paul and team achieving a high standard of work, finishing on 16/09. We pruned the early bloomers like Chardonnay last, to safeguard against frost. 

The diverse species cover crop we planted with organic fertiliser in July performed well, with increased earthworm counts, nitrogen and significant organic matter added to the soils. Hordes of kangaroos enjoyed the winter wheat a bit too much (though the roots still did their job), but the clovers and daikon radish were less to their liking and grew really well as the weather warmed up early in September. It was slashed and thrown to the side, providing mulch for the vines.

Spring has been great so far. We dodged a hailstorm, and the threat of a very late frost (12th November) which would have been a problem if it had hit hard. Temperatures have been normal, with the seasonal variation within range, and no prolonged hot spells. We've had reasonable rainfall, but its been followed by wind and warmth so there is no disease pressure which is fantastic - we're already a spray down vs normal. 

We focused mulching on the Block 15 Grenache and Block 2 Shiraz (Special Reserve) with our home-made compost from grape marc, wood chip and cow poo.

All vines are showing excellent health and vigor and have kept us busy shoot thinning - especially in Block 15 Grenache, The Special Reserve Shiraz Blocks (2A & B) and Block 3 Cabernet. The chardonnay is being manually de-suckered for the second time as I write this. Across the vineyard, this is a fantastic recovery from the beating we took with last year's frost.

The whites and pinot got through flowering in steady conditions. We had a windy spell while the last of the reds flowered, which may affect volume of fruit set a bit, but there are plenty of flowers out there, so everything is looking very encouraging.

THE OUTLOOK: The vines are set up really well for the season ahead.

After a number of cool and wet years, it looks like we'll probably see temperatures and rainfall more in the normal range, although temperatures will most likely be above the long term average. Let's go Vintage 2026! 

MARSANNE UPDATE In response to the changing climate, the increasing appetite for different varieties of wine, and because we love the grapes and their possibilities, we are planting Southern Rhone stars Marsanne & Roussanne in the vineyard.

We decided against grafting in the end. The cuttings that we buried in sand struck beautiful roots and looked really strong - and the end result will be much better and longer lasting starting from scratch.

The cuttings were dug up, soaked in seasol and planted out in the vineyard nursery on 20/10/25.

They started to burst into leaf 30/10 and are thriving. They will spend the growing season in the nursery and then will be planted out in winter 2026 in time for vintage 2027.