Growing season (Oct-Apr) data:
Rainfall (mm)
Season | 21-22 | 20-21 | 19-20 | 18-19 | 17-18 | 16-17 | 15-16 | 14-15 | 13-14 | 12-13 | 11-12 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
October | 31 | 15 | 84 | 61 | 44 | 42 | 26 | 35 | 105 | 69 | 110 | |
November | 10 | 102 | 43 | 94 | 7 | 118 | 21 | 55 | 67 | 33 | 87 | |
December | 171 | 61 | 104 | 86 | 25 | 44 | 31 | 29 | 36 | 82 | 113 | |
January | 12 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 49 | 52 | 70 | 3 | 48 | 43 | 76 | |
February | 280 | 26 | 23 | 32 | 143 | 53 | 17 | 36 | 23 | 69 | 36 | |
March | 45 | 42 | 148 | 28 | 63 | 62 | 19 | 41 | 71 | 95 | 111 | |
April | 15 | 51 | 97 | 98 | 139 | 48 | 84 | 172 | 35 | 70 | 103 | |
Totals | 564 | 312 | 415 | 404 | 429 | 510 | 232 | 283 | 522 | 426 | 603 |
Growing Degree Days (heat units)
Season | 21-22 | 20-21 | 19-20 | 18-19 | 17-18 | 16-17 | 15-16 | 14-15 | 13-14 | 12-13 | 11-12 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
October | 109 | 121 | 80 | 93 | 104 | 93 | 85 | 75 | 100 | 75 | 85 | |
November | 187 | 130 | 200 | 144 | 154 | 146 | 118 | 117 | 152 | 88 | 120 | |
December | 246 | 192 | 210 | 233 | 255 | 186 | 187 | 190 | 225 | 232 | 189 | |
January | 248 | 248 | 233 | 305 | 337 | 215 | 264 | 255 | 191 | 230 | 210 | |
February | 217 | 200 | 269 | 223 | 259 | 211 | 299 | 187 | 204 | 186 | 165 | |
March | 193 | 178 | 170 | 229 | 217 | 181 | 221 | 199 | 145 | 175 | 140 | |
April | 98 | 106 | 98 | 86 | 101 | 100 | 106 | 125 | 123 | 119 | 79 | |
Totals | 1298 | 1175 | 1260 | 1313 | 1427 | 1132 | 1280 | 1148 | 1140 | 1105 | 988 |
The title of this vintage report doesn’t allude to the mental state of the winemaker (although there were moments!) but more to the compressed nature of this year’s harvest. A roller coaster of a growing season carried through to harvest with grapes ripening in a narrow window and with the threat (and reality) of rain hovering. Staffing challenges and Covid added to the mix and it was to everyone’s credit that the crop was picked and processed in a two week window from 17 March to 1 April. In contrast to almost everything else, yields ended up almost bang on long-term averages.
In reverse of last year, the first half of the 21-22 growing season was, despite a wet December, near to perfect. Flowering conditions were benign and a big crop seemed likely. The second half of the growing season was more challenging as a look at the rainfall tally for February and March confirms with February in particular receiving twice as much rain as the previously wettest February of the last ten years. While heat units were at the upper end of the range they were not exceptional and certainly sufficient to ripen the crop. As our harvest dates have gradually shifted earlier the impact of February rain has become more pronounced as grapes that are nearly ripe are more susceptible to fungal diseases (botrytis) and splitting. That was certainly the case this year and a lot of work dropping diseased fruit was required to protect the clean fruit that was subsequently harvested. This reduced the crop to a more average size and meant that further rain over harvest was more of an annoyance than negatively impacting quality.
In summary then, despite the variable growing conditions and significant pre-vintage rainfall the condition of the harvested grapes held up surprisingly well and while mixed, the overall quality is sound and the best parcels are very good indeed. My assessment of the 2022 vintage is that the wines are likely to be more fruit forward and perhaps less structured than usual which will make for earlier enjoyment and a shorter cellaring requirement. The exception to that prediction is the top label components which will continue to be selected for structure and ageing potential even if that means smaller volumes of those wines. Finally, while the overall quality is solid rather than outstanding, there will be gems from the 2022 vintage for those prepared to search them out.
Here are the average harvest parameters for each variety:
Variety | Brix | pH | Acidity (g/l) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chardonnay | 23 | 3.3 | 8 | |
Pinot Noir | 24 | 3.6 | 8 | |
Sauvignon Blanc | 22 | 3.2 | 8 |
Roger Parkinson
April 2022