2009 will go down as a challenging harvest, but patience has resulted in exceptional fruit across all varieties being delivered to the winery. While it is hard to make vintage comparisons in character because of the significant changes in vinification and viticulture that have evolved over the years for Man O’ War Vineyards, it is noted that in the early stages of the winemaking process the wines are showing unparalleled purity and concentration.

Early growing season conditions were positive after a long winter. Budburst was very even and early season weather conditions gave the vines a great start. Flowering and fruitset took place under calm blue skies leading to a heavier than normal crop. The combination of high shoot numbers and potentially heavy crops demanded a significant commitment to the removal of excess shoots and bunches. This resulted in an open, disease free, and sunlight friendly canopy and reduction of crops.

December and January were intensely hot and dry, boding well for the development of the young berries. A cooler period followed late February and early March, this slowed the early season start and allowed the grapes the chance to reach phenological maturity in line with sugar accumulation.

Harvest started on the 27th of February with the first of our Sauvignon Blanc reaching the winery in optimal condition and hitting vintage targets. The Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc are exhibiting extreme varietal characters and a steely minerality that is fast becoming a signature of the Man O’ War white wines produced to date. All the white wines have finished fermentation.

The last of the red varietals are making their way to the winery this week. The winery has over 50 individual red ferments on the go and early signs are that the colour, tannin, flavours and fruit concentration are some of the best seen.