Vintage Report 2026

Vintage 2026 will be remembered as a vintage of two halves, from the warm and very dry weather in January, which quickly gave away to colder weather and light rain. This unusual weather pattern has presented a very unique set of challenges. The cooler weather has meant that some of the grape varieties have struggled to ripen in the conditions, and it has also meant that vintage this year has been one of the longest that we have experienced in many years.

We picked both Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc at the beginning of March. The Chardonnay demonstrated the effects of the hot weather, but as the fruit was hand-picked, the picking crew were able to avoid harvesting these parts and the Chardonnay that we sent to the winery had good structure and good flavour.

The Sauvignon Blanc seems to be the pick of the white varieties this year. According to Steve, as the Sauvignon Blanc vineyard is slightly lower, the fruit had not been affected by the sun and was in pristine condition. There was great flavour to the berries and that was backed up good acid levels.

We had to wait till April for the heavier reds to ripen sufficiently to be picked, a task made much more difficult by the continual showers of rain. Steve said the picking in April is not unknown but as the climate changes it is becoming a rarer occurrence.

Somewhat surprisingly, given the uncommon weather that they endured the Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon all looked fabulous.  We are especially pleased with the Cabernet Sauvignon as it struggled to get ripe, but the fruit that was harvested tasted great and there was no issue with disease. However, the outstanding grape was the Cabernet Franc. The pristine fruit not only looked amazing, but had lovely flavours and great acid structure that predicts a superb wine in the future.