Pruning began in late May and continued for three months with our soft-pruning technique continuing to get easier as vine structure improves. Spring growth was prolific as a result of continual drops of rain and warm conditions leading into summer, followed by very low rainfall right through to harvest. Flowering was the second earliest on record with most blocks experiencing near perfect conditions and yields.
Marlborough experienced a handful of very cold nights and frost events leading into spring keeping Andrew and Andy up all night on two occasions. Our prevention efforts were worthy and the crop grew vigorously into the summer months.
With exceptionally dry and windy weather into harvest we saw the Chardonnay and Chenin harvesting later and a rather spread-out harvest compared to previous years.
In other events during this vintage celebrated our winemaker Hätsch's 70th birthday and surprise wedding with a woolshed party. We also sadly saw the passing of our jersey cow "Gracie" who Jan had raised as an orphan, milked and provided nutrient manure for our 500 preps over many years.
Our wines continued to be noticed by wine writers James Suckling, Cam Douglas, Jo Burzynska to name a few scoring in the high 90s - a testament to years of patience as we age and review our vineyard and winery practice.
Pruning crew
Jeremy Hyland, Margaux Demalle, Anna Johns, Autumn Lawler, Kirsty Hyland, Hazuki Kishi, Tessa Hyland, Lisa, Lucien, and Jeremy's long time friend Boy.
