When the pre-season work pays off.
I reckon we’ll be talking about this South Australian summer for a few years to come. In many ways a classic year with near zero rain and frequent successive days of plus 40 degree heat. Ranking 2025 right up there with the likes of 2008 and 2019 as our hottest and driest summers in living memory. Thankfully the hot conditions have now eased and we are harvesting fruit in near perfect weather.
It's fair to think that winemakers only wander into a vineyard once a year, and that’s when it comes down to picking the grapes. If only it were that easy! The reality is harvest is the culmination of an entire year’s effort which itself forms just once piece of a longer term plan to ensure our vineyards are best conditioned to produce the quality of fruit we need. Great outcomes in the vineyard deliver great wines. That is and will always be the foundation of every bottle of Schubert Estate wine.
Water has again proven to be our most valuable resource, with 2024 being the Barossa Valley’s 4th driest year since records began in the 1860’s. We received just half the average annual rainfall for the district. In years like this, being able to call upon supplementary water from the dams we installed on the property in 2023 has proved fundamental to maintaining healthy vines through the extended dry period and hotter than average summer.
You can see that in the appearance of our vineyards which continue to retain healthy canopies of deep green leaf serving both as ‘organic shade cloth’ but also sustaining vine wellbeing. The bunches of small berried fruit are rich with flavour but also alive with plenty of fresh natural acidity.
Happy vines, healthy fruit, great wines….very happy winemaker!
