During vintage, it will be difficulty to bottle, label or dispatch any major orders as the winery will be full of open fermenters and space and manpower will be tight. So any rainy day before vintage will be spent in the winery to bottle or label the new releases of wines where vintages are low in stock. More on new releases in our section wine talk. Barrels also need to be toped up as evaporation is worse in the hot summer months with frequent visitors to the barrel hall and cold escaping.
Harvest equipment will be taken out of storage and dusted. Hans will send a silent prayer to the man above that our old manual but gentle bag press will make another year. Destemmer and destemmer/crushers (devices that separate the grapes from the stems) will go alongside together with a wooden board with holes the size of a berry for manual destemming. Secateurs will be oiled and picking bins made ready.
We can’t wait to get our hands dirty and sticky with sweet grape juice. Harvest 23 – bring it on!
Having spent last Cmas here in the UK with my daughters and grandchildren , we enjoyed your wonderful Viognier one of my favourites . I’ll be back in Auckland on 26/2 and will be looking at ordering soon afterwards. All best wishes