GALAFREY WINES

Vintage Report

2011 Vintage Report

Because of the very dry year Vintage started early, thankfully we got 30mm in December otherwise weâ€™d be carting water to the winery as our water tanks would have been empty. Itâ€™s been such a weird year with all the disasters in the Eastern States- floods and bush fires, all WA vineyard stocks of sulphur, copper and fungicides were shipped over east, so in the west we were left short. With January having small little showers followed by humid weather the diseases began to crept in. Luckily at Galafrey our vineyard is dry grown and canopy management aids our disease control. The winds helped dry out the vines daily reducing the risk of disease. However other vineyards have lost their whole Riesling crop to botrytis. Thankfully Nigel is buddies with the guys at Elders and we managed to get our hands on the last bag of sulphur.

So the long weekend approach and so did vintage. All the whites were ready at once which is the first time for as long as I can remember. Usually we pick Chardonnay and a week or two later the Riesling and a week after that the Sauvignon Blanc. Not to mention Vintage usually starts in the second week of March! No, this year all the white grapes came off over two nights of the long weekend. With eight hours of harvesting, a little sleep then eight hours of cellar door. â€˜The Graze Mount Barkerâ€™ festival was also on that weekend. We had bookings all weekend, but it was great to see so many people in the area enjoying themselves but by the time Tuesday came we were all exhausted!

All the fruit tastes amazing and we are always reminded how great our Dry Grown vineyard is. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot looks fantastic. All the reds came off at the end of March. It was a battle with the birds starving as there is no blossom about. Guess the trees are finding it dry too! There are heaps of birds, bees, ants and roos as they all are starving and the grapes are pretty tasty! The volume is down this year which is to be expected from a dry grown vineyard in a very dry year. So now that the fruit is off we all starting our rain dance! Hopefully we will have a wet winter and a great start for next year.

Cheers Kim Tyrer.

2010 Vintage Report

2010 Vintage Review

Once again I find myself gazing out on a dampen vineyard. Leaves clinging on for dear life, and the latest vintage resting in tank and barrel.

This yearâ€™s vintage again was subjected to the weather gods, and an earlier onset of ripening brought us more in line with the vintage of 2008. Like last year we began with the Semillon from the warmer climes of Boyup. A little earlier, but with our aim to capture more natural acidity we managed to secure a very good start to the harvest.

The dry summer of 2009/2010 played a perfect introduction to the ripening and accumulation of flavours on the vine. With an even ripeness and good vine health throughout the vineyard, these conditions were perfectly suited to our dry grown mantra.

Like in every winemaking region, optimal ripeness doesnâ€™t necessarily mean you have to be hitting 15% alcohol in the reds and tropical flavours in the whites. It means ripeness is achieved once you believe the vine has offered up a fruit that is harmonious both in flavour and balance.

This year optimal ripeness was achieved about 2 weeks earlier in the whites and almost 3 weeks in the reds. With flavour and natural acidity the key determinants in mind, we picked both the whites and reds at a point, that I believe, allows them to express our regional identity.

Vintage Report 2009, Premium Western Australian Wines, Mount Barker

GALAFREY WINES

Vintage Report 2009

As much needed rain begins to replenish some very thirsty vines, it is a good time to take stock of our vintage thus far, and assess what we have in tank, in barrel and hopefully, soon in bottle!

The 2009 vintage began, as usual, with the intake of white fruit. Semillon. However this year we were a week later than in 2008.