Galafrey Wines Vintage 2016

A dry finish to winter followed by a wet summer provided some difficulty with pest and disease pressure. Since 2007 we have had so many dry summers I think we all forgot how wet the Great Southern can be. Those with experience and a good up to date viticulture program were able to overcome these difficulties and produce a solid vintage of fine fruit. Again Riesling and Shiraz were stellar performers and continue to prove why they are the best known for their strengths in the great southern. To give you an idea of how much rain we have had this area has the approx. yearly rainfall of 600-700mm. In recent drier years that rainfall has been approx. 500mm. This year so far we have received almost 300 mm of rain mostly during vintage! A testing but solid vintage.

Early morning are the best time at vintage. Everything is quiet and the day hasn't really began yet.

Botrytis in the Riesling. Only a small amount was effected but the rainy conditions this yera made it difficult to control.

The bright green colour of Riesling Juice.

Nigel working hard tasting the grapes in the vineyard.

so much rain brought some beautiful rainbows.

For the first time ever we used nets in our vineyards to stop the birds.

The grape harvester in action

more rain....

and so the winemaking begins.....

hand picking the Pinot Noir grapes

Pinot Grapes looking fantastic!!

Yeast smelling like fresh bread before we add it to the grape juice.

A cold snap during Easter.

and of course many drinks throughout vintage!!

For more about vintage please read our Vintage Report