Blackenbrook Vineyard

The 2010 harvest is in full swing and bin after bin of beautiful handpicked fruit is reaching our winery.

The weather has been fantastic so far, with sunny dry days and cool temperatures at night – perfect for developing those intense fruit flavours we are looking for.

Daniel, vineyard manager and winemaker reckons the vineyard has never before looked so balanced:

The vineyard has a lovely feel this year, the vines are in balance and there was hardly any leaf growth since the nets went on.  The fruit has exciting flavours and is absolutely clean and healthy – a pleasure to work with!

I am convinced that having grass cover under the vines (opposed to killing any living organism with weed-spray) has made a huge difference.  It’s changed the micro-climate around the vines and the additional competition helps devigourating the vineyard  -  and the little crawlies love it, too:  I have never seen so many ear-wigs in my life!

This year we have an excellent and very loyal picking team of 15 people.  Many of them have picked for us for years and it is always a pleasure to have them back – a few muffins might go a long way!