Vintage time is undoubtedly the most exciting time of the year when you work in and around the wine industry. The weeks leading up are always stressful whether you are a grower, winemaker or consumer, for us, being all 3, it is particularly nerve racking. But after a long wait, we are ready, the new winery is ready, and most importantly the first of the grapes are ready. This morning we picked the 2019 Old Vine Semillon from Marcus and Ros’s place in Ebenezer. And the fruit? It looks spectacular. Very clean, ripe fruit that has retained sufficient acid to remain fresh. Christa will be very happy I suspect when this arrives at the winery later this morning.

It is a truly wonderful time to be in the Barossa, so if you have been thinking of making a trip, now is the perfect time. The reds are probably 2 weeks away, but with the hot weather forecast for next week that might come forward a bit. Vintage 19 might be a small one but quality is looking wonderful.