Hayes Family Wines - Vintage 2021 Diary - Our Last Grapes
The Last Grapes of Vintage 2021
Week 9
This week saw us finish grape picking and destemming for another year. The last grapes in included some really good Primrose Mataro, as well as a new old block for us, the Hill Block in Ebenezer. We also brought in some very ripe shiraz from the Hoffmann and Schulz families for a 2021 Fortified Shiraz. 2021 has seen some of the best fruit we have seen in years with good quantities. It is likely to be a winemaker and grape grower vintage, with both groups very happy. As both, we are doubly happy.
The weather has certainly turned, with very cold nights this past week. Temperatures plunged to zero in Ebenezer, the frost fans once again got going, but no damage done. We are certainly happy we are finished picking. Perhaps the weather is telling us its time to let the vines have a rest.
The 2021 Barossa Festival was again a lot of fun for all involved. We hosted a few events and attended a few (including a wonderful lunch with the Riesling Freak). A highlight was the Legends Behind the Barrel Event where we, and 11 other winemakers, presented barrel samples of future releases. A great crowd enjoyed some truly outstanding future releases.
Barossa Vintage Festival - Legends Behind the Barrel
The Week Ahead
With Vintage done for grapes, and the weather having turned to the Season ahead our minds shift to finishing the final ferments, pressings and sending the wonderful reds from the 2021 Vintage to barrel.
For the 2021 whites, the Semillons will be bottled in a couple of weeks, as will the last of sensational red wines from the 2019. There is a lot to look forward to in the years ahead.
In the winery, we will continue to pump over the remaining wines of vintage, the Mataro’s, and the Fortifieds will receive their dose of brandy spirit to halt the fermentation processes. The finishing touches will be applied before we look forward to what will hopefully be a wet winter of pruning ahead.