Hayes Family Wines - Vintage 2022 - We are Seeing 'Red' Progress
2022 Vintage - Shiraz Pump Overs
Vintage 2022 is Underway
After a leisurely start, we are now close to 50% through our picking program. The early picked Fromm Shiraz from Williamstown in the Barossa’s south has also found its way to barrel.
With the Whites and Rose now resting in the cellar, our attention turned to the red grapes. Typically we see our Shiraz, followed by Grenache, Cabernet and Mataro. We also tend to start in the south with Williamstown and work our way north to Stone Well and ultimately to Ebenezer and Koonunga. But we live in strange times with several blocks of Grenache being picked before our Shiraz. Strange times, but wonderful fruit.
In the Winery
Once picked, our grapes are destemmed and transferred to our small batch fermenters. Each batch is kept separate (we have about 30 fermenters). During fermentation we strive to keep the grapes fresh with adequate oxygen, initially through plunging by hand before we seek the assistance of our gentle pumps. It’s slow progress but it’s important for our wines in the long run.
Once the grapes have fermented and the natural sugar consumed, we transfer the skins and seeds to the press. Once pressed, the wine is transferred to barrel for a long rest.
Pressing our Block 10 Shiraz
Vintage 2022 - The Days and Weeks Ahead?
With the warm and fine weather forecast for the weeks ahead, we expect to finish off the Shiraz and Grenache over the next two weeks before we finish off with the Mataro and fortified base wines. At this stage, we expect to finish picking by the end of April with the final wines going to barrel mid to late May. It’s a long vintage, but a very promising one. The grapes look truly wonderful. The wines will take some time to assess but Vintage 2022 looks very good at this early stage.