News

‘Jack Frost’ the slayer.

Coonawarra has experienced once in a generation frost this spring wiping at least 50% from the region’s 2007 harvest.

The well publicised drought being experienced in South-Eastern Australia has delivered a double whammy, with the dry air and clear skies creating perfect conditions for very severe frosts. One or two good frosts in a week is not unusual but this year witnessed an incredible run of up to five frosts per week, with air temperatures at vine height being less than minus three degrees centigrade on a few occasions.

As frost is a key concern every spring in Coonawarra, most growers have installed protective measures to guard their precious vines against the dreaded freeze. At Hollick we have frost irrigation installed on fifty acres of vineyard and over the last few years have installed five frost fans to increase coverage to over 70% of our Coonawarra vineyards. There is no frost protection on the Wrattonbully vineyards as the vineyard sits on a nice slope that has not proven to be frost prone in the past.

So we thought that we were well protected! Wrong! Due to the nature of the frosts, the sub zero air was present at higher altitudes than we normally experience, which meant that frost fans became redundant. They normally work by blowing away the cold air at vine level and introducing warmer air from above, so in a couple of frosts the fans continued to circulate the coldest air around the vineyard.

The frost sprinklers were in the main successful, but the fact that the equipment was being called on virtually every night meant that there was the odd equipment failure, resulting in some isolated damage.

Frost effectively “burns” the vines, killing the fresh growth, rendering the affected buds incapable of producing fruit. Grape vines have a second bud that shoots following a frost, but this second flush is only 25% as fertile as the primary growth. Fortunately Wrattonbully was largely spared from the frosts and the areas under irrigation should produce reasonable crops, but the net result is that the 2007 vintage will be rather meagre. This is not such a concern for the red wines as we have plenty in stock, but we will have to manage our white wines very carefully over the next few years.

In the vineyard - NEW plantings

Our vineyard manager Stewy has been very busy in the vineyard of late. Apart from spending many long nights fighting the ravages of frost, he has been grubbing out a few hectares of Merlot, to be replaced by Pinot Noir and Albarino. Due to the availability at the time, our original plantings of Pinot Noir were entirely of one clone. As Pinot Noir has become more widely planted in Australia there are many more choices of Pinot Noir clones available, each offering different attributes. After much research and after talking to some of Australia’s leading Pinot Noir producers, we settled on four clones to plant. For the geeks amongst you, these are clones 114, 115, MV6 and 777.

For those who just like good wine, they were primarily selected for their ability to produce wines that display finesse and perfume as a counterpoint to the more robust fruit that we typically harvest from the Pinot Noir vines on the Neilson’s Block. We are very much looking forward to comparing the fruit produced by each of these clones the blending options and the resulting complexity in the finished wines that they will provide.

Albarino is a Spanish dry white wine variety that is widely planted in the Rias Biaxas region of northwestern Spain. Well made examples are very aromatic, and many are characterised by their bracing acidity. One could say that the wines are somewhat like a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling given the somewhat dichotomous nature of the wines aromatics and palate. Currently we have an Albarino blend on the restaurant winelist from a producer called Valminor, which has impressed every one that has tried the wine.

We have planted one hectare of Albarino, which is the first planted in Coonawarra and we are greatly looking forward to the first wines from the variety, firmly of the belief that the variety will provide wines of great interest and versatility and be a genuine alternative to Sauvignon Blanc. The first release should be from the 2009 vintage.

Low Chemical Input

Vineyard manager Stuart Sharam has further added to our low chemical input philosophy this year by planting several rows of Buckwheat throughout the vineyards. No relation to wheat, Buckwheat has been found to harbour many of the beneficial insects which compete with the likes of Light Brown Apple Moth, Vine Moth, and other vineyard pests, for which we normally have to spray. “Anything we can do to lessen our reliance on chemicals, we will do” Stuart says.

The Hollick Hustlers

The Portavin Touchwine is a charity touch football event for the wine industry with the objective of raising money for the Hutt St Centre in Adelaide. This year some 48 wineries entered a team into the tournament, which is as much about sporting prowess as industry camaraderie and generally having a great time.

In August the Hollick Hustlers were born with the intention of giving the cup a good shake, with ex-State touch player and winemaker Matt Caldersmith at the helm.

The remaining staff had never played the game, let alone grasped the rudimentary rules of Rugby.

Training commenced in September, and despite Matt’s denials, I am sure he would describe the initial training sessions akin to herding drunken cats, but with the ably assisted by team manager Ian Hollick he was able to assemble a “reasonably” well drilled squad by the time competition day came around.

Much to the surprise of all concerned, the “Hustlers” managed to win four out of their five round robin games and narrowly missed out on making the play offs.

There were a number of teams who had enlisted the assistance of “professionals” which made the team’s performance all the more meritorious. The Hustlers will certainly be back to compete in 2007, and the brief foray has encouraged Kate “Switch” Hollick to continue playing the game regularly.

New Releases

2006 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon are notoriously difficult beasts to tame in the vineyard. The vigorous Sauvignon Blanc requires careful canopy management so as to provide the fruit with a good even leaf cover. Too much shade can result in strong methoxypyrazine or unripe vegetive and capsicum flavours while inadequate shading can result in sunburnt, shrivelled or overripe fruit.

Semillon is prone to over cropping, with the large compact bunches of thin skinned berries lending themselves to splitting and infection. Conversely, careful management and attention to detail combined with favourable weather conditions can result in very juicy and sweet fruit with a distinct varietal flavour. From the very first bunch sampling of our Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon vineyards, it was clear that the potential existed for the 2006 SBS to be an outstanding wine.

In the early hours of March the 3rd, 2006, the first batch of Sauvignon Blanc was machine harvested, with the slightly riper balance coming in on the 6th , when the Semillon was also picked. The fruit was immediately crushed and destemmed before being gently pressed to tank and left to cold settle and clarify overnight before being racked off the solids. An even and cool fermentation ensued. The varietal intensity and purity of fruit flavours developed by this stage were the cause of much excitement in the cellar.

Upon reaching sugar dryness, the wines were chilled to around five degrees Celsius and left to settle on yeast lees. Each tank was stirred daily in an endeavour to achieve a rich and textured palate. This practise was carried out until the desired palate structure was attained, usually taking 2-3 weeks. At this point, the wines were racked off yeast lees and the separate batches were then blended to achieve the optimum structure and palate profile desired before bottling in mid June.

The 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon displays the potential shown in the vineyard. Fresh and clean, the wine displays a mix of tropical fruit flavours with undertones of freshly cut grass. The balance between fruit and acid is exemplary and we feel wholly justified in declaring this our best ever.

2004 Wrattonbully Shiraz

The 2004 Wrattonbully Shiraz provides more evidence of Ian Hollick’s vision and belief that the rolling hilled and stony soiled Red Ridge Vineyard is a fantastic site for quality wine grape production. Being of similar red soils to that of the famed Terra Rossa of Coonawarra, this vineyard constantly produces low yields of fruit with intense flavour and colour.

The vines really struggle to find moisture and as such rarely crop much above one tonne per acre. Shiraz from the Wrattonbully vineyard was delivered to the winery between the 14th and 16th of April 2004, at 13.2-13.5 Be and pH 3.52-3.70. The fruit had a vibrant purple hue and rich black fruit flavours whilst maintaining elegance.

Following fermentation and maturation, where the winemaking staff worked carefully to maintain the wonderful flavours created in the vineyard, a critical barrel selection of the most outstanding batches was made to determine the final blend of the 2004 Wrattonbully Shiraz.

The resultant wine is one of intense colour and flavour, rich texture and impressive persistence. It saturates the palate with spice, dark plums and an intriguing note of honeysuckle yet retains an elegance and freshness on the palate.