Vintage Journal — 2026

Week 3 | 23 March 2026

The Season

The days lengthen and the rhythm of the vintage begins to tighten. Logistics now sit at the front of each day, guiding decisions as we move closer to the final picks.

Mornings remain cool, the soils still holding moisture from recent rains and gentle nights. With each vineyard walk, the remaining decisions become clearer — the end of vintage now quietly within reach.

Upcoming Fruit

  • Grenache Gris — Vine Vale — Rohrlach Vineyard (second pick)
  • Grenache — Greenock — Materne Vineyard, Grandfather Block
  • Shiraz — Dorrien — Yelland & Papps Estate

In the Winery

The Grenache Gris and Grenache Blanc co-ferment has begun, slowly finding its rhythm.

Roussanne has now finished fermentation and rests dry, settling into its next phase.

Grenache and Shiraz parcels have also completed ferment and are ready to be basket pressed.

The Grenache and Shiraz parcels undergoing carbonic maceration sit quietly, now two weeks into their ferment.

We are approximately 60% through intake.

Life in the Winery

Each morning begins with remontage — a steady and familiar rhythm across the ferments.

The quiet pressure of space and timing builds, as tanks need to be emptied and pressed to make way for what is still to come.

This week also brought in a new parcel of remarkably old Grenache — a vineyard of quiet significance. Early signs are promising, and we look forward to seeing where it leads.

The Work

The days are spent walking the remaining vineyards, watching sugars rise and searching for the right moment to pick.

Closer to home, we hand-picked Shiraz from the Estate, with Campbell home for the weekend — a small but meaningful moment within the pace of vintage.

Alongside the work in the winery, export orders have been prepared and hand-labelled, ready for dispatch to Japan.

The pace has quickened — everything now seeming to arrive at once.

Place

The Estate moves between stillness and activity.

Our usually quiet road now carries the movement of vintage — pickers’ cars, trucks, harvesters passing through.

At night, the vineyards are lit with scattered lights, and the hum of forklifts and distant voices carries softly through the air.

People

While we have come to value the quiet rhythm of recent vintages, it was a pleasure this week to welcome a group from the Commonwealth Wine School (Cambridge, MA), hosted by Mark Pygott MW.

Craft

The work now becomes one of timing and restraint —
allowing each parcel to follow its natural course,
while gently guiding it toward its place in the cellar.

Closing Reflection

There is a point in every vintage where the beginning feels distant, and the end is not yet here —
this is that moment.

A quiet intensity sits across the winery,
as each decision now carries the weight of the season.