We grow 5 different clones of Riesling with the aim of producing the fresh, floral lower alcohol zingy style we prefer.
The grapes for this wine were harvested on 25-27 April. As in 2009 and 2010 they again produced a small crop. The grapes were 100% whole bunch pressed and then cold settled for 36 hours.
The juice was then inoculated with a cultured yeast and fermented slowly for about 4 weeks at low temperatures until almost dry (8g/l residual sugar). Bottled in July to preserve pure Riesling flavours.
Pale yellow/ green. Floral and citrus aromas. Very intense citrus and lime fruit characters with refreshing natural acidity.
Grapes harvested 29-30 March. Very small crop from two different clones (I10V1 and Penfolds). Whole bunch pressed, cold settled for 72 hours and fermented with wild yeast.
16 months maturation in 3 year old French oak and stainless steel with lees stirring. No malolactic fermentation.
We think we are just starting to understand how best to handle our Chardonnay fruit now to best reflect the vineyard terroir.
Classic cool climate chardonnay. Wild yeast ferment. Stone fruits and minerality backed up by natural acidity. Subtle oak influence. Lovely drinking now and should cellar well.
Pinot Noir was planted first in 1980. Morningside has 9 different clones of Pinot Noir. Early clones planted were 8104, 0013, 0014, 8048. More recent plantings have included Clone 2051, the Burgundy clones 114, 115 and 777 and Abel from New Zealand. We are continuing to plant further areas of Pinot noir with clones 115, 8104 and 777.
Our pinot harvest is normally late March into the first few weeks of April. We carry out an extended picking to ensure different batches are harvested in optimum condition.
Pinot yield is about 4 tonnes/hectare Fruit is generally 90% destemmed and lightly crushed. About 10% whole bunches are generally included in the fermentation tanks.
We now deliberately allow fermentation of all batches to start naturally after a cold soak of about 3-4 days and run through to completion. Some batches may be inoculated if there are any problems but so far there have been none. Fermentation generally runs for 14 days with regular hand plunging four times a day.
After basket pressing the pinot is aged in new and older French oak barriques (30% new) for 18 months during which time the wine undergoes natural malolactic fermentation.
A less than normal crop was harvested 3-10 April. With the exception of one tank of the Clone 8014 all ferments were natural with wild yeast.
Unlike previous vintages the pressings from the Mariafeld(0014) clone from the front vineyard were of exceptional quality and were included in the final blend. Half was bottled under screwcap and half under Diam cork. Should be interesting how they age.
Dark vibrant colour. Trademark Morningside spice and some nice new oak influences. Rich and silky with lovely intense fruit. Should age well.
The Coal Valley in most vintages can produce a lovely elegant blend from the classic Bordeaux varieties..
Morningside Cabernets is made from a combination of five clones of Cabernet Sauvignon (80%) with smaller amounts of Cabernet Franc (15%) and Petit Verdot (5%). Harvest is generally in late April or early May.
The wine is crushed and destemmed and then fermented for 14 days with regular hand plunging followed by 5 days post fermentation maceration. Basket pressed into a mixture of new and older French oak barriques for 24 months.
Picked 30 April-4 May.
Dark with a classic cigar box and cassis nose. Lovely ripe black fruits on the palate with excellent length and grip. We have had a run of excellent Morningside Cabernet vintages.
2011 is shaping up to be another interesting vintage. A warmish and dry winter has seen a transition to another wet spring and midsummer. Early spring saw quite a lot of rain and the combination of excellent soil and subsoil moisture and some warmth saw strong vineyard growth which has continued over summer.
Fortunately the critical fruit set period before Christmas was not overly wet and cold so we have had a pretty good fruit set in all varieties with the exception of some of the Cabernets. For the second year there has been a need for more than normal vineyard management. Regular sprays with sulphur for powdery mildew, weed control and canopy management have been ongoing tasks.
Crop levels look to be about average (that is a bit better than 2009 and 2010). All we need now is a nice settled late summer and early autumn and all will be well with our bit of the world.
Half of our 42 ha property is native white gum and Casuarina forest. This forest type is a priority for nature conservation in Tasmania and our farm plan sets aside this area for biodiversity conservation.