vintage report 2009
The 2009 Vintage will be judged as one of the superior vintages for the Margaret River wine region.
The early growing season, however, was not without its challenges.
A wet spring brought along with it high pressure from the diseases of powdery and downey mildews. An insect pest, the apple looper, showed itself for the first time on record, to spread throughout the grape vines of the region resulting in damage to flowers and hence a reduction in yields at harvest. The rain which fell at flowering during November and December also caused poor fruit set in susceptible varieties such as merlot, chardonnay and cabernet resulting in lower crops.
The summer months were some of the driest on record. This period provided long warm days and mild nights as is typical of the region with the maritime influence provided by the Indian Ocean.
Vintage 2009 was later than average by about a week at the start and two weeks by the finish of picking. The warm dry weather throughout the long ripening period of February, March and April was near to perfect for ripening the flavours, tannins and sugars.
The yields were down across most varieties as a result of the impacts of rain and the apple looper earlier in the season. Final tonnages across the varieties ranged from 60% to 80% of the long term average.
Upon harvest the red varieties featured great colour, ripe flavours, good acid levels and ripe tannins; whilst the white varieties showed good acid retention, and excellent intensity and spectrum of flavours.
In particular the season was terrific for ripening cabernet sauvignon with those mild sunny days and cool evenings allowing for full ripening of the tannins. The resulting wines are classical cabernet sauvignon with silky tannins, ripe flavour and good concentration.