As is tradition at the now 135 year old winery, Monday saw the ringing of the vintage bell at Chateau Tanunda, signalling the beginning of the grape harvest season for the team.
Senior Winemaker, Jeremy Ottawa, told The Leader that the Chateau's 2025 vintage will be compressed and condensed.
Jeremy noted that with the hot conditions, Shiraz is ripening at the same rate as Chardonnay, meaning that the team will begin vintage three weeks earlier than average and also harvest reds and whites simultaneously.
He also shared that despite major frost events in 2024, the crops had seen an all-in-all good recovery.
"There's a little bit of varied ripening in some blocks, but the frost happened at a time where not all of the vines and not all the varieties had shot, so you know, Shiraz got a fair hit from the frost and our vineyards, some of them were completely wiped out and they've shot back with a secondary crop and it's balanced and looking quite good. So it's just a matter of handpicking some stuff and avoiding the underripe second crops," Jeremy said.
However, Jeremy added that without some variance from year to year, winemakers would not be returning for vintages.
"I like to go into life with a positive attitude, it'll always be fine and always be good, and this vintage is no different," Jeremy said.
"If vintage was the same every year, none of us would do it, there'd be no challenges, there'd be no excitement, it would just be the same thing, and I think dealing with mother nature and what she gives us each year it really makes vintage fun."
