2014 Vintage Report
Our very much anticipated first vintage….
Just over two and half years ago we purchased this small 2 hectare vineyard with a dream to create own wine. After much hard work….we have finally bottled our first vintage! On August 15, the crew at Lyons Will Estate bottled our very much anticipated 2014 vintage. It was an epic day which we couldn’t have done without the help of family and friends.
Our 2014 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we believe are excellent examples of a cool climate wine, with great acid drive, elegant complexity, and beautiful fruit flavours that demonstrate both the hard work in the vineyard and the art of wine making.
The 2014 vintage: Cold wet and windy conditions in spring were followed by hot, dry conditions throughout summer. The extreme weather through budburst and flowering meant production was down (our Pinot Noir averaged just over 1.8 t/acre and our Chardonnay just over 0.7 t/acre) but it resulted in great concentration and some amazing flavours.
Our winemaker, Llew Knight, has been helping us with this journey. Llew is a pioneer and winner of over 400 various awards, nationally and internationally. His experience has been priceless in producing, what we think is a very special drop. It has been a long thirsty wait for this wine, so enjoy….we know we will!
To get your hands on a bottle or 2 of our wines visit our online store or email us at info@lyonswillestate.com.au
Our Pinot Noir block is just over 2.7 acres and consists of 3 clone varietals D5V12, D4V2 and 115. Hand harvested on the 6th of April, all fruit on arrival to the winery was destemmed and in cold soak by that morning. Following fermentation and 2 weeks on skins (with manual plunging) the fruit was pressed and transferred to French barrique oak barrels (35% new oak). After just over 15 months in barrel the wine was then bottled (lightly fined but unfiltered). Our total production was just under 2300 bottles.
The floral, confectionery nose and ruby colour of this Pinot is striking. In the mouth, this flavoursome but light drop has great structure and body. The violet flavours add a lovely introduction to this savoury drop.
Our Chardonnay block is 2.3 acres in size and consists of 2 clone varietals, 110V1 and 110V5. Hand harvested on the morning of April 4th, fruit was destemmed and pressed and then transferred to French barriques (35% new oak) for fermentation.
Bottled after 15 months with some lighting fining and filtration, this elegant Chardonnay is worth a taste. Total production 1100 bottles.
This wine has a lovely acid drive, good balance on the palate with hints of toasted almonds, lycee and honeysuckle.
Harvest Report
So what did we end up with? A crazy spring with plenty of rain and plenty of wind followed by one very hot summer, with only 8mm of rain over three months... Not the most friendly of conditions... At least it wasn't wet!
The spring - Was wet, and windy.... Really effecting the flowering stage of the vine (inflorescence). Cross pollination occurs during this period and the conditions could not have been more challenging, resulting in uneven fruit set and uneven bunches.
Summer then arrived and it was hot, damn hot..... and dry! More importantly it set in quick. This isn't so bad for the plants as it reduces disease pressure to an extent but the lack of water meant that the plant started to express signs of stress quite often resulting on us managing the watering regime on nearly a daily basis, or at least we kept an eye on how the plants where reacting. Generally we don't have to water our plants too much as they are nearly 20 years old and can hunt for their own water, but after a good two months of crisp conditions we could see that even the oldest and hardiest of plants would struggle.
Vines are as hard as old boots but they have an optimum temperature range. Too cold and the plant shuts down, too hot and the plant also shuts down, its an automated mechanism to ensure all energy is controlled and not expelled unnecessarily...At first we thought we would have an early harvest but in fact it was about three week later than last year. We suspect that this was due to the plant overheating and shutting down before the fruit had a chance to mature at its normal rate...
Is this bad? Not at all. Actually we think we will get some really well developed flavors from an elongated ripening period - we could go all science geek on you but we will save it for another day.
In summary, small bunches, varying berry sizes, amazing flavors, great colour and fantastic smells... Overall, we estimate most vineyards that picked will have fantastic vintages, just not much to share around....Get your hand on the stuff if you can...
The numbers;
First we picked the Chardonnay on Saturday, 5th of April followed by the Pinot on the Monday. Total Pinot yield was 1.85 tonnes to the acre, picked at 22.7 brix and 6.9 TA. Chardonnay ended up with 0.7 tonnes to the acre, picked at 23.1 brix and 6.6 TA. The Pinot was down 15% year on year (a result compared to other vineyards), whilst the Chardonnay was down a whopping 45%.
Our very much anticipated first vintage….
Just over two and half years ago we purchased this small 2 hectare vineyard with a dream to create own wine. After much hard work….we have finally bottled our first vintage! On August 15, the crew at Lyons Will Estate bottled our very much anticipated 2014 vintage. It was an epic day which we couldn’t have done without the help of family and friends.
Our 2014 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir we believe are excellent examples of a cool climate wine, with great acid drive, elegant complexity, and beautiful fruit flavours that demonstrate both the hard work in the vineyard and the art of wine making.
The 2014 vintage: Cold wet and windy conditions in spring were followed by hot, dry conditions throughout summer. The extreme weather through budburst and flowering meant production was down (our Pinot Noir averaged just over 1.8 t/acre and our Chardonnay just over 0.7 t/acre) but it resulted in great concentration and some amazing flavours.
Our winemaker, Llew Knight, has been helping us with this journey. Llew is a pioneer and winner of over 400 various awards, nationally and internationally. His experience has been priceless in producing, what we think is a very special drop. It has been a long thirsty wait for this wine, so enjoy….we know we will!
To get your hands on a bottle or 2 of our wines visit our online store or email us at info@lyonswillestate.com.au
Our Pinot Noir block is just over 2.7 acres and consists of 3 clone varietals D5V12, D4V2 and 115. Hand harvested on the 6th of April, all fruit on arrival to the winery was destemmed and in cold soak by that morning. Following fermentation and 2 weeks on skins (with manual plunging) the fruit was pressed and transferred to French barrique oak barrels (35% new oak). After just over 15 months in barrel the wine was then bottled (lightly fined but unfiltered). Our total production was just under 2300 bottles.
The floral, confectionery nose and ruby colour of this Pinot is striking. In the mouth, this flavoursome but light drop has great structure and body. The violet flavours add a lovely introduction to this savoury drop.
Our Chardonnay block is 2.3 acres in size and consists of 2 clone varietals, 110V1 and 110V5. Hand harvested on the morning of April 4th, fruit was destemmed and pressed and then transferred to French barriques (35% new oak) for fermentation.
Bottled after 15 months with some lighting fining and filtration, this elegant Chardonnay is worth a taste. Total production 1100 bottles.
This wine has a lovely acid drive, good balance on the palate with hints of toasted almonds, lycee and honeysuckle.
Harvest Report
So what did we end up with? A crazy spring with plenty of rain and plenty of wind followed by one very hot summer, with only 8mm of rain over three months... Not the most friendly of conditions... At least it wasn't wet!
The spring - Was wet, and windy.... Really effecting the flowering stage of the vine (inflorescence). Cross pollination occurs during this period and the conditions could not have been more challenging, resulting in uneven fruit set and uneven bunches.
Summer then arrived and it was hot, damn hot..... and dry! More importantly it set in quick. This isn't so bad for the plants as it reduces disease pressure to an extent but the lack of water meant that the plant started to express signs of stress quite often resulting on us managing the watering regime on nearly a daily basis, or at least we kept an eye on how the plants where reacting. Generally we don't have to water our plants too much as they are nearly 20 years old and can hunt for their own water, but after a good two months of crisp conditions we could see that even the oldest and hardiest of plants would struggle.
Vines are as hard as old boots but they have an optimum temperature range. Too cold and the plant shuts down, too hot and the plant also shuts down, its an automated mechanism to ensure all energy is controlled and not expelled unnecessarily...At first we thought we would have an early harvest but in fact it was about three week later than last year. We suspect that this was due to the plant overheating and shutting down before the fruit had a chance to mature at its normal rate...
Is this bad? Not at all. Actually we think we will get some really well developed flavors from an elongated ripening period - we could go all science geek on you but we will save it for another day.
In summary, small bunches, varying berry sizes, amazing flavors, great colour and fantastic smells... Overall, we estimate most vineyards that picked will have fantastic vintages, just not much to share around....Get your hand on the stuff if you can...
The numbers;
First we picked the Chardonnay on Saturday, 5th of April followed by the Pinot on the Monday. Total Pinot yield was 1.85 tonnes to the acre, picked at 22.7 brix and 6.9 TA. Chardonnay ended up with 0.7 tonnes to the acre, picked at 23.1 brix and 6.6 TA. The Pinot was down 15% year on year (a result compared to other vineyards), whilst the Chardonnay was down a whopping 45%.
