Saturday, June 5, 2010

Karra Yerta Wines 2010 Vintage Report

It's a lovely winter evening in the Barossa Ranges; the wood fire is going, dinner is cooking, the rain has been gently falling most of the day and I have finally managed to pin down the man of the house to get a 2010 Vintage Report. He's had a long day at the local football so is a little weary but we'll give it a shot anyway:

The first crop to come off this year, as always, was the Barossa Shiraz, which we source from a fabulous fellow in the Moppa region of the Barossa floor, and have done now for the past six years. The grapes from this vineyard are always (what I find, anyway) true Barossa shiraz flavours;
black cherry and chocolate. It was picked a little earlier this year, in an attempt to avoid high alcohol levels, therefore the style may be a little leaner than in other years, but it is still looking very good. This wine is now safely tucked away in a French Oak barrel, to do its wonderful thing; evolve.

The next pick was the Eden Valley Riesling on March 7th, from the Karra Yerta vineyard in the high Barossa Ranges. This was also picked earlier and it again shows strong terroir; river pebbles, minerality and a perfect balance of acid. We hand-picked around three tonne which will produce about 150 cases, maybe a little more. This wine will be bottled soon and released near the end of the year.


This year, when we picked our eighty-year old semillon, we decided to keep some of it for ourselves. It was picked at 22 baume, and had great acid and a wonderful, natural PH, which maintained its freshness. It had been cordon cut about three weeks prior to picking, and this is what raised the baume. This wine is also in barrel, awaiting its next stage. It may even be bottled as early as September, giving us a sweet sauterne style wine to add to our portfolio.
The photo with this blog entry is of James tasting the results of this little venture, about a month ago:)

The Eden Valley Shiraz from the Karra Yerta vineyard was picked on April 5th (a panic pick before the rain, which did indeed come only a matter of hours after we had the grapes safely out of the weather) at around 14.2 baume. The crop was about average in yield, and shows great Eden Valley varietal characters of blueberries, blackberries and stone, and has a perfect natural acid balance. This is also evolving in a French Oak barrel, and will be doing so for the next 18 months at least.


Finally, we managed to again source 3/4 tonne of fine Eden Valley Cabernet. This will be used in our Shiraz Cabernet blend, which going on the past release of the 2006, and shortly, 2007, is very popular indeed.


All in all, our 2010 Vintage has turned out really well and we look forward to being able to share these wines with you in the future. Whilst these are going to be many months wait, the release of the 2008 reds is getting closer, and that is something to very much look forward to!

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