August 29, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | No Comments
‘It’s mid August now and the pruning of our vines is complete. With the likelihood of minimal water available to the vines this season, we are 70mm down on rain so far this year. With this in mind, we pruned to give the best advantage for a good vintage at years end. September will see the first buds opening, on the white varieties, quickly followed by the reds. As Tempranillo has now gained a strong following, we are grafting more vines to this Spanish variety. The reds from the 2008 vintage at Ross Estate has given us some of the best grapes I have seen in 15 years. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Merlot and the old faithful Grenache were outstanding. I must give thanks to the vineyard team for an excellent year and the winemakers for looking after the wine for the next two years before you can taste it!!’
                                                                          John Stephenson - Vineyard Manager
August 29, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | No Comments
‘As the cold of the winter months pass and the warmth of springs greets us at the winery’s door every morning, we can look back at the happenings of the cellar after the hectic rush of ‘vintage’. We have finished bottling all of our 2008 white wines after weeks of blending, stabilising and filtering. The early morning starts to sterilise the bottling line were worth it as all the wines look fresh and zesty, especially the new ‘Imposter’ blend. In June we completed primary racking of the 2008 red barrels and made our initial classifications for quality. Truthfully it was a hard exercise as this year’s reds are exceptional.  Picking our entire vineyard before the February/March heat wave has proved very beneficial, maintaining fresh varietal characters in both red and white varities. In early Spring the 2007 vintage reds in barrel will be tasted to initiate the blending process and preparation for bottling before Christmas.  Most of these wines will then not be released until late in 2009, but good things come to those who wait! Drop into the cellar door soon and possibly take a winery tour, available to anyone interested in seeing what really happens behind the scenes.’
    Cheers,                                                                           Â
              Neville Falkenberg & Alex Peel
               Ross Estate Winemakers
