Monthly Report - April 2009

Photo of Teroldego ferment cap

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Our decision to sacrifice most of our red wines of this vintage revolves around our understanding of the vines and grapes and how the critical components of grape ripeness and vine growth interact.  I will cover some aspects of our location and varietal mix so as to give you a feeling for the way we have developed this vineyard, and how all this affected the resultant 2009 vintage.

Our vineyard site was selected by me for two specific reasons:

1. The soils were gravel rich and in some areas overlay Fe-rich clays, and in others coarse quartz sands to depth.

2. The site was in one of the cooler spots of the Margaret River region, being inland and receiving the sea breeze almost 2  hours before other vineyards closer to the coast due to a quirk in the topography of the region.

Knowing therefore that we will not get the heat load of other areas, grape varieties were planted to match not just the soil profiles but also the climatic conditions.  Hence we do not have any Cabernet Sauvignon on our site as it would require a slightly higher heat load than I would expect even in the warmer vintages, and a few other varieties were discounted due to the windy conditions that could be expected during flowering etc.

This vintage proved to be one which made life extremely difficult as there were issues with the timing of the vines growth versus the respective grapes progress at all stages of the season.  A very dry August brought our vines forward and we had a very early budburst in September due to this premature drying and warming of the soil. September and October were too wet but were warm months; however they were followed by a very cool November that destroyed any hope of a great red wine vintage for us as we were unable to get on the front foot with these grapes from this point on.  With early budburst and a disrupted and drawn out flowering for the red varieties in windy cool November, we underwent veraison very very late, but the vines had been growing for much longer than usual – such that though the red grapes looked healthy enough, the vines growth cycle was well in front of the fruit’s ripeness.  January, February and March were good average growing months and nice and dry, and these bought the white grapes in for us in excellent condition, but we had run out of ripening time for our reds and this meant the vines by the lovely warm month of April this year had stopped worrying about the grapes and were more interested in stocking up for next season and growing some roots.

We had hoped that the Shiraz would provide us with a solid wine, but with the variably fruit set this year did not produce a wine considered good enough for a Blue Poles label.  Our Merlot and Cabernet Franc were never likely to recover from the cool November blast, which was very frustrating as we had wonderful fruit flavours come in for both of these varieties well in advance of the grapes being fully ripe and the skins and tannins being fully resolved. 

The Teroldego was the red wine exception, with its homeland in the alpine valleys of north east Italy possibly helping it out, the fruit reached 13.9 beaumé with slightly higher acids than we were used to but flavours that were rich and redolent – now let us see how it settles into its new French oak over the coming year.

Our Viognier is another exciting story, with the flowering completed in October; this variety has sparkled like a diamond this year with the most developed and complex flavors we have encountered from this grape to date. 

I indicated in the title that we were to take time to take stock, and this is essential in any business that relies on the seasons as well as the production of fine produce.  And unfortunately for my greying hair, vintage variation is the key in making fine wine – without this knife edge of climatic variables you cannot obtain the flavors and depth of character required in the making of truly great wine.  The 2007 and 2008 vintages were a pair of vintages that were truly marvellous for our specific site and from these vintage we will produce an excellent series of wines.

The 2007 Blue Poles Reserve Merlot (released 11 May 2009) has received the following tasting note from the well respected wine critic Campbell Mattinson @ www.winefront.com.au :

“This is released next month and if you have any bent for classically-styled merlot, you’d be doing well to grab yourself some of this.

Great to smell, great to drink, great to contemplate what it’s going to become. It has concentration of mulberried, blackberried flavour but really that’s not its game. Its ‘thing’ is structure, a minerally strut of tannin, tobacco-like edges and perfect form in the mouth. It drinks well the minute you open it, and even better a day later. There are some eucalypt-y notes and various, subtle, complexing notes - but there’s no need to list or count them. The wine is, simply, excellent. I don’t even like merlot but I’ll be buying some of this.”

Rated : 94 Points 

The process of making our wine is a combination of so many factors, and so many variables that at times it is a little mind-boggling.  But we are dedicated to the want making great wine, and then to make more.  With a vintage like the one that has just been, you become a little bit dejected and then you taste the Viognier and Teroldego and you think, that is fantastic – and away you go again.

While we at Blue Poles may have had a varied season, this may not be the case throughout the Margaret River region.  I have heard stories of some fantastic whites and reds from all over, and I recommend to all buyers of Margaret River 09’s, come down here and try them as there will be some absolute beauties from sites that were warmer, protected from the windy period in November, and just simply plain old lucky.

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