Harvest 2018 – A Look Back
One thing we can say about the 2018 grape harvest is that the grapes were in a big hurry to be picked! An extraordinary summer with record-breaking temperatures in January encouraged quicker than normal ripening of the fruit. As a result, harvest started earlier than it ever has in Central Otago – three weeks ahead of schedule. Harvest began on March 1 and ended on March 25, a date when we would normally just be starting to pick.
International Grape Harvest Crew
Many vineyards in the region were scrambling for pickers but at Twelfth Night Wines, we had our normal United Nations of pickers who are always attracted by the professionalism and great working environment created by Antony Worch, our winemaker and Julien Alexandre, our vineyard manager. This year we had 28 pickers from France, Belgium, Italy, The Czech Republic and South Korea. In the winery, our staff included workers from Argentina, New Zealand, France and the United States. Truly a melting pot of fabulous workers!
During the three weeks of picking, the conditions were mostly sunny and ideal for harvesting Pinot Noir grapes. The crew started with the early ripening blocks of California and Grand Canyon on March 1 and finished with the latest ripening blocks of Texas and Oregon on March 25. More than 65 miles of rows were navigated to pick 1.5 million bunches of grapes for a total of 170 tons of fruit. The quality of the grapes were phenomenal – very small berries with a high level of sugar (225 – 245 grams/liter) which promise to produce one of our best vintages ever.
As is tradition at Twelfth Night Wines, the harvest crew posed at the beginning of harvest in their matching t-shirts ready to work! At the end, everyone dressed up in a crazy costume to celebrate the end of yet another amazing vintage in the vineyard.
Next Stop – Winery!
The grape harvest is only the first step in the journey of making great wine. As soon as grapes were picked in the vineyard, they were whisked off to our winery which is located in the town of Alexandra. There, under the watchful eye of our winemaker Antony Worch, the process of making our Twelfth Night Pinot Noir and Pinot Noir Rosé began. The grapes were first placed in the de-stemmer followed by a 5-7 cold soak, 7-10 day fermentation at a peak temperature of 28˚C and 5-7 days of post-fermentation maceration. The traditional punch down technique was used to ensure maximum extraction of flavors and tannins. Each batch will be placed in French oak where it will undergo malolactic fermentation and was 9 months of maturation.
A Huge Thank You!
We are immensely grateful to our great harvest and winery crew and most especially to Antony and Julien who supervised the whole operation with efficiency and skill. Thank you to everyone for a great 2017-2018 season. See you next year!
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