Our wine.

In our quest to produce more Italian varietals and Italian styled wines, we were fortunate to work with a grower in Pemberton to graft a block of 20 year old Cabernet Sauvignon vines over to Pinot Grigio to secure this fruit ongoing. 2022 was the first year of fruit production which has allowed us to make our very first Aussie styled Pinot Grigio. We very much wanted to play homage to the Pinot Grigio styles of northern Italy, whilst giving it our new world spin. We are excited to add this varietal to our core range going forward.

2022 was a great vintage and proved once again that even years are great vintages in the West! Things took a while to kick off with a cool, wintery spring and significant rainfall in October delayed the onset of budburst and flowering in the vineyards. Flowering and fruit sets were on the lighter side resulting in slightly lower yields dues to the spring conditions over the growing season. Summer was influenced by another La Niña season – beautifully dry, warm, sunny days right through December, January and February which lessened the disease pressure that was experienced with the wet and humid conditions of 2021. Veraison was delayed by around a month, but the consistent heat saw a rapid ripening period in the whites, and the dry weather allowed for predictable ripening patterns across most varieties which made for a very organised and well-planned vintage.

Bird pressure was also low this vintage with perfectly timed Marri blossom which provided enough of a distraction to keep the Silvereyes busy. The only significant challenge in the vineyard was the scorching heat wave over Christmas resulting in sunburn on some exposed white bunches which again lowered the crop. Yields were also lower than expected, influenced by the very dry conditions – especially for the dry-grown vineyards which took a hit with lower bunch weights and smaller berries.

This fruit was sourced from a single vineyard site in Pemberton and is the first fruit following grafting. The fruit was harvested on March 15 and also includes approximately 8% of co-harvested Pinot Blanc in the parcel.

On a whole, wines from the 2022 vintage will be characterised by intense aromatics, plush concentrated fruit, great structure and depth of flavour driven by good natural acidity. Even with the warmer conditions, the delicacy and elegance were not compromised. A stunningly epic vintage.

The fruit was chilled and pressed off skins in a bladder press with the free run portion going to a stainless steel tank and inoculated with a natural yeast for fermentation. The pressings were then barrelled down after settling, to provide extra texture and weight. Maturation in these vessels was for four months, prior to being lightly fined, filtered and then bottled in June.

In a glass this wine presents with a very pale straw / copper colour. On the nose it displays an orchard fruit dominance with gentle citrus aromatics. The palate expresses fresh pear and honeysuckle characters and has a lasting mouthfeel.