Moss Wood 2017 Chardonnay

VINTAGE NOTES

For people who know Moss Wood well, some may recall the very good 1990 vintage, one of the very few which was outstanding for all varieties but also good across all regions in Australia. There were great wines made right around the country. Our experience tells us if we wait long enough, we’re bound to see a similar vintage in the future and it turns out 2017 is the one, at least for Moss Wood. It’s amusing how closely 1990 and 2017 align, although, of course, they’re not exactly the same.

The growing season was excellent, if somewhat cool. Rainfall in calendar year 2016 was 25% above average, at 1,248mm and so there was plenty of moisture in the soil of our unirrigated vineyards. In a divergence from 1990, with the Spring rain came some inclement conditions through October and November. At times, we had windy and cold weather and even some small hail. As a result, the Chardonnay yield of 6.15 tonnes per hectare was down by around 10% and notably lower than 1990’s 7.44 tonnes per hectare. Most of the lower yield was the product of fewer bunches, not surprising given the conditions, which at 29 bunches per vine, was down by 20%. The vines did their best to recover some of this because the weight was up ever so slightly to 99 grams per bunch, compared with the average of 95. We had a run of slightly warmer, dry days at the end of November that provided better flowering conditions.

Generally mild temperatures and occasional rain remained the theme of the vintage from then on. After flowering, the vineyard received a further 43mm of rain up until the Chardonnay harvest, none of which did any harm because the vines were accustomed to it and our fungicide program controlled any disease. A fascinating coincidence was not only did the rain events occur on essentially the same dates as 1990 but also the same amounts fell. There’s very little we can read into this other than to say it was very amusing to watch it unfold.

More importantly, the average temperature for the season was quite mild. For comparison’s sake, the 18.7°C of 2017 was notably cooler than the more typical 20.1°C of 2016. Naturally enough, all the phenological stages were late. Median flowering date was 19th November compared with the average of 5th and median harvest date was 21st March compared with 1st March. The time elapsed between flowering and harvest of 121 days is 8 days longer than the average of 113. Despite things being mild, the vines enjoyed 1124 hours in their preferred temperature range of 18-28°C, so the fruit achieved full sugar and flavour ripeness. Harvest Baume was spot on the average of 13.1°. For the record, the hottest day of the Summer was 37°C on 4th January and in total, the vines received 34 hours above 33°C, enough serious heat to make sure there were no green characters.