WITH the Bureau of Meteorology reporting some of the coldest nights in South Australia in the heart of the Coonawarra wine region this growing season, Patrick of Coonawarra winemaker Luke Tocaciu believes an excellent vintage is on the horizon.
Currently in the early stages of vintage, vineyards around the region are starting to harvest and test grapes in preparation for production.
With cool nights over the growing period and warm summer days, Mr Tocaciu said fruit looked in perfect condition.
“It’s been really great to have this cold weather throughout the growing season,” he said.
“It really helps the flavours develop well, plus with the addition of warmer days this ensures the sugars get up to where we want them.
“There’s a lot of high natural acidity this year which is also a positive.
“Overall I think things have been going pretty positively this year.”
Mr Tocaciu said the region had faced some challenges in the past at harvest, but he does not believe this will be the case for 2019.
“In past years we have had some issues with frost and things like that, so it’s been positive to not face those things recently,” he said.
“This means vineyards around our region should be producing some excellent wine for 2019 which I am really excited about.”
Picking is now under way at the label’s Wrattonbully vineyards, with the first grapes harvested early this week.
Mr Tocaciu said they generally start picking the sauvignon blanc first, then move on to riesling and shiraz fruit.
In addition to the classic drops created at Patrick, Mr Tocaciu said he looked forward to spending a bit of time experimenting this year.
“I have a lot of plans in the works to create some nice small batch wines,” he said.
“I’m looking at working with some early picked riesling and riesling in oak in addition to small parcel cabernet with a few different techniques.
“I’m going to play around and if they work out they’ll end up in a bottle but if not they’ll disappear into something else.”
Describing it as “a bit of a break” from the usual vintage work, Mr Tocaciu said he enjoyed trying out new and different styles of winemaking.
“Things are always changing in the industry,” he said.
“There’s always something new or exciting to do with the grapes.
“I’m even looking into using a commercial cool room to regulate the temperature in some of my small batch wines.
“I think it’s just all about trying new things and seeing what works for your label.”
“General vintage is a lot of travel, a lot of walking through vineyards, a lot tasting wines and things – a chance to get your hands dirty and actually step on some grapes is always a nice break from the day.”
