Early winter in the Yarra Valley and misty among the leafless vines. Last grape of the vintage was the cabernet sauvignon harvested in late April. Now at De Bortoli's vineyard the sap has stopped flowing and vineyard workers stand, secateurs in hand, contemplating the pruning of some 300 acres of vines. After '98's extra dry vintage the dams are still near empty but despite the drought grape production was up on '97, though the quality is similar: exceptional. In the winery reds and whites have finished their primary ferment, the ripe grape juice fully transformed into wine.

Winemaker David Slingsby-Smith dips his pipette into new wine-stained barrels and we slurp and spit our way through the nursery. Cellar hands trundle full barrels around with ease, racking wine from one to the other, washing out yeast lees with hot water, adding sulphur here, topping up there. David and his colleagues are already assessing and selecting wine to blend for ultimate label packaging. "This chardonnay will be sold under our Yarra Valley label. That one as Windy Peak." he asserts.

The permutations of blending are endless. For example, chardonnay for the Yarra Valley label, having undergone barrel fermentation, is now maturing in 225 litre French barriques, one third new, one third a year old and the remainder two years old. In their extreme infancy the wines from different vineyard blocks have already developed notable individual characteristics. Distinctive freshness and yeastiness in one, melon and citrus in the next, clean acid and toasty oak in another.

Resting in their barrels until late '98 the chardonnays will then be assembled by the winemaking team; after bottled and labelling they will eventually arrive in the stores in September 1999.

Driving away from the vineyard I notice that the pruning exercise is progressing rapidly, anticipating the 1999 vintage just over the horizon.

© Martin Field