2023 Hay Shed Hill Block 1 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

COLOUR: Pale straw colour with fresh green tinges. NOSE: The bouquet is fresh and clean with classic grassy elements typical of this region but with a lemony minerality distinctive to this block. The nose is more complex than most SSB blends with an underlying toasty nuance. PALATE: The palate is bright and fresh with vibrant citric, gooseberry and lychee-like flavours, all at a level of intensity greater than expected. The oak is almost impossible to detect other than it adds a textural dimension to what is normally a simple fresh and lively wine style. This wine has an amazing palate extension with the flavour lingering to a clean ultra-dry finish.

Block 1 consists of some of the oldest Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes in Margaret River. On a steep gravelly slope these old dry-grown vines produce a very small crop of bright and varietally expressive Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc with a depth of flavour and intensity rarely seen in these varieties.

VINTAGE: An extraordinary season is the phrase that best sums up season 2022.
 

The South-West of Western Australia experienced one of the hottest springs on record with an intensive long stretch of hot days and unseasonal warm nights, including four consecutive days above 40°C over the Christmas period. The timing of this heat wave was at a critical time in the cycle of the early maturing varieties such as Chardonnay and, to a lesser extent, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
 

Chardonnay yields were severely affected across the region but most seriously at Hay Shed Hill and other dry grown vineyards. We had potentially set a good crop at Hay Shed Hill but this four-day period and the follow up weeks compromised the weight of the bunches so that the end yield was estimated to be less than 30% of expectation. Such is farming. Qualitatively we have no complaints.
 

Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon came in at significantly lower yields that expected but much better than Chardonnay. Red grapes were largely unaffected by the heat wave as they were immature in development
at that time.
 

Abruptly in late January the weather changed dramatically with an extreme fall in day and night temperature
and with consistent rain events passing through with early Autumnal-like conditions.
 

The outcome of 2022 is a high quality low yield harvest out of Margaret River