Vintage Notes
2026 had a great deal of everything! Drought like conditions punctuated Jan and February followed by some hail and heavy rain in mid-late March providing some challenging growing conditions. Budburst was late and flowering was long at Medhurst with some of the vines taking 3 to 4 weeks to get through the flowering period (usually this would be 1 to 2 weeks). As result of this late budburst and the very dry conditions, the vines were slow in developing their precious fruit. Crop levels at Medhurst were close to average, year on year. Despite the dry weather, growing conditions were excellent and the vines were carefully managed to create an optimal canopy ensuring a perfectly ripe crop. As the harvest pushed later into March than we have seen for some time, the resulting fruit was of excellent quality believe that Vintage 2026 will produce some classic Yarra Valley wines that will display elegance and poise.
Vineyard Notes
Vineyard: Medhurst Estate Vineyard, Gruyere, Blocks: D, E Clones: PT23, SA125 Soil: Mountain spill of brown grey loams, ironstone
Winemaking
This is a carefully considered and made Rosé, which begins by selecting fruit from dedicated parts of the vineyard to ensure fruit freshness and a trademark chalky fine finish. After hand-picking the fruit is placed in the cool room overnight and then whole-bunch pressed the following morning. This ensures delicate, pale and beautifully flavoured juice. Final blend was 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Shiraz. 95% of the juice undergoes a long and cool fermentation in stainless steel with the remaining 5% fermented in used French oak hogsheads to enhance texture and mouthfeel.