Thistledown Harvest 2014

One of our labels, The Cunning Plan, alludes to the fact that with every new vintage there is a new, unique challenge and only those flexible and creative enough will rise to the challenge.

The growing season prior to vintage 2014 has certainly illustrated that one should never taken anything for granted – though the challenges faced in Australia certainly pale into comparison with those faced by Europe in 2013.

After a winter with adequate water, spring was dry but the flowering period brought mixed weather with mild, hot and windy weather in succession – leading to poor fruit set for some varieties. Growers in some areas of Barossa were also devastated by a black frost, hitting the area around Ebenezer particularly hard.

December brought mild weather and the promise of a return to the traditional, later harvests and moderate alcohols of yesteryear. Indeed, the leisurely progress of veraison suggested that harvest would be at least a couple of weeks later than last year.

However, the increasingly common heatwaves returned with avengeance leading to a non consecutive period of 13 days over 40 degrees, breaking the previous record of 12. Good reserves of water meant that the vines survived remarkably well but then, just as vines were rushing fruit through to ripeness, mother nature intervened again and dropped up to 160mm of rain in 30 hours!

Though there has been some splitting, the weather is now set fair and the vines, having had a much needed drink, are now slowly ripening their fruit with the potential to still give 2014 all the qualities of a great year. We’re certainly looking at a longer growing season and one that promises lower alcohols.

There is still much to play for but we are excited about the potential – watch this space.