2019 was our third dry vintage in succession and a great success for both Semillon and Shiraz. The semillon with average vine age in the block over 25 years will produce a classic Hunter semillon capable of developing further in bottle over many years.
2019 will likely be remembered for a hot, dry summer and a quick vintage with all three blocks picked and in the winery within a 6 day window – the quickest vintage for Glenguin for some time. We picked the Schoolhouse shiraz block over two picks, the first half of the block being the first fruit picked in the vineyard – some three days before the Semillon block.
As we write, the Semillon has completed fermentation and will now sit on lees for a few more months before being bottled ahead of a release in the second half of the year. The Shiraz wines are nearly through primary fermentation, after which they will be transferred to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak puncheons and hogsheads for at least the next 12 months.
2017, 2018, and 2019 complete a hat-trick of dry vintages and all have produced wines of outstanding quality. With the 2017 and 2018 Glenguin Vineyard Semillon already released, our attention now turns to the May release of our 2017 Shiraz range and the bottling of the 2019 Glenguin Vineyard Semillon and 2018 Shiraz wines. Vintage may be over, but the work never stops.
