Vintage 2007

Vintage 2007 burst upon Pettavel in mid February 2007, with our Sauvignon Blanc reaching peak maturity and requiring immediate attention, two weeks earlier than normal. The nationwide drought and associated extended warm period dramatically reduced crop levels in our vineyards, and resulted in a condensed vintage – the remaining vineyard blocks were harvested an average three weeks earlier than normal, with yields well down across the vineyard.

As Geelong has long suffered dry ripening seasons we have implemented numerous water saving measures such as drip irrigation and green mulching in the vineyard and recycling all winery and restaurant wastewater. The modern winery design also features engineering advances to reduce processing water use such as steep sloping tank floors, stainless steel lined box drains and high pressure, low flow wash down equipment. None the less the drought of 2007 impacted on our Pettavel production as limited water resources combined with extended dry conditions eventually led to us running out of irrigation supplies. Fortunately the early vintage permitted us to harvest all of our blocks while the grapes were in good condition and reaching full maturity did not present much of a problem with the warm conditions.

Low yields, warm conditions and the stress of drought meant that vineyard visits to assess and monitor grape flavour development and maturation were of great importance in 2007 as sugar levels in the grapes rose at rapid rates. White varieties faired well in our vineyards in 2007 as the early harvest date ensured vibrant fruit aromas and crisp acidity levels were retained, and low crop levels have produced intense fruit characters. Small grape berry size, a result of low soil moisture levels throughout the ripening period produces high levels of grape solids in the pressed juice and required careful treatment to produce balanced juice, and ensure healthy ferments.

Sauvignon Blanc from our Strathmore vineyard has continually produced a vibrant expressive wine, building a solid following with our customers, which resulted with us running out of 2006 stocks in November 2006. Fortunately the early harvest date of the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc allowed us to bottle the new vintage wine for our earliest ever release, capturing the fresh, youthful fruit characters at their most expressive and well suited for immediate enjoyment.

Production of red wines from the 2007 vintage suffered in terms of volume from two aspects, low grape yields per hectare on harvest and low extracted litres per tonne from the grapes when pressed. The result of the high skin to juice ratio has produced red wines with intense colour and tannin levels, with the climatic conditions producing richer dark fruit flavours in most varieties. These young wines will require ongoing attention to ensure that tannin levels are balanced with the fruit structure, body and length of the wine, so as not to be the over dominant character of the wine. This attention includes the influences of new oak, racking and aeration of the wine and fining to remove the coarse elements.

Winemaking operations in the Pettavel cellar are well advanced as the early harvest and prolonged warm period has provided ideal conditions for the completion of malo-lactic fermentation, with all red wines finished malo-lactic fermentation in May. In cooler years this process can take up to 12 months to complete as we battle low winter cellar temperatures at Pettavel.

Once again we are turning our focus to the older vintages, currently maturing in tank and barrel, these wines are being blended, filtered and prepared for future bottling's as we move through new vintage releases. To stay informed as to new vintage releases and progress at Pettavel, please subscribe to our mailing list or sign up to the Pettavel wine club.

Olive oil

Olive trees are tough and hardy and the Pettavel olive grove was the only crop to produce above average yields in 2007. Low moisture levels produce olives with higher oil content and greater intensity of flavour. The earlier 2007 olive harvest has similar implications as the early grape harvest, cold pressed extra virgin oil with a high natural acid level, which is settling and clarifying at a rapid rate. With limited stocks remaining of the 2006 extra virgin olive oil, the new vintage oil is scheduled for release in early spring ready for immediate enjoyment of the fresh green fruit and spice aromas and flavours.

Vintage 2006

Vintage 2006, the fifth at the Pettavel Winery, is almost complete. The long warm and dry summer provided ideal ripening conditions for all varieties in our vineyards. The 2006 season was the earliest on record for Pettavel, with our early ripening Sauvignon Blanc being harvested during the first week of March. The winery is alive with activity, energy and accents, while the fragrant aromas of fermenting white juice and red must permeates through the winery, greeting visitors with the obvious confirmation of vintage.

The Geelong climate can be a challenging one viticulturally, but in the 2005-2006 growing and ripening season, mother nature smiled upon us. Heavy spring rains inter spaced with warm sunny days built up soil moisture levels as the vineyards turned a shade of lush green with abundant youthful vigour. Warm dry weather arrived in November and remained constant over the ever important flowering period resulting in near perfect fruit set. Summer warmth continued and an extended dry period produced smaller than average berry size across all varieties resulting in increased colour, flavour and tannin levels in red varieties which, combined with full lush canopies resulted in balanced early ripening. Most varieties in our Strathmore vineyard were harvested around two weeks earlier than average, and produced yields approximately 20 percent less than average.

Lower yields, early ripening, healthy vineyards and a cool maritime influenced climate all contributed to vibrant fruit flavours in ripe and balanced grapes in 2006. The hard working vineyard team, led by Pettavel owner Mike Fitzpatrick, spend the entire year battling the elements and nurturing each individual vine in our 180 acres to assist the winemaking team by providing the best quality grapes. Early in the season hopes were raised for a steady and extended picking schedule, however the intensity soon built to a normal controlled yet chaotic level, as tanks filled, barrels arrived and the press discharged truck load upon truck load of grape skins. Each of the varieties arrived at peak flavour development, the result of early morning vineyard visits to taste and analyse the grapes and juice.

Freshly harvested grapes require constant, specific and attentive care over a short period of time to nurture the juice through the important winemaking steps of clarification and fermentation. In order to ensure that the aromatic and organoleptic qualities of the grapes are retained, enhanced and expressed in a way that gives credit to the efforts of the many that are involved in the grape growing and winemaking processes, these manual inputs are dictated by the juice and wine. In order to provide the attentive care to each individual batch of grapes and wine an international team of cellar workers was recruited for the 2006 vintage period.

Pettavel’s winery staff list expanded to seven for the 2006 vintage period ensuring that the future Pettavel wines were treated with delicate and precise care and attention. Permanent employee and Cellar Supervisor Clinton Leech was joined in the cellar by English cellar hand James Thomas, a pair of ever smiling French ladies, Marie Guyonnaud and Jennifer Raymond, and vintage returnee and local resident Travis Garner. Amelia Hildebrand also joined the winery team from the restaurant, running the winery laboratory, dispensing first aid to clumsy cellar hands and providing a warm safe haven from the cool cellar.

Geelong now appears to have seen the last of summer for 2006. Finishing with a rush of warm weather the change of season began with a cool maritime breeze arriving earlier each day until it is now the dominating climatic influence. After patiently waiting for the tannins in our last Cabernet Sauvignon block to soften, and the fruit flavours of our Waurn Ponds winery block of Shiraz to fully develop the harvest of our 2006 crop is almost complete. As the leaves in the vineyard change from vibrant orange to rich yellow before they fall, we await the last bunches of our Riesling block to turn a rich golden colour as the berries sweeten to levels suitable for the production of our late Harvest Riesling, only then can we call the vintage complete.

Vintage 2005

The intense focused energy of vintage has slowly faded along with the fragrant aromatics of fermentation, replaced by the gentle hum and bubbling of malo-lactic and subtle aromas of newly filled oak barrels. As the days shorten and the temperature drops the changing of the season becomes more visually evident as the vine leaves change to golden yellow through to deep red, further proof that another Geelong winter is on the way.

One word springs to mind when reflecting on the 2005 vintage – “balance.” Vigour, canopy and yield, for the first time in a number of years developed in harmony, ensuring that all varieties ripened evenly during the warm days and cool nights. The ripening bunches matured consistently, shaded from direct sunlight by full and healthy canopies, with flavour intensifying to reach optimum levels with ideal acid balance and complete tannin ripeness in the case of the red varieties.

Rainfall during the early growth stages in late 2004 was sufficient to ensure that fruit set occurred without the vines experiencing any stress, producing balanced yields. The following warm and dry period in December halted lateral shoot growth, focusing the vines energy into grape development and ripening. This dry period did however extend for a concerning length of time, with soil moisture levels dropping to very low levels causing water reserves to diminish at a rapid rate. With almost perfect timing heavy downpours arrived in Geelong, sufficient to restore soil moisture levels to saturation point and the subsequent runoff replenishing water storage levels. The rejuvenated water resources permitting irrigation during the otherwise dry ripening season to be judiciously applied to avoid vine stress, ensuring that the grapes reached peak maturity.

Regular, in the vineyard grape tasting and skin chewing sessions developed excited enthusiasm amongst the vineyard and winery staff. The varietal flavour and intensity of the white varieties and the concentrated flavour and abundant ripening tannins of the red varieties was unlike what had been seen for some time. This enthusiasm was further reinforced by the quality of the first picked variety – Sauvignon Blanc. Intensely and vibrantly flavoured with distinct varietal character and crisp fresh acidity the quality of the Sauvignon Blanc is such that we envisage releasing a straight varietal Sauvignon Blanc from the 2005 vintage. The quality followed with the remaining white varieties, the Chardonnay vineyards were harvested over two weeks, each individual vineyard harvested at peak flavour development, with percentages of each vineyard fermented in new oak, second fill oak and stainless steel, ensuring a complex range of aromas and flavours in each of the wines and producing numerous options for later blending.

This year saw our first major production of Viognier. The hand picked grapes, golden in colour with perfumed floral characters and rich ripe fruit characters were gently pressed to extract the free run juice before the wet skins were taken from the press and dropped into a tank of Shiraz from our oldest vineyard. The effects were fascinating to monitor, as in the fermenter alongside was another batch of the same Shiraz grapes receiving the same treatment apart from the addition of the Viognier. An immediate lifted floral aroma drifted from the fermenter and after a few days of co-fermentation the wine Viognier skins had enhanced the overall structure of the wine with silky tannins and floral perfumed fruit characters the most evident differences. After an extended post fermentation maceration the two wines were pressed directly to new tight grain French oak barrels, where they will remain until spring. 

With the red varieties the long warm ripening period produced intensity of flavour with deep skin colour and abundant ripe tannins. The extended harvest period allowed us to maximise the use of our small batch fermentation facilities continuing with various trials further fine-tuning the style, character and individuality of our wines.

Due to the long warm ripening season vintage was even, yet intensely paced, with our Geelong varietals evenly spaced allowing us some breathing space in the winery as our storage capacity was stretched with the return of normal crop levels both from our own vineyards and those of our contract winemaking clients. These wines are all now through fermentation, with the white wines resting on yeast lees for a few months until the decision is made to begin blending and preparation for bottling, while the red wines are gently bubbling away in barrels as malo-lactic fermentation slowly completes in the cool cellar.

The cool weather and now bare vineyards may give the impression that it is a quiet time in the wine industry, but there is plenty going on in the winery. Barrel racking, washing and filling, blending, filtering and of course bottling are all on the list for the between vintage months, and the Pettavel winery staff have been busy with a number of new vintage wines recently bottled. These wines will be held in the cool Pettavel winery for a few months prior to release as our elegant wines can be knocked around with bottling and require a few months to return to their best, when they will be released at cellar door. Subscribe to our mailing list to ensure that you are kept up to date with these new releases along with forthcoming events at Pettavel.