2023 Hay Shed Hill Vineyard Series Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

The Hay Shed Hill Vineyard Series showcase the character of the fruit grown on this classic vineyard site with distinctive and expressive wines. The Hay Shed Hill Sauvignon Blanc Semillon is a bright vibrant fresh wine full of the lively clean tropical flavours typical of this classic Margaret River blend.

The 2023 vintage was a throwback to the 1990’s. A lovely wet winter opened to a mild spring with budburst in the early varieties being up to two weeks later than recent vintages. The spring weather was fine so the late budburst and slower development was not a problem for the early and mid season varieties, but it did cross a few minds that late season varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon might be very late indeed which always carries risk of rain. However, such concerns were mollified as the season continued into March with fine weather and mild conditions that were ideal for steady, consistent ripening. Chardonnay came off a few weeks later than usual but in perfect condition and looked potentially to be the star variety of the whites.
 

The warning signals came in mid-March, when the evenings became noticeably cooler, the mornings crisp and definite physical signs of an early autumn were noticed. Slight changes in leaf colour in both the grapevines and the native plants indicated an early change of season. The weather patterns changed from a summer pattern to an Autumn system with cool fronts moving in from the South and the West. Shiraz, Malbec and Cabernet Franc were harvested before any rain, but the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot had to withstand multiple brief rain falls before they were picked. Remarkably we suffered no problems with no signs of disease or rain damage in these late varieties. It is perhaps counter-intuitive, but the milder season benefited these late varieties because we saw flavour, colour and tannin development far in advance of accumulated sugar very early in the season. To put it another way the reds were riper in a physiological sense than the sugar readings would suggest. We were able to pick Cabernet Sauvignon at a more modest potential alcohol but with full flavour and colour. I believe we will see brilliant whites and mid bodied, more elegant reds from the 2023 vintage reminiscent of some of the great vintages in the 1990’s. Michael Kerrigan, winemaker.
 

WINEMAKING: Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes from the Hay Shed Hill vineyard were used in making this wine. Only free run juice was used, this component of the juice is the highest in quality with the most intense fruit expression and the lowest in undesirable phenolic skin characters. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks at low temperature without the use of oak preserved and highlighted the finer fruit characters of these aromatic varieties.