Vintage Summary 1999

A very hot summer with many days over 30C resulted in a very early harvest starting on March 27. Large crops probably helped balance this quick ripening. Interestingly, around April 15 (with only a little left to pick), 100mm of snow fell coating vineyards in the Gibbston area, with enough to dust the tanks in Bannockburn - an unusual sight - especially snow heavily laden on the bird nets! Due to the large crop we performed a saignee and made a Vin Gris from many of the Pinot Noir fermenters.