Almost Vintage

Well, it’s the 1st of February, holiday season well and truly over and almost time for vintage. The start to vintage 2013 is now only about 2 weeks away with the Chenin Blanc and first of the Shiraz likely to be harvested mid February. This is about 2-3 weeks earlier than normal due to the extreme drought we've experienced in the past 9 months.

The vintage 2013 winter and growing season has been about 50% drier than normal and it has also been warmer too. This has resulted in very low crop levels on the vine and as a result earlier ripening. So quantity will be down, however, quality at this stage is looking sensational. Berries are very small giving a high skin to juice ratio and hence excellent colour and flavour intensity. We'll ultimately only know in the next few months but so far looking good for some stunning wines from 2013 - Troy Kalleske.

Tweet

Vintage 2011 - A Few Words

In our Autumn/Winter Newsletter (via our website) we highlighted an article from Wine Enthusiast praising the value of vintage variation: “Let’s honour each wine’s terroir by allowing a new vintage to express itself as naturally as possible”.  As a natural organic/biodynamic producer that is entirely our philosophy.

In many parts of Australia, including the Barossa, Vintage 2011 was extremely wet and much cooler than normal.  Many vineyards were affected with mildew and botrytis rot and much fruit was left unharvested.  The different weather resulted in an atypical year with many producers and journalists writing 2011 off as an inferior vintage.

However, you cannot paint an entire region with the same brush and the diversity of the Barossa has meant that some brilliant wines have still come out of 2011.  Our vineyard location in the North-Western Barossa (most North-Westerly vineyard & winery in the Barossa) combined with our organic/biodynamic farming techniques meant we could harvest all of our fruit, at optimum maturity and make very good wines.  The wines certainly display the coolness of the vintage with more pepper, spice and florals than normal but they are still weighty, mouthfilling, flavoursome and well structured.

We are certainly pleased with our 2011 wines that have been released to date, including the reds we are currently releasing now as well as the old vine wines still maturing in barrel.

We have had some excellent third party endorsements of our 2011 wines from wine shows and critics.

Highlights include the 2011 Clarry’s GSM gaining three major trophies at the International Wine Challenge in London, as well as a Gold Medal in Canada and at the Barossa Wine Show.

James Halliday gave it 5 stars and had this to say: "It is a real surprise packet, its energy and fresh red fruit drive coming from the low alcohol; if ever there was proof that biodynamics can help vines weather the storm of incessant rain, this is it".

Tyson Stelzer also thought highly of it saying" “this blend has every right to a much higher price tag. The cool 2011 season makes for a particularly sophisticated Clarry’s, accented with fresh rhubarb, pepper and bay leaf. A fine, savoury tannin chassis promises unusual longevity”.

The 2011 Moppa Shiraz, just getting released was acknowledged highly with a Gold Medal at the recent New Zealand International Wine Show.

Nick Stock rated the 2011 Rosina as a ‘Best Value Wine’ in the Good Wine Guide 2012 and described it as “terrific”.  He also rated the 2011 Florentine at 91 points and thought it was “bright, really tidy and composed”.

Our 2011 Buckboard Durif was chosen as the ‘People’s Choice Award’ for the Marananga Wine Show.

Louise Radman loved the 2011 Florentine: “This example from Kalleske is an absolute cracker”.

2011 is a unique vintage that’s produced diverse wines across the Barossa and Australia, some excellent wines amongst them.  At Kalleske we strive for our wines to embrace the time (vintage) and place (vineyard) and that’s again what we've achieved in 2011 and we’re thrilled with the outcome, but we invite you to be the judge…

Tweet

The End of Vintage

Vintage is over for another year and now it's time to get back to a bit of normality - We will have an exciting announcement soon with a couple of new releases to join the Kalleske range. Make sure you sign up to the mailing list here to find out in detail what Troy has to say about them.


John Kalleske in the Tractor on the Kalleske Farm

Tweet

Hand-picking Johann Georg Shiraz - 2011

Just a quick update to let you know things have been moving along nicely as the sounds, smells and colours of vintage consume the winery.

Below are a few photo's of the family hand-picking the Johann Georg Shiraz, last Thursday, April 7th. The vines here were planted in 1875.


Lorraine Kalleske hand-picking the Johann Georg Shiraz

Tweet

The First Harvest - Vintage 2011

Last Wednesday marked the first “official” day of vintage 2011, with the first harvest of the season being our Chenin Blanc.


Kalleske Chenin Blanc - 2011

Tweet

Friday Lunch - 11.03.2011

Friday lunches have turned into quite a treat at Kalleske as we all take turns cooking lunch for each other, which is always accompanied by a nice bottle or two. However it has been noted there’s been a bit of help from a wife or in some cases a mother to produce the goods on the table.

Highlights so far would be:
Troy’s ‘Gourmet’ Pizza’s, Tony’s Hotdog’s with the lot, Andy’s (Wife’s) Veg Lasagne followed by a strawberry vanilla Oreo ice cream, Samantha’s Cannelloni and Darren’s (Mums) Apple Crumble.


Teddy waiting for scraps

However with the first day of vintage getting underway today, we will be opting for the more convenient ‘occasional’ Friday BBQ until vintage runs its course. Teddy doesn’t seem to mind the extra scraps at lunch as he waits patiently under the table tho (see photo above).

Vintage 2011 update next week.

{Andy}

Tweet

A stroll through the vineyards

With vintage just around the corner, and a lovely sunny afternoon to bask in, I thought it was a good a time as any to get out of the office (camera in hand) to see how things are shaping up.

Whilst we have had some unseasonal weather this year, I’m happy to report things are certainly looking good out there.


Old Vine Grenache (Single Vineyard - 1935)

Tweet