17/11/2023
From Wine Cellar Door.
Johns harvest report from Chet Valley Vineyard is soon to follow!
Harvest 2023 is all in and while people always try to forecast, any producer will tell you that nothing can be taken for granted until the grapes are in the winery.
Now they are all in, what can we say? A single word to describe the overall impression of vintage 2023 would be BIG!
We started the year without too much frost once the buds had burst, there was not too much rain during flowering and just enough sun to get things ripened.
It hasn't been super-hot, so we may not get as much still wine as we got in 2018, the last year of exceptional quantities, although more producers are being positive about still wines and interested to experiment, which seems to be driving up the number of still wines available generally, although some of them will be small volume production.
There will be a whole lot of sparkling wine, too. Smart producers will also be holding some of the base wines back to build or add to their 'library' of wines for future blending, too. For some producers, this will be an ingredient for them to manage future consistency and for others, it will be a way to help them through the leaner years.
Now is a great time to get out to vineyards, chat with the people who show you around and taste lots of wine to work out which producer's style suits your taste preferences. When their wines are released in a few years' time, you'll know to stock up!
