Planted in our Stirling vineyard in 1994 on 2.7mt row spacings and 2.0 m plant spacing give us 1851 plants per ha.
We are cropping these vines at 11 tonnes per ha which is in balance with the soil and environment. A crop load less than 11 tonne and the vines would tend towards the vegetative state producing a wine style displaying green and herbal notes and a progressively lighter yields due to shading . Any more crop load and the wines would lack fruit intensity and varietal character. The first spring buds appeared in late September after the last of the winter frosts and the growing part of the season so far has produced us good conditions with the vines being in excellent condition. Our disease monitoring has revealed that our early season fungicide program has left the vineyard clean of any powdery mildew or Botrytis despite the wetter than normal spring and our insect traps have again told us that there is no need for insecticide use.