Vintage Reports

The 2025 harvest at Spy Valley has wrapped, and with it comes a deep sense of satisfaction from what can only be described as a near-textbook vintage. This season was a masterclass in patience, teamwork, and timing — with beautiful, clean fruit and a full winery to show for it. The growing season began with steady and timely rainfall (392 mm from September to April), setting the vines up with excellent health and vigour. The weather remained cooperative throughout the summer, with consistent warmth (1246 GDD) and no significant heat spikes. Cool nights allowed for the preservation of natural acidity,...

As the curtains close on another successful Spy Valley harvest, it's an opportune moment to reflect on the vintage full of flavour and the beautiful environment that shaped it. Though our late harvest Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling still linger on the vines, the essence of this year's harvest is already visible. Harvesting 1793 tonnes across six varietals, a mix of hand and machine picks. This year we were dealt a hand unseen in 90 years, with just 161mm of rain from September to April unexpectedly low against the long-term average of 337mm. Yet, despite the dry landscape with the hottest...

As the dust settles on another incredible vintage, it's time to reflect on the harvest of 2023. Harvest is early mornings and late nights, sore feet, and tired bodies. But it's also the reward of the past year's efforts in our vineyard, many stunning sunrises, and friendships that will last a lifetime.⁠ We always say that every harvest tells a story, and this year's story was one of success, calm, innovation, and collaboration.

As we say, every harvest tells a story and 2022 has its own. With borders closed and Covid in the region we developed a solid plan for our team heading into harvest. This year, we had a higher percentage of inexperienced staff, but they were young and enthusiastic. We worked around the clock for several weeks, the team rallied and we made it through.  This was our largest vintage for several years closing out at 2,438 tonnes. Towards the end it became a game of chess, moving juice and new wines around the winery very strategically so that all tanks...