As we all know wine is best enjoyed with great food.  To highlight this fact were holding several dinners over the next few months to showcase the new release 2009 Curly Flat Pinot Noir. We’ll also be showing three older vintages of Pinot (’01, ‘03 & ‘05), which serves as a great opportunity to see the youthful splendor of vibrant fruit and at once, how with age, our wines sublime gracefully into a more complex and rarefied savoury expression of top Pinot Noir.

Bolstering further an already insightful event you’ll also see our current Curly Flat Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Rosé.  Wines that have each been identified as prime examples of varietal or stylistic expression by critics and consumers alike.

Melbourne Dinner @ Sosta Cucina - Wednesday, 29 February 2012  $135p/person

From the heart of Northern Italy to the heart of North Melbourne, Sosta Cucina delivers fine cuisine with warm and familiar service.  Please make bookings through Sosta Cucina on 03 9329 2882.

Sydney Dinner @ Bei Amici  - Sunday, 4 March 2012  $135 p/person

Located in Sydney’s Darling Point, Bei Amici is a boutique Swiss Italian restaurant with a fine range of provincial dishes.  Bookings through Bei Amici on 02 9328 0305.

Harvest Lunch @ Curly Flat - April 2012  Date & Price: TBC

Harvest this year will see a Pinot release lunch in our 1880’s homestead, Vintage Hall. Worth it for the dining experience alone but harvest is also a great time to visit Curly Flat.  Come and see the activity in the winery whilst gaining further insights into our story and our vineyard based approach to wine making.

With the new year well under way, the vineyard at Curly Flat is on track with fruit set completed as of mid December.  As of late January, Veraison (where green hard berries begin taking on it’s varietal colour and start accumulating sugars) has begun around 2 to 3 weeks early as have been all the stages from budburst on wards.  Whilst the growing season hasn’t had that many high maximums, more subtly, the minimums are staying relatively high giving consistent momentum to the vines growth.  This coupled with the relatively high humidity and the ever present UV levels may explain this earlier development.  Saying that we are now in a pretty dry spell after only receiving 26mm for January and some warm days with constant wind has resulted in 162mm of evaporation. We’ve seen just about every manifestation of weather, outside of snow (which we did have in mid November 2007!) The biggest factor of course is the weather, and it just wouldn’t be agriculture if we didn’t have a few hairy moments.  Come Christmas Day that’s just what we got!

To the crack of the Christmas bonbon, came the roar of thunder that cut through the  humidity thickened air.   This heralded the storms that then lashed Central Victoria with tornadoes to the north-west of Melbourne and, on a wider scale, devastating hail stones that ranged in size from the humble pea to that of a small fist which hit with a force that punched through windscreens with ease.  As this event unfolded we were pinned to the radar whilst receiving a torrential, almost tropical downpour.  We haplessly looked on hoping the hail didn’t reach us as it would have undoubtedly reduced our potential crop to nothing more than a memory and not to mention damaging the new buds on the green shoots destined to be next years fruiting wood.  That bud damage would also cause downstream damage for Vintages to come.  Thankfully we just got the rain and were spared the hail, but we feel for anyone who was affected by it.

So with still at least 6-7 weeks till harvest, many factors remain to play out that will dictate the ultimate endgame.  We’ll keep you posted with our progress!

This coming February will see the release of our 2009 Curly Flat Pinot Noir and we’re happy to say that this, the last release of the 2009 vintage, is one of our finest to date. Thankfully it’s not just us saying that! Below is an excerpt from Winewise Magazine, a publication established in 1985 and ever since has been driven by a scrupulous array of wine experts led by Lester Jesberg, the magazines editor. This year saw the judges ‘pour’ over 2000 wines from across Australia and abroad in a blind tasting where wines are presented in glass and nothing is known of them outside of variety, which results in telling it like it is.

2009 Curly Flat Pinot Noir Winewise Review                           Verdict: Outstanding

The nose shows rich raspberry fruit complemented by a hint of stems that add a touch of complexity. The palate has power but also finesse, finishing long, and balanced by firm, fine tannins. This pinot was made with a masterly touch.

Also all Australian wines that obtained the rating of ‘outstanding’ (their highest rating) went onto to an even more stringent tasting to find their ‘best of the best’ for 2011. From there only nine wines made that ultimate list and we’re happy to say that our 2009 Pinot Noir is on it!

After 20 months in barrel, the 2010 Curly Flat Pinot Noir now moves onto its next phase.  We have now transferred all barrels to tank via our peristaltic pump and the wine will now rest and await bottling early next year.  We do this not only to allow any residual lees to settle out, but it also gives the array of component barrels time to integrate as a whole whilst assisting the wine to acclimatise for closure under screw cap. Then the wine will then be released in early 2013 after a year in bottle.

The wine itself looks very promising so far with swirls of plums and sour cherry skins, resonating in both dark and bright notes with good acidity entwined in an earthen spice twist. Currently poised between subtlety and power, this wine will have plenty of time ahead to unfold itself.  We’re definitely looking forward to that!

As we’ve mentioned fruit set is an important time in any vineyard as it determines the maximum potential crop there’ll be for the coming vintage.  We are happy to report that we are currently at around 60% completion of fruit set, where the flowers have successfully pollinated and developed their seeds along with the protective covering we all know as grape skins.

While healthy fruit set is vitally important it also needs an equally healthy canopy to drive it, and currently that’s just what we have.  All the photos above were taken yesterday (12/12) by our Vineyard Manager, Lisa and illustrate the verdant canopy punctuated with a balance of tall shoots. The centre photo shows the leaf size in comparison to Lisa’s hand which makes the leaf length around 18cm and around 12cm in diameter, telling us this is a productive canopy indeed. With our deep rich soils being activated by this and last years rain and having been recently bolstered by biodynamic fertiliser, we can’t say were surprised.

But it is still early days for us and it’s not say that it’s been a doddle up till now, as most growers will attest to the heightened threat of mildews due to still relatively moist and humid conditions.  Although at this stage it isn’t on the scale of 2011, there will always continue to be challenges, so we always endeavour to be prepared for both best and worst case scenarios…hopefully the former!

Although vintage is between three and four months away, it is ever present in our minds. In the meantime though we have plenty to keep us busy.  For instance we’ve modified our existing 4000 litre stainless steel tanks to have doors and racking valves.  This gives us further flexibility in or out of vintage when racking juice or wine to barrel.  An example of our continuous improvement program in effect!  Check out the short video in the winery section with Simon from Fine Weld cutting out the tank section for the door.

As we head into the crucial phase of flowering, a top up of the trace elements is sometimes required due to the specific demands of the vine within the relatively small window in which flowering occurs. Through our drip irrigation system we release a nutrient rich emulsion of seaweed and fish that is further charged with Biodynamic preparations 502 through to 507.  But as like a multivitamin is no substitute for a healthy diet, fertilisers are not a substitute for inherently fertile and healthy soils.

One of the main reasons for choosing our vineyard site is the rich red volcanic soils that now give our vines and their roots unhindered access to a wealth of primary nutrients.  Since then we have made further gains over the years with our cessation of all herbicides, which in turn has seen an eventual return of native grasses and a phenomenal increase in organic matter which now teems with life.  We’ll show a photo of that soon!

The above photo illustrates our oak matrix and the myriad of elements that make up the decision making process.

To make it more interesting, we have to take a educated guess as to how much fruit we think we’ll have to determine how much oak we need. This scenario is painted with broad brush strokes as the vines are only just beginning flowering/fruit-set and from there harvest is still 3-4 months away at least, so our outlook is formed via a best case scenario tempered by crucial past experience.

Once we have determined how much new oak we require, our attention then turns to exactly what oak that is. That’s where the more complicated decisions begin…

To help guide these decisions we have historical data that has been accumulated over several vintages, with the wine from each barrel being scored in a blind tasting around one year into maturation.  This approach ensures judgement by pure performance and clonal compatibility rather than by brand or preceding reputations.

Ultimately though our primary mantra of ‘site expression’ gets louder in our minds each vintage. This means we want the presence of our fruit to be foremost and for oak and other elements to be in a supportive role only.  Some may construe this to mean oak is not important, but the ‘less is more’ approach only makes the oak decisions more critical!

Now that we have seen off (most of) the frosts which can lay waste to tender buds and/or shoots, our next major phase is flowering and fruit set.  This is one of the most important windows in the growing season as the rate of success literally dictates the total crop potential for that season.  At this point our bunches are yet to flower and are about two to four weeks away from commencing.  The photo on the left was as of last Saturday (12/11/11) and the photo on the right is archival and for illustration of where were headed.

The most important factor for this phase is unsurprisingly, the weather.  Stable weather patterns in the form of warm, breezy days are ideal as the grape flowers are fragile and are susceptible to cold weather, rain, hail or high wind. These factors either independently or in unison can see a reduction in crop level or at worst, see it decimated.  An example of this reduction was the 2009 vintage, with heavy rain at flowering seeing a 60% loss in crop. This didn’t impact on the quality of the harvest just it’s quantity, but it’s hard to digest when all you can do is look on.  Nature is both creator and destroyer and will always dictate the ultimate terms of our trade.  Wisdom suggests that we put all our efforts into what we can control and accept what we cannot.  That’s grow business!

Come Sunday we have another very special guest and friend of Curly Flat, Andrew McConnell (and his exceptional staff!) returning to us for his fifth time to effortlessly remind us of his refined yet relaxed definition of a ‘long lunch’.  This event unsurprisingly sold out very quickly, so to those seeking culinary comfort on Sunday again from 11.30am to 4pm, Emma Chapple will be serving up a range of light food options in the winery, like for example Rare roast beef, smoky tomato relish and rocket baguettes…

All in all it will be a weekend of great food and wine, which of course is always a celebration in itself!