"We've had a big few weeks down here in Tassie! This week is the back end of a big 10 days since the baumes skyrocketed after the last of the rain dried up. We've been picking and processing pretty much everyday.

In the vineyard, we'll be picking the rest of our Pinot Noir blocks, maybe some low yielding Malvasia and Merlot. The Merlot is blended with a small parcel of Malbec which isn't quite ready to produce the 'Chicane' red blend. We'll be monitoring our Riesling blocks for ripeness—two years ago we had some skin contact on our Riesling which we are planning to do again. I find this adds aroma and intensity to the finished wine and can be balanced with a little residual sugar if needed.

Yesterday morning the winery team pressed off our Pinot Gris that was left in the press over the weekend, but the main focus for the next few days is having all of our premium Pinot Noir in 1-4kl vats—the first one will be pressed off by the end of the week. We press off anywhere between 10-28 days depending on the year/block/whole bunch percentage. The Pinots are tasting good this year! And Chardonnay is naturally fermenting in barrel so we will be watching closely and topping the ullages over the week."

"There's a lot of excitement for our close planted blocks this year. We've picked all the Pinot and Chardonnay from the high density planting (12,000 vines a hectare, 1.1m x 0.8m). I love this vineyard as I was part of the team who planted it, and for the last 3 years I have grown it—scaling the hill on the Geier, a mini crawler tractor, and hand weeding some parts of the vineyard. Last year we picked a little later than we would have liked, so to get it bang on this year for both Pinot and Chardonnay is exciting. I'm also experimenting with a sulfur free no addition wine which could be good and suit the terroir. 

Last week we had a somm George from Noble Rot (in London) join us for a week, it was awesome to have him stay, chat all things wine and take him behind the scenes. He has a wicked palate, nice to share some good bottles and sad to see him go."

"I always enjoy going for a cold plunge swim after a big day of picking! Or enjoying some good food (cheese) and wine with the crew. The other night we blind tasted my parent's (Stefano Lubiana) 2014 limited release Sauvignon Blanc, super interesting after 10 years."