Day 15 of Clare Valley Vintage - Cab Sav is dark horse'

Published: 23 July, 2008

G'day Folks. I can't seem to find my vinous/writing mojo today. It has been a long day and I've been waiting for a tanker to arrive to take some Riesling juice to McLaren Vale.

But when all else fails I should keep it simple so I need you to know the following;

1. Never underestimate the power of grapes to communicate racked some Riesling juices today and found that the % of gross lees a little higher than usual. Am suspecting that they may have suffered a little more than we realise between the Christmas and New Year period when we had some warmer weather. Very fine solids and so it seems that for best results this year we are going to have to be very selective with the extraction rate. Of course I'm not totally sure that this is what they're trying to tell me since grapes can't talk but my superhero Riesling telepathic powers suggest it's something close.

2. Cabernet Sauvignon could be a dark horse from this vintage will keep you posted but great varietal flavour developing with seed lignification also. Very important to have seeds that lignify so the tannin that's extracted from the seeds is ripe and biscuity. Good skeleton to build upon.

3. Be wary of a truck driver named Brendan that tells you he has been awake for near on 48 hours. The outcome is messy and rather inconveniently I'm now off to pick up the pieces. I mean really what else would I rather be doing at 3 am? I suppose looking at the silver lining there's something a little magical about working underneath the dancing stars and then watching the sun rise. I mean it's not really work . Is it?

Kerri Thompson is winemaker/director of KT & The Falcon

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