Day 49 of Clare Valley Vintage - Seasonal adjustments

Published: 23 July, 2008

G'day Folks. It's lucky I'm a girl for all seasons - we've felt the lot this vintage.

After our record breaking heat wave it seems we've moved from one extreme to the other since our much anticipated change is well and truly here. It's now bucketing down outside and I'm all rugged up. It's pennies from heaven.

There's something about the change of season towards winter that brings with it a certain amount of reflection. Perhaps it's the concept of hibernation that makes you think you need to get organised. Maybe it's the memories of those warm summer nights and knowing that it will be sometime before you get to relive the magic of the sunsets, the warmth on your skin and the melodies of the singing crickets.

For me this time of year is something about planting the seed for the future. Winter is the season for contemplation.

It's a time when the earth takes a deep breath in and prepares to face the long cold months ahead. Whilst there may not be obvious activity on the surface, there is plenty happening below and it's the action' in inaction' which becomes the important process now.

With our first couple of sea-weed foliar applications applied to the vines and parts of the earth deep ripped, the vineyard is prepared for the next phase. As the Riesling ferments are happily bubbling away and finishing off, now is the time to start thinking about final blend options and preparing for bottling. I need to organise the dry goods and confirm final packaging requirements so that my new babies can feel snappy when they hit the ground running when released to the market later in the year.

With the first export order of my Watervale Riesling finally hitting your fine shores, it reminds me that the decisions I make now will be so important down the track. This will impact on consumers on the other side of the world and that's very important to me.

Perhaps when I'm feeling a little of winter's reflection, someone across the miles might just be savouring a sip of my hard work during their summer festivities and that might just give me the clarity I'm seeking.

As I listen to the sound of the rain on my tin roof, I'm comforted at the thought of what might be. Because if winter comes, then surely spring can't be far behind.

Kerri Thompson is winemaker/director of KT & The Falcon

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