Margaret River Vintage 2021 Summary
We all have memories of a rather tumultuous 2020 with 2021 seeming like a fresh start. Certainly the 2020 vintage for Flowstone was significant, particularly with the crop losses from the hail. However the second half of the year gave us a lovely and warm Spring and Summer. It was a great start to the 2021 vintage season.
Margaret River vintage 2021
Summer started as beautifully warm, without being extreme, and continued as such into 2021. January was the classic Margaret River Summer. However in mid-February prior to any grape harvest, there was some significant rainfall. This certainly put most grape growers on edge. This was followed by some light but regular rainfalls. The season was becoming quite wet and humid, which does put some disease pressure on the white grapes. Well run vineyards with moderate crops and good canopy management did not show any effect. As such, the Flowstone vineyards produced some lovely white grapes.
The latter half of March was clear and warm and the red grapes were ripening nicely. A strong rainfall in early April did determine our Cabernet Sauvignon harvest date, therefore 2 days before the predicted rain.
In summary for the Flowstone vineyards, the season delivered some stunning grapes with the whites showing beautiful purity and ripeness. The reds had a long ripening period and have developed great flavours with soft, modified tannins.
A different Moonmilk White
There was, however, one downside. The Savagnin grapes that we buy for the Moonmilk White were affected by disease and we had to reject them. Quick thinking and action did secure us a small amount of Pinot Gris to take its place. As such, the 2021 Moonmilk White will be a different wine to usual, but it is still looking superb.
The upside to the vintage was the first good sized crop of Gewürztraminer from our own vineyard!! This does mean that Gewürztraminer will be back on the list in about a year’s time!!
For the Margaret River region, 2021 has not been easy and there have been some less than happy outcomes, but there are certainly some diamonds of wines to come from it!! All of the Flowstone wines are amongst these diamonds.
