Pruning is finished and the quality of wood and vine structure is excellent. Many of the younger blocks of vines have consolidated well and the vineyard will be almost at full capacity in 2009. Some trellis repairs are continuing. Good rainfall over the past month has meant that the large catchment dam in the middle of the property is filling nicely in preparation for frost protection and irrigation. Some additional subsurface drainage has been completed which will assist some waterlogged sections of the vineyard to produce at full capacity.

Good water levels aat St Magnus

Post Pruning

Pruning is progressing well on SMV. Good winter rainfall over the past weeks has fully wet up the soil profile, although we are still waiting for further rainfall to start water running into the dam. The amount of good quality wood in the recently redeveloped blocks is very pleasing and should help to underpin good yields in 2009.

What a vintage for St. Magnus with a final result of 1,097 tonnes of premium Adelaide Hills fruit. Some of the later parcels of fruit were certainly affected by the hot weather but nonetheless it is still an outstanding result. At the moment we are evaluating all the management units on the vineyard to see where we can improve the profitability of specific blocks by modifying inputs and management. With this data we will formulate the management plan for the 2009 season; which will hopefully be as good if not better than 2008.

Due to some minor complications we will now be issuing and dating the 2007/08 invoices in the last half of April 2008.

This vineyard has been the real surprise this season and has performed well above expectations. Vintage is almost complete and the crop has ripened exceptionally well with very high fruit quality and good crop loads. When the vintage is complete we expect to have harvested 1,050 tonnes of fruit. There has been a terrible heat wave in South Australia which has affected the later ripening parcels of fruit, however overall St. Magnus has held up remarkably well.

The crop on St. Magnus continues to ripen slowly being in the cooler Adelaide Hills region. The slow continual ripening is also one of the key factors in production of high quality fruit, it just takes a little longer to get there. It is estimated that harvest is still another 2-3 weeks away, with the first of the Sauv-Blanc grapes just reaching 9 to 10 Baume last week. Fruit quality is excellent with our winemakers very pleased with the management and attention to detail.

We have recently concluded a new Grape Sale Agreement with Cooper Coffman Wines Limited (CCWC) for the majority of the fruit from this vineyard. The rest of the grapes are contracted to Yalumba, Peter Lehmann and Endeavour Wines. Despite the dry weather and limited water we are expecting a crop of over 800 tonnes from the vineyard this year as compared with the 650 tonnes of the previous two years. The attached article from The Leader newspaper in South Australia put together an article on CCWC’s leading winemaker Martin Cooper that you may find of interest.

New owner for Hamilton’s Stonegarden Winery

Final crop estimation is underway and the benefits of the frost protection system are clearly visible. Low lying areas of the vineyard that have previously produced very small crop due to cold damage and frost, are now carrying a full crop. Most varieties will have a full crop this season and the areas of redevelopment continue to consolidate very well. St. Magnus is the last of all our vineyards to be harvested with picking commencing towards the end of February. We are on the home straight; with some kind weather for the next 3 months 2008 should be a good one for St. Magnus.

St. Magnus has survived the frost season with the help of the frost sprinklers and the staff who regularly go without sleep to ensure that the system is working in the small hours of the morning. The crop is quite pleasing at this stage with most areas approaching full production, including areas of redevelopment. With the crop ripening up well and favourable weather conditions we are on target to have a large and profitable crop. The dam on St. Magnus is full and has adequate water for the 2008 vintage.

Unfortunately the weather is continuing with the unseasonably low rainfall. South Australia has just recorded the driest September for 20 years, Despite the lack of rainfall the vineyard is looking fantastic with excellent early spring growth. There have been some light rain showers over the last couple of weeks, but they have had little impact given the dry and very windy conditions.

There have been a number of frost events on the vineyard but the frost protection system has been working effectively and there has been no significant impact on the vineyard. There were some isolated areas where there was some marginal leaf burning due to some of the frost sprinklers freezing up as a result of  very low temperatures.

Although the growing season has only just started in the cooler areas of the Adelaide Hills the early spring growth is looking good with good potential bunch numbers showing.

The spring weed control program has been successfully completed and the vineyard is looking neat and tidy.

Chardonnay is on the move and as a result the frost protection system has been fired up to make sure that all the sprinklers are aligned and that any leaks which have developed over winter are repaired.

Pre-emergent herbicide is complete and Budmite sprays are under way. Unfortunately the dam is not quite full (but is very close to full), and the water coming into the dam has ceased flowing; follow up rainfall would be wonderful over the next couple of weeks.

Excellent rainfall over the last month or so with approx 8 inches falling over that period.The soil profiles are getting close to full, and there has been some run off into the dam.Work has revolved around some weed control, and preparing the frost system for Autumn protection of the young plantings.All R&M work on the house is now complete.

At last some decent rain. StM received approx 120mm over three days at the start of last week. Although not a drought breaking event, it was a welcome event none the less. The working program was put on hold as the vineyard was too wet for any major activities. This has given the staff a welcome opportunity to take some well earned leave. Post vintage repairs will be the main focus moving forward in the lead up to the pruning season. The vineyard house has been receiving some general repairs including a fresh coat of paint and floor coverings.

All the whites have been harvested. This was a major objective before the forecast rain that did arrive on Monday (only 15mm – but it would not have helped the whites). The remaining reds will still take some time to reach the target maturity before being harvested. The young blocks continue to show excellent growth.