2017 Vintage Report, January

It is that time of the year again, the first part of harvest is complete, however there is still a lot to come; So you are asking yourselves: it has been terribly hot weather, what does it look like for Gartelmann Wines for the 2017 Vintage?

The wines that have come in are all from the Hunter Valley. But the weather was not all bad. In Pokolbin and Denman there was only 1 day over 35 degrees in November with the maximum temperature 3 degrees over the 45 year average, In December similar but 3 non consecutive days over 35 degrees, and more, but mostly non-consecutive hot days.

What have we got in so far?

Sparkling white base for our 2017 Blanc de Blancs. Harvested early morning on 13 January, it copped 3 consecutive hot days, but had a cooler day to recover before harvest. The fruit analysis figures show a slight difference to the very good 2016. Higher Baume (Baume is a measurement of the concentration of sugars in grapes) to give more fruit intensity, marginally lower pH, which we want for taste, and slightly higher Total Acid. All this indicates that we can make a zestier but more delicate wine with lower residual sugar than the 2016 – that is our aim.

Gartelmann Benjamin Semillon: Harvested early morning Monday 23 January, it copped 2 more consecutive hot days, but had 4 cool days to recover before harvest. The fruit analysis figures show a slight difference to the very good 2014 and 2016 Vintage. Slightly lower Baume to better retain the Semillon citrus & lime characteristic, marginally lower pH, which we want for taste, and slightly higher Total Acid. All this indicates that we will achieve our aim of pleasing our existing followers but also attracting new Semillon lovers.

Gartelmann Jessica Verdelho: The sugar level is identical to the 2016 vintage, and slightly lower acids, which can be adjusted. Two hot days before picking would have lowered the sugar levels, but not the flavours, so the expectation is to make a very similar wine to the 2016 at lower residual sugar because of more intense flavours.

WHAT IS COMING IN FEBRUARY?
We expect the Wilhelm Shiraz (and Veronica Rose) from the Hunter, Stephanie Pinot Gris and Sarah Elizabeth Chardonnay from on range to come in this month

The other 6 wines all look on course for March.

Cheers
Jorg Gartelmann

Our new Hunter Valley whites

With many of the 2017 vintage white varieties now safely in the winery, Hunter Valley’s Gartelmann Wines has released two wines from their family inspired range of wines; the 2015 Gartelmann ‘Sarah Elizabeth’ Chardonnay (92/100 Halliday) and 2016 Gartelmann ‘Jessica’ Verdelho.

The new wines, made by Hunter Valley winemaker Liz Jackson, are named in honour of owner Jan Gartelmann’s mother Jessica and daughter Sarah.

As a family owned and operated business we take great pride in having our family front and centre on our wines.

These two wines are quintessential Hunter Valley varieties. 

The two new vintages are from very different vintages. 2015 was almost perfect, with good rain at the right time. 2016 on the other hand was undoubtedly very difficult. The forecast was good, but 90 mm of rain prior to Christmas was only the prequel to the down pouring of 220 mm in early January.

Surprisingly, with the clay soils and slopes of the Verdelho vineyard, the water simply ran off and our 2016 Verdelho is better than the previous year.

The 2015 Gartelmann ‘Sarah Elizabeth’ Chardonnay was made from 18 year-old vines located in the Upper Hunter Valley region. 

We are aiming for a richer style with attractive oak balance,” explained Jorg. “We matured 60 per cent of the wine for nine months in a combination of new and one-year-old French oak puncheons and hogsheads. The remaining component was matured in older oak to ensure that oak to fruit balance.

Monthly lees stirring and inhibiting malolactic fermentation preserved the fruit freshness whilst building palate texture and structure.