A look back on 2024 - Post harvest Blog…

Hello everyone, 

I’m sitting here sipping my coffee on a very grey and gloomy day, one of many recently as we approach winter and I thought I’d take a minute to reflect on what’s been a bit of a whirlwind of a season here at the vineyard. Yesterday we wrapped up what I can safely say has been my most challenging harvest to date. 

2024 has been simultaneously an incredibly exciting growing season, implementing all sorts of new techniques and strategies in the vineyard and ultimately at times - a brutally frustrating one. It’s not been a fantastic summer has it? That’s certainly been reflected in the vineyard. When people ask me how it’s gone this year, I often describe it as “all the wrong weather, at all the wrong times”. So it was with great relief, that we cut off the final bunch of this year's vintage yesterday and to be honest it hasn’t completely sunk in yet, it never does. It almost always feels a little anticlimactic. Months and months of work and preparation lead up to a few days of picking and that’s it, the 2024 season is over in a flash! Despite the challenges with the weather this year, I’m genuinely very proud of everything we’ve done. We put into practice a lot of new techniques that perhaps will not shine through in a season like this but ultimately have put in the foundations I’m sure for great success to come in the future and even in a year like this we’ve still seen glimpses of that, particularly from our Solaris, Pinot Noir and Reichensteiner grapes which all performed beyond expectation! 

So here are some of the numbers over this year's growing season:

710mm total rainfall - with still more coming! 

42mm rainfall (largest amount in 1 day)

7,550 kg harvested

2,990kg per ha 

12% Potential alcohol (highest for a single variety)

6.7% Potential alcohol (lowest for a single variety)

12.5 degrees Celsius (average temperature over the growing season)

Coolest summer since 2015

All in all, yes it’s been a challenging year for viticulture but one I’m sure I will look back on as a great triumph! It’s been another huge learning curve, as every year seems to be, with new challenges cropping up all the time. That’s what makes this job so exciting. You’re always chasing an ever-moving goalpost. 

Outside of the vineyard, this season has once again been a huge success. We’ve had a record number of visitors this year. It’s been amazing to see this place packed and buzzing with life. I’ve loved every second of it, especially taking so many of you out on tours on a busy Saturday, I always describe the tours as almost like a day off where I just get to chat with people, share some stories and enjoy some wine and that’s exactly how it should be! 

Of course, I have to give a special mention to the team in the restaurant, hosting all of you for breakfast, lunch, tours and tastings or helping me out in the vines as well, they’ve done it all this year and without that, the vineyard would not be able to thrive as it does! It’s only through their efforts that I can do what I do, so a huge thank you to the Motley Cru team this year, you’ve done an outstanding job!

And whist we’re thanking everyone, let’s not forget the chef team, Michael and his band of merry chefs have fitted in perfectly here and whipped up delight after delight + they’ve got a soft spot for me and Max (my black lab)… We’re regularly spoiled with all sorts and we’re probably both going to have to go back on a strict diet and exercise plan. Not sure Max is too keen on that as he’s looking up at me now, drooling all over my feet… lovely I know.

Of course we need to say a big thank you to the horticultural team as well who have kept the grounds looking pristine and brought a beautiful array of colour to the vineyard through the border plantings as well as our amazing kitchen garden that has supplied the kitchen with so many treats to utilise!

Thank you to anyone that has helped me out in the vines when called upon, not least the amazing volunteers that seem to come back every year to help with the harvest, we couldn’t do it without you!

And lastly thank you to all those that came and visited us this year, it’s been a pleasure to host you and none of this is possible without you!

A particular highlight for me was our Sundowners festival, I think we had the best part of 300 people here this year and you wouldn’t have known it, it all went so smoothly. Again thanks to the work of the team behind the scenes. I could just turn up and serve you all behind the bar… and we had good weather, can you believe it? 

So what happens now? Well, you’d think everything might wind down now we’ve harvested the grapes and whilst that’s true for just a little while, it’s still very much a hive of activity here. Firstly we’re opening right through October, November and December this year. We’ve got a fantastic brunch menu on at the moment which I’ve already demolished. It’s my favourite part of the day, coming up to the restaurant to meet the chefs with a rye grin as I cheekily ask for breakfast. They’re always happy to serve and I think they’ve made it a personal challenge to steadily increase the portion sizes to see when I eventually break! (It’ll never happen.) 

We’re also continuing with our wine tastings throughout the winter so if you didn’t get a chance to visit in the summer, come along and join us for a tasting now! Then in December, we’re open for our Christmas openings, I can’t wait to sample all the items from this menu! I might end up being a couple of kilos heavier though… 

And then I’ll be kicking everything off again in the vineyard with pruning, the most important job of the year as it directly affects the growth, health and productivity of the vine, not only for the following season but for the year after as well. Ideas and strategies are already flowing In terms of what we can do next year to improve again so the work never stops! 

I look forward to hopefully seeing as many of you as possible over the next few months as the weather changes and things start to get a little more cosy, so come on by and we can enjoy a nice glass of mulled wine together!

Until next time…

Cheers!