WALKERS HILL VINEYARD
Made by friends for friends to be enjoyed with friends
0447 651 418
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WINES
REDS
Our Shiraz has done very well over the years, winning numerous medals. The 2002 and 2004 both won gold Medals at the Mt Barker QANTAS Wine Show. We have also won numerous silver & bronze medals.
Our Shiraz is a traditional dry fullbodied red with peppery aftertones. It is smooth on the palate and easy drinking.
WHITES
We have on offer four vintages of Chardonnay, our 2012, 2014, 2015 & 2016. The 2012 - 15 are dry, crisp white's with plenty of fruit flavour coming through. The 2016 has lovely honey after tones. People are very surprised when tasting the chardonnay that it is a very pleasant wine to enjoy, much like the very popular SSB's. The 2017 vintage was severely frosted resulting in very low yields resulting in us doing a Rose'.
ADVERSE CONDITIONS
2019/20
As in all agriculture fields weather and pests play a big part in the final product produced. For the past 3 years here in the Wheatbelt we have been suffering from drought. This has lowered our yields considerably as we can't put enough water onto the vines. Drought has also meant there is no water for animals so they find any source they can. For us it meant the water we used to water the vines attracted the birds and in turn they enjoyed feeding on our grape berries!!!
In 2019 we didn't net the vines, hence no Chardonnay vintage and a very low red yield. We decided to put all the shiraz grapes into another Rose' as the 2017 had sold out. We called this the 'Drought Rose'.
In 2020 we netted the best Shiraz rows but unfortunately due to lack of water we didn't get enough to do a vintage.
After much deliberation and advice from our winemaker and several viticulturists we have changed our pruning style this year and cleaned up most of the vines - or working towards. We are hoping this will help with our lack of water.
NEW BLENDS
In 2012 we didn't do a shiraz as the vines started shutting down early due to heat stress. Although there wasn't enough flavour & body to do a good shiraz there was plenty of flavour to do a Rose'. The rose' is a lovely full bodied wine with lots of flavour & fruitiness with a slight spritz to tingle on the tongue.
September 2016 - severe frosts burn vine fruiting buds.
On average we yield 5-6 tonne of grapes per year, but due to frost burning 90% of our fruiting buds, we only yielded 900 kg for 2017 season. Unfortunately this left us with no options but to dump the grapes, as there wasn't enough to process. After many phone calls Rob Wignall form Wignalls in Albany offered us a lifeline. He was able to process the small amount into a Rose'. Winemaker Michael had never blended shiraz & Chardonnay before but was willing to give it a go. And that my friends is the story of the Frosted Rose'.