Back in the warmth of February, vintage began with the harvest of our Werribee Minnow Pinot Noir for Rosé.  Now it’s May and vintage is still very much underway. 

With a La Nina declared early in the year, it has definitely lived up to its name. January and February bought rains, and temperatures were well below average, with no days hitting the 40 degree mark. This led to a long ripening season with grapes allowed to ripen well into Autumn and now, for only the second time in Shadowfax’s history, we're still harvesting in May. 

Grapes have had amazing purity. The Pinots and Chardonnays maintain beautiful acidity whilst the Shiraz was harvested without any hint of shrivel. The 2021 vintage stamp will be purity, minerality and length. I think the best of the varieties will be the Chardonnays, which will reflect the cool vintage.

One highlight so far has been the amazing deep of flavour from our Little Hampton Chardonnay grapes. With concentration and minerality to boot, I think we have found our new cult hero wine on this site. Keep a look out for our 2021 Little Hampton Chardonnay down the track. 

We have a week or so to finish the harvest up in the Macedon Ranges. The last to harvest will be the Straws Lane Pinot, which is still ripening. Perched on the side of Mt Macedon at 800m, the Pinot and Traminer are hanging in there to get picked before the getting snowed on!