2018 Ceres Swansong Pinot Gris

Winemaker's notes

2018 was a year for the record books. The hottest year since 1956 in Central Otago saw sustained and unrelenting heat from the start of the season which did not let up until the weather broke in February. What this meant was a stunning flower and fruitset with a very even and generous potential crop. We chased our tails during the season trying to stay ahead of stress caused by the very dry conditions - the flipside of this was we ended up with small and intensely flavoured berries.
At one stage in January the heat was so intense and sustained we were looking at an end of February harvest and too much water stress. Thankfully we received 100mm over 2 days at the start of February and the weather dramatically cooled. This meant ripening slowed down and we were able to retain the acid in the grapes that is so important. We still had a compressed harvest in mid-March with very clean and ripe fruit.