Leasingham takes giant steps forward in 2004 vintage
1st June, 2004
In a season punctuated by bursts of hot weather, the Clare Valley’s historic Leasingham winery has come through the 2004 vintage above expectations – and with a record crush.
Winemaker and Manager Ms Kerri Thompson says 2004 was a perfect example of "not following the recipe" and "going the extra mile" in the vineyards to deliver good quality fruit.
The 2004 crush of 6,185 tonnes was the biggest since 1985 (8,437 tonnes), and significantly larger than the 2003 crush of 3,600 tonnes –the reduced tonnage a result of the drought.
2004 also marked Leasingham’s first significant step forward in its expansion programme, with crushes over the next four years estimated to reach between 7,500 and 8,000 tonnes per vintage.
Early indications for the 2004 vintage point toward Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon as the standout varieties.
"2004 Rieslings have lovely fruit sweetness and punchy, aromatic citrus characters. Early seasonal conditions favoured the development of very good canopies, and post-February, ripening conditions were perfect.
"Managing the quality involved intensive hand-selection and a lot of time in the vineyard, something which can also be said for other varieties with vigorous canopies, like Shiraz", Ms Thompson said.
Cabernet Sauvignon also excelled.
"This is one of those vintages that shows how well Cabernet Sauvignon suits the Clare region, which unlike Shiraz, self-regulates its water use very well. Its excellent, healthy canopy held up particularly well in February, and the grapes at harvest showed good, ripe, concentrated flavours.
"Clare Cabernets from 2004 are going to be very textural wines with fantastic, long flavours, outshining Shiraz," Ms Thompson said.
"Early growing conditions set Shiraz vineyards up with good canopy growth, and generally the better, more concentrated fruit came off blocks that had leaner, as opposed to heavier, soils.
"Shiraz required a lot of attention to detail in the vineyard to get it ripe, and to this point, where it is looking very attractive, pretty and aromatic, with juicy, fleshy fruit.
"We have come out of this topsy turvy vintage with better than expected results, thanks to some good work in the vineyards," Ms Thompson said.