Peel Estate Vintage Report 2005

Tiana from Peel Estate Wines in Western Australia has sent the following report of the 2005 Vintage.

Of the lesser known and unusual varieties at Peel Estate we grow Verdelho, Zinfandel and Cabernet franc.

Quantities were up on Verdelho and Cabernet franc (best year since 99).

The Zinfandel was down on last year but last year we had a record crop.

The Verdelho vines are between 10 and 16 years old and we use the grapes for a straight varietal dry wine.

The Cabernet franc vines are 15 years old and gets used in a wine blended with Merlot.

The Zinfandel vines are 20 years old and we use the grapes for a straight varietal red wine often with huge flavour and huge alcohol.

Verdelho seems to be the most susceptible variety to powdery mildew in our vineyard but with good management we had an insignificant amount. We had a dry warm winter in 2004 which made the vines shoot earlier which then led to frost damage in the chardonnay and chenin blanc.

Release dates for the alternate varieties are:

• July 2005 for the verdelho,
• 2009 for the Zinfandel (the Zin goes into barrels for 2 years and then 2 years in the bottle before release)
• the 2005 Merlot/Cabernet franc should be released in 2007.

Peel Estate was established in 1973 by Will Nairn who continues to delight wine connoisseurs with his remarkable range of red and white wines produced on coastal limestone country at Baldivis which is about 70km South of Perth, Western Australia.

Editors note. This winery also makes a superb Chenin blanc which you may like to seek out. Chenin is not regarded as 'alternative' in WA, but believe me the good ones are far from commonplace.

More Vintage Reports

Steve De Long has announced that he is now able to dispatch the Wine Variety Table to Australia by surface mail for just $US4.99. The table and index are just $35, so check it out.