Here at Hirsch Hill Estate, harvest season is one of our favourite times of year. As the leaves start turning a beautiful autumnal colour and the weather starts to cool down, we begin the process of hand-harvesting our very own award-winning grapes.
We sat down with our very own winemaker and viticulturist, Peter Mackey, to find out a little bit more about the process as a whole.
Giving a general overview of the Vintage 2022 harvest, Peter says that it will be a good harvest. He goes on to further explain that the cooler nights over the Summer just gone will allow for optimum ripeness, meaning the fruit will retain natural acidity.
Discussing the climate impact on the grapes, Peter explains that “we are still in a weak La Nina cycle. This part of the Southern hemisphere brings wetter than normal conditions – we saw this in late Spring and had a cooler Summer than normal.”
This year, Hirsch Hill Estate lacked grapes in general due to the Yarra Valley decreasing production by 50%. This left little room for experimenting and fine-tuning the ferments.
Amongst the stand outs of the Vintage 2022 harvest? The Cabernet.
“Nice chewy tannins in the skins. We also managed to select the Cabernet Franc and this will be fermented separately, so watch this space!”
Speaking of next year, Peter says he’s “looking forward to reuniting with the Pinot Noir on the hill.
This site is one of the best in the Yarra Valley. It’s a warm site in the cooler end of the Valley so the fruit quality is stunning.”
Even with the lack of grapes, Peter believes this will be one of Hirsch Hill’s best years yet.
“This will go down as a winemaker’s year.”
For now,
The Hirsch Family
