2022 Vintage Report at Bluestone Vineyards

The hubbub of harvest has wound down and things are beginning to return to normal at Bluestone. We are slipping back into our usual routine in the office (urgh, boring!) and are already looking to next year. Toby is back out in the vineyard reading through our notes from harvest to see how we can continue to improve going forward.

The juice is all in tank and in barrel at Hambledon winery and has begun its metamorphosis into our delicious sparkling wines. It will currently be going through primary alcoholic fermentation, which can take between 10 and 14 days. After this, the now so called base wines will go through malolactic fermentation, which can take upwards of 3 months. This softens acidity, adds texture and complexity to our wines.

As ever, YOU were all totally amazing. We couldn't have imagined filling the 160 spaces (and then some) for our harvest volunteer days, and all within 36 hours of releasing the dates, too!

We started picking on the 8th of October bringing in the Pinot Meunier and some Pinot Noir, followed by a day of Pinot Noir on Sunday 9th October. The weather was glorious on both days - I just love those crisp clear autumnal mornings with that beautiful warming sun - absolutely stunning.

We were slightly nervous about our Chardonnay pick as the weather, as weather does, was being rather unpredictable. We picked a small amount on Monday (4t) and Tuesday (3t) with a small crew from a fantastic agency each picking a minimum of 500kgs each per day - These guys were students from Turkmenistan studying Art History.

On Saturday 15th we got stuck into the Chardonnay. The weather held out for the most part with only the slightest of downpours, which didn't last long at all. Then it was back to blue (ish) skies and patchy sun. The Sunday was stunning. Lovely blue skies and autumn sun, again. Absolutely superb and incredibly lucky.

Not only was I warmed by the sun on both weekends, but sitting here writing this now, I feel so warmed from the inside at the thought of all of you lovely people who came out to join us. It was such a pleasure to have you with us and be a part of such a momentous occasion. I look forward to welcoming as many of you back next year, but also in roughly 5 years time when we can raise a glass of the very wine that you were so integral in making.

In the meantime, here are the scores on the doors - the "winning" team (if we're being competitive about it) is the Sunday 9th volunteer crew, who out-picked the Saturday 8th crew by a whopping 104.6 kgs. So close!

Saturday 8th October

Total picked = 8.6861 tonnes

Pinot Meunier - 4.1077 tonnes

Pinot Noir - 4.5784 tonnes

Sunday 9th October

Total Pinot Noir picked = 8.7907 tonnes

Saturday 15th October

Total Chardonnay picked = 5.934 tonnes

Sunday 16th October

Total Chardonnay picked = 3.138 tonnes

Total 2022 harvest = 34.66 tonnes

Rough number of bottles = 28,500

A huge congratulations to you and a massive thank you.

We look forward to seeing some of you at our first harvest party. Until next time my friends, and I hope that it isn't too long. All the best.

Nat