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2010 vintage report for Hilltops (New South Wales)

Supplied by Hilltops Inc.
Growing season: The 2009-10 growing season began with much better subsoil moisture then we’ve had for the previous 10 years. The Hilltops area does not draw water from any river system and so is most reliant on natural rainfall events over the winter period to fill storage dams. We were able to miss most of the frost events that were detrimental to surrounding regions, although some lower areas had minimal damage. There was a large hailstorm in October that literally wiped the crop from some vineyards on the western and northern sides of the Hilltops, however, this was quite localised. The season progressed well with enough soil moisture until early December when some very hot, dry weather affected flowering in some vineyards; this seems to have been particularly the case with Cabernet. The vineyards that had been stressed over the past few years seemed to be affected the most during this spell and crop losses of up to 50% were not uncommon. A large fall of rain during harvest meant that any blocks of Shiraz that were not picked did show some signs of botrytis unless very well protected. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were not affected by the rain and some great samples of these wines will be in the market shortly.
Vintage: The vintage began in late February which is getting back to a more typical vintage of the pre-drought years. The vintage was short and quick until the rain which then delayed things for a couple of weeks with most of the vintage finishing just prior to or just after Easter.
Yields and quality: Yields varied greatly from blocks that are typically dryland grown to blocks that are fully irrigated. For example, at Grove Estate, yields from the dryland blocks were as low as 2t/ha while the irrigated blocks were around 9t/ha. The standout varieties were Shiraz (pre-rain) and some great examples of Cabernet. The Nebbiolo that came off early was also a standout.