Interesting! I won’t lie and say it was great. There were a few rain events at the wrong time. I think it will be a great year to find out who has the best vineyards and the best winemakers. Volumes will also be down on averages. In saying that, I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of wine in the winery.

The Chardonnay is looking lively and being on yeast lees, is getting fatter by the day. We will be bottling this before Christmas sometime. Already in bottle is the 2021 Bakenal Rosé. Easily, the best Rosé I have made to date. In keeping with the Spanish style, it is a vibrant pink with fresh raspberry notes. The Cabernet is very varietal, with berry and Bay leaf on the nose and sitting in barrel gaining complexity. There won’t be any Reserve Reds this year.

There has been a lot of movement on the wine front…As mentioned, we have already released the 2021 Bakenal Rose. The 2017 SBS is looking incredible with a vast spread of characters; namely passionfruit through to gooseberry. Chardonnay has been selling very well. We are now onto the 2020 Chardonnay, which is still youthful with huge depth of character and length. It won’t last long.

We have just sold out of the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon and are now on the 2016. The 2016 is very typical of Willyabrup with great fruit and also some bay leaf and red capsicum notes. The 2018 Petit Verdot is beginning to loosen up and is a great wine to cellar for a period. The 2018 Malbec is big and juicy with a face slapping amount of fruit. The 2018 Reserve Malbec is and will keep getting better, with the barrel ferment adding body, spice, and structure to the wine. The 2018 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is still very young. The elegance is a defining character of the wine and will ensure a beautiful and long life. The 2013 Satyr has many, many years ahead of it. It has started to develop some great cigar box, tobacco, and cocoa notes, and will continue to evolve.