Mulgrave Heights 2008 Vintage

Our back garden hosts 2 grape vines, both of the same variety (as yet unknown). One vine sits on the garage wall and is westerly facing, the second and larger vine is located on the northern fence line. Both vines are approximately 25 years old.

This year, the westerly vine had a small infestation of vine mite and as such none of the grapes were used for wine production. The northerly vine was infestation free.

With the assistance of our winemaker, Andrew Osborne (Ossy), and his 2 year old daughter Charleah, the grapes were harvested on March 9th 2008. 10.5 litres of must was achieved. Due to the unusually hot temperatures experienced that day (34) we were unable to second crush the skins or keep the must on skin for any period of time. Despite this, the must in 2008 has a much deeper colour than previous vintages.

We transferred the must from the 20 litre flask, to 2x4litre flask on 12th April. At this time our Specific Gravity was 950. Now the chemistry lessons I missed in high school become useful!