2025 Vintage Update from Stuart Pierce

The 2025 vintage is in full swing! We are sore and sleep deprived, but the fruit is looking remarkable.

In the winery there is always a nervous feeling of excitement before vintage begins - a bit like waiting in line to go on a new rollercoaster ride for the first time.

The past few weeks have been busy with preparations. The start of vintage is a flurry, pulling fruit from the vines. But there is an enormous amount of work that goes into making sure we are ready for the rush!

• All the machines have been going in for last checks and services. The lab has been preparing for the incredible amounts of analysis that will be required in coming months.
• Inductions and onboarding for all our new, seasonal workers, and roster shimmying for the longer working hours, have been wrangled.
• Oak barrels have been coming in from the US and France.
• And the final bottling runs have gone through – before we shut down the bottling hall during vintage.

The birds started showing some interest in the fruit toward the end of January, so we netted up to protect the Whites for those last couple of weeks of ripening. Anyone who has worked in a vineyard before knows this is a hair-pulling operation – rich is stress and skill. But alas, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Across the board the vines have been looking quite fruitful this year, so we will be expecting a bigger vintage.

As I write this update, most of our white wines have been harvested and are in the winery for processing.

Earlier ripening reds are coming off, and the Shiraz and Cabernet will not be far behind (looks like they will be ripening in a couple of weeks).

Until next time,

Stuart Pierce

Head Winemaker

Fishbone, Harvey River Estate & Joseph River Estate