Cafe and Cellar Door
Wed - Sun: 10am - 5pm
Public Holiday: 12pm - 4pm

Restaurant - Lunch
Wed - Sat: 11am - 3pm
Sun 12pm: - 3pm
Public Holiday: 12pm - 2.30pm

Restaurant - Dinner
Fri - Sat: 6pm - 11pm

8691 West Swan Road
Henley Brook WA 6055
Tel: 9296 3444
Fax: 9296 3555
Vintage Report 2009

Tuesday, 16th Mar 2010
Wow! What a vintage it has been, a rollercoaster of highs and lows but now that it’s all over I am very pleased to declare that 2009 is the best vintage that I’ve ever seen or experienced.

It all started with a wet and cool Spring. The benefit of this is a nice, long, slow development of fruit which is perfect for the white grape varieties but not so for the reds. Under these conditions the whites retain their natural acidity and ripen unevenly producing a myriad of flavours in the resulting wines. However, during cool years there is the danger of the red wine varieties not ripening properly, yielding unpleasant green characters.

So we were faced with a great year for whites but we were fighting a constant battle with disease. Powdery Mildew, Downey Mildew, Botrytis - we had outbreaks of them all. Since we were expecting this we undertook an extensive spray program and canopy management strategy .

The old cliché about painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge, that is, by the time you’re finished you have to start again held a personal relevance to me. I was doing constant laps of the vineyard spraying and manipulating the canopy. Despite the tedium our strategy was successful and the result was insignificant damage to the fruit.

As January rolled through, the weather changed dramatically, characteristically to hot and dry. This completed the perfect season as the whites came off full of life and the reds leapt forward in their development. The warm conditions brought out the colour and fruit ripeness of our Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Personally it was a long vintage - almost two months in length - and while this doesn’t sound too harsh it was two months of working huge hours every single day. I had too much time to think and anticipate, finding myself at work by 4 a.m. on more than one occasion due to insomnia.

Now that it’s done I feel confident that we did all that we could to take advantage of the season and I now have the luxury of shaping some amazing wines this year. The reds are deep and intense but my personal favourite is our 2009 Semillon. I love this variety and it has been my mission to realize the potential of this often overlooked variety. Everyday I look at this wine and walk away smiling; I can’t wait to share it with the world!
Vintage Report 2008
Vintage Report 2007 Part 2: The Winery
Vintage Report 2007 Part 1: The Vineyard


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© Chesters Restaurant
Gold Plate Winner 2006, 2008 & 2009 - Licenced Casual Dining, Tourist Restaurant, Restaurant in a Winery
Winner R+CIA Awards for Excellence 2005 - Restaurant in a Winery.
Gold Plate Finalist 2004 - 2008