Vintage 2022 is officially underway at Dandelion Vineyards.
Early Thursday morning, the first grenache grapes were handpicked at our single biodynamically run vineyard in McLaren Vale, Firehawk Farm. This first pick of the year will produce our Faraway Tree of McLaren Vale Grenache 2022 over the next 18 months.
With La Nina impacting on vintage conditions there’s been a delayed start to the vintage across most vineyards across South Australia. We’re happy to see that we were able to pick the first batch of the grenache 16 days earlier than last year with our bush grown vineyard grapes ripening much quicker.
Our shiraz for our Lion’s Tooth of McLaren Vale Shiraz Riesling has also had its first fruit hand harvested right as the sun came up Sunday morning in the perfect cool conditions. This year’s picking is just 4 days later than last year so we’re watching our grape varieties very closely to ensure the fruit is picked at the best time.