Excuse me while I turn into one of those annoying people who comment on how quickly the year has gone…

Where on earth has this year gone??! It’s November. And that means I can’t deny that Christmas is “just around the corner” for much longer. But just watch me!

The fact that the weather is well and truly warming up doesn’t help my denial. Although I am still holding on for dear life to those cooler days which keep popping up now and then.

Thankfully the latest burst of cold weather we had over the last week doesn’t seem to have slowed the vines down at all.

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve done a full side by side comparison of all the varieties in the block down in Adelaide. I took some photos on Monday this week (28th October). Let’s see what they look like against the photos taken on October 4th (on the left)…

Shiraz

  

Cabernet Sauvignon

  

Tempranillo

  

Sangiovese

  

Merlot

   

Grenache

For some reason, I don’t have a photo of the Grenache from the 4th… sorry!

Chardonnay

   

Semillon

   

Sauvignon Blanc

   

Vermentino

   

Fiano

   

Riesling

   

 

What do the numbers tell us…?

(remember to check back here to follow along with the E-L stage definitions)

Variety	Growth stage (no. of leaves) 25th Sept	Growth stage (no. of leaves) 4th October	Growth stage (no. of leaves) 28th October
Shiraz	EL 11 (3-4)	EL12 (5) – 25cm	EL19 (10)
Cabernet Sauvignon	EL 9 (2)	EL11 (4) – 17cm	EL15 (8)
Tempranillo	EL12 (5)	EL13 (6) – 20cm dense	EL16 (9)
Sangiovese	EL 11 (4)	EL 11 (4) – 30cm dense	EL23 50% capfall (17-20)
Merlot	EL 9 (3)	EL11 (4) – 17cm	EL15 (8)
Grenache	EL12 (5)	EL11 (4) – 17cm	EL16 (9)
Chardonnay	EL12 (5)	EL 14 (7) – 40cm	EL23 50% capfall (17-20)
Semillon	EL 9 (3)	EL11 (4) – 15cm	EL16 (9)
Sauvignon Blanc	EL 9 (2)	EL 9 (3) – 12cm	EL15 (8)
Vermentino	EL 9 (3)	EL11 (4) – 20cm	EL16 (9)
Fiano	EL 11 (4)	EL12 (5) – 25cm vigourous	EL19 Caps loosening (16)
Riesling	EL 11 (4)	EL11 (4) – 20cm	EL20 1st capfall flowers (16)

If you need a reminder of what the term “capfall” means, take a look back at this post. I will come back to this next week though. We’ll go into it in a bit more detail then.

 

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What does it all mean??!

It is getting harder to decipher the real story just from the photos. The numbers though are beginning to highlight the differences between varieties.

In particular, I want you to have a closer look at the results for Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Fiano and Riesling. There is a massive difference between the growth stage these varieties were at just 24 days earlier. It is clear that these particular varieties are progressing through this part of the growing season quicker than others.

You will notice that other varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet appear to be taking things pretty slowly. Only adding around four leaves in the same amount of time.  But keep in mind though that the leaves and shoots are getting bigger and longer.

It will be interesting to see if the speed each variety moves through the other pivotal stages of growth changes along the way.

 

Adelaide Hills versus Adelaide Plains

Let’s finish with the comparison between the Adelaide Plains Chardonnay and the Chardonnay grown in the Adelaide Hills. As you can see, the Hills are still a long way behind the vines on the plains. That’s all thanks to our lovely cool climate…

Adelaide Plains: 42m above sea level (EL23 50% capfall – 17-20 leaves)

Adelaide Hills:  654m above sea level (EL12 – 4-6 leaves)