2012 Eden Hall Vintage Report

The 2012 growing season followed a very wet period that included the previous summer and autumn of 2011. The winter was colder with below average rainfall followed by a mild to warm spring that was also fairly dry. Flowering was patchy such that the red grapes set a very low crop. Summer was also unusually mild with below average temperatures and no extreme weather events.

Harvest began earlier in 2012 with Riesling producing balanced moderate crops and healthy canopies producing outstanding fruit. No Riesling was lost to disease in the 2012 vintage which was an excellent result following the difficult 2011 season. Indeed the Riesling has just gone into bottle (23 May 2012) and looks likely to raise the bar on the lofty standards that Eden Hall Riesling has already set in the past.

There was a considerable gap before the red harvest began even though the yield was less than a third of last year’s. Fortunately the payback for the exceedingly low cropping level was made in the form of exceptional quality. The standouts were the Block 1 Cabernet Sauvignon, Block 4 Shiraz and Block 13 Cabernet Franc.

All in all an outstanding vintage that will rival 2002 for greatness.