CLIMATE
The
sea has a strong moderating effect on the climate. Temperatures
rarely exceed 30°C. It is the hot north winds which
usually cause very high temperatures in South Australia
and, at our vineyard, these come straight off the sea and
hence are much cooler than in the Barossa or McLaren Vale,
for example.
This absence of extreme high temperatures plays its part
in preserving flavour compounds in the fruit, and because
maximum colour development in the skins occurs at temperatures
around 25°C, it also helps us to produce fruit with
intense colour.
Rainfall is low, with approximately 420mm being the annual
average. For 1998, 1999 and 2000 vintages, this low rainfall
was the norm. However, in the year 2000, winter and spring
rains far exceeded 420mm. As the rains were followed by
a dry late spring and summer, conditions were ideal for
the 2001 vintage.
We use rain caught in a number of dams on the property to
provide minimal irrigation in order to maintain the adequate
leaf cover necessary to generate sugars, flavour and colour
in the berries.
SOILS
These
are tough and hard – very much suited to cabernet sauvignon.
There is a clayey grey-brown layer to approximately one metre,
under which there is a deep, well-drained limestone marl.
Soils are not generous, but are fertile enough to provide
good but not too vigorous growth.
VINE
TRAINING AND PRUNING
There
is a single-wire cordon at about one metre, with foliage wires
on the shiraz to keep the canopy upright. The cabernet canes
are naturally more erect, but are now long enough for us to
consider foliage wires for them as well. The result is a reasonably
tall, open canopy with well-distributed fruit. Light reaching
bunches is nicely dappled, with few bunches having prolonged
exposure to direct sunlight.
The vines are spur-pruned to approximately 50 buds per vine.
WEED
CONTROL
The vineyard floor is kept relatively free of weeds during
the growing season to reduce competition for water
and disease pressures. Working of soil is kept to a minimum
to prevent soil breakdown. Under-vine mulching is being considered
as a means of conserving moisture.
The
grapes are sent by ferry to the mainland immediately after
picking, and are processed at McLaren Vale at the Boar’s
Rock winery. After about a week in stainless steel fermenters,
the wine is transferred to oak hogsheads or barriques for
the completion of fermentation. We use oak supplied by various
manufacturers in order to achieve maximum flexibility and
complexity in the blending programme. Ultra-premium producers
such as Seguin Moreau, François Frères, Sirugue,
Remond, Billon and Radoux are all used by Cape d’Estaing.
Most of the oak is French, but we very much like the added
lift provided by good American oak – especially for
our shiraz. We use about 70% new barrels each year, with 30%
of the blends being aged in once or twice-used barrels. Wines
are racked at least four times during their maturation, and
this helps to increase complexity and to soften and round
off any of the harder tannins.
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