Behind the Scenes: Harvest at Our Biodynamic Winery

At our biodynamic estate we often see Easter as more than a holiday, it is a part of harvest, often falling when we are picking grapes or fermenting wine. While it is an essential time for work, Easter is also a time for celebration and sharing a meal. 

Harvest starts before sunrise, when the vineyard is still wrapped in dewy air. This is the moment we’ve been working toward all year, and suddenly everything is alive with purpose.

This season, our small but mighty team is made up of four dedicated winemakers, Stefano, Marco, Jordan and Louis. Four eager interns, Jake, Emilie, Simon and Henri. Our experienced vineyard crew of Lorenzo, Liam, Ross and Josh lead the team of 30 pickers.  Each person plays a vital role in bringing this vintage to life, Phoebe & Monique support the entire team.

Harvest days start early. Our vineyard team hand-picks ripe bunches row by row.  We are in tune with the moon and harvest according to taste and ripeness. The perfection and obsession of growing our grapes takes an enormous amount of work, knowledge and foresight.

Once the fruit arrives at the winery, the pace shifts from the vineyard's rhythm. The winemakers take over, guiding each parcel of fruit with care and intuition. Decisions of when to press, how to ferment, and what to leave untouched are made with clarity. Every vintage is different, and that’s part of the excitement.

In the winery, our interns quickly learn that harvest isn’t as romantic as it is portrayed on social media.  It's long hours, but it’s also the most immersive way to understand the many steps in producing high quality wine.

For us, biodynamic winemaking isn’t just a method, it’s a philosophy. It’s about respect for the land, for the people who work it, and for the wine that eventually finds its way into your glass.

When you open one of our bottles, you’re not just tasting grapes in their most pure form. You’re tasting the expression of crisp early summer mornings, beautiful pinky blue early evening skies, and the many untold unique characters of this season.  If you’d like to experience this vintage as it unfolds, our current releases offer a glimpse into that story.  Each bottle is a reflection of the same care, rhythm, and place we have brought to your table for many years.

30/03/2026 at 3:15 PM Permalink

Harvest 2026 Update

Harvest is just around the corner. We traditionally begin picking in late February or early March, depending on the season. As always, we start with our low-yielding sparkling fruit once it reaches 10–11 baumé.

This year has been an unusually cool season. Spring brought very little frost, but it was windy and showery. Summer so far has been cool and somewhat patchy, with a mix of overcast days with the occasional burst of warmth above 25°C.

Thankfully, frost impact across our vineyards has been minimal. As Stefano often says ‘site is everything’ and our Granton vineyard is a naturally safe site because it sits between 50 and 150 metres elevation, with a north facing aspect. In addition rocky, stony soils warm during the day and retain heat overnight. The Derwent River flows from the west and sweeps south, surrounding the vineyard on three sides. This allows cold air to drain away, while the river’s high flow rate, originating from Lake St Clair, helps carry cold air downstream and out the rivermouth to the sea.

Our Cradoc vineyard in the Huon Valley requires more active frost management. The Huon Valley is on average 2°C cooler than Granton and sits closer to sea level. While the vineyard fronts the Huon River at California Bay, it only has around 20% river frontage compared with Granton’s 90%. The gravelly soils act as a natural heat bank, but we also use portable frost fans positioned to push cold air towards the river, where the airflow carries it downstream.

Summer 2026 has been milder than last year, though somewhat inconsistent. One week we see mid-20°C temperatures, the next high teens with overcast skies and scattered showers. Growth has tracked slightly behind average, in other seasons we typically hedge before Christmas, but this season we began around 14th of January.

In early February, the weather has settled into a warmer, drier pattern, which is typical for this time of year. Our warmest days usually arrive through February and into March. Consequently these are some of the best months to visit Tasmania.

We have completed fruit thinning, a standard practice that ensures the crop level matches the season’s ripening capacity. This helps us achieve balanced yields and wines with concentration, flavour, natural acidity and structure.

Netting is underway, and in around four weeks we expect to pick the first grapes of the season. We have an experienced team and with harvest nearly here, we’re ready!

26/02/2026 at 9:00 AM Permalink

Selector Magazine Feature

In August last year, we had Selector Magazine visit us and interview Stefano. Upon reading the article released this week, it has made us reflect on our journey over 35 years. From ambitious and challenging beginnings, through decades of hard work and determination, to now making wines of distinction and every year in pursuit of making the best wine from the vineyard.

There were delightful quotes from industry stalwarts Michael Hill Smith MW, James Halliday and Jancis Robinson MW. To read the full article follow the link to Wine Selector's website below.

23/01/2026 at 11:00 AM Permalink