We may be nearing the end of harvest with most fruit safely in the winery, but the winemakers and vintage crew are still working round the clock overseeing the process of turning the grapes into wine.
Saint Clair night shift crew including, from left, Kathrin Jankowiec,
Stacey Lowther-Frost,
Heather Stewart are still smiling despite six weeks of hard work in the winery.
Light but persistent rain has added an extra complication to harvest, but improvements to the winery over winter have increased efficiency. This combined with the dedicated team approach from the harvesting crew to the winemaking team ensures fruit is received and processed at the winery in a timely manner.
Winemakers and cellar hands are still working in shifts around the clock, and while they are pretty tired after almost six weeks of hard yakka, spirits are high, with most of the fruit safely in the winery and fermenting.
Assistant White Winemaker Heather Stewart, who helps keep the winery ticking at night during vintage, says there is still plenty of work to be done once the fruit is in the winery, as the team oversee the fermentation process and work on fine tuning the flavours.
Some fruit, including the late harvest riesling, remain on the vines and winemakers are continually tasting the berries to ensure a perfect balance of flavours before picking.
The team is looking forward to getting together and celebrating the end of vintage next week.
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