By Neil Pike
Autumn is my favourite time of the year. I like the hustle, bustle and excitement of harvest and the beautiful autumn colours. But mostly, I like that the weather is more conducive to red wine consumption than the preceding hot summer months.
Fortunately, autumn is when we release our new vintage reds and this year, we’re starting to roll out reds from the excellent 2015 vintage.
Overall the...
The Pike Family patriach, Henry Pike, emigrated from Dorset to South Australia in 1878 aboard the HMS Oakland. He settled in the small town of Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills and in 1886 established a family business called Pikes Dorset Brewery. Subsequently this business became known as H. Pike & Co. and the Pikes name became known throughout South Australia for its quality beer, ales, soft drinks and cordials and its famous Tonic Ale. From th...
Hectares/Acres: 75 ha (180 acres) vineyard planted 1984-2003. Majority planted on their own roots with a diverse range of clonally selected varieties used. A small amount of Riesling, Viognier and Tempranillo is planted on rootstock.
Climate:
Cool to cold and wet winters (650 mm rainfall). Warm to hot and dry summers. Mean January Temperature 21.9°C. Rainfall is heavily winter dominant with most rain falling between May and October. Frost ...
Most fruit is lightly crushed and destemmed prior to pressing or fermentation. Minimal amounts of SO2 added in the vineyard to protect against oxidation in delicate white varieties (Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon). Reds have SO2 added at the crusher prior to maceration/fermentation. Pectic enzymes added to white varieties ex press, juice/must adjusted where necessary with tartaric acid. Inert gases, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, are used e...
VINTAGE 2015 By Andrew Pike
Based on our records, February 4th is the earliest ever start to vintage in our 30 years in the Clare Valley…and given we are now almost finished…it will almost certainly be the earliest ever finish!
This is not in itself a problem, but the compressed nature of vintage has certainly provided some challenges coordinating the intake and the logistics of moving it through the winery before maturities and fruit co...
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