Vintage Chart

At Wombat I am focused on producing the best single vineyard wine I can from my small vineyard in Pokolbin. Each year we submit a number of samples to regional wine shows, and most importantly the Hunter Valley Wine Shows, our single vineyard wines from our Shiraz, Semillon and Chardonnay vineyards so we can benchmark how we are performing against other wineries, and against ourself year on year. We are delighted to share the results of our regional wine show participation. Click here to see a PDF of our wine show awards for our single vineyard core wines - we have also won bronze medals for our Rose and Sparkling wine.

Our tasting notes for each vintage are currently undergoing re-construction - if you need anything in the meantime, just send me an email and I will pass it back to you.

OVERALL VINTAGE CHART - WOMBAT CROSSING VINEYARD

VINTAGE	WEATHER	SEMILLON	CHARDONNAY	SHIRAZ	OVERALL
2004	Great weather until early February when we had several thunderstorms and significant rainfall.		Not planted.	Not made this year.
2005	Dry summer with a little rain.		First year vines - not picked this year.
2006	Dry year with little rain over harvest. Very hot from Christmas through January.			The Shiraz won gold in the Single Vineyard class of the HV Wine Show. A more Burgandy style than we normally make attributed to the draught year experienced in the vineyard.
2007	Terrific year, but very dry conditions restricted yields.	Lovely fruit but very low yields.	Really good flavours and fruit ripeness; reduced yields. Has won gold, silver and bronze medals in local wine shows.	Very good vintage but yields at 50% of target. Silver medal HV Wine Show 2010.
2008	Great drought breaking Rains in June. Ended as a terrible year at Wombat due to heavy rainfall during late November, mid-January and early February. Overcast skies; no real summer in the Valley.	Not made this year.	Not made this year.	We were one of the lucky ones with the Shiraz this year as we avoided disease pressures. We made only rosé from this vintage.
2009	This was a good growing season that got off to a bit of a late start. Good winter rains sustained the vines in the early days, and irrigation was only needed in December and January. Late January had some hot days that saw the Shiraz build flavour and sugar quickly towards the end. While there was some heavy rain later in February, we were fortunate to get our grapes into the winery before they could be adversely affected by this event.	The grapes were picked a little on the acid side with lower sugar. The wine will take some time to develop - it is an example of the older style semillon made in the valley.	A good year for the chardonnay, which saw even ripeness and good bunch sizes with no disease pressures. Bronze medal at HV Wine Show 2010.	The wine will be robust and typical of a Hunter Shiraz. Great year. Was bottled in October 2010 and will come onto the list in 2012.
2010	The 2010 vintage was a very unusual year - all our grapes were picked in 3 sessions from January 22 to January 27 - everything ripened at once, with the Shiraz surprising us by reaching ripeness only 4 days after the Chardonnay. It was an incredibly hectic time! Our vines were picked before the rain that came in February, and the young wines look simply brilliant in the winery.	Produced the best balanced fruit for several years. In the Hunter Valley 2010 Wine Show this wine won gold, and trophy runner up. Best single vineyard semillon in the valey. Second gold at the HV Boutique Winemakers Show. Fabulous wine!	Our Chardonnay had a little botrytis in some bunches that we cut off prior to picking. The hot weather in January resulted in some well tanned berries along the fringes. I tasted the juice recently - this will be another good year! Will be bottled in November 2010 and come onto the list in 2012.	2010 saw this vineyard produce small berries that resulted in lower than normal yields. Not impacted by the February rains, picked with great flavours. In barrel until 2012.
2011	This vintage was exceptional for our Chardonnay and Shiraz, but we didn't make Semillon this year. We had a long cool Spring that lasted almost until Christmas, then some extremely hot days in early January that caused sunburn in our Semillon vineyard. We harvested the Chardonnay and some Shiraz fruit for Rose on February 3, and the Shiraz on the 9th.	Not made this year. As a result of sunburn, the fruit had a somewhat caramelised taste on the western side, so we left it hanging to make a sticky. Guess what - it didn't rain in February, and the birds came in and had a feast!	Fantastic year for Chardonnay! We had no real disease in the vineyard this year, despite many vineyards experiencing downey mildew during this season. Harvested by machine, the fruit was in excellent shape and has led to a terrific wine. Look out for this one!	A cool growing season and pleny of timely rain produced a balanced crop this year. We harvested the day before it began to rain, so the fruit was good quality.