Cyclones & Grapes The Making of a Unique Vintage
If you thought that 2017’s random weather patterns had ruined your weekend plans spare a thought for our nation’s winemakers whose reputations hinge on one of the more challenging vintages in recent history.
With Cyclone Debbie, Cyclone Donna, Cyclone Cook and other extreme weather events impacting vineyards all over the country winemakers have had a tough run of late.
But sometimes the toughest conditions can create the most special results. And this is the potential that some of our more accomplished winemakers see out of this vintage.
Nautilus Estate’s winemaker Clive Jones is one such example and is very proud of the wines he has been able to craft in 2017.
“There is no doubt that 2017 was a year where we had to push things to the limits to make the best possible wines” says Jones “and the superb vineyard sites, great winery facilities and experience of the crew really paid off”.
I think overall the Sauvignons will perhaps be slightly more restrained than some years, but delightful to drink and unmistakeably Marlborough.
First established in 1985, Nautilus Estate recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary and has been under the same family ownership since day one. Jones has been making the wines since 1998 and takes things in his stride.
Great sites, low cropping old vines, rigorous selection and state of the art dedicated Pinot Noir and White Wine facilities were the aces up the winemaker’s sleeve which meant that Nautilus’ fruit got ripe early and arrived at the winery in good condition.
So what does this mean for the vintage 2017 wines? Jones believes the 2017 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir will be among the best he has ever made. The combination of site selection, clonal diversity and vine age of these two varieties and this year’s small crops mean the wines have the potential to be truly exceptional.
The Sauvignon too is looking good, with plenty of the fruit arriving at the start of the harvest period with good, ripe, pungent flavours. The later picked parcels look clean, attractive and balanced.
“I think overall the Sauvignons will perhaps be slightly more restrained than some years, but delightful to drink and unmistakeably Marlborough. I am very comfortable with how all the wines look and I think they will be very similar in style to the 2016’s.”
The first Nautilus 2017 vintage wines will appear in September 2017 through a selection of fine wine merchants and restaurants and we do recommend capturing a slice of this very unique moment in history.