Our Articles
Here we have articles written by various members of our team designed to share our passion and hopefully teach a little – about everything from the vineyard and production in the winery to cellaring and wine and food matching. Most of all we welcome questions from you to fuel this section of our website: admin@saracenestates.com.au
Stopping to smell the roses
One of the many questions asked of the cellar door members here at Saracen Estates is why we, and many other wineries, have roses at the end of each vineyard row. Yes they are there to add to the aesthetics and ambience of the vineyard but there are also a few different theories, depending upon who you ask, as to why roses are planted.
Theory 1: The roses act as a habitat for beneficiary insects, like lady birds, which are a natural predator against some small vineyard pests like the soft scale. Scale is attracted to and grows on the green woody parts of the vine and draws nutrients from the sap that it sucks out of the vine. Scale in itself is not too horrific but the result of having lots of sugar rich sap on the vines is much worse attracting bigger pests and more disease like moulds and mildew into the vineyard.
Theory 2: Like the canary for the miners, the roses are an early warning system that something could be wrong in the vineyard. The rose bush is more susceptible to diseases like powdery mildew and the end sacrificial roses will develop symptoms before the grapevines alerting the viticulturist to remedy the problem with sulphur before it gets too bad. Also what is happening underground can be reflected by the rose bush so nutrient deficiencies and even problems with the irrigation system can be highlighted in the roses before the grapevines are too badly affected.
Theory 3: It’s tradition! And who are we here at Saracen Estates to ignore tradition.
Check out the photos on our Photo Gallery!
By Pamela Izzard
Vintage begins in the Vineyard
The timing of picking in the vineyard is solely dependent upon fruit ripeness. Fruit ripeness is when our wine maker Bob Cartwright sees the balance between optimum sugars and acids and the distinct varietal flavours and characteristics he is looking to produce in the wines displayed through the raw fruit. When fruit is at a premium for wine making it is also highly desirable to small furry vineyard visitors. If you have visited Margaret River in the past months and noticed the ‘nets’ out on the vines, this is to minimize the damage caused by our neighbouring bird life. Not all the fruit is netted as putting the nets on and taking them off is a labour intensive process making it quite expensive. However, with knowledge of the vineyard the vineyard team know exactly where and when to net. By Pamela Izzard
"Chickens & Hens" In the Vineyard
Currently in the vineyard flowering is nearing completion and berry set is in full swing with bunch closure just around the corner. Small green berries have appeared on the vines and these will slowly grow in size tightening up the bunches ready for verasion and ripening. Differences between varietals is quite distinct at this time of year especially when you look closely at all the new development happening.
The Chardonnay has one of the most distinct bunch patterns with a phenomeom sometimes referred to as ‘Chicken and hen’, otherwise known as millerandage. Chicken and hen refers to a bunch of grapes with small and large berries. The smaller berries are considered to make very good quality wine as the flavours, acids and sugars of the grape are more concentrated the larger berries help to increase the yield. Our winemaker Bob Cartwright agrees that chicken and hen is an indicator of good quality.
Also at this time of year the vineyard crew is closely watching and monitoring the yield of the grape varieties, counting bunches and using historical data to predict the cropping levels for 2010. This year the cellar door team went out into the field and did a few predictions of their own! With much more experience and patience the vineyard crew might have the more accurate figures, however only time will tell.
By Pamela Izzard
The Vineyard Springing into Life
Over Winter the vines experience a period of dormancy where the internal metabolism inside the vine slows right down. This gives the vineyard team a chance to control the vineyard yield for the next vintage through pruning. Pruning removes old growth and leaves behind important 'buds' which is where all the growth starts next season.
With Spring comes a very important change in the vineyard, 'Budburst'! The first indication of budburst is fluid leaking from the apparently dormant buds left behind after pruning. Buds then swell and appear 'woolly' and green shoots and small leaves begin to grow, at this point budburst is truly underway. During the first month of dormancy all the 'food' used by the vine to grow comes from stores within the trunks and old growth left behind - which is why older vines have much thicker trunks.
By Pamela Izzard
The Terroir Debate
The French term 'terroir' refers to the total natural environment of any one vineyard site. An essential notion of terroir is that all components are natural and cannot be significantly influenced by management. However in New World regions, such as Margaret River, there are important vineyard and wine making practices used to manage and maximise the benefits of this natural environment. So does the concept of terroir still apply to New World regions like Margaret River?
In Margaret River, and in fact in many regions new to producing wine, a new term has developed which is very similar to its French counterpart. The word 'site expression' refers to the influence of not only the natural environment but also incorprates the use of current technologies and the effect this has on wine. Vineyards use different techniques to enhance or minimize the effect of the natural environment on the growth of the grapevines.
At Saracen Estates we irrigate during the hottest part of summer due to the poor water retention of the soil to minimize heat stress in our vines. Site expression is the reason you can travel along Caves Road visiting wineries within very close proximity to each other and experience very different wines.
There is much debate about the relevance of terroir to Margaret River and by extension Saracen Estates and whether this new concept of 'site expression' adequately explains the differences found between vineyards. Either way, there is no denying that Margaret River has a beneficial natural environment for producing wine and here at Saracen Estates we believe that it is also a beneficial environment for enjoying wine too!
By Pamela Izzard
Fining Agents in Wines
Probably one of the most commonly asked questions of Cellar Door staff is regarding the use of fining agents in wine. The more astute observers amongst us will have noticed that many bottles of wine contain statements regarding the use of egg, milk, nut or fish products. Fining agents are sometimes used by winemakers to make minor adjustments to a wine to improve quality by removing certain unwanted elements. Many fining agents are proteins from natural products such as albumin from egg whites and casein from skim milk. A winemaker will select a specific fining agent for a specific purpose – for example isinglass (a fish product) is often used to remove bitterness and to clarify white wines, and egg whites can be used to remove certain undesirable tannins in red wine. Fining agents are generally removed from a wine when they sink to the bottom of the wine after having bound to the undesirable component, or they are removed by filtration. The use of fining agents in wine is as old as the winemaking process itself, and is an important step in allowing the winemaker to create the best wine possible for you to enjoy!