“The 2024 harvest started early for us here at Bimbadgen, with one of the earliest harvest dates in many years – a result of a warm dry 2023. Spring seemed early in August and having below average rainfall, budburst & flowering saw a healthy all be it reserved crop. November and December saw more warm weather however a few rain events gave a well-deserved reprieve to the vines giving them a burst of life. The fruit was looking in immaculate condition with clean bunches and smaller berries from the warmer conditions, resulting in them ripening rather rapidly over the Christmas & New Year period. Showing great flavor and concentration, we kept a close eye on the development as harvest was rapidly approaching. Luckily to narrowly dodge a few hail events close to our Palmer’s Lane site we kicked off harvest with a parcel of Chardonnay for sparkling base on the 4^th January. Once in the tank safely, it was only a matter of a day or two before the remaining Chardonnay cascaded into the winery, shortly followed by the Semillon a week later. We did see lower yields along with many other producers in the region, although we were happy with the intense flavor and good chemistry. Mid-January we had most of our whites in the building and turned our focus on to the reds, taking some beautifully aromatic Rosé material. The final week of January was fully booked seeing us bring in all blocks of shiraz which was a speedy finish to a fast-paced harvest. There was plenty of cellar work in February tidying up from a whirlwind harvest, with all wines looking of great quality. As the weather cools off, we will be looking at blending and bottling this year’s Whites and Rose’s along with the 2023 Reds. All in all, 2024 should produce some beautiful wines with whites drinking well young, full of vibrancy and reds with depth and power that will develop as they age.”