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2026 was a beautiful cool, mild growing season.
Harvest in the McLaren Vale commenced in earnest in late March and continued right through until early May. March rainfall introduced some botrytis risk and briefly delayed harvest; however, overall disease levels remained manageable, and conditions between rainfall events supported continued ripening.
While Vintage 2026 was later than the previous two vintages, harvest timing remained close to the longer-term regional average until just after Easter. From mid-harvest onwards, April rainfall and low autumn temperatures slowed ripening and extended the harvest period.
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Bastardo was first planted at Chalk Hill Viticulture’s California Road Vineyard in 2013 with 2 trial rows established on own roots. The success of the first vintage of Blind Man’s Bluff resulted in 2.5 hectares of Merlot being removed and another 12 rows being planted along with 12 rows of Saperavi and 2 trial rows of Mencia. The Saperavi subsequently provided the source for our Simon Says and the Mencia or Jaen in Portuguese became our first Bingo. The deep silty Biscay soils that constitute much of White’s Valley, a stone’s throw from Port Willunga beach are notorious for “cracking” during summer due to their low organic content. As such the mid-row is planted with a cover crop that provides a rich mulch to improve soil nutrition and retain moisture during the warm/dry growing season
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Skin contact time was minimized to only a few hours from the commencement of harvest to free run juice filling the tank via the press. No added acid, enzymes etc. Entirely tank fermented at 15C to retain freshness. 6 months aging on yeast lees to enrich the glycerol mid palate. No fining agents pre-bottling on the 31st August