Vintage 2025 in the Singlefile Vineyard

There was a mixture of anxiety, excitement and relief as the nets were peeled away to expose the chardonnay the day before harvest of the third and final parcel of estate fruit for our flagship chardonnay, 'The Vivienne'. We hoped that the birds wouldn’t devour the exposed fruit, while being thankful for good weather, and anticipating the culmination of hard work for the season. Final inspection revealed the golden bunches of fruit and sampling confirmed the final selection of rows to best balance the two earlier picks, prior to harvesting the remaining estate fruit for our Family Reserve Denmark Chardonnay.

Season Conditions

The season has been warm and dry, with very little rain pressure during harvest. Harvest periods were from early- to late-March for the past three years, although 2024 was harvested by mid-March due to warmer weather during budburst. This year there has been a lot of variability in the vine development because of a cool spell after initiation of budburst, making it difficult to predict harvest dates. In the end, the final harvest at the Singlefile vineyard was on 21 March, 10 days later than the 2024 harvest, giving time for the slower ripening fruit to catch up with the quicker ripening fruit.

Fruit Selection for 2025 'The Vivienne' Denmark Chardonnay

Fruit for 2025 'The Vivienne' was picked from selected rows from the upper and lower chardonnay blocks, choosing the earliest ripening fruit for the first pick and fruit from the rows with the highest Baumé in the final pick to achieve the desired style for the wine.

After three picks, the final (average) Baumé was 11.97, with all fruit carefully picked by hand. Our winemaker confirmed that we had delivered pristine fruit with the ideal flavour attributes for the style we strive to achieve in 'The Vivienne'.

Pruning Style

The Upper Block of the Singlefile chardonnay is cordon pruned and the Lower Block has gradually been converted to double cordons. The main advantage of double cordon pruning in the Lower Block, which has a tendency for vigorous canopy growth, is in improved foliage management. The fruiting zone is less crowded and the vertical shoots are more controlled, giving better airflow and less shading of the fruit. This allows minimisation of leaf plucking and shoot thinning. In general, vine health and fruit quality are improved.

Pinot Noir Vineyard

The bunch counts and bunch weights for the pinot noir this season were down on last year, with fewer bunches per vine and reduced bunch weights compared with the previous season, giving a reduction in yield of about 35%, likely impacted by the cool change during budburst. However, last year's pinot noir harvest was notably high-yielding when compared to previous maximum yields. Our winemaker has commented that the 2025 fruit tastes fantastic, and we look forward to seeing the final expression of the wine in bottle.