The 2024 vintage was definitely one of the earliest vintages the region has experienced.
“A wet June topped up our dams and meant we started the season in good shape. This turned out to be very, very important as the season progressed,” says Castle Rock Estate owner and winemaker, Rob Diletti.
From the beginning of September 2023 to the end of April 2024, there was a total of 162mm of rain, 116mm of that fell before the new year, with 46mm from January to the end of April.
Apart from two days topping 40 degrees, there was not sustained excessive heat, but it was still a warm year.
“We maintained good vine health and adequate leaf cover through well managed irrigation, as well as altering our canopy management regime to suit the warmer and dryer weather conditions.
“Vintage started nearly four weeks earlier than last year, and was certainly very frantic. That said we are extremely pleased and proud of the wines that we produced.
“This was achieved by maintaining our irrigation throughout harvest, careful monitoring of the vines as well as the grapes, and picking immediately when needed.
“Having our own harvester again proved to be critical in this process, enabling us to pick the grapes at optimal ripeness and delivering them to the winery immediately.”
“As always the stand out wines from the Porongurups are Pinot Noir and Riesling, highlighting our unique site’s suitability for these varieties.”
Since the beginning of May the region has experienced 30mm of rain, providing hope of a wet winter to restore soil moisture and water reserves.
For further information and images please contact:
- David Cumming at Define Wine Marketing & Communications on 0414 736 342 or david@definewine.com.au
- Rob Diletti, Winemaker at Castle Rock on 0447 531 035 or rob@castlerockestate.com.au
Castle Rock Estate is nestled on the eastern slopes of the Porongurup Mountain and is named after a prominent nearby granite landmark. The vineyard, which sits in Great Southern’s sub region Porongurup, has a cool and elevated northerly aspect, resulting in intensely flavoured wines, particularly Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The vineyard was established in 1983 by Angelo and Wendy Diletti and is now run by their son Rob. Their 200-tonne winery was constructed in 2000 and in 2015 Rob Diletti was named Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year. Rob was a finalist in the 2019 Gourmet Traveller WINE Magazine Winemaker of the Year awards and a finalist in the 2022 Wine Companion ‘Best Value Winery’ Awards.