If you are interested in a future release, please do not hesitate to contact us, and we will notify you just before its release. Because of the limited supply of our products, we allocate our supplies of new releases to regular customers first, to people who pre-register their interest in specific wines second, and then on a first-come first-served basis.

2022 Pinot Noir

The cool and wet of the previous year continued into the spring of 2021. Our vines burst very early - September 16th, but then effectively stopped for 2 weeks as cool wet weather prevailed.  They started their growth apace around the 1st of October - the typical time for budburst. Substantive rain events continued through the entirety of spring, and this severely affected flowering and subsequent number of grapes on the vines. A large canopy help ripen the grapes in what turned out to be the coolest vintage for Canberra since 2000. It was consistently mild - but never hot. Maipenrai only had 2 days over 30C across the entire vintage year. Consistent rain throughout autumn made choosing the right day to pick, hard. We picked on April 3rd a very small, but very ripe crop.

Despite the cool vintage, the wine is nearly 14% Alc/Vol, and has a considerable palate and deep colour. Very good, but quite different than our normal style, with more fruit, body and alcohol than normal, and a bit less savouriness. It is none-the-less a very good wine and I look forward to seeing how it evolves this year in barrel. Only 2.5 barrels made. No Amungula Creek Made, No Magnums Made.  

We also made one barrel of Shiraz-Viognier, made with 60% of the fruit coming from Tim and Lara Kirk's vineyard in Murrumbateman, and the rest from a small set of plantings in our vineyard. With 15% Viognier in the mix and a very cool year, this wine has amazing cool climate spice. 

2023 Pinot Noir

The 3rd La Nina summer in a row produced the coolest on record, and one of the wettest vintages at Maipenrai.  Budburst was around October 1st, as per normal, and like the 2021/22 growing season substantive rain events continued through the entirety of spring. We did a bit better with flowering than the previous year, which didn't occur until mid December (latest ever), and the very large canopy kept things ticking along, even if the weather remained constistently cool. Veraison didn't start until the end of February, and we ended up picking the Pinot Noir on the 22nd of April - our latest vintage ever. Our Shiraz and Viognier was picked not fully ripened in the snow on the 7th of May - unfortunately it was not ripe enough to make wine. 

The wine did reach 13% Alc/Vol and has all the making of a classic Pinot.  6 barrels made.

2024 Pinot Noir

The 4th La Nina summer in a row produced a year warmer than 2023, but still one of the cooler and wetter vintages at Maipenrai.  Budburst was the last week of september after a dryish winter.  But like the 2021/22/23 growing seasons substantive rain events continued through the entirety of spring. Flowering was still a mixed bag due to the weather, and occurred in the second-half of November.  Another the very large canopy remained healthy through out the growing season, as again we had lots of cloud and consistently mild weather. Mid February brought veraison and quite a warm autumn, and we ended up picking the Pinot Noir on the 17th of March. 2.3 tonnes harvested. We fermented in a single vat with 15% whole bunch. The Fermentations went through without issue, and we pressed the wine into barrel after 3 weeks - 1/3rd of which is new French Oak. 6 Barrels made.  

We also made some Amungula Creek Pinot from some fruit from Lerida Estate, and 3 Barrels of Shiraz Viognier from a mixture of fruit from our own vineyard, Murrumbateman, and Lake George.