Tim's Ravings

We’ve taken some hits these last few years.

A fearsome drought, an entire harvest lost to smoke taint and now Coronavirus. But the support from you has been overwhelming and genuinely touching; and because of it, we’re still standing.

Amazingly, (thanks to the government for Job Keeper and other vital relief), we’re not just standing, we’re taking steps to invest in productivity and quality for the years to come, and getting ready to return to business as soon as we are able.

It would be easy to get depressed and give up in this most challenging of years, but we’ve made a determined effort stay positive, stay afloat, and keep our wonderful team in work. And there is a silver lining to all this. It is the gift of time – the most precious resource in the world. Time to step back and think. Time to look after each other. Time to work on the business not just in it. Time to make things better. Time to do the jobs that just never get done.

Now, time that would ordinarily be spent at the cellar door and garden bar, planning and delivering multiple events, harvesting, making the 2020 wines and bottling the 2020 whites is being spent improving the business. We’re replanting vines, investing in the health and productivity of the vineyard, refurbishing the cellar door and more.

We’ve always looked at time a bit differently at Huntington. We value it as our greatest asset. Our vines are mostly over 50 years old and getting better, perhaps even wiser, so we don’t rush the grapes as they ripen in the vineyard. We leave the wine to mature in barrels at its own pace and rest in bottle so that it is ready to release at 4 to 5 years of age. After all is said and done, time is the true test of a wine.

We’re just beginning the mammoth task of pruning the vineyard (the beginning of the next season, more than the end of the current one). The drought is broken. It’s time to start Vintage 2021.

Cheers to the future, and to making the most of the time we have.