During the growing season of  late 2008, South Australia experienced cooler than average weather conditions with timely rainfall  resulting in what might be considered a normal growing season.  Cool and dry conditions persisted into the New Year providing excellent conditions for vine health and flavour development.McLaren Vale is fortunate in that it is bordered by the ocean to the west and the Adelaide Hills to the east, trapping the afternoon sea breezes and keeping the temperatures cooler than further inland.  A very welcome inch of rain fell towards the end of December,  freshening the vineyards.  McLaren Vale was unable to escape the heat wave in late January however conditions quickly cooled and March saw some showers and a substantial temperature drop, slowing ripening and allowing good flavour development.

Conditions in South Australia over the last three seasons have been warmer and drier than average resulting in shorter vintages and certainly putting pressure on both grape growers and winemakers alike to get grapes into the winery and processed quickly.  The Haselgrove winery is well set up to handle these conditions, it is well equipped for small batch processing with an excess of cooling and can handle good volumes of fruit in a 24 hour period.  Overall, the 2009 vintage for Haselgrove has delivered very good quality in both red and white wines. The January heat wave was well before veraison in the Adelaide Hills and good canopy cover provided strong protection.  All of our 2009 white wines show excellent flavour and very good, balancing acidity.  Some of the early ripening reds in McLaren Vale were lost to the heat but vines with good canopy cover on deep loamy soils survived and benefited from the cooler conditions experienced in March.  Generally the reds from 2009 show good balance, firm tannins and plenty of flavour.  Our 60 plus year old vines came through unscathed and the wines from that vineyard will develop well over the next few years.