News & Press

Late harvest - 28 Apr 18

And the first shall be last ....or more accurately in our case the last will be a first!! On a glorious golden Autumn day a small group picked the last of the fruit for this season - the Sauvignon Blanc on Templars Hill, the high part of Domain Road Vineyard, had been left out for an extra month after the main harvest so that we can make our first ever dessert wine.  

Fiona - leads the way ......

The bins are filling fast ........

The so called 'crazy row' is dealt to ....this is the very long row on the edge of the terrace that is clearly visible from our old tasting room on Domain Road.  Do not drop your bucket because the fruit will all just roll downhill!!.

Some if us even sat down on the job!!  

As Fiona remarked it has been a funny season (which is putting it mildly) however the wines should be very exciting.  We are certainly looking forward to the first taste of our new dessert wine.  Graeme and Gillian are looking for a special bottle and deciding on a special name for what we anticipate will be another special wine.  

So the season has ended on a golden day - which we hope will reflect itself in a golden wine!!  Watch this space for when it is released!!

Autumn - 11 Apr 18

A room with a view  - seeing Fiona and her team bringing in the nets on Defiance is a sure sign that we are reaching the end of the growing season - visitors to Defiance Vineyard (where our Cellar Door is located) have enjoyed seeing what is involved....

One of the frequently asked questions from our visitors is "Why do you need nets?"  - they often look a bit sceptical when given the answer "To protect the grapes from bird damage" - so for those of you out there who do not realise the damage that birds can do here is some net protected Pinot Noir ....looking good....

And in contrast this is what Pinot looks like if not protected by nets!! - Far from good.....thankfully not from our vineyards!!

Stop Press:  The 2018 Pinot Noir is now safely in barrels where it will spend the next 9 months gently doing its thing!!  Here it is being transferred from tank to barrel.....

Harvest finale! - 1 Apr 18

With the fruit safely in it was time to relax and celebrate another successful harvest.  Fiona and her team have done a great job over the last few weeks (which is of course just the culmination of a year of hard work in the vineyard, great fruit doesn't happen by accident!!).  Thanks to their efforts we look forward to some lovely wines coming out in the future from this year's vintage.  

We held our harvest supper under the walnut trees outside the old cellar door on Domain Road vineyard - a spot that we are sure a number of our visitors will remember with fondness!!

What a great team - well done everyone and a big "Thank you". 

Thank you also to Fiona for providing the great photos that we have used for our 'harvest blogs'!  Not sure how she manages to find the time.....but very pleased that she does.