The Wine Farm is where we grow the wine we want to drink and
the food we want to eat. It's where our kids get muddy, our dog
can howl without upsetting the neighbours and we can breathe.
Vintage 2019
Sitting here by the wood burner on a chilly morning, watching the autumn rains through the kitchen window as they drench the vineyard, it’s hard to cast my mind back to the heatwave we had on the farm just two months ago.
Up until that point, vintage 2019 was tracking along nicely. Probably the best yet for our short tenure on The Wine Farm. But just as we were sharpening our snips in preparation for picking, three days of 35–40°C stopped us in our tracks and got us all hot under the collar. We get a handful of really hot days during summer in South Gippsland, but in the five years we’ve been on this farm, never so late in the season and never during such a critical period for growing cool climate grapes. Our hearts broke as we watched our near perfectly ripe fruit tough it out under the beating sun for three days straight, powerless to do anything to help it. Picking it during the heat wasn’t an option – if you’re pitching for high quality wine you never pick when the fruit is warm as the soft berries tend to split leading to spoilage and oxidation. We just had to bunker down inside playing board games with the kids and crossing our fingers till the heat passed.
But now that we’re a safe distance from the event, the grapes have all been processed and the wines safely tucked away for winter, we can look back over the season and take stock.
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‘Cool climate’ is a term that gets used a lot in the wine world but not always appropriately. It’s the weather during ripening that really counts, and the closer to picking the more of an impact it has on the ultimate style of your wine.
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This morning the last of the nets went over the vines marking the end of the back-breaking vineyard work till harvest starts in about three weeks; the cellar door is now closed until Easter; and the kids’ activities have started up again for the year (including our oldest starting school!). It truly does feel like new beginnings.
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Until now we’ve tackled weeds in the vineyard by slashing under the vines. But when your back hurts just looking at the vineyard at the beginning of the growing season, and then your tractor starts making the same groaning noises as you, it’s time to re-assess the situation.
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The Wine Farm Pinot gris 2017 – dry, textured and full of flavour it’s a nod to the Italians, a kiss on both cheeks with the French but 100% The Wine Farm.
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When we first bought this property and all its beautifully manicured flowerbeds we knew we wouldn’t have time to stop and smell the roses… so we pulled them all out. Then politely dismissed the gardener.
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Buying an existing vineyard without really knowing its potential is something you could lose a lot of sleep over.
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Great wine is the sum of hundreds of decisions from vineyard to bottle. As the ‘maker’ all I do is try to make the best decision I can at any particular point in time.
MoreWe are gradually releasing our 2017 vintage (and a few we've been saving from previous vintages) to our mailing list. Subscribe to Letters from The Wine Farm to be the first to hear about new releases at subscriber prices and build your own case of 6 or 12.
If you can't wait perhaps our sample pack may quench your thirst...
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In 2014, having fallen for the region in general and the potential of its grapes in particular, we took the biggest plunge so far. We poured our joint worldly effects into a small patch of dirt down the road. An unassuming address we thought might just have everything we needed to start creating our own little world. Good soil, eight thousand vines, a great big shed and lots of bedrooms to fill.
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The worker’s cottage on the property is available for short stays. Bring some friends, check out the region and its spoils and soak up The Wine Farm.
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