All at generous rates, of course, being lots of humour, food and booze. It’ll be the usual thing - up with the sparrows and hoeing into it. The Shiraz will yield about four tonnes per paddock we think. We shall be testing on Friday. With all this hot weather, I may need to bring the Cabernet Sauvignon picking forward perhaps to next Wednesday. Don’t know yet but it is looking increasingly likely.

Now, hats off to all those pleasant pluckers from last weekend. It was a sterling effort. Let us immortalise Kerry Robinson, Allan Robertson, Derek Churchill, Roger Jeffries, Iain Meers, Kerry Condon, Ron Hall, Ian Harris - what a team! Please note (especially Richard Smart who is highly clued into all these things) we picked 8.6 tonnes at 13.5 Baume in the shed of chardonnay from just one acre. 

Now that is a tribute to the Smart Dyson trellising system. It would just about be a record for this area. Along with the volunteers we totalled 18 people in the vineyard Monday picking and it was excellent quality fruit. Beautiful. 

We were all pretty knackered as it was a very hot day Monday but there was a great sense of achievement to wave off 22 bins of grapes for crushing following on from nine bins the day before. Well done everyone. 

Anyone who can come Sunday/Monday please let me know asap so we can figure out working and sleeping arrangements.

For the record, tests conducted on 15-03-02 were as follows:

Block 1 Own roots Shiraz 12.95 Be @ 3.73 pH
Block 2 Shiraz on Rugeri 12.85 Be @ 3.68 pH
Block 3 Cabernet Sauvignon on Ramsay 13.0 Be @ 3.68pH
Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon on Ramsay 13.1 Be @ 3.62

Despite the advanced sugar levels of the Cab Sav it still tastes green so we shall let iot go for a week or two.
 

John Arlidge 

The Colombard is also looking good, in fact a little in advance of that, so we are proposing to pick on the  Sunday and Monday. I have had generous offers of help from some of the usual crowd although Baggins and Alan Robertson have not yet responded. Derek Churchill and Kerry Robinson are okay, I believe and Murray Bladwell will be able to make it for the Monday. Plus we have some new candidates - a cellar door fan Allan Nutley and a couple of his friends may be able to come and our good friend Roger Jefferies has confirmed. So it looks like the A team will be in action.
Please let me know asap if you can come. 

The Sunday pick will be lighter than the Monday one so I don’t need as many bodies although many hands will make light work. Monday, however, will be a big day and I’ll hire in some extras if necessary. We’ll be starting with the birds both mornings, 6am, so if you can make it for the Sunday pick I would suggest you come up on the Saturday afternoon. 

Briefly in other news the Shiraz continues to outpace everything so it will not be too long on the vine either. It is at 12.5 Baume on both blocks (which is great) and I think another fortnight will do it. It is looking magnificent. So is the Cabernet but I haven’t yet tested that.

We had an article about us in Small Farms Magazine in January (yep, we’re the darling of the mainstream media). I have put it on our web site for those interested. Link is: small farms piece. It is called “Establishing a Vineyard” by yours truly. Also, I have published a menu for the Cappuccini Banquet on the May long weekend which you will find on our news page: news and events.  Take care, Pleasant Pluckers and I shall see you anon.

John Arlidge 

I tested last Friday and it shows the Chardonnay is still some way off at 11.7 Baume. We want to get it to 12.5+. My best guess at this stage is Monday, March 18. That’s about two weeks later than last year! I shall make a final decision on this next Saturday after the next test. 

It will be a two day pick as we shall take the Colombard off next day. That is currently running at about the same Baume. The juice tastes sensational, by the way, and we are looking forward to seeing what sort of wine eventuates. It is very much an unknown quantity at this stage as the variety has not previously been tried on the Granite Belt. I am hoping that Alan Long can bring a metre or so of that close knit screen to the next meeting so that we can lay some of the Colombard out to dry and see what happens to it.

The puzzling thing about this year so far is the Shiraz that, when we tested it last Friday, came in at 12 Baume, so it is ahead of the Chardonnay for some strange reason. We shall be looking to pick that as close to 14 Baume as possible so I am not really expecting to pick it before the last week of March at the earliest.

We haven’t bothered to test the Cabernet yet. It is at least a month away and probably more. On the whole, everything is looking wonderful at present and, although Hughie could change all of that in a couple of hours, we are confident that this will be a bumper harvest - 18 to 20 tonnes of very good quality fruit, we are thinking.

Pretty soon now we shall be publishing our winter specials for the cottages. I think we shall do a “buy two nights, get an extra one free” deal again as it was very popular over spring. We have about 40 bookings already for our Saturday night Cappuccini Opera Dinner on the May long weekend (which is pretty amazing because we haven’t yet advertised it), so if anyone else wants to come give us a bell very quickly. I am thinking that, post harvest, I would like to do a special Vintage dinner and vertically taste all of our wines to date. I am thinking maybe June would be a good time. If anyone has any thoughts about this please let us know.

That really is about it. Thanks once again to all our supporters. It was pretty clear in the park last weekend that we’ve achieved some modest fame and support for our efforts and that is indeed gratifying.

PS: We discovered some botrytis in the chardonnay today and will have to spray to kill it. We shall deselect the bunches before harvest.

John Arlidge 

If you would like to be included on our pickers 
e-mailing list, then please drop us a line at: 
john@whiskeygullywines.com.au

But don't despair. In fact the Chardonnay in barrel would appear to be the best we have made to date; and the Cabernet, while not as good as 2000, is pretty good stuff.

The Shiraz is really the only disappointment. It is a bit light. But while we would have preferred a heavier Shiraz, this one is fruity and tasty and it will make a fine base for this year's Republic Red.

We are going to combine this season's Chardonnay pressings with some that Preston Peak has to make a light, sweeter style white which we shall put out under the Beverley label. This will be bottled within weeks.

The Chardonnay and the Republic Red will be bottled prior to Christmas too. The Cab Sav will wait until the New Year - probably around March. If we can, we will hold this back in bottle for about six months prior to its release.

So, all in all a difficult year produced reasonable results. I don't believe we will surpass the 2000 Vintage's incredible tally of 4 trophies, 2 golds, 7 silver and 4 bronze, however we'll do our best.

This is the second time we have had a second crop due to hail. Previously, this second crop was okay but not as good as the primary crop and we used it in the 2000 Republic Red. 

This will be the final report on the 2001Harvest. 2002 rapidly approaches and so far, we have had the best start to a season since we've been here. The vineyard is a riot of green and flowering like mad. 

A final bit of news for the season - Tony Golledge, who was my vineyard hand and who was with us since the start - decided to move on during the year. We wish him well and thank him for his input into what has become a very tidy and productive vineyard.

Loyal troops (he wrote hopefully)

Next Wednesday is Cabernet day - 13 point something and going strong, we believe. Problem is, we need six pickers and we have none confirmed at this stage. If anyone can see their way to coming up we’d be greatly obliged.

The Shiraz pick was tedious in the extreme - because of hail damage earlier in the year, we had to carefully select the grapes to be picked. It took six of us 12 hours and we ended up with a miserable 1.25 tonnes and Tony Bilbrough, sometimes known as Baggins, managed to cut his finger! Never mind, there’s another tonne left on the Shiraz (and a bit of Baggins' finger) which will hopefully ripen in the next couple of weeks and we’ll pick it again. The team did a sterling job under trying conditions and everyone knew they had done a darned good day’s work.

Similar problems are not expected with the cabernet, although there is some second cropping. But the primary crop is easier to see and there is plenty of it.

Last Friday's Baume figures, not previously published by the way, were thus:

Block 1 shiraz         12.8 Be / 3.56 pH
Block 2 shiraz         13.5 Be / 3.63 pH
Block 3 cab sav      12.7 Be / 3.55 pH

I suspect that as the years go by and the crops grow heavier, we shall have to curtail these activities but we shall try to reserve a day or two each year for the pluckers.

The Shiraz arrived in the shed at a surprisingly low Baume - 11.9 - despite a considerable amount of shriveling in the grapes. We put this down to the fact that the shriveled grapes got through the rollers of the crusher intact. Sure enough, the Baume had risen by next day although, because fermentation had already begun, it was impossible to get an accurate figure.  We’ll have to do an alcohol test on the finished product to get a conclusive result - my guess is about 13. Rod Macpherson says the must looks good, smells good and tastes good so all should be well. It’s a strange business this wine-making.

Grateful thanks to Baggins, his son in law Peter, young Bladwell and his Rotary exchange student Etienne.

PS. Saturday, March 31. Did a Baume test today (sample taken yesterday) on the Cabernet which showed 12.9 and a pH of 3.77. 

The more perspicacious among you will note that the Cabernet readings have been fairly wild this year - which is what happens when hail damage throws a second crop. It makes it very difficult to get consistent samples. 
 

John Arlidge 

The time, it seems, has come for at least the Shiraz and, possibly, also the Cabernet, to be picked. Readings we took on Monday actually have the Cabernet being riper than the Shiraz, although I think there is a sampling error there. If it were true then the Cabernet would have gained a whole Baume point in one week, which is unlikely given that the weather has been quite mild. Nevertheless, the Shiraz is definitely in our sights at 12.4 and 13.1 in blocks one and two respectively.

At this stage Monday is definitely on but we’ll do another test Friday to double check whether we will pick one variety or two. One will mean one day in the paddock; two will mean Monday and Tuesday.

Pickers could be a problem – the evergreen Tony Bilbrough will be there, of course, as will Murray Bladwell and a South African Rotary Exchange student (yes, forced labour in the vineyard. I knew it would make a comeback someday). However, I am still unsure as to Derek Churchill’s availability (let alone the state of his hands after the last effort) and Alan Robertson is going away! Our fastest picker, absent! We shall miss him.

There’s about two tonne of Shiraz – maybe a bit more, but the cabernet is loaded. We’ll need at least six pickers for the Shiraz and eight for the Cabernet (if we take it off next week). We’ve definitely got five, thus far. I was rather hoping that 
 
 
 

For the record, the full figures from last Monday:

Monday, March 19, 2000

Block 1 Shiraz           12.4 Baume/3.66 pH
Block 2 Shiraz           13.1 Baume/3.76 pH
Block 3 Cab. Sav.     13.2 Baume/3.70 pH

Note how the pH climbs with the Baume. It is not yet panic stations but we don’t want it over 4. When it rains it has the effect of knocking the Baume back without reducing the pH. That is one reason why dry years tend to produce better wine. Is this sort of stuff interesting, by the way? I would hate to think I was boring you.

The chardonnay is now bedded down in French oak. The ferment began extremely well and Rod and Phil reckon we should have a fine wine. Yes!

So, all of you, especially those of you feeling somewhat steatophygous after long hours behind the desk, come and join the pickings. Not only will it do you good, you’ll go down in history. 
 

John Arlidge 

This is a tiresome season. Three inches of rain last week is enough to make anyone nervous. Thank God we got the Chardonnay off the week before. The long and the short is that it now looks as though the Shiraz will have to come off on Monday, March 26th, and the Cabernet Sauvignon the week after.

Anyone who thinks they can make it for either session please let me know and we’ll start a roster. My apologies to Murray Bladwell in advance for mucking up his well prepared plans yet again – the grapes won’t co-operate with a standard media plan, Murray. We’ll have to go into crisis management mode. 

The rain knocked back the Baume a bit and increased the pH – neither of which we want. Monday’s assay gave the following results:

Block 1 Shiraz  12.05 Baume @ 3.60 pH
Block 2 Shiraz  12.65 Baume @ 3.73 pH
Block 3  Cab. Sav. 12.00 Baume @ 3.59 pH

The theory is that if we get two straight weeks of sunshine, the Shiraz should be okay. However, we’ll have to see. Be prepared for an emergency email. I’ll put out a red alert next Monday.
 
 
 

The Chardonnay came off well. The “A” team of Baggins, Churchill, Robertson, Robinson, Golledge and yours truly did a sterling job, clearing 2.3 tonnes in a little less than eight hours. It arrived in the shed at 12.6 Baume and 3.6 pH. 

It was cooled to 4º C in the cool room overnight and crushed next morning, then racked off into a tank ready for fermentation. Once the ferment is well underway it will be transferred to French and American oak barrells (50/50). I tasted the juice this morning – it was at 11º C, still not quite warm enough for the ferment to begin. The juice was beautifully sweet, clear and buttery. It may not be quite as good as 2000 but I think it’ll pass the test. Well done to all concerned and thank you.

I’ve noticed that each year at this time I begin to suffer from heartburn. The grapes are stressful little beggars. I really don’t know why I worry. They always seem to turn out fine. Anyway folks, polish your quims and merkins for the next round. How about a few women this time. It may keep Baggins’ mind off sex. But on second thoughts….

John Arlidge 

Yes, we are well and truly on the white knuckle arc of the annual viticulture cycle - a test yesterday showed that all the grapes have taken a quantum leap in Baume due to the hot weather of the past week. 

The Chardonnay was sitting on a finger nail biting 12.9 Baume at 3.47 pH - great figures, and so close to the desired Baume that yours truly has been vacillating ever since about whether we should hang on until next Tuesday! I mean, if they keep gaining sugar at this rate they could fall apart by then... If we get rain in the meantime the berries will split... On the other hand, chances are they will gain about half a Baume by next Tuesday which is perfect... And the weather forecast continues fine... Yes, but.... Nrrrr, Grrrr... Whose stupid idea was it to grow grapes anyway?

They should be okay. I'll keep a daily watch on them from now on and if there's any indication that there could be trouble, well then, stand by for some frantic e-mails. 

The old faithful crew is on its way for the chard pickings: Baggins, Allan Robertson, Derek Churchill (I think) with the possible addition of Kerry Robinson. What a team! 
 
 

Block 1 Chardonnay  12.9 Baume / 3.47 pH
Block 2 Shiraz  12.0 Baume / 3.47 pH
Block 3 Shiraz  12.6 Baume / 3.54 pH
Block 4 Cab Sav 12.1 Baume / 3.52 pH

Note that all have come up a long way and that even the Cabernet Sauvignon is getting into the zone. Still no change to the forecast picking schedule at this stage, although if it stays this hot and fine then we may need to revise dates forward. We'll make a decision on the Shiraz next week.

I hope none of you mind sharing my folies de doute. They probably have something to with the fact that my chrematophobia outweighs my ergasiophobia - anally retentive, to those of you less multiloquous, although, I suppose my main problem could be aposiopesis... but that's another story. 

Any of you who did not nod off during the preceding paragraph should check out the following link, it is a wonderful website: http://takeourword.com.

John Arlidge 

I call this a green alert for reasons which shall shortly become obvious. We did a Baume (sugar level) check on the chardonnay and shiraz yesterday and, as expected, the recent copious rain knocked them back a tad. The chardonnay registered 11.1 Baume and the two shiraz blocks scored 10.6 and 10.9 respectively. We didn’t bother testing the cabernet sauvignon at this stage since it is always the last to ripen. 

What all this means is that the chardonnay is anything up to one month away from picking and the shiraz probably a week more than that, working on an average 0.5 Baume gain per week. At this stage, our best guess is that the chard will be ready late in the first week of March. The cab sav is usually last week of March but will probably be a bit later this year. They are green, you see. Hence the green alert.

Now, the good news (or the bad news for those of you in the know) is that we shall need some pickers – retired geriatrics preferred, of course, for each of our three picking sessions: one day each for the chard and cab sav and two consecutive days for the shiraz. 

It is really easy work with shifts no longer than 14 hours. The pay is brilliant (if you can survive on nowt) but we do seem to eat and drink a lot when we are not working. Since he purchased a stock whip, nobody has ever complained about the boss. There are literally acres of fresh air, beautiful views (if you are tall enough to see over the vines), and there is the added pleasure of conversing with Denice first thing in the morning. We sit around in the evenings singing lumberjack songs ‘til weariness overtakes us.

Anyone who thinks they are up to these arduous duties should contact me and I will work out a rough roster. All contributions will be gratefully received. 
 

It is timely to remark that picking makes an important contribution to wine quality. While the job is monotonous and not all that complicated, it has its challenges. It is amazing what an appreciation of good wine and the motivation to produce it does to the quality of the pick. Thus far, all of our grapes have been picked by such people – notably Tony Bilbrough, Alan Robertson and Derek Churchill. I have no doubt that their efforts have made an important contribution to the quality of our wines. We very much appreciate their efforts to ensure that the grapes are treated tenderly, with interest and due respect. No doubt this year’s crop will present its own challenges but we shall overcome. 

John Arlidge