vineyard in March
The Golden orb-weaver spider (Nephila edulis), one of the biggest spiders in Australia (45mm body).golden orb-weaver spider

And then the spiders are fat,
and the grapes are ripe:

IT IS VINTAGE TIME.

Badge orb-weaver spider (Neosparassus diana)badge orb-weaver spider
Cabernet sauvignon grapeCabernet sauvignon grape vine leaves Every variety ripens at a different time, and even different vineyard blocks of the same variety are different. So they are all picked separately, generally over a period of about eight weeks.

The exact time to pick is one of the most important and difficult decisions in winemaking. Often there is only one day when a certain variety is at its very best for the year. And the 'very best' is different for every year.

Ripe pinot noir graperipe pinot noir grape merolt leaves
Ripe pinot noir grapesripe pinot noir

Now we are constantly sampling, tasting and testing the grapes, watching every weather report available. And they always contradict each other, and always seem to be wrong.

If only we knew what next week will bring? Or at least tomorrow??

Ripe MourvèdreRipe mourvèdre
pinot noir pinot noir grape Ripe Merlot merlot grape
And then, one day the decision has been made. There is suddenly mad activity: The bird nets of one vineyard block are taken off and the grass between the rows is cut short. The picking buckets go out, the winery is getting ready and we also harvest a dozen or so vines, count bunch numbers, berry numbers, take weights and other parameters important for vine management. collecting yield data
mowing interrows   picking buckets
And the next day, at dawn... tractor at dawn picker's cars
vine rows
grape picking ... the pickers arrive! grape picking
  John (photo by Gaby)John grape picking
Janet (poto by Gaby)Janet This is the culmination of a year's work. Mario (photo by Gaby)Mario
picking Ron (photo by Jeanne)Ron picking
picking picking picking

Our pickers are VERY VERY SPECIAL.
They pick grapes because they are interested in wine.
Some make wine themselves, some are interested in its history, some take pleasure in the fun of a very old activity, some enjoy the social life, and all love to drink it.

picking grape picking
grape picking

We entrust them with selecting the best of our grapes, and their work has a major impact on the quality of our wine.

grape picking
collecting buckets grape picking full grape buckets
picking up grapes picking up grapes Frank (photo by Gaby)Frank
vines after harvest
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to April to February