THOUGHTS FROM THE CELLAR DOOR
2022 has seen us have a fantastic year at the cellar door. We’ve all enjoyed meeting many so many new visitors, as well as returning visitors alike.
Looking out from our cellar door, the vineyard is looking absolutely stunning. We’ll be watching the weather forecasts over the next few months and I’m sure we’ll all be very relieved when the grapes are harvested!
Our new Marco blend, being 50/50 Barbera and Sangiovese, sold out a few weeks ago, and proved to be an excellent wine and very popular! Fortunately, we kept aside some Barbera and Sangiovese and as James mentions in his comments, we’ll be bottling more Marco very soon.
If you’ve visited us at the cellar door or been on our website recently, you’d know that we have a new sparkling wine in the range! Joining our delicious Prosecco and Sangiovese Frizzante is our new Vermentino Frizzante, which is already proving popular! All 3 wines would be perfect to enjoy over the Festive Season!
We’re all very excited that our extension to the cellar door is now well underway. When complete, our seating area will almost double, meaning twice as many people can enjoy our view all year round.
Finally, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and New year and we’ll look forward to seeing you at the Cellar Door soon!
Graeme and the Team
Medal Success!
Our 2021 Barbera, which we know to be a beautiful wine, has won Gold at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show.
Our 2022 Fiano, which we haven’t released yet, also won top Gold for Best Other Single White Variety of Show (i.e. Alternate Varieties) at the Australian Highlands Wineshow, so standby for its release soon.
Just one point behind at the same show, and also a Gold medal winner, was our 2022 Vermentino which is also yet to be released.
With 2 Golds on yet to be released wines, there’s some great things to look forward to for our loyal customer base.
A word from our Winemaker
With red wine weather continuing late into November we’ve finally made the switch to more seasonally appropriate white wine weather, although as I write this, it’s yet again cooled down, thankfully, it’s always Rosé weather!
Much of our winery activity continues to focus on barrel work. Mainly topping the oak due to what’s called the ‘angels share’, which is the romantic version of evaporation in our industry. A second blend of Marco is being bottled shortly and preparations are underway for Vintage 2023.
I’d like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and be sure to visit the beautiful cellar door if you next find yourself in Mudgee.
Cheers,
James Manners - Wine Maker
Viticulture Report - News From Among The Vines
Spring has come and gone, and let me tell you that was a tough period to be growing grapes…, wet, wet, wet! The great news is that First Ridge vines and fruit are in top notch condition and are on track to produce the premium wines which all enjoy.
Overall, the vineyard looks outstanding. With Summers arrival, we’re enjoying a break in the weather and the timing couldn’t be better. Inflorescences have now flowered with the caps dislodged and the fruit has set. With the better conditions, the flowering was very uniform and therefore the vines have an even fruit set. The berries are now sizing and bunch closure will be complete prior to Christmas.
Summer sees a lot of action around canopy management, lifting the wire to position the canopy in a VSP position (vertical shoot position) which is holding the canopy nice and upright. Summer hedging also takes place on more vigorous varieties which involves trimming the sides and the top of canopy, which improves air flow, but also allows for good contact to bunches for pest and disease management.
Looking at the current growth rates of bunches, we expect that harvest will commence in approximately 8 to 9 weeks if conditions remain fine. Bring it on!
Paul Baguley - Viticulturist
2022 Summer Specials
SUMMER SPARKLES 6 PACK
$145 + Freight
3 X VERMENTINO FRIZZANTE
3 X SANGIOVESE FRIZZANTE
SUMMER SELECTION 6 PACK
$150 + Freight
1 X 2022 PROSECCO
1 X 2021 SANGIOVESE FRIZZANTE
1 X 2021 VERMENTINO
1 X 2021 FIANO
1 X 2021 ROSÉ
1 X 2021 SANGIOVESE