With vintage well and truly done and dusted with the riesling having been picked at easter, we still have loads to do.

Reds are finishing Malo, Whites have been mostly sulfured after primary ferment with some battonage to follow.

But it is the Riesling we are still closely monitoring… It is still fermenting in barrels and tank and it is taking its time. We are finally starting to see the sugar looking more integrated with acid and phenolics balancing the palate. This year, we will sulphur each barrel/tank component on its own merits rather than in consideration of the total blend. This is great fun and we are pumped about what we are going to end up with.

Lance has now made it back to the UK after an enforced stopover in Singapore due to the volcanic ash in Europe. It sure was a testing time for the Foyster gang.

And with vintage behind us, Dylan, Tony and I have already spend time planning for the coming months with pruning and soil preparation…

Must fly…. have to check the 2010 shiraz barrels with Tony.

Holy Moly! Guess where I am now? Sitting at Launceston airport in Tassie. Qantas have cancelled my flight and I am going to be delayed by about 6 hours. BUT i couldn’t be happier.

What a topsy turvy few weeks we have had. We witnessed our riesling vineyard explode after the rain with berries splitting and botrytis proliferating.
Then Dylan and I headed to Portland to check out a vineyard which was a total waste of time and effort.

But now we are back on track. This morning i flew down here to check out a fantastic vineyard. And we are now going to have some very exciting fruit to work with for vintage 2010. Honestly, when riesling is on song, it is hard to beat.

Picking is scheduled for next Thursday.

Wow… we are nearly there and with only two picks to go!

Tomorrow we are picking the key to the Hugh Bordeaux blend. Tomorrow we will pick about 3 Tonnes of Cabernet Sauvignon and a couple hundred Kilo of Petit Verdot. We can’t wait and after the last few days of 28-30 degrees and cooler nights we think its looking pretty good….

Hi again…

Feb 22 and we are marching to the beat of minimum sleep, hard work and great aromas as the ferments engulf the winery.

So far we have picked all lower yarra pinot and the woori chard which looks stunning. Still on the vine is upper yarra pinot and the late varieties including riesling (Strathbogies), Syrah (Gruyere) and the Cabernets. We have had some great weather for ripening and envisage a busy couple of weeks ahead.

We are picking today our 1 Tonne parcel off one acre of Woori Yallock. This will be our first chance to really evaluate low cropping on this vineyard so we are all dropping what we are doing to head out for a few hours to do a slow and selective pick.

Alan and JK have stepped up to the demands with ease while Manu (and Elodie) who have arrived from the UK via France has quickly come to grips with vintage life.

Also attached is a photo of one of our Blaufrankisch vines… very exciting to actually see this Austrian vine handling our summer. Grafting commencing at the end of 2010.

Enjoy Autumn everyone….And when i get back on here we will hopefully be reporting that all pinot and chardonnay is in and looking good.

Mac