Mad Dog UK Review

Jamie Goode has written a review of the last 2 Mad Dog Shiraz releases (2005 & 2006) and it can be read on his web blog here: http://www.wineanorak.com/blog/2009/06/two-mad-dogs-from-barossa.html.

For those in the UK our 2005 is available from Corney and Barrow for 15.99 here (Corney and Barrow have not yet imported any 2006): http://www.corneyandbarrow.com/buywines/browsewinelist/search/?name=mad%20dog&fBrokered=-1.

In the meantime we are currently working on a web site that will enable our Australian customers to buy wine directly from us - this should be going live in the next 2-3 weeks. I will post a link when it is ready.

Mad Dog update

One of the reasons that this blog has not been updated as regularly as it should have been over the last few months, is that I have now taken over the day to day running of Mad Dog wines. I have been busy harvesting our next vintage and at the same time bottling our next exciting releases. We have now finished bottling and will be releasing our 2006 Shiraz and 2008 Sangiovese shortly. I will let you know how to get hold of them in a future post. One big change for this year is that our Shiraz is now packaged under a screw cap to ensure the wine gets to you exactly as we intended it to with none of the TCA issues that some of you have experienced in the past. We have our normal small volume of Shiraz and only a very, very small volume of our Sangiovese.

2006 Shiraz

This year is probably more typical of Barossa shiraz'. It is a little more full bodied and packs even more of a punch than previous releases. It has spent 18 months in a French oak. It will cellar for up to 10 years and will go really well with virtually any red meat dishes.

2008 Sangiovese

A very refreshing spice and fruit laden offering this year, with subtle hints of cherry. It has spent 6 months in quality French oak. Drink it soon - while it is at it's best! A lighter wine than our Shiraz but will go well with most meat dishes.

Nuffield report.

My Nuffield report has now been published and is available here: http://www.nuffieldinternational.org/rep_pdf/1237250841Matthew_Munzberg_Nuffield_report.pdf.

It is titled 'Regional branding and marketing as a tool for improving returns to agricultural producers'. It tells you about the places I visited and some of the things I learnt while travelling on my scholarship last year. I will be travelling to Cairns to give a formal presentation to Nuffield on my report after Easter. If anyone has any comments or questions about my report please feel free to contact me at kammunz@hotmail.com.

Heat wave in Southern Australia

A period of extended extreme heat has hit the southeastern corner of Australia. Nuriootpa here in the Barossa Valley is now into it's 4th consecutive day of more than 40C (104F) temperatures. The maximum on Wed. 28th reached 44.1C (111F). We have another 5 days out of the next 7 forecast to be at or above 40C.

We are already seeing signs of scorching of our grapes, with Riesling being the worst affected variety. We are irrigating continuously at present (each block will be getting a drink about every 4th-5th day), as this is the only thing we can do to help our vines cope with the heat. Sugar levels are climbing and we will be starting harvest this coming Mon. night. We will be harvesting all of our Sauvignon Blanc this coming week and I would expect that some Chardonnay will also be picked next week.

Weather for the month of December 2008

Weather Report Month Ending 31/12/08

Maximum Temperature for the month 32.7C (91F) on Fri. 26th. Average for this month was 24.3C. 6 readings above our long term monthly average of 27.1C.

Minimum Temperature for the month 6.1C (43F) on Tue. 2nd. Average for this month was 12.0C. 16 readings above our long term monthly average of 12.3C.

Rainfall for the month 69.6mm (198.6 points) 9 days of rainfall recorded. Our long term average is 27.7mm spread over 6.4 days.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A very cool month for us with very good rainfall. We went very close to having our wettest December in more than 10 years, only 2004 was wetter with 72.8mm.

This month in the vineyard:

The very cool conditions have meant a very steady start to the season with most phenological stages happening about 1 week behind last year. This puts the vines in a more normal time frame than we have seen for the last few years.

We have now put the last of our Fungicide sprays on and are having to concentrate on the weeds that the brilliant rain we had, has now encouraged to start growing. Crop levels appear to be close to average with some exceptions, Chardonnay appears to have a very good crop, while Shiraz could be down a little on average. The oversupply of grapes in the wine industry will mean that we will not be able to sell all of our grapes and those that we can sell, we will make a loss on, because of the low prices we will be offered by our wineries.

I hope everyone had a pleasant and safe Christmas and New Year.

Weather for the month of November

Weather Report Month Ending 31/11/08

Maximum Temperature for the month 34.7C (94F) on Wed. 12th. Average for this month was 23.8C. 12 readings above our long term monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the month 3.3C (38F) on Sun. 23rd. Average for this month was 10.3C. 14 readings above our long term monthly average of 10.7C.

Rainfall for the month 28.6mm (82 points) 12 days of rainfall recorded. Our long term average is 35.5mm spread over 7.5 days.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A cool and relatively dry month for us, however we had more rainy days than our average. I am not sure if global warming is a reality or not, but we are certainly not getting the bigger dumps of rain that we used to get. We had 4 more rainy days than is average, however we recorded 7mm less rainfall.

This month in the vineyard:

I have had a very busy month! The vines have now all finished flowering and we now have fruit set. We have been doing estimates for our winery customers - so far it is looking like an average or just below year for the Barossa Valley as far as tonnes of grapes go. It's too early to tell what our quality will be like, however below average yields normally mean higher quality grapes. We have been maintaining our usual spray program for the prevention of Downy and Powdery mildew. I have also had to spread some snail bait to counteract increased numbers of white snails this year.

I have been kept busy with all the usual meetings and seminars that I seem to have to attend. The Barossa Valley Technical group held a very interesting seminar on crop estimation, that included some information on trellis tension as a guide to crop load. We are also now getting into the season of Christmas lunches, drinks etc.

I have now taken over the day to day running of Mad Dog wines. My sister and brother in law were running this however do not feel they can contribute enough time to do it justice. I am organizing to bottle our 2005 Shiraz and I am hoping to have it for sale early in the new year. I am currently looking for outlets here in Australia that would like sell our premium Barossa valley products.

This week 31st October 2008

Weather Report Week Ending 31/10/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 33.6C (92F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 7.6C (46F) on Tue. 6 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 2.8mm (8 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Finally a trace of rain for us. No where near enough for us to even go close to calling this a normal month. In fact we only recorded 13.2 mm of rain for the whole month (our average is 44mm). Our maximum temperatures were also very different from average, with the month of October 2.6C above our average.

This week in the vineyard:

As you can see from the photo, our Chardonnay is well into flowering now. I am still spraying weeds, to preserve as much natural moisture as I can. Flowering this year could be approx. 2 weeks earlier than we would normally expect. Not all varieties have started flowering yet, just the early ones like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I am planning to start putting our next fungicide spray on later this coming week.