The Barossa Grapegrower

Mad Dog Spring offer

2009-09-17T16:36:00.003+09:30

Well spring has sprung in the Mad Dog vineyards! Mad Dog has been busily cleaning up our cellar and we have come across some past vintages that we thought we had sold out of a long time ago! These we have put together in a vertical tasting of Mad Dog history. The pack includes our 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006 Shiraz and 2006 and 2008 Sangiovese. Australian readers can get their hands on these very limited packs at the Mad Dog web site : www.MadDogwines.com.

Vineyard and Wine industry update

2009-08-05T11:54:00.007+09:30

I thought it was about time I gave you all an update on the vineyard! We are currently in the last month of winter. We have had a (relatively) good winter so far. We are only approx. 15mm below our long term average rainfall for the year, and things are looking quite good. If this continues for the rest of the year it will be our first average rainfall year in about 5.

The cover crops are starting to grow more rapidly now (and so are the weeds). We are starting to think about when we should be mowing them down, as we want as much organic material as possible produced without using up all of the available soil moisture.

Pruning is beginning to wind up with only Chardonnay and Sauv. Blanc. blocks still to go. We look like getting finished in fairly good time, with the vines already starting to weep when cut (so tying rods down to wire is becoming a more urgent job to do). We have been pruning our vines fairly hard this year due to the severe surplus of wine in the Australian industry. We have pulled vines out (and left area bare), over the last few years. We are not expecting to be able sell all of the grapes we will produce in the upcoming vintage, we are going to limit our yields with heavy pruning (this should also have a positive impact on quality).

Prices we will be paid this year for our grapes will be well below our cost of production, the temptation is to produce more tonnes to offset these low prices, however this will not help the overall industry and if many growers adopt that kind of philosophy the wine industry will remain in the doldrums for a long period of time. Financial viability for grape growers in Australia is going to a major issue over the next few years. Our company requires a 30% lift in grape prices just to break even, if this does not happen in the next 2-3 years we will not be able to survive.

Ten years ago our family business supported 3 families - now it can not even support one (in that time we have expanded the area we farm and improved our mix of grape varieties). We are attempting to value add to our grapes with our label Mad Dog wines, but we have a long way to go before that will make much contribution to our financial bottom line.

Anyway enough doom and gloom, the answer is for everyone to drink up! Cheers!

Mad Dog wines web site

2009-07-16T20:11:00.004+09:30

After 4 generations of growing grapes and 10 years of making their own wine under the label of ‘Mad Dog’, Matthew Munzberg director of Mad Dog announced today that Mad Dog wine is now available direct to customers over the Internet. The newly developed web site has a history of Mad Dog, reviews of the wine, an online shop where Australian customers can get Mad Dog wine delivered to their door and a membership area so that people can be kept informed about Mad Dog.

Mad Dog was started by the Munzberg family in 1999. Mad Dog uses only selected grapes grown in the Munzberg families vineyards at Vine Vale in the Barossa Valley. The family vineyards cover approx. 35 hectares of premium Barossa floor area, from which Mad Dog selects the best Shiraz and Sangiovese fruit. ‘We select the best fruit from our vineyard and combine traditional winemaking methods, minimal handling and top notch French oak to produce a Shiraz that is undeniably Barossa, with its rich fruit flavours and ample structure’ Matthew said.

Mad Dog currently produces a flagship Shiraz product (the 2006 vintage is for sale right now) and an exclusive Sangiovese, which comes from a very small 14 year old trial planting that produces small parcels of exceptional wine. The Shiraz comes from several blocks of old vines (some more than 100 years old). ‘Mad Dog plans to introduce several new products in the next few years. So I would advise anyone wanting to hear more to sign up to our Mad Dog club on the web site at http://www.maddogwines.com/’ Matthew said.

Mad Dog UK Review

2009-06-21T14:12:00.005+09:30

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

2009-04-08T11:38:00.006+09:30

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.

2009-04-08T11:23:00.005+09:30

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

2009-01-30T11:47:00.003+10:30

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

2009-01-03T11:16:00.001+10:30

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

2008-12-07T16:55:00.007+10:30

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

2008-11-04T20:21:00.009+10:30

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.

This week 24th October 2008

2008-10-28T23:28:00.005+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 24/10/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 32.4C (90F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 5.3C (41F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet again no rainfall recorded this week. We had 2 very warm days this week with very low humidity's, around 3% on Friday being the lowest.

This week in the vineyard:

Sorry I do not have a photo this week - I have been out on the tractor as much as I can, getting our cover crop sprayed off. I am doing this to try to preserve as much moisture in our soil as I can. I am a little bit late this year, I suspect there is not a whole lot of moisture left for me to preserve, but hopefully we will still be getting some more rain that can be caught in the profile. The very low humidity's that we recorded this week have also seen us lose a lot of the available moisture we did have there. We have had a small increase in our water allocation this week, we now have 15% available to use out of the Murray River.

This past week I attended a seminar being held by Dr. Fearne (Adelaide's current thinker in residence, just finishing up). He has been looking at how the wine industry in particular can achieve maximum benefit from our value chains. The message I got was that we need to get to know our consumers a lot better, to be able better serve their needs and this will also help our retailers market our wine. Sounds good, but it will need more grape growers to become a lot more involved in the marketing of their wine, something we have not had to do in the past.

This week 17th October 2008

2008-10-21T11:56:00.007+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 16/10/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 30.6C (87F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.3C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 2.1C (36F) on Tue. 4 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very nice week here in the Barossa Valley a typical spring week. Very dry again with no rainfall recorded.

This week in the vineyard:

As you can see from the photo, our vines are growing rapidly. We have now put the first fungicide spray on for the season. The cover crop is still green and continues to suck moisture out of our profile. I will be spraying this off as soon as I can get to it this coming week. Unfortunately I have a number of meetings and other interruptions that will mean not a lot will get done on the tractor. Some more rain would be very useful in the next few weeks, however the forecast does not look very promising.

Settling in back home.

2008-10-02T16:08:00.004+09:30

Sorry I haven't posted for such a long time. I am now well and truly back to earth at home. The vineyard, as you can see from my photo of some Chardonnay, is growing very rapidly, we now have inflorescence's separated and well defined. The winter rainfall so far has been close to average however, it has been coming in relatively small regular showers. This means that everything looks nice and green, however subsoil moisture's are not very high and there has been very little run off for people who rely on dams for irrigation. Even though I don't want to spend a lot of time out spraying my vineyard - I am hoping for a very wet spring.

On a more positive note, I was talking to Louisa Rose (chief winemaker for Yalumba) yesterday, about the last vintage from here in the Barossa. She said that '2008 will produce some of the best wine to come out of this region in a long time'. This echos what I said some time ago on this blog about the near perfect ripening conditions we had this year. So keep an eye out for the 2008 vintage wines that will begin to hit the market soon from the Barossa, both whites and (some wait still) reds. Even varieties like Grenache that was mostly picked during or after the heatwave have produced incredible wines.
At home here the weather has been fine and mild with a couple of quite windy, drying days last week. The official weather station has been down for nearly a week (thanks to vandals), so I do not have rainfall figures - but there has been very little (less than 0.5mm). We did record our warmest September day in more than 10 years last Saturday (27th) of 31.7C (89F).

Check this link out!

2008-09-17T16:10:00.001+09:30

Here is an interesting story I stumbled across on the web. I must say not a bad photo either! http://www.wineanorak.com/blog/2008/09/meet-matthew-munzberg-barossa-grower-on.html

Post from South Africa

2008-09-12T18:26:00.001+09:30

Well I am on my way home now. I have been in South Africa for nearly a week, most of that time near Cape Town. I will get back home on the weekend, after spending nearly 17 weeks travelling the world. In that time I have flown around the world twice, done around 30 individual flights and covered nearly 65,000 air miles. I have stayed in around 50 different hotels. I have been to 12 different countries and driven vehicles in 8 of them. In the 10 weeks of my own study I have conducted more than 25 pre arranged interviews, with at least that many more informal meetings. I have also completely missed out on a southern hemisphere winter. The knowledge I have gained on my travels, I believe, will take a long time for me to digest properly and put to use in our business. I would like to say a great big thank you to Nuffield and Nufarm for organizing and funding my scholarship. I would also like to thank all the people I have interviewed and met with, I have been blown away with how generous people have been with their time. Thanks also to the many people who have provided me with contacts to enable me to conduct my study, in some cases they even provided me with a bed as well as answering any questions I had. This experience has been life changing for me and, I believe, will influence just about everything I do in the future.

A Post from London

2008-09-02T05:20:00.004+09:30

This week I am in the UK. I have spent some time near Cambridge and I am now in London. I am staying at the Farmers club right in the heart of London just across the Thames from the London Eye. I flew in from France last Thursday. I really enjoyed my time in Eastern France and learnt lots about how wine is made in the 'old world', and some of the mystic that is attached to it. The photo is another that I took while I was in France, in the Alsace region.

Back at home in the Barossa Valley it has been a relatively dry week, with only 2.8mm of rain recorded. We have also had 3 frosts (2 of them quite a low -1.4C). I hope these have not done any damage, I have been told that some of our vines were at woolly bud stage and so will be vulnerable to frost from now on.

A Post from Alsace France

2008-08-24T01:54:00.002+09:30

I am in Strasbourg, France currently. I spent a couple of days longer in Spain than I was hoping to, due to very heavy flight bookings. I have been in France for 4 days and am really enjoying it, despite not knowing much French. The people are very friendly and try to help any way they can. I am quite glad that I do not need to farm some of the land that they grow grapes on. The vineyards are very steep with very high planting densities. I have seen very few vineyards that could be worked mechanically here, but the small land holdings probably make this impractical anyway. The rules that they also need to comply with would cause me frustration, but they do also provide some stability to their industry that we do not enjoy back home. The photo shows a traditional French village with an ancient fort overlooking it, surrounded by vineyards.

Back in the Barossa Valley it has been drizzly and we have had several frosts. We recorded 11mm of rain for the week over 5 days. I believe we are also seeing the first signs of bud swell.

Post from Spain

2008-08-16T06:07:00.007+09:30

Today I am posting from Barcelona in Spain. I have spent most of this week on the Mediterranean coastal region. Grape growing here is very interesting - while the climate is similar to the Barossa Valley, the soils are very different. The stony and chalky type soils produce very low vigour vines. I have visited several wine regions while here, but lack of time will limit me to regions close to Barcelona. Next I am heading to France. The photo is of a typical Spanish vineyard, although this one is a relatively high vigour one. This was taken in the hills above Tarragona.

Back at home it is continuing to rain in small amounts, we have had a total of 14.8mm for the week and recorded some rainfall 6 out 7 days. We have started mowing down our cover crop. This years' cover crop is looking like one of the best we have grown for quite a few years - not a bad result considering it has not had any artificial fertiliser, only the fowl manure we usually put on every second row each year. I think we must be doing something right with our soil!

Another Airport - this time JFK New York

2008-08-09T05:46:00.006+09:30

Well this blog comes to you from New York. I am waiting for a flight to the UK, where I will be spending the weekend before flying on to Barcelona to have a look at wine growing in Spain. This week I have spent here in New York and in Maryland, I have been talking to wine promotion people and regional marketing organizations. I am interested in how regions brand, and then market themselves - as I feel the Barossa Valley is not doing as good a job as it could at this. My Nuffield scholarship that I am on at the moment is helping me find out how other regions are doing this and giving me lots of ideas that the Barossa might like to try.
The photo today was taken in Washington state, it is of the entrance to the Red Mountain AVA, a relatively small but, I think up and coming area for premium grapes.
Back at home it continues to rain in small amounts. We have had 20mm for the week, however this was spread over 5 days (useful, but not ideal). Just another piece of news I have from home, this week the Barossa Grape and Wine association appointed a CEO. He is Sam Holmes, and I look forward to meeting him and working with him when I get back home.

Boise, Idaho

2008-08-03T13:32:00.005+09:30

I am currently in Boise, Idaho. I have spent most of the last week in the Washington wine growing area. For a relatively young wine growing region, they are making some amazingly good wines. There are also some of the worlds best winemakers working here. So far I have been very fortunate with the weather - everywhere that I have been has been fine and warm but not too hot. This coming week I will be flying to the west coast of the USA. The photo this week is of sunset in Washington state taken near Dayton.

This week at home in the Barossa we have only had 4.4mm of rain for the week. This is only enough to keep things damp, but we do still need some heavy soaking rains before the end of winter.

First week of own study in California

2008-07-27T02:20:00.004+09:30

I have now been here in California for nearly a week. I have spent all week in the grape growing areas near San Francisco. I have been to Lodi and the Napa and Sonoma valleys, I am currently in Davis. I was able to get a quick introduction to some of the viticulture research that is being done here at UC Davis. Next week I will be flying to Idaho and from there going to Washington state.
Back home in the Barossa Valley it continues to be cold and rainy. We have had another 8.2mm of rain for the week and are now only about 12mm short of setting a 10 year record for July rainfall. It has also been very cold, 2 nights we recorded below zero temperatures and a couple of days only struggling up to 10C.

Back in Australia - for now

2008-07-19T19:07:00.001+09:30

I have now been back in Australia for nearly a week. I have not been home, my family has been holidaying with me on the Gold Coast in Queensland. I have been enjoying some much cooler weather than we got in the Philippines and China, while my family has escaped the cold and rainy weather back home. Tomorrow they will be going back home, to normality and school, while I will be flying out to the San Francisco to start the solo stage of my Nuffield study. I will be away for another 8 weeks before I see home again. It has been faantastiic to catch up with my wife and family and have a bit of a chance to recharge my batteries before diving into my own study. I will try to update my blog a little more regularly, now that I am on my own.
Back at home in the Barossa it has been raining again this week. We have had approx. another 12.5mm of rain, we have now had our average rainfall for July - anything more this month is a much needed bonus, as we are still behind (by about 50mm) our average for the year.

Post from the Philippines

2008-07-15T18:22:00.001+09:30

Well our global focus program is winding up now. We have just left Manila on our way back to Australia. We stayed at the International Rice Research Institute. This was an very good place to end our world tour, considering how crucial rice is to so much of the worlds population and how much world rice stocks influence grain prices. We have seen how this institute is trying to improve rice yields to offset the increase in world population and at the same time, the reduction in area that is being planted. The photo shows rice paddy's in the Philippines, with a monsoonal shower in the background.
Back home in the Barossa it has been raining and quite cold again. We had about 26mm of rain for the week ending Fri. 11th July.

Flying in China

2008-07-05T13:53:00.007+09:30

We are about to get on a domestic flight in China from Guangzhou to Nanjing. As is usual with our group, the flight is delayed, so I have a little time to update my blog. China is a country of contrasts, they are obviously expanding at a furious rate, but at the same time a lot of the farming is being done much like it has been done for hundreds of years. There are very few young farmers in this country - all the young people want to do is move to the cities and get jobs in the many factories here. Farming is considered a very low class occupation, until this attitude changes, I do wonder how China will be able to feed itself. The photo today shows fruit and vegetables for sale in one of the many wet markets we have seen here.

Back home it has been raining this week, not sure how much, looks like around about 10mm. our season is shaping up to be fairly dry - we will need a really wet month soon!

Update from LAX

2008-06-28T14:06:00.006+09:30

We are in the middle of a long layover in LAX as part of our Nuffield global focus tour. We are currently in the One World club lounge during a 8 hour wait for a connecting overnight flight to Hong Kong. This is a very nice lounge, much nicer than some we have used during our travels. The last 5 days have been spent in north and western Oklahoma. The usual comment that we have been getting is, why are you going there? Well we have been learning about all kinds of things, from dairy operations (yet again) to cheese making (somewhat related) to oil production and wind energy. The photo shows a fairly late wheat crop being harvested in the Oklahoma panhandle under quite threatening skies.

We have had very little rainfall back home, it looks like we have only had 0.8mm for the week.

This week 20th June 2008

2008-06-25T21:33:00.005+09:30

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while - we have been very busy on our Nuffield global focus tour. We are currently in NW Oklahoma, in beef and oil country. Our group is having a amazing time, we have been looking at all kinds of things including a very interesting visit to Oklahoma state university, where we talked to a cereal seed breeder and turf grass researchers (among others). We also had meetings with deans of most of the agriculture related departments of the university. Earlier in the week we spent some time in Maryland, this was a very interesting part of the world, we even got to spend an evening on an oyster skip jack with a real local character giving us a run down on some of the local seafood history. I haven't had a chance to organize any photos for this post, but I will make sure that I have some next time.
They have not had much rain at home in the last week, I believe that there has only been about 3mm (the Nuriootpa weather station has been offline for several days again this week).

Delayed Flight

2008-06-18T06:36:00.006+09:30

We are currently in Boston(USA) waiting for a delayed flight to Washington DC. So I thought I would write just a little about what we have been up to. We spent the last 3 days in France. While there we visited a number of small (by our standards) farms. It appears to us that these farms are only viable because of the EU subsidies that they receive (even though it is obviously very productive land). We also visited the Rungies international market early monday morning to see fruit, veggies, cheese and meat being traded there. They also trade seafood and flowers there, however they were not open on Monday. This was a very impressive visit with fruit and veg, that I have never seen before being traded. There are something like 25,000 trucks that pick up or deliver to this market every day. Last night we stayed in a really nice French country villa. The photo shows pigs ready for sale.

This week 13th June

2008-06-16T06:09:00.005+09:30

Good news for the Barossa this week. We have recieved 15.8mm of rain, to keep our vineyard going. We are still well behind our average rainfall for the year, we have only had 95mm so far (our average up till the end of this month is 203mm). I am still hopeful that we will get the very wet winter that we really need.

I am currently in Chartres, France on the Nuffield global focus tour. We have been having an incredible time. Our group of 11 (8 Aussies, 2 Kiwi's and a token Canadian) are all feeling rather tired. We are having to cope with very early mornings and late nights as well as jet lag and long sessions visiting farms and listening to other presentations. I have learnt more about the world dairy industry in the last 2 weeks than I will probably ever be able to use. But it is not just dairy, we have been to pig, sheep, beef, cropping, poultry, thoroughbred horse and seafood farm operations and have had a chance to question the owners/managers of all of them (we have even been to some farms that I think they actually farm tractors, one Irish farm had more than 60). I do not have any photos to show this week, as I haven't had time to download them from my camera.

Touring NZ

2008-06-07T08:48:00.004+09:30

We are in NZ at the moment. We will be leaving this fabulous country tomorrow afternoon to fly to Ireland via Hong Kong. We have been having an amazing time looking at all kinds of farms and talking to farmers and other people about farming. The first photo shows Ackaroa harbour on the Banks Peninsular. The second photo is of Mt. Hutt taken from near Methven.

This week 30th May 2008

2008-05-30T21:19:00.004+09:30

I am currently in NZ. I have been visiting the Marlborough grape growing region this week as part of my Nuffield Scholarship. On Sunday I will be meeting up with some of the other Aussie scholars (and some assorted Kiwi's) to start our global focus tour. We will be spending 6 weeks travelling together, looking at farms and farming related things all over the world. Tonight I am staying with one of the NZ scholars that will be travelling with us from Methven south of Christchurch.
Just for the record the Barossa Valley has recorded 11.2mm of rain in the last week, sounds like mostly from a thunder storm.

This week 23rd May 2008

2008-05-23T11:31:00.003+09:30

My weather data for this week is incomplete due to the Nuriootpa weather station going down after rainfall last weekend.
We have had just over 40mm of rain in the last week. I am writing this from Sydney airport, on my way out of Australia. I am just about to start my travel as part of my Nuffield scholarship. Today I will be flying to Christchurch in New Zealand. I will try to update you all as I am travelling, and let you know where I am and what I am doing. I will also try to let you know what is happening at home in the vineyard, however I will not be back home for another 16 weeks - so there will be no photos of home and only limited weather data. I am sorry if anyone needs this info but you should be able to access it at weatherzone.com. The photo today shows part of our contract hand pruning gang doing a hand cleanup on some Shiraz vines, on a cool misty morning in the Barossa Valley.

This week: 16th. May 2008

2008-05-18T19:24:00.004+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 16/5/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 22.6C (73F) on Wed. 6 readings above our monthly average of 17.3C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.7C (39F) on Mon. 2 readings above our monthly average of 6.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another typical week for us here. Reasonably pleasant days with quite cold nights. No rainfall again this week – however there is some in the forecast for us.

This week in the vineyard:
I am finishing up a number of jobs at the moment, as I am leaving to start my Nuffield scholarship this coming Friday. We have started our pruning in earnest this week. I have had a contract pruning machine working during the week and a hand contract gang also started on Thursday. The hand gang will probably be here for the next 2-3 months. The photo shows a young block of Sauv. Blanc. in the front with the neighbours Grenache behind, still holding on to their leaves, although most of the vine leaves have now fallen.

This week: 9th. May 2008

2008-05-11T20:31:00.005+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 9/5/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 21.1C (70F) on Sun. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 17.3C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 5.2C (41F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 6.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 1.6mm (5 points) 4 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Surprisingly warm this week. Very mild stable conditions all week. Just heavy fog and mist in the mornings giving us our rainfall recordings this week.

This week in the vineyard:
The photo shows that our covercrop is now well under way. At this stage it looks very good, however will probably need some more rain on it before too much longer (I am not very concerned about it, yet). We have been removing an old patch of Sauv. Blanc this week, however we are not planning to replant it this spring – it will be left fallow for 12 months. This will give us time to prepare the block a little better for the new planting (as well as giving our winery some time to decide what they would like planted there).
I will be leaving on my Nuffield scholarship in less than 2 weeks now. I have, after some difficulty, finally, applied for my Chinese Visa and after a number of phone calls to the embassy in Canberra, to straighten a few things out; it is now being processed for me. Hopefully my Passport will be back in my hands by the end of this coming week.

This week: 2nd. May 2008

2008-05-04T18:55:00.005+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 2/5/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 17.9C (64F) on Thurs. 1 reading above our monthly average of 17.3C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.2C (40F) on Tue. 4 readings above our monthly average of 6.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 33.0mm (94 points) 6 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Well I think winter has finally arrived for us. We have recorded some rainfall nearly every day this week , with significant falls recorded on 4 days (more than 5 mm). We also have had much cooler daytime temperatures; in fact we had our coldest daytime maximum in more than 10 years on Sunday (11.1C).

This week in the vineyard:
The rain has been fantastic for us. We are all walking around with big smiles on our faces. I have now got virtually all of our triticale covercrop planted. There are just a couple of young blocks of Sauv. Blanc still left to plant, I am just waiting for them to lose a few more leaves. While I have been seeding I have also been putting out a residual herbicide under our vine rows. This spray is usually done early in spring, but I am going away in a little over 2 weeks for 4 months and so I am trying to minimise the amount of work that needs be done while I am overseas. It will be very interesting to see how well it works towards the other end of the season. The photo this week shows a section of the Barossa ranges just starting to change colour to their winter greens.

This week: 25th. April 2008

2008-04-27T20:26:00.005+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 25/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 26.4C (79F) on Thurs. 6 reading above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 2.7C (37F) on Wed. 2 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet another beautiful autumn week for us. We have had some very cool nights , this should encourage the vines to start losing their leaves. As I write this the rain is tumbling down outside, so even though we recorded no rain in this week, I will have some good news for next week’s blog.
This week in the vineyard:
Well it is raining outside as I write this, so I am in for a very busy week. In the week that we have just had I finished spraying the last of the summer weeds in the row that we are not going to cultivate this year. We have mostly been targeting wire weed and any remaining caltrop plants. I am now ready to start seeding our cover crop; I was waiting for some rain – now I have no more excuses. I need to get it in the ground as fast as I can, before the soil cools down too much – we want as much growth as possible before winter. The photo this week shows some more of our autumn vine leaves.

This week: 18th. April 2008

2008-04-20T17:06:00.005+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 18/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 22.6C (73F) on Fri. 1 reading above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.5C (40F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 3.8mm (11 points) 1 day of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A fabulous autumn week for us yet again this week. Very stable air mass has meant very little change all week. We started with some rain on Saturday but since then there has been very little change from one day to the next.

This week in the vineyard:
I have begun to prepare to plant one of our blocks of Shiraz to a permanent sward. Some of our premium Shiraz blocks we have planted with a fescue, we use this to reduce the available moisture early in spring. This enables us to reduce cropping levels a little in most seasons, to give us better quality fruit at the other end of the season. These blocks are not cultivated at all, so there is also a financial benefit for us. Still no rain in the forecast for us, so I am still waiting to start seeding. I have spent quite a bit of this week organizing my trip overseas, now only 5 weeks until I leave home for 4 months.

This week: 11th. April 2008

2008-04-13T20:24:00.005+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 11/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 28.9C (82F) on Wed. 6 readings above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.3C (40F) on Sat. 6 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.8mm (2 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A little warmer again for us here in the beautiful Barossa Valley. While a little more rain would be really nice, it’s hard to complain about autumn here.

This week in the vineyard:
I have finished cultivating a bed for the cover crop to be planted into. I will not start planting our crop until there is some rain forecast for us. While we probably have enough moisture in our soil profile to get a crop germinating, I would like to see some more rain coming before we start planting. We have also, now started some very early pruning. Some of our older Shiraz have lost enough leaves to be able to commence pruning.
The photo today shows a Sangiovase leaf changing to its autumn colours.

This week: 4th. April 2008

2008-04-06T21:00:00.008+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 04/4/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 26.9C (80F) on Tue. 1 reading above our monthly average of 21.8C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.3C (38F) on Sun. 2 readings above our monthly average of 8.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 14.4mm (41 points) 4 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another cooler week for us. At last we have recorded some reasonable rainfall. Thursday we recorded 11.6mm which is already half of the average for April. This goes some way towards making up for the very dry start to the year, so far. We now need it to keep raining all winter, preferably well above average.

This week in the vineyard:
A lot has happened this week, now that we have had some rain. All of the poultry manure has been spread and we have now started disking it in. As part of this pass we are also spraying a knock down herbicide under the vines to start cleaning up the weeds. I will be trying something a little different this coming season. We will only be cultivating every second row, in the past we cultivated every row each year. I have started cultivating every alternate row, the one with the manure spread in it. Once we get some more rain the cover crop will go in that row (using a power harrows seeder). The other row will not be touched, with a cultivator until next year. The photo shows a row that has been cultivated and is now ready to be planted with a cover crop - as soon as we get some more rain.

2008 Nuffield Scholarships now open

2008-04-05T21:54:00.004+10:30

Just a quick message to let you all know that the next round of Nuffield scholarships are now open for Australian farmers. I won one of these scholarships last year (mine has been supported by Nufarm). Nuffield scholarships are open to young people involved in primary production here in Australia. These allow the winners to spend A$25,000 on travel to study anything agriculture related anywhere in the world. I am in the process of planning my travel at the moment - I have less than 7 weeks until I leave for my 16 weeks of study. During my travel I am planning on visiting New Zealand, Ireland, France, the USA, China, the Philippines, Spain and South Africa. I will be studying 'Regional branding and marketing to improve returns for producers'. As well as the travel you also get to mix with some of the most enthusiastic and 'switched on' young farmers from all over the world. You also get to step outside of your industry and study the broader picture of world agriculture. If you would like any more information go to http://www.nuffield.com.au/schols.html, for more information and an application form or drop me an email at the address at the top of the page.

This week: 28th. March 2008

2008-03-30T21:01:00.006+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 28/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 28.7C (84F) on Sun. & Mon. 2 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 0.9C (33F) on Fri. 1 reading above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 4.4mm (12 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Our summer of extremes is continuing. This week has been much cooler. It is starting to feel a lot more like autumn here in the Barossa. We have gone very close to a record for a minimum temperature for March (0.9C on Friday). At last we have also recorded some rain, although it has hardly been enough to settle the dust.

This week in the vineyard:
We have started on our winter work, yes, even though we only finished picking last week. I have started spreading poultry manure in every second row of our vineyard. I plan to start working this in as soon as we get some rain. We will then start to plant our cover crop, once we get a reasonable amount of rain. As you can see a lot now hinges on when we get our opening rain. We can get some jobs done before it rains, however once it starts raining we have to work as quickly as possible to get the cover crop in before our soil cools too much. We want to plant as early as we can to get as much vegetative growth as we can before winter. We grow a cover crop to provide as much vegetable matter as we can, to act as a mulch over summer.

This week’s photo shows the Barossa ranges still looking very dry despite the rain of this week.

This week: 21st. March 2008

2008-03-24T19:38:00.004+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 21/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 39.2C (102F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.4C (38F) on Fri. 5 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

The heat wave is now over. We set a number of new records during the last fortnight, including 15 consecutive days of extreme heat (previous record for an Australian capital city was held by Perth at 10 days). We also had the warmest overnight minimum temp for March (24C for the Barossa Valley). We are now looking forward to much cooler conditions. All we need now is for it to rain, still no rain recorded.

This week in the vineyard:
All our grapes have now been picked. We picked the last block of Grenache this week, it was showing some signs of the heat, however did come up quite nicely. Overall the vintage has been quite satisfying for us, we have picked just below average tonnages of grapes, but this is more than double what we picked last year. The cool ripening conditions during January should mean very good wine from the earlier varieties. The heat that started on the 3rd of Feb. had a severe impact on any fruit that was still on the vine. Most of our grapes (about 90%) were picked prior to the heat. Any grapes that were delivered after the heat, returned very high Baume’s (we had one load of Merlot that went 17.9). I have heard reports of fruit being delivered as high as 23. Most Barossa Valley grapes were picked before the hot spell, and so on balance I am looking forward to some superb wines being produced from this vintage. The photo this week shows some of our vines with the Barossa ranges in the background hanging out for some rain (we have only recorded 3.6mm so far this year, we normally average 71mm to the end of March).

This week: 14th. March 2008

2008-03-15T21:37:00.007+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 14/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 39.1C (102F) on Thur. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 14.8C (59F) on Sat. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Our record breaking heat wave has continued this week. We have now had 11 days in a row of temperatures over 36C. All maximum and minimum readings this week have been above average. Our average maximum temperature for this month currently stands at 35.7C, that is 10.2C above our long term average of 25.5C. We have not recorded any rainfall in the last week.

This week in the vineyard:
The heat of the last almost 2 weeks has had a severe impact on any grapes that were still on the vines. Luckily virtually all of our crop was picked prior to the heat. We only have one block of Grenache left to pick (it will be coming off this coming Tues.). Last week we finished picking all of our Cabernet and Merlot. The Merlot block was very ripe, it tested 17.9 Baume at the winery, this was probably a fair bit higher than they would have liked, however the heat and very dry conditions has had the effect of drying the berries on the vine. The photo tonight shows the last grapes we have still on our vines. This is a bunch of Grenache due to be picked on Tuesday, showing the bagginess of the berries as they have started to raisin on the vine.

This week: 7th. March 2008

2008-03-09T20:35:00.004+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 7/3/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 37.6C (100F) on Thur. 6 readings above our monthly average of 25.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 6.4C (43F) on Sun. 4 readings above our monthly average of 11.2C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Well it seems Summer is not finished with us yet. We are in the middle of another heat wave. There is no relief in sight for us in the forecast for the coming week.

This week in the vineyard:
I have not been able to spend much time in the vineyard this week, as I have had a case of Bronchitis. I am pleased to say that I am finally starting to improve.
We have only picked 2 blocks of grapes this week. However all of our Shiraz is now gone. The Mad dog Sangiovase is also safely tucked away in a tank. I have started to think about cover cropping and our winter work. Some rain would be nice anytime from now on!

This week: 29nd. Febuary 2008

2008-03-03T21:29:00.008+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 29/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 28.5C (83F) on Tue. 0 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 7.2C (45F) on Fri. 0 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Much cooler again this week. This weather is superb for ripening our grapes. Still no rain, just what we want to be able to finish our grapepicking.

This week in the vineyard:
I have spent all of the last week at a nuffield international scholars conference in Victoria. It has been very refreshing to spend a week with enthusiastic young farmers from all over the world. I have met farmers from Canada, UK, Ireland and New Zealand, from all sorts of farming enterprises. While in Victoria we visited a large number of very successful farming operations and listened to some amazing speakers.
In the vineyard we have picked the Mad Dog Shiraz. Vintage is beginning to wind up, we have now only got a few odds and ends still to pick. I am hoping to have all of grapes picked by Easter, even though it is quite early this year. The photo this week shows us just starting to pick one of our last blocks of Shiraz.

This week: 22nd. Febuary 2008

2008-02-24T19:26:00.003+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 22/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 38.2C (100F) on Fri. 4 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.2C (49F) on Sat. 6 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A 3 day heat wave early this week. The remainder of the week has been fairly mild, with quite warm nights. Still no rainfall recorded.

This week in the vineyard:
The end of vintage is now in sight for us. Most of our major varieties have now been picked or are booked to be picked in the next week. We have now got nearly 70% of our grapes picked. After this week there will only be small blocks and minor varieties for us left to go. In the last week we have picked Shiraz and Merlot for Yalumba and Riesling for Peter Lehmann. Our Mad dog Shiraz will be picked this coming Monday morning.
I have not got a photo today as I am in Melbourne taking part in an international Nuffield conference. So I am trying to manage our harvest at long distance. It is only for a week, then I will be back to see to the end of a very fast and furious harvest for us.

This week: 15th. Febuary 2008

2008-02-17T19:34:00.005+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 15/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 31.7C (89F) on Fri. 1 reading above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.0C (48F) on Sat. 0 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A very mild week again this week. We have had quite cool conditions all week with all minimums below our average and only one day over our average maximum. Again no rainfall recorded all week.

This week in the vineyard:
Vintage continues at a frantic pace. This week we have been picking Riesling, Semillon, White Frontignac and Cabernet. We have now finished all of our Semillon and White Fronti. We will pick the last of our White grapes this coming week. The Cabernet was picked very early by Peter Lehmann for a Rose’ product they are planning. We have the first blocks of Shiraz booked to be picked early next week, in fact Yalumba will be picking all of their blocks of Shiraz this coming week. The mild weather has meant a fabulous ripening period for our grapes and should mean very good flavour profiles for all of the varieties so far picked. There is some hot weather coming early this week, and potentially some rain later, from a tropical cyclone currently off the West Australian coast – so we will be trying to get as much off as quickly as we can. This week’s photo shows a bunch of Shiraz grapes, ready to pick in the next week or so.

This week: 8th. Febuary 2008

2008-02-09T22:19:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 8/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 35.2C (95F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 8.4C (47F) on Fri. 3 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.4mm (1 point) 1 day of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

We have had very mild conditions again this week, almost cold for this time of year. It was warm for the start of the week, but from then on it has been quite cool. Excellent weather for ripening grapes and maintaining maximum flavour potential in our fruit. Again no worthwhile rainfall recorded this week.

This week in the vineyard:
Harvest continues and is building in pace. We have most of our white varieties picked or booked to be picked this coming week. We have not yet harvested any red grapes, but we may be starting on them in the next 7-10 days, I suspect. This last week we picked Chardonnay for Peter Lehmann wines. Coming up in the next few days we have Semillon for Peter Lehmann and Yalumba wines. Yalumba will also be taking their Chardonnay and Riesling. So we will be having a very busy week. The photo tonight shows one of our contractors grape harvesters in our vineyard ready to pick Chardonnay and Semillon on Sun night (10th).

This week: 1st. Febuary 2008

2008-02-03T21:47:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 1/2/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 34.5C (94F) on Wed. 5 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 12.7C (55F) on Mon. 4 readings above our monthly average of 14.5C.
Rainfall for the Week 2.2mm (6 points) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A carbon copy of the last 3 weeks, weatherwise in the Barossa Valley. We have been having warm but not too hot days and relatively warm nights, just what the vines need for maximum flavour accumulation. No useful rain to speak of – most of what was recorded came overnight Sat. and was all evaporated the next day.

This week in the vineyard:
As I reported mid week we have now commenced our harvest. In only one night’s picking we got approx. 12% of our crop off. All of our Sauv. Blanc and Pinot Noir has now been picked and we have also picked all of our Chardonnay for Barossa Valley Estate (we have Chardonnay for 2 other wineries still to be picked). We will be picking Chardonnay for Peter Lehmann wines early this coming week. We continue to sample all of our grape varieties to determine the optimum time to pick. We have even already sampled Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The next few weeks will be the busiest of the year for us in the vineyard, but I will endeavour to post whenever possible to keep you informed of any developments. The photo shows a harvester working in one of our neighbour's vineyards.

Start of Vintage 2008

2008-01-30T22:56:00.000+10:30

Vintage has now commenced for us here in the Barossa Valley. We started picking yesterday (Jan. 29Th), we already have all of our Sauvinion Blanc and Pinot Noir off and have made a start on our Chardonnay. This has been the second earliest start to our vintage ever, only last year was earlier (Jan 23rd). So far yield looks like we will be getting close to an average crop (last year was 60%-70% below average). It is a little early to comment on quality, however we have had exceptional ripening conditions for the last 3 weeks, so I am hopeful of a very good year. In one (rather long) night we have picked nearly 15% of our vineyard area, now we wait for more to be ready to pick, it is unlikely that we will be picking anything else this week. Very short update for you all - now to bed after nearly 30 hours straight at work.

This week: 25th. January 2008

2008-01-20T20:42:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 25/1/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 35.0C (95F) on Fri. 3 reading above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 11.9C (53F) on Mon. 4 readings above our monthly average of 14.4C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.6mm (1 point) 2 days of rainfall recorded.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another superb week for ripening grapes here in the Barossa valley this week. The rain recorded this week was nothing more than a couple of misty mornings.

This week in the vineyard:
We will be picking the first of our grapes this coming week. We have been sampling all of our white varieties this week. Most of them are going between 9 and 11 baume. We will be picking all of our Sauvignon Blanc and some of our Chardonnay on this coming Tuesday night. I believe our grapes will continue to accumulate sugar quite quickly while this cooler weather continues. So I think we will probably have more ready to pick early the following week. We have sampled one of our early Shiraz blocks and they are currently at 10.5 baume, we would expect them to gain about 1 baume per week. So if they are to be picked at 14 we could see them ready to pick in 2 – 3 weeks. The photo tonight shows a breakaway group of riders in the Tour Down Under here in the Barossa Valley (when this photo was taken they were more than 6 mins ahead of the main group, they were caught a couple kilometers from the finish).

This week: 11th. January 2008

2008-01-13T20:42:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 11/1/08
Maximum Temperature for the week 41.5C (107F) on Thurs. 6 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 11.8C (53F) on Mon. 5 readings above our monthly average of 14.4C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet another week with some very hot days in it, however there have at least been some cooler days to balance things up a bit. Our average max. for January so far is 33.3C (nearly 4.0C above our usual average). No rain recorded again this week, not that we want too much from here into harvest now.

This week in the vineyard:
All fungicide spraying has now been completed. We are now into withholding periods for most varieties. We have had our first blocks tested this week, with most between 6 and 8 Baume. This will mean with ideal ripening conditions we could be harvesting our early whites in a couple of weeks. However more hot weather and the vines could shut down and slow the ripening process. We have now got most of our harvesting equipment ready to go. We are just starting to skirt around the bottom of the vines to make the job for our mechanical harvesting contractor easier. This weeks photo shows part of a Shiraz bunch with almost full colour now.

This week: 4th. January 2008

2008-01-06T20:12:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 4/1/08

Maximum Temperature for the week 41.7C (107F) on Mon. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 29.4C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 12.4C (54F) on Thurs. 6 readings above our monthly average of 14.4C.

Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

One of the hottest weeks in living memory for us this week. We have not set any new records, however we have just had 6 out of 8 days above 39.0C (101F). The hot weather is not at an end with at least another 2 extremely hot days forecast for this coming week.

This week in the vineyard:

The extremely hot weather of the last week has done some damage to our vineyard, however at this stage it does not to appear to be too bad. The Photos shows some of the damage in Chardonnay (yellow leaves) and Riesling (berry damage). The hot weather has also meant that we have not been able to totally finish the last fungicide spray, it will be done first thing next week. Not that we will have any disease issues while this weather continues, this spray is just insurance in case of rain before harvest.
This week will also see our staff come back from their Christmas break, they will be getting ready for harvest (painting bins and getting vehicles ready). The top photo today also shows the first signs of verasion in some of our aged on the vine shiraz.

This week: 28th. December

2007-12-30T20:51:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 28/12/07
Weather data for this week is incomplete.
Maximum Temperature for the week 37.0C (98F) on Fri. 3? readings above our monthly average of 27.1C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.6C (49F) on Tue. 3? readings above our monthly average of 12.3C.
Rainfall for the Week 28.4mm (81 points) 3 day of rain. (Rainfall figures for Tanunda).
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A very nice amount of rain early in the week for us, however it has been followed by gradually warming and very dry days. In fact the forecast for next week is for an extended heat wave. The rain of last week will help to cushion the impact of this heat on the vines, however we are stepping up our irrigation schedule to make sure each block is getting some water every week.

This week in the vineyard:
We are finishing off the last of the spraying this week. All of our early whites have now been sprayed, with the rest to be sprayed as early as we can in the new year. With the forecast hot weather for the next week, I think I may need to do some night spraying. I am also trying to get some more weed spraying done. I have not been getting much done this week due to all the public holidays and now I will not get much done because of the weather - very frustrating!

I pray everyone has a very happy and above all safe New year, I look forward to posting again in 2008.

This week: 21st. December

2007-12-23T21:31:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 21/12/07

Weather data for this week is incomplete.

Maximum Temperature for the week 35.8C (96F) on Wed. 3? readings above our monthly average of 27.1C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 10.9C (51F) on Mon. 3? readings above our monthly average of 12.3C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.2mm (1 point) 1 day of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A warm and fairly humid week for us this week. The weather station at Nuriootpa has been down for a couple of days this week, so I have had to make a best guess at some of this weeks figures.

This week in the vineyard:

I have been spraying our early whites this week for the last time this season. We have been using Copper and Sulfur this time, which has a withholding period of 30 days here in Australia. I am expecting an early start to vintage this year, however not as early as the record start time of last year. We will be able to start picking anytime from the 20th of Jan. I am planning to spray the rest of our varieties the first week in Jan. We have also been skirting some of the longer canes that are hanging down, to improve the airflow through the vines and make it easier to machine harvest.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas. Please stay safe in whatever you do, particularly when driving this festive season (there was a fatal car accident this week with both of the cars finishing up in one of our vineyards, and a local woman I have known for around 30 years killed).

This week: 14th. December

2007-12-16T20:55:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 14/12/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 36.0C (97F) on Fri. 4 readings above our monthly average of 27.1C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 5.5C (42F) on Mon. 2 readings above our monthly average of 12.3C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Yet another very nice summer week. A couple of quite warm days at the end of the week. Still no rain recorded.

This week in the vineyard:

This week I have been doing some more mowing, as we will need to start spraying some of the summer weeds that are coming up all over the place. We are having particular challenges with a weed called caltrop, an amazing weed that I think will eventually take over the world (if we can't find some easy way to control it). It grows really fast after just a small amount of summer rainfall, to get it germinating. It sets seeds within a couple of weeks of germination and each mature plant can get 100's if not 1000's of seeds on it. So I am going to have to spray weeds again shortly to control the plants that are out there now, but if we get more rain in the next few weeks there will be another flush of weeds germinate.

The photo this week shows some of our Shiraz, we are expecting to see the first signs of verasion shortly. As you can see there is no sign yet of any colour change yet. Last year we started picking on the 23rd of Jan. this was the earliest start to vintage ever (by nearly a week), I am expecting this coming vintage to be quite early too, but hopefully not as early as last year.

This week: 7th. December

2007-12-09T21:26:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 7/12/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 35.4C (95F) on Thurs. 4 readings above our monthly average of 27.1C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 10.1C (50F) on Thurs. 4 readings above our monthly average of 12.3C.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A fairly typical summer week for us this week. A couple of warm to hot days. Most of the rest of the week has been quite nice. There have been some quite strong winds with thunderstorms in other parts of SA, that have caused a number of bushfires. Some of these fires are still burning out of control, but nowhere near the Barossa.

This week in the vineyard:

We have now finished what I hope will be our second last fungicide spray for the season. We can now turn our attention to weeds (particularly Caltrop) that are coming up in the vineyard.

I have not been getting a lot done in the vineyard (again) this week. All of our wineries are having their Christmas shows at the moment. I also spent one day this week on a on a bus trip organized by the Barossa Valley Tech. group, to the riverland. We looked at a private vineyard at Blanchetown, and several corporate vineyards near Waikerie. We also looked at a vineyard near Loxton that has been severely deprived of water because of the drought.

The first photo (a merger of 7 photos) shows some smoke haze from the bushfires in SA, over the Barossa (not enough to affect grape quality). The second photo shows Dr. Mike McCarthy on the riverland bus trip, inspecting some vines that have not been given any irrigation in the last 2 years.

This week: 30th. November

2007-12-02T19:13:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 30/11/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 33.4C (92F) on Thurs. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 7.5C (45F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 10.7C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very warm week for us this week. However we have so far not had any real scorcher days that could damage our grapes. We have had near record maximum average temperatures this November. We finished the month with our average nearly 3C above our normal average.

This week in the vineyard:

I have continued to put on our next fungicide spray. I am not getting a lot done, due to the warm weather, I can only spray in the morning and a number of Christmas functions I have attended this week.

We have started tucking canes up, in our blocks that have catch wires. We do this to provide some shading of the fruit but also (conversely) to open the canopy's up to promote more even ripening.

The photo tonight shows a bunch of Shiraz, they are at about pea size berries. As you can see fruit set has been quite uniform and as a result we should look forward to a good solid average season, if we can finish the fruit off. Heat and lack of water, I believe, will now be the limiting factors in how well our season finishes up.

This week: 23rd. November

2007-11-25T21:41:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 23/11/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 38.4C (101F) on Mon. 5 readings above our monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 8.4C (47F) on Thur. 5 readings above our monthly average of 10.7C.

Rainfall for the Week 8.2mm (24 points) 1 day of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another quite warm week again this week. We had one wet day (Wed.) with just over 8mm of rain measured. The vines dried off very quickly after the rain, so I am not expecting any problems with mildew as a result. This rain has only been enough to freshen the vines up a bit. The good news is we wont have to irrigate for a while.

This week in the vineyard:

We have had some petioles analyzed in the last few weeks, this week we got the results back. We have no major issues with nutrition showing up.

Because of the rain this last week, I have now started putting our next fungicide spray on the vines. I am hoping that we will only need to put out one more spray this season, after this one. I am sorry I have not got a photo this week, but I have been very busy spraying any chance I can get.

This week: 16h. November

2007-11-18T20:50:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 16/11/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 34.8C (95F) on Fri. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 11.0C (52F) on Sat. All 7 readings above our monthly average of 10.7C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A very warm week this week. All readings, both max. and min. have been above our monthly average. We have not recorded any rainfall at all this week.

This week in the vineyard:

We have now just about finished putting out the nitrogen fertigation, that we started last week. The vines have noticeably grown this last week, the warm weather with the rain we have had in the last 2 weeks, have really stimulated them. Flowering is finished in most varieties, fruit set so far looks to be quite reasonable. This week our Murray river water allocation has been lifted from 16% to 22%. This increase will still not be enough for us. We will need to top up our needs with poor quality bore water, however we will not need to use as much now, this is very good news for our soil. The more bore water we have to use the more chance we have of causing damage to our soil and ultimately our vines. This weeks photo is a view through some of our Chardonnay, showing how well developed our canopy's are now.

This week: 9th. November

2007-11-11T21:47:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 9/11/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 27.0C (80F) on Fri. 2 readings above our monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 4.6C (40F) on Sun. 3 readings above our monthly average of 10.7C.
Rainfall for the Week 13.4mm (38 points) 2 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

One wet day this week (Sat.). Since Sunday we have had a large high pressure system parked in the great Australian bight. This has caused fine and dry conditions for us most of the week.

This week in the vineyard:

We are still breaking out water shoots (summer pruning). I have been cleaning up some of the weeds that were missed last time we went through the vineyard. I am also mowing again with the same pass to stop as much moisture being lost as possible, while leaving a mulch covering. We have also started putting out a Nitrogen fertigation on some of our white varieties, as we are a little concerned about the amount of canopy that some of the vines have. We would like to try and stimulate some more growth to protect our fruit from sunburn once we start getting into some hotter weather. This week's photo is of a bunch of Sauvinion Blanc. in full flower. Flowering will be over here in the Barossa by next week's posting. This week we will be looking for fine and calm weather to maximise the conversion from flowers in fruit.

This week: 2nd. November

2007-11-04T18:57:00.001+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 2/11/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 28.7C (83F) on Sat. 3 readings above our monthly average of 24.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 7.2C (45F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average of 10.7C.

Rainfall for the Week 12.4mm (35 points) 4 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A slightly damp week. We have had several days of reasonable rainfall - not enough to influence our subsoil, but enough to replenish our evaporation losses. There has been a large low pressure system building in the great Australian Bite for most of this week, this has meant cooler and windy conditions for us.

This week in the vineyard:

We are still Summer pruning.

I have spent most of this week putting out our second fungicide spray for the season. I have all of our vineyard now protected against Downy and Powdery mildews. I am expecting some more rain for us this coming week.

We have seen the first signs of flowering in our vineyard. The Chardonnay is well under way, however other varieties are still to start. By next week I would expect most of our varieties will be flowering or finished. The photo this week shows some of our Chardonnay already near the end of flowering.

This week: 26th. October

2007-10-28T21:56:00.000+10:30

Weather Report Week Ending 26/10/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 36.0C (97F) on Sun. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 6.1C (43F) on Fri. 5 readings above our monthly average of 8.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 6.6mm (19 points) 2 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Some rain for us this week, but not really enough to be useful. Two very hot days, with hot Northerly winds for us this week, these will have caused the vines to start using up our available moisture. We will need to start monitoring our soil moisture's very closely from now on, to work out when to start watering our vines.

This week in the vineyard:

We are continuing to do our Summer pruning. As I reported last week we have been drilling for water, to replace an old bore that we used to use for irrigation. We have been successful in finding water - however the quality is (as we expected) fairly marginal for growing grape vines. We will go ahead and equip this bore with a pump and filtration equipment, but it will only be used as an emergency water supply, if we can not get enough out of the Barossa Infrastructure Limited scheme that has been supplying water for us from the Murray River. If we have to use this bore water for more than a couple of years, I would expect to see some problems with Sodic soils starting to re-emerge (our soils have improved considerably in the 5 or 6 years since we have had access to the BIL water). The photo shows our new bore being blown out at about 8000 gal./hour.

We have also started putting on our 2nd fungicide spray for the season as some of our Chardonnay are showing the first signs of flowering.

Nuffield Scolarship for Barossa Grapegrower

2007-10-21T19:32:00.000+09:30

I have been awarded a Nuffield scholarship, one of the most prestigious farming honours that can be awarded to young farmers worldwide. The Scholarship is worth $A25,000 and it will involve me spend 4 months next year travelling the world studying something agriculture related, my chosen subject will be ‘regional branding and marketing to improve returns for producers’. I will be spending the first 6 weeks of my time away on what is called a global focus tour, this is a very intensive tour of all different forms of agriculture and agriculture related industries. On this leg of my tour I will be visiting The Philippines, China, Canada, USA, Ireland and France. The rest of my travel is still to be organized, however I would like to spend the majority of my time in Europe and North America with possibly some time in New Zealand and South Africa. So towards the middle of next year this blog will change a little from being about our vineyard to something of a blog on world agriculture, for a while at least. I am looking forward to the opportunity that this will give me. I will be having a very busy year, but I suspect I will be coming back something of a changed person. My scholarship is supported by Nufarm, and I thank them very much for the opportunity that it will give me.

This week: 19th. October

2007-10-21T18:47:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 19/10/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 30.5C (87F) on Thurs. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.1C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 3.1C (38F) on Sun. 1 reading above our monthly average of 8.1C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another quite warm and very dry week, 2 days of about 10C above our monthly average. We have had no rain recorded at all this week. Quite cool nights, all but one night below our monthly average, however, thankfully, we have had no frost.

This week in the vineyard:

We have started our summer pruning (breaking off water shoots that are growing around the trunk of the vine). This job will take my 2 workers quite a few weeks.

This week we have had a drilling rig turn up to put down a new water bore for us (we have been waiting for about 3 months, very busy people given the current water situation in South Australia). They have plugged up one of our old bores that was leaking sand and saline water into the underground aquifer. They are now ready to put down a new bore for us, this will happen early next week. We will be casing this bore in PVC to ensure that this bore will never corrode away like the last one did. The photo shows the rig set up ready to start drilling next week.

This week: 12th. October

2007-10-14T19:41:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 12/10/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 28.9C (84F) on Wed. 2 readings above our monthly average of 20.1C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 2.4C (36F) on Sat. 2 readings above our monthly average of 8.1C.

Rainfall for the Week 3.2mm (9 points) 2 day of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another quite warm and dry week here in the Barossa Valley. We are still needing a couple of large dumps of rain, whilst we have reasonable subsoil moisture levels it will not last long without more rainfall to top it up.

This week in the vineyard:

We have spent the last week on the river Murray, in a houseboat. My family and I had a terrific time and yes I can report there is still some water in the Murray (at least between Mannum and Swan Reach there is). So very little has happened in our Vineyard for the last week. My staff will be back from holiday this coming week and I will be back on deck as well, so there should be more to report next week. This weeks photo shows some of our Sauv. Blanc. and how much growth they have put on in the last few weeks while I have been away. The cover crop is now dead and so should not be sucking any moisture out of the soil, hopefully it is actually helping to retain moisture. It will also provide some shading and so reduce soil temperatures once we start getting some heat wave conditions (potentially not that far away now).

This week: 5th. October

2007-10-07T22:37:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 5/10/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 30.5C (87F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average of 20.1C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 1.9C (35F) on Fri. 3 readings above our monthly average of 8.1C.

Rainfall for the Week 1.2mm (3 points) 1 day of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Two very cold nights this week (not quite cold enough for a frost). Warm days most week with very little rainfall, quite a typical spring pattern for us here in the Barossa valley.

This week in the vineyard:

I have now finished our first fungicide application for this growing season. I have been in Perth most of the week at the Nuffield farming conference. I was there to receive one of 16 scholarships which were awarded to myself along with 15 other young farmers from all over Australia. My scholarship is for a primary producer from South Australia and is being supported by Nufarm. I will write a little more in a future posting about Nuffield and my Scholarship. The photo this week shows all of the new Nuffield Scholars at the presentation dinner, after we had received our awards.

This week: 28th. September

2007-09-30T09:30:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 28/9/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 29.0C (84F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average of 17.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 6.2C (43F) on Mon. 6 readings above our monthly average of 7.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 8.6mm (25 points) 2 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A fairly warm and very windy week this week. Two days this week we recorded wind gusts of around 80km/h. Tue. we recorded a Max. of 29C this was 11.5C above our September average, but that was still 3C short of setting a record. We have also received another useful fall of rain this week - but still only about as much as we are evaporating each week.

This week in the vineyard:

The wind this week has not done any damage to our vines, the shoots are not yet long enough for them to break off. We will not want wind like that during flowering, as this would severely limit fruit set. My staff have been doing general maintenance work this week prior to them taking a couple of weeks holiday. They have also been training young vines. I have had a very busy week, I have now finished spraying the midrow, to preserve as much moisture in the soil as we can. I have also started applying our first fungicide for the season, when the wind has eased up enough for me to get out there. I will be in Perth this week, after which I will have some very exciting (for me personally, and for the Barossa Valley) news to announce. Stay tuned for my big announcement next weekend. Today's Photo shows a young Chardonnay shoot with 2 inflorescences on it (this seems to be fairly normal this year). The potential is there for quite a good crop - if only we had enough water available to see it through to maturity.

This week: 21st. September

2007-09-23T18:54:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 21/9/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 24.3C (76F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average of 17.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 1.8C (35F) on Fri. 3 readings above our monthly average of 7.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 6.4mm (18 points) 2 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A damp start to the week however the end finished warm and windy. The rain of last week has all but been evaporated (some of it will have made it into the subsoil). We still need about 140mm of rain before the end of the year, if we are going to get an average rainfall year.

This week in the vineyard:

We have now finished planting 2 of the 3 small blocks that we have planned for this year. The final block is some Sangiovase vines that have been grafted this year and will only be ready for planting in Nov/Dec. The vines we have planted are now safely tucked away in growgards and have had their first irrigation.

I am now 3/4 finished spraying off the cover crop. The first of what I sprayed is now just starting to brown off. We are spraying the cover crop a lot earlier than usual this year to try to preserve as much moisture as we possibly can. The risk with this policy is that we may have to spray again if we get a wet spring and another flush of weeds germinate. I am planning in the next week to start our first Fungicide spray, as I will be going on holiday for a while in Oct.

This weeks photo shows two rows of Sangiovese with Chardonnay behind it.

This week: 14th. September

2007-09-16T20:42:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 14/9/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 24.3C (76F) on Sat. 5 readings above our monthly average of 17.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 3.8C (39F) on Wed. 6 readings above our monthly average of 7.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 22.4mm (64 points) 4 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

At last we have had some reasonable rainfall. We have had 2 fronts this week that gave us a couple of good rain gaugings (14 mm on Tue. and followed up with 7.4mm on Fri.). Much warmer nights this week, the increased moisture in our system should also give us some protection from any frost we may still get.

This week in the vineyard:

We have started planting the few vines we are going to put in this year. We have planted a small trial of Albarino and some Chardonnay replants in a block we planted last year. I have finished all the mowing I am planning to do this year. I will be starting to spray off our cover crop this coming week, to conserve as much of this lovely moisture in our soil as we can. This weeks photo shows some Shiraz at about 2nd leaf stage.

Newest Member of the Mad Dog team

2007-09-08T22:52:00.000+09:30

Mad Dog wines has a new team member. Patrick Charles Holmes came into the world a little early, but safely on 5th of Sept at just after 1:30pm in the Calvary hospital North Adelaide. He is Jeremy and Heidi Holme's second child and a baby brother for Lily. He is also my 2nd nephew. I suspect it will be a few years before we can let him loose on any of our premium Shiraz, but there is now another potential wine maker in the family.

This week: 7th. September

2007-09-08T16:41:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 7/9/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 21.1C (70F) on Thur. 4 readings above our monthly average of 17.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week -1.0C (30F) on Sat. 2 readings above our monthly average of 7.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.2mm (1 point) 1 day of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another warm week here in the Barossa. We are beginning to get very desperate for some reasonable rainfall. If we had some water available to us we would probably be considering giving our vines a drink. We don't normally water before Christmas, hopefully we will still get some of that natural irrigation from the sky.

This week in the vineyard:

All of our winter work is now finished. We are now getting ready to do a small area of replants, we are only planting a few vines this year because we will not have much water available to us. All of our cover crop has been mowed for the second time. I will need to start killing the cover crop shortly if we don't get some rain (it is using up what could be very valuable subsoil moisture).

I have been in Melbourne this week. I have applied for a Nuffield scholarship and went to Melbourne for the final round of interviews. The winners will be announced in Perth in Oct. I found the whole process very interesting and I think it is useful to spend some time with other enthusiastic farmers, to give you a different perspective on your own operation.

This weeks Photo shows our 40 year old Genache just starting to shoot. We are now at great risk from frost, however I am not expecting problems for another couple of weeks (closer to the next full moon). Some rain would also be useful to reduce our risk.

This week: 31st. August

2007-09-01T19:34:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 31/8/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 27.8C (82F) on Thur. 6 readings above our monthly average of 14.6C. (This was the highest August temperature recorded in the Barossa since 1977, 13.2C above our average)

Minimum Temperature for the week 0.9C (34F) on Wed. 4 readings above our monthly average of 5.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 1.6mm (5 points) 1 day of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A very warm week here this week with strong Northerly winds causing a lot of drying. We are still waiting for some more good rainfall, the 1.6mm we had on Friday will need to be followed up with further rain early this coming week, to be any use at all.

This week in the vineyard:

I have seen the first signs of bud burst. This means we are now at the mercy of frosts. We have had two near frosts this week. The cover crop has all been mown down now, to minimise our risk of frost. I have started mowing a second time, to keep the cover crop as low as possible, to promote as much air movement as possible in and around the vines.
We have now completely finished our pruning with the last block of young Sauv. Blanc. now taken out of their grow guards and mostly trained onto the wire. Those that do not have enough growth to reach the wire yet will be left in their tubes for a bit longer to give them the chance to get stronger before they are also trained up to the wire. I will be in Melbourne for some of this coming week so I will not be getting much done in the vineyard, but I might let you know what I was doing there in a few weeks.

The Photos this week show some of our Mad Dog Sangiovese vines with the first signs of life for the year.

Mad Dog 2005 Shiraz now on sale!

2007-08-29T23:11:00.001+09:30

Two pieces of news this week from Mad Dog.

Since our last Mad Dog release we have appointed Corney and Barrow as our UK agent, they are indeed the fine wine supplier to the Queen.

We are excited to announce the release of our 2005 Mad Dog Shiraz. This is old vine (35-40 year old) fruit from our own family vineyard at Vine Vale, in the Barossa Valley. It is picked ripe but not overdone (this is 14.5% alcohol) and nestles in the best French oak (Damy coopered) for 18 months. The wine bursts with ripe blood plum and blackcurrant fruit and is tinged with some floral and spice notes. In the mouth it is dense and creamy with a heart of black fruits, liquorice and Belgium chocolate. It is fairly tightly wound on the finish with plenty of savoury notes adding to the long, dry finish. This is a great vintage from the Barossa and we are very happy with our 2005.

There is only very limited quantities of this wine available (we have shipped virtually all of our stocks to retailers). So if you find some for sale - snap it up, or you may miss out. If you are in Australia you can also order online at http://www.dortodoor.com/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=521&nav_cat_id=166&nav_top_id=58.

This week: 24th. August

2007-08-26T20:07:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 24/8/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 20.0C (68F) on Fri. 5 readings above our monthly average of 14.6C.

Minimum Temperature for the week 0.0C (32F) on Mon. All 7 readings below our monthly average of 5.0C.

Rainfall for the Week 0.8mm (2 points) 3 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A beautiful Spring week for us here in the Barossa (and it is not even Spring yet!). The little bit of rain this week was nothing more than some foggy mornings that made enough moisture to measure. The sap has begun to flow in most varieties, however there has not yet been any signs of bud burst. I would expect to see the first signs of this in the next couple of weeks. We are still hanging out for a decent shower of rain, but the forecasts for the next week are not at all promising.

This week in the vineyard:

We have been continuing to do odds and ends type jobs - fixing trellis, preparing for replanting and general maintenance. I am now mowing down cover crop as fast as I can - I am very concerned about our sub soil moisture levels. With the expected water restrictions that we will be having this year, it is critical that we preserve as much moisture as we can. Rain is what we need most. This weeks photo is a combination of 5 photos stitched together in Photoshop, showing the Barossa ranges still looking very lush and green. I suspect that we will start to see some of the grass withering shortly, without any substantial rainfall.

Elton John live in the Barossa

2007-08-21T16:22:00.000+09:30

Tickets have now gone on sale for Elton John's Rocket man solo tour concert here in the Barossa Valley on Saturday 24th November. The concert will be held under the stars at the Barossa Arts and Convention centre, in Tanunda. More details can be found at http://www.barossaconvention.org/elton.html. Tickets start at $86 for general admission and can be purchased through venuetix - http://eventfeed.eventshop.com.au/public/htmlfeeditemview.php?itemid=5037&userid=39&check=f4ac4122ee48c213eec816f4d7944ea6&affid=venuetix. Should be a terrific night, I will be there! In fact my wife and I will be walking there. Our vineyards are only just around the corner from the convention centre.

This week: 17th. August

2007-08-19T20:27:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 17/8/07

The official weather station at Nuriootpa has been down most of this week, so I am using figures from Roseworthy, about 20km from our vineyards.

Maximum Temperature for the week 20.2C (68F) on Sat. 2 readings above our monthly average of 14.6C.Minimum Temperature for the week -1.0C (30F) on Mon. 3 readings above our monthly average of 5.0C.Rainfall for the Week 4.0mm (11 points) 3 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Roseworthy agriculture Research Centre.

Yet another fairly dry week here in the Barossa Valley. The figures I have are not for the station at Nuriootpa, but they should still be in the ball park for here. Just very light rainfall, what has happened to the major downfalls? Other parts of the world are having far too much rain - we would like just one heavy downfall.

This week in the vineyard:

We have now taken a break from the last of our pruning, our staff have been removing vines ready for replanting and some other odds and ends of trellising. I have started setting up a side by side trial of two different treatments for Eutypa in one of our old blocks of Shiraz. I may report on this once I have finished treating the vines in the trial (approx 400 vines in total). I have also been continuing to mow down our cover crop when the weather has been suitable. The photo this week shows our top grafted Sauv. Blanc, now all pruned and tied down at sun set.

This week: 10th. August

2007-08-12T16:39:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 10/8/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 20.0C (68F) on Fri. 5 readings above our monthly average of 14.6C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.0C (37F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average of 5.0C.
Rainfall for the Week 8.0mm (23 points) 3 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

The weather has begun to warm up and dry out. We have had a week of fairly mild temperatures, with strong drying northerly winds most of the week. We are still hoping for substantial rainfall to turn this season from a barely average season into a wet one.

This week in the vineyard:
We have now finished pruning and tying on, our block of Sauvinion Blanc that was top grafted last spring. We just have a block of young Chardonnay to go now. I have begun mowing down the weeds in the rows that did not get covercrop sown in them. I am also putting out a pre-emergent herbicide under the vines with the same pass, in blocks where we are having trouble controlling the weeds. We usually spray all undervine areas at this time of year - but to try to save us some money, I am just targeting problem areas. I will be going back in a week or so to mow down the covercrop. Sorry no vineyard picture this week, instead we went to the super special stage of Rally Australia at the Angaston oval and I have a shot of Dean Herridge's Subaru Impezza WRX taken during their first run through the special stage. My whole family had a great time watching the cars flying past! I hope they will run this event again here in the Barossa Valley.

This week: 3rd. August

2007-08-05T19:16:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 3/8/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 16.9C (62F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average of 14.6C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 5.8C (42F) on Fri. 7 readings above our monthly average of 5.0C.
Rainfall for the Week 17.8mm (50 points) 5 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A nice wet week for us this week. While we have had some very useful falls, they have been reasonably light, we are still looking for some heavy soaking rain. The forecast is not looking all that good. Last month we received 59.6mm of rain, which was about 10mm above our average for July.

This week in the vineyard:

We are continuing to finish pruning the last of our young blocks of vines. As I reported in an earlier post, I have spent the week at the 13th Australian Wine Industry Technical conference. In fact I have been to several conferences. I have also been to the 4th Australian Wine Industry Environment conference, and a workshop run by the Barossa Valley Technical group on improving biodiversity in vineyards. I feel a little overloaded with new information at the moment, I will need some time to digest all I have learned. The Australian wine industry faces some very difficult issues in the near future, including climate change, food miles, oversupply, drought and salinity. The photo shows part of the trade display at Wine Tech 2007 - held in conjunction with the Tech conference.

13th. Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference

2007-07-31T20:05:00.000+09:30

I am currently at the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference. It has (so far) been a very interesting experience. There are a number of problems that are going face the Australian wine industry in the future. The current problem is of course the ongoing drought and the potential for increased salinity as we come out of it. We will also have problems once the drought does finally end, of a continuation of over supply. One of the big issues I think is going to face our industry is the notion of ‘food miles’. Because we are located a long way from our major markets, I believe the Aussie industry will need to demonstrate that we are doing everything possible to reduce our carbon emissions. This may be a fairly difficult sell to our consumers, considering the mixed messages they will be getting from some of our competitors.
I believe the future of the Aussie wine industry lies in us being able to successfully sell wine produced by small producers that is unique and reflects the characteristics of the areas in which it has been grown. While the large wine companies produce large volumes of ‘product of SE Australia’ type wines, we will always be locked into the lower price points of the large supermarkets. Australia can and does produce some of the best wines in the world – we need to build on this, but not by trying to reproduce wines that are the same year after year or region to region. We should be promoting our individuality, possibly right down to wines from individual vineyards. Then as producers we should be able to be paid the true value of our grapes. Another problem we as producers have (and it affects our consumers too) is the length of our supply chains. I see a huge potential for the Internet to enable producers like us to interact directly with our consumers, this has the potential to work very well on the small scales I mentioned above. It would be a win-win for both produces and consumers, producers would be able to set their own prices, and I suspect, consumers will find they are paying less for their wine. There would be some very unhappy middle men out there though, but then they can keep on fighting each other for the large customers who are only interested in their bottom line and not on the wine.
We have also spent a large amount of time discussing the future impact climate change will have on the world wine industry. This is looking very worrying, but I will write some more about this in the next few days.

This week: 27th. July

2007-07-28T16:19:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 27/7/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 20.4C (69F) on Wed. 6 readings above our monthly average of 13.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week -0.6C (31F) on Sun. 4 readings above our monthly average of 4.3C.

Rainfall for the Week 0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A much warmer and drier week for us this week. No rain at all recorded this week, we still need more to give us the normal growing season we are all hoping for. There is some hope in the forecast for this coming week - hopefully I will have some better news to report next week.

This week in the vineyard:

We have started taking the growguards off the block of Sauv. Blanc we had top grafted last year. This block has grown really well since I last reported on it in December 2006. The idea we had, to protect the graft union has worked really well. The problem we have had, is that the vines have grown so vigorously, and because we were not able to get zip-up tubes we are now having difficulty getting the growgards off the wire. We have had to cut the stitching on them. This problem would be solved by using zip-up tubes. The picture shows the block before we started taking the guards off. We will finish pruning this block sometime in the next week. I will be spending this coming week at the Wine industry technical conference in Adelaide.

This week: 20th. July

2007-07-22T14:46:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 20/7/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 13.4C (56F) on Mon. all 7 readings below our monthly average of 13.5C.

Minimum Temperature for the week -1.1C (30F) on Wed. 1 reading above our monthly average of 4.3C.

Rainfall for the Week 8.4mm (24 points) 2 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A fairly normal week for us this week. We have had another large blocking High pressure system form in the Great Australian Bight, that is causing any cold fronts coming up from the south west to slide away to the south of us. So we are back to the fine cool and clear days with frosty nights, that we were getting all of last month.

This week in the vineyard:
Pruning is now all but over. Our contract pruning gang has now finished work. We only have two blocks of young vines still to prune - they will be done by our own staff. This week we finished our last blocks of Riesling, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I am still on holiday, so have not been doing much in our vineyard, I have instead taken to staying up late watching the Tour de France on telly. Most stages only finish at about 1:30am local time, but my kids still wake me at 6:30 most mornings, so I am not feeling all that rested. The photo above shows our contractors finishing off our last block of vines to be pruned by them, this year.

This week: 13th. July

2007-07-15T17:22:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 13/7/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 13.5C (56F) on Mon. 1 reading above our monthly average of 13.5C.
Minimum Temperature for the week 0.0C (32F) on Fri. 3 readings above our monthly average of 4.3C.
Rainfall for the Week 9.8mm (28 points) 6 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A cold and moderately windy period for us this week. Moisture was recorded on all but one day by the weather station at Nuriootpa, however there were only 2 days with more than 1mm. The winter weather patterns have continued although are beginning to reduce a little in intensity. Hopefully we have not finished with winter yet.

This week in the vineyard:

Pruning is coming to an end - this week we have finished blocks of Shiraz, Merlot and Sauvinion Blanc. Our contract pruning gang will be finishing up this week, we will only have a couple of young blocks for our staff to finish off and then we will be into Spring work (preparing to plant, re-trellising etc.). I think the season opening could be late this year - we watch for the first signs of almond blossoms around this time of the year. So far there is little sign of movement from the almond trees. This could be a result of the very cold conditions we had last month. I am enjoying a couple of weeks holiday at the moment, while the kids are home from school. We are having a very unusual holiday - at home. We normally have to go away, working at home makes it very difficult to get a holiday at home, there seems to always be something that needs attention. We have been taking some day trips to get away. We have so far been to Mannum on the River Murray, followed by a trip to Cleland wildlife park and Waterfall Gully in the Adelaide hills.

This week: 6th. July

2007-07-08T13:58:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 6/7/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 18.8C (66F) on Tue. 5 readings above our monthly average.
Minimum Temperature for the week 3.0C (37F) on Mon. 5 readings above our monthly average.
Rainfall for the Week 26.8mm (77 points) 7 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

As I said last week a much more typical weather system for this time of the year has been dictating our weather. We have had very useful falls of rain this week, we have just about had our average for July. We have also been seeing warmer nights as a result of the winter patterns we are getting - no frosts recorded this week.

This week in the vineyard:
Pruning continues - this week we have finished blocks of Chardonnay, Merlot and Grenche. Not a lot else happening in our vineyard this week on account of the rain - most of the week has been spent on paperwork and maintenance. I will be going to the 13th wine industry technical conference in 3 weeks time, being held in Adelaide. This is one of the major gatherings of the Australian wine industry, it is held every 3 years. I am looking forward to it, as it is a chance for a simple grape grower like myself, to broaden my horizons and learn more about the research that is being conducted in our industry. Being held in conjunction with the conference is the winetech trade display, I will see if I can get some photos and post them on this site. The conference starts on 29th July and is followed by the 4th Australian wine industry environment conference on the 2nd August. I will have reports from both of them. More details can be found at the ASVO web site - link at right.

This week: 29th. June

2007-07-01T17:24:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 29/6/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 13.9C (56F) on Mon & Wed. All 7 readings below our monthly average.

Minimum Temperature for the week -1.9C (28F) on Sat. 3 readings above our monthly average.

Rainfall for the Week 4.4mm (12 points) 4 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very cold week, 2 frosts and all Maximum temperatures below our average of 14.2C. We are still on track to set a new record for below average maximum for June. The weather patterns have changed considerably in the last week. We are now seeing more typical winter weather patterns forming up - not much rain yet, however it is looking a lot more promising than we have seen for probably a month.

This week in the vineyard:

Pruning continues - this week we have finished blocks of Shiraz, Semillon, Chardonnay and Cabernet. A week of meetings for me this week. The highlight for me has been the launch of this years Barossa Young Viticulturist of the year. This year we have changed the focus a little bit, with the winner being required to undertake a leadership training course and then spend 12 months serving on one of the local grape growing committees. The winner will get up to A$10,000 to spend on travel or a project that will have benefits for the whole Barossa grape growing community. For more info. contact me and I can email some more details, or see the Barossa Viticulture Tech. Group website (link to the right). Today's photo is of the full moon rising over some of our vineyards and the very green Barossa ranges.

This week: 22nd. June

2007-06-25T09:49:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 22/6/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 13.2C (55F) on Sat. All 7 readings below our average. Minimum Temperature for the week -2.5C (27F) on Sat. All 7 readings below our average.
Rainfall for the Week 2.8mm (8 points) 4 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very cold week. All of our Maximums and Minimums were below average for this time of year. With one week to go in the month we are looking like setting a number of new records for being one of the coldest June's since 1997. One very severe frost this week - has really cleaned up the leaves that were still hanging on the vines. Still very dry, the rain we recorded this week has mostly been heavy dew, not enough to generate any runoff or improve our subsoil moisture's. We need more than 50mm of rain this coming week to make our average of 64.8mm.

This week in the vineyard:
Pruning continues - this week we have finished blocks of Shiraz, Sauvinion Blanc and Chardonnay. I have also been mowing winter weeds. I am also spraying under the vines with a knockdown herbicide to clean up the weeds that have started to come up, when the weather has been suitable. This week the Barossa Valley Technical group ran a seminar/ field day on coping with the drought. We looked at vineyard costs and how to minimise them in light of last years very low yields. We also looked at pruning to encourage the vines to get back to normal production levels as quickly as possible. There have been bud dissections done here in South Australia that show virtually no crop in the first 2-3 buds on each cane; in some varieties. We also had demonstrated to us some Pellenc machine pruners. The photo is of a machine that is pruning both sides of a two wire vertical trellis in one pass (this machine has the potential to save a lot of time for us growers if we could justify the A$100,000+ price tag not including the tractor).

This week: 15th. June

2007-06-17T20:16:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 15/6/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 13.4C (56F) on Sat. All 7 days below our average.
Minimum Temperature for the week -1.3C (29F) on Fri. We had 2 days above our average.
Rainfall for the Week 1.0mm (3 points) 2 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another very cold week. All 7 days again below our max. average for this month of 14.2C. The high pressure systems that have caused or fine but cold days, are sitting much further south than is usual for this time of year. The weather maps at the moment look more like Summer maps than the Winter we should be having. Because the highs are so far south, they are blocking any cold fronts that are coming up from the south (where most of our winter rain normally comes from). Without some change in the current systems we run the risk of missing out on quite a bit of potential winter rainfall. This month we are looking yet again at well below average rainfall, we have only had 11.4mm, our average for June is 64.8mm. We still need more then 50mm to give us an average month.

This week in the vineyard:
Pruning continues - this week we have finished blocks of Shiraz, Riesling and White Frontignac. I have also been mowing winter weeds in the rows we haven't planted with a cover crop. With the same pass I am also spraying under the vines with a knockdown herbicide to clean up the weeds that have started to come up. We have also ordered a few Albarino vines to do a trial planting for Mad Dog. We may have a new product to launch if all goes well in 4-5 years time.

This week: 8th. June

2007-06-11T11:13:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 8/6/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 13.3C (56F) on Sat. All 7 days below our average.
Minimum Temperature for the week 1.3C (34F) on Tue. We had 3 days above our average.
Rainfall for the Week 9.4mm (27 points) 5 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Very cold this week. All 7 days below our max. average for this month of 14.2C. Even 4 nights were well below our average of 5.6C. We currently have had a large high pressure system sitting out in the Great Australian Bight for nearly a week, this means clear calm days and clear cold nights. I would expect that as the high pressure system finally moves past us we will get some very cold frosty nights. This system has been causing very good rainfall in the Eastern states, hopefully including the Murray Darling catchment area.

This week in the vineyard:
We have had a machine pruner working in our vineyard a few days again this week. We have had a contract hand pruning gang also start work. This gang is currently doing a hand detail behind the machine, once they are finished this we will be moving on to our blocks that will be rod and spur pruned. So far we have finished blocks of Cabernet, 90 year old Shiraz, Chardonnay and a small block of Riesling. The picture today is of part of our contract pruning gang working on some Cabernet in the early morning fog.

Barossa wins prime spot on Aussie Monopoly board.

2007-06-06T08:25:00.000+09:30

The Barossa Valley has been voted as the most prestigious property on the new here and now Australia version of Monopoly. South Australia polled nearly half of the national vote that saw the Barossa Valley beat Adelaide for the prestigious spot traditionally occupied by Park Lane. South Australia and Western Australia have taken the highest value side of the board, while the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland fill the cheap side of the board. Sydney did not make it onto the board, New South Wales are being represented by Broken Hill, Tamworth and the Snowy Mountains on the orange spots. The game also includes some Aussie Icons for tokens including an Aussie Ute, thongs and a surf board. More details are available at http://monopoly.com.au/results.php . The game will be available in most stores from the 10th of this month.

This week: 1st. June

2007-06-03T20:34:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 1/6/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 19.9C (68F) on Sat. We had 4 days above our average.

Minimum Temperature for the week 2.0C (35F) on Sat. We had 4 days above our average.

Rainfall for the Week 18mm (51 points) 4 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A quite normal week for the Barossa, for this time of year. A very useful amount of rain again this week, however we still did not make our average rainfall for the month of May (a total of 35.8mm for the month with a long term average of 48.2mm). We have once again finished the month with above average temperature readings, our average maximum was 18.4C (long term average is 17.6C), our average minimum was 9.0C (long term average is 6.7C this was 2.3C above average).

This week in the vineyard:

We have now started machine pruning. The picture this week shows our contractor doing our pre prune. We will be sending a hand contracting gang through to do a hand detail in the next few weeks. As you can see the leaves are still hanging on quite well, but we will be getting into the pruning in a big way from this week. I would expect we will be finishing our pruning sometime in the middle of September.

This week: 25th. May

2007-05-27T15:20:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 25/5/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 20.0C (68F) on Fri. 2 days above our average.

Minimum Temperature for the week 6.2C (43F) on Thurs. 6 days above our average.

Rainfall for the Week 11.6mm (33 points) 5 days of rain.

Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A little bit of a damp week this week with rain recorded on 5 days. There has not however been a large amount of rain. We still need nearly 30mm of rain to make our average for the month of May. At least April was well above average - we need average or above rainfall for the next few months to help relieve the severity of our current drought.

This week in the vineyard:
We are continuing to prune, we have now finished blocks of young Semillon and Sauv. Blanc. Our cover crop is virtually all up now. We have only planted every second row this year to try to save some money and also reduce our water usage. We normally plant every row as a green manure crop to improve our soil. This year I have had to make the hard decision between conserving organic carbons in our soil or reducing our water use. This week's photo is a view over the Barossa from along Rifle Range road. The town in the distance is Nuriootpa. The Barossa ranges are now very green, as you can see.

This week: 18th. May

2007-05-20T09:14:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 18/5/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 22.9C (73F) on Sun. and Mon.
Minimum Temperature for the week 5.3C (41F) on Wed.
Rainfall for the Week 1.4mm (4 points) 2 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A fairly pleasant week, weather wise this week. The forecast promised a lot this week however the weather failed to deliver any substantial rainfall for us. We have been getting enough rainfall to keep things nice and wet but without any runoff. The story has been different in western New South Wales, with very good falls in the lower Murray river catchments - we will see if this translates into runoff, I'm not holding my breath. Our maximum temperatures have been above average, in fact all were above 20C except for Friday which was below our long term average of 17.6C.

This week in the vineyard:

All of the cover crop we are going to plant is now in, the first of it has started to germinate (as you can see in the photo). We are continuing to prune where we can, we are having to fight our way through quite a few leaves that are continuing to hang on to the vines (could be the warmer temperatures that I mentioned earlier). This week I have had to do my Chem cert. re-accreditation, this is a system in Australia to ensure that commercial chemical users are properly trained. We need to do a course every 5 years to receive our accreditation.

This week: 11th. May

2007-05-13T16:02:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 11/5/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 22.1C (71F) on Mon.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.6C (40F) on Thur.
Rainfall for the Week 1.0mm (3 points) 2 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A reasonably fine week this week. While we continue to have quite warm temperatures, and after the rain of last week, everything is growing very rapidly. Our minimum temperatures this week have all been above average except for the one cold night on Thurs. This probably means that our soil temperatures will also be above average for this time of year.

This week in the vineyard:
We have (at last) finished spreading all of the fowl manure (not a very pleasant job). I am now putting in our cover crop as fast as I possibly can. We are planting a blend of Tritacale and Barley this year. I mostly plant Tritacale because it grows well in our lighter soils, and the straw doesn't break down very quickly over Summer. This year we are adding some Barley because I don't have a lot of Triticale available to me and I am trying to spread what I have as far as I possibly can. We continue to prune our vines, with our first block of young Semillon nearly finished.

This week: 4th. May

2007-05-05T20:58:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 4/5/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 24.9C (77F) on Tue.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.5C (49F) on Tue.
Rainfall for the Week 69.2mm (198 points) 5 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Rain has continued all week. We recieved 104.8mm of rain last month, this has been our wettest April in more than 11 years. In fact we were only 27mm below our wettest April on record (131.7mm in 1961). This has been some of the best weather news I have had to report since I started this blog more than 7 months ago. As long as we now get normal Winter rainfall, our next growing season is looking very good. We do still have the looming problem of water restrictions for next season to temper our enthusiasm.

This week in the vineyard:
We have started pruining now, it is a little early but the sooner we start the sooner we will finish. We have also been continuing to spread fowl manure and working it in, although the rain has slowed this down a little. I am now having to wait for our reactive soils to dry out, last week they were too hard to get the disk to penetrate. Still that is farming, and we will just have to wait a few days.

This week: 27th. April.

2007-04-29T20:02:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 27/4/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 23.0C (73F) on Wed.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.2C (49F) on Mon.
Rainfall for the Week 40.0mm (114 points) 3 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Rain, rain, rain. At last we have had a large amount of rain, and it is continuing to fall as I write this. It looks like we may go close to some of our longstanding rainfall records for April. We have had very steady soaking rain Thurs. and Friday. The graph above shows the steady rain we had all day on Friday. Graph with thanks to Weatherzone.

This week in the vineyard:
We have started spreading fowl manure in the blocks we have identified that will need it. I have also been working up, where I could. Now that we have had all this rain we now need several dry days to enable us to get out in the vineyard - not normally a problem in our soil types. This rain has been so welcome to us coming just one week after the announcement of very severe water restrictions for next year for all Murray Darling irrigators. This has not solved the water issue for us, but it is a very good first step in the right direction.

This week: 20th. April.

2007-04-22T17:03:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 20/4/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 25.1C (77F) on Sat.
Minimum Temperature for the week 4.8C (40F) on Wed.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another beautiful Autumn week in the Barossa. No rain at all this week. There is a promise of some rain in the forecast for the end of next week - I'll keep you informed.

This week in the vineyard:
Not a lot is happening in our vineyard at the moment. My staff have been on holiday still this week. We have not been able to keep working with the Grizzly disk as it has been too dry. With the possibility of some rain next week we are getting everything ready to go as soon as the season breaks properly. Once we get some rain I will finish working in the summer weeds, then we will spread fowl manure in the blocks we have identified as needing a Nitrogen boost. Then the fowl manure will also need to be worked in. We are also about 2 weeks away from starting our pruning - just waiting for enough leaves to fall off so we can see what we are doing.
During this week the Federal government announced that for the start of the next irrigation season all irrigators on the Murray Darling river system will start with zero water allocation. While this will be an inconvenience to us (we have sub-surface water available to us), it will be an absolute disaster for a lot of grape growers all over Australia. The possibility of no water for the whole season could see large areas of vines dying both here and in the warm inland regions of Australia. Most grape growers will not have the finances available to them to replant if vines do die, not to mention the total lack of income for about 5 years while young vines reach maturity. Our vines will be able to survive on our bore water however we will see some salinity effects in the longer term, as it is considerably more saline than the water we have been using for the last 6 years. We will not want to use this water for more than one growing season as the salt gradually builds up in the soil. As our Prime Minister John Howard says 'we should all pray for rain' as this is the only thing that will end our drought here in Australia. For more detail on the condition of the Murray Darling river system see my link 'Murray River weekly report'.

Vintage Report 2007

2007-04-21T16:46:00.000+09:30

This vintage has been a real challenge for all growers in the Barossa Valley. We started the growing season with record low winter rainfall - in fact the whole country has been severely affected by drought. As is usually the case, after a very dry spring, frost is a major risk to us. On Sat. 21st of Oct. while most of our vines were still flowering we had a very short frost event (less than one hour). We still do not know how much crop we lost to this frost - most visible damage was to our growing tips.

In the middle of Jan. we had just over a week of heavy rain which caused severe splitting in some varieties, worst affected appeared to be Shiraz.

Harvest was the earliest this year we have ever had. We started picking Sauvinion Blanc on the 23rd Jan this is 8 days earlier than we have ever picked before. Most blocks were picked 2 -4 weeks earlier than usual. We finished our smallest vintage ever with our Grenache on 26th March. We harvested just 37% of what we picked in 2006. Some of our worst blocks only produced 10% of last years crop. The one positive from the low crops was that we had no problem selling all of our grapes - last year we had to pick some of our crop on to the ground.

Wine quality appears to be fairly variable despite very low cropping levels. There will be some very good wines produced out of the Barossa this year, but I fear there will also be some only average wines produced. This year cropping level does not appear to have been a good indicator of grape quality. The photos I have included show frost damage to Shiraz growing tips 3 days after the frost, and splitting also in Shiraz about 4 days after the rain that caused it.

This week: 13th. April.

2007-04-15T17:19:00.000+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 13/4/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 32.2C (90F) on Tue.
Minimum Temperature for the week 7.2C (45F) on Sun.
Rainfall for the Week 0.0mm (0 points) 0 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

Another beautiful Autumn week here in the Barossa. A warmer week for us in fact we look like we may set some new average maximum temperature records for April, if it stays much like it has been for the next 2 weeks. No rain recorded this week but we have had a couple of foggy/dewy mornings this week to keep things a little moist.

This week in the vineyard:

The rain we got 2 weeks ago is now just a distant memory. The upside of this is that we have had glorious weather for the 2007 Vintage Festival. I have included some photos I have taken this week. The first two were taken at the street parade (the longest in the southern hemisphere, we are told), it's route runs between Tanunda and Nuriootpa (approx. 7km). The second photo was taken at the Barossa Airshow and shows part of the crowd and flightline. We have not been doing a lot in the vineyard this week. We are still cultivating summer weeds, however we are now limited to our lighter soils as the Grizzly disk will not penetrate our heavy soils. Until we get some more rain those areas will need to wait. Both of my vineyard staff are away on holiday this week - it is the break between harvest and the start of our winter work.

This week: 6th. April.

2007-04-08T11:48:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 6/4/07
Maximum Temperature for the week 25.6C (78F) on Mon.
Minimum Temperature for the week 9.0C (48F) on Fri.
Rainfall for the Week 0.4mm (1 point) 2 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

A beautiful Autumn week here in the Barossa. Virtually no rain this week - the moisture from the last two weeks has all but evaporated now. The change of season is really starting to set in with much cooler temperatures all this week.

This week in the vineyard:
We have started working in the summer weeds now. We have also started spreading fowl manure in most or our white varieties. This is the only surface applied fertiliser we put on our vines (we top up with foliar applied nutrients where necessary). There is little sign of change of colour in the vine leaves, although some of the local glory vines are just starting to change, just in time for our local vintage festival. The vintage festival is starting this weekend - approx 100 events spread over a week in the Barossa. Events range from Art and Craft exhibitions to musical performances to a major wine auction (Fri at Nuriootpa) and even a full on air show (Sun 15th 10am-4pm at Rowland Flat). There are individual town days (Lyndoch Mon, Angaston Wed and Tanunda Sat). There will also be a huge float procession on Sat between Nuriootpa and Tanunda. For more details see the web link to the right look for Barossa Vintage Festival.

Email Cash

2007-04-02T19:16:00.000+09:30

Recently I discovered the Emailcash web site. I have been responding to surveys for a while now. Emailcash is a lot more than just being rewarded for surveys. You get points for responding to surveys, reading emails and even shopping. If you use Emailcash retailers and then claim your points, you can very quickly accumulate a large number of points, which you can convert to real money. The money can be used for bidding in auctions for things like DVDs, board games, even Ipods and Play Station Portables. You can give money to charity. You can request a cheque to spend on whatever you wish. You can even bank your points at a very attractive interest rate. There are forums to air your views, and classified ads to help you buy and sell trash and treasure. There is even a section to play games against other members. Why not use the emailcash web link to the right or below to join up and have a look for yourself. If you join up and earn 400 points (not that hard to do), then I will also be given 200 points. Give it a go!

www.emailcash.com.au/join.asp?refer=K98282

This week: 30th. March.

2007-04-02T15:49:00.001+09:30

Weather Report Week Ending 30/3/07

Maximum Temperature for the week 29.5C (85F) on Tue.
Minimum Temperature for the week 6.6C (44F) on Sun.
Rainfall for the Week 13.4mm (38 points) 4 days of rain.
Weather data thanks to BOM & Nuriootpa Viticulture Research Centre.

All except one day this week below our long term average. Another 13mm of rain this week has now got everything looking nice and green. We have now had more than 30mm of rain in the last fortnight, as long as it keeps raining now, this is beginning to look like a very good (and very timely) opening to the season. Just what our vines need after a couple years of drought conditions.

This week in the vineyard:
We have now finished all of our grapes - the picture above shows us hand picking our 40 year old Grenache vines. This was our last parcel of fruit to be picked this year. We have had one of the lowest tonnage vintages in living memory this year. I will do a vintage wrap-up in a later post. I have now started cultivating the mulch we have on the surface of the soil, we are also trying to control the weeds that have started to germinate since it started raining. With the same pass we are also spraying under the vines, to control the weeds that have started to germinate. We have also started work on clearing non-native trees (mostly almond and olive) from one of the creeks that run through our property. We will eventually be planting native trees in the creek to try and stop the non natives from coming back again.