This week: 25th. January 2008

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).

Elton John live in the Barossa

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: 10th. August

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.

13th. Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference

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.

Barossa Vintage Festival April 7th to 15th

60 YEAR OLD FESTIVAL SET TO SHOWCASE BAROSSA AT ITS BEST

The 2007 Barossa Vintage Festival will showcase the best of the Barossa during April 2007, as it celebrates 60 years of Barossa food, wine, music and hospitality.
Commencing on Easter Saturday (April 7th) and concluding on Sunday the 15th of April, the Vintage Festival highlights the tastes, smells, sights and sounds of the Barossa Valley and its people.
“The Barossa is well known for its premium wine,” says 2007 Vintage Festival Chairman, Adrian Hoffmann. “But when you look beyond the wine and start talking to the people, you get a glimpse of the rich tapestry of culture and lifestyle that is the Barossa.
“The Vintage Festival perfectly captures and celebrates this unique blend.”
The Vintage Festival started life in 1947 as a Thanksgiving Ball to celebrate vintage and a return to better times after World War II. From that single event, the Festival has blossomed into a nine-day celebration, hosting over 100 events that showcase the Barossa’s blend of food, wine, music, arts and community.
The nine-day celebration is an extravaganza of events - from breakfasts to dinners, live theatre to wine tastings, produce markets to wine auctions, vineyard tours to art exhibitions and church services to street parades.
Visitors are not only treated to a wide array of events, but to the unique lifestyle that the Barossa has to offer. At a time when wineries are busy picking, crushing and fermenting their harvests, the community comes out in force, offering the best in Barossa hospitality – plenty of fresh, regional produce on the table, a glass or two of a decent, local drop and great friends to share it all with.
Wineries are joined by businesses, civic groups, churches and individuals to stage the various activities that make up the Festival, with some 1,500 volunteers on hand to host the myriad of people who flock to the Barossa to taste the best it has to offer.
“Community participation is a key to the success of the Festival,” says Adrian. “Many events are put on by fifth or sixth generation Barossans. It is these people that you find manning the stalls, running events and of course enjoying the Festival too.
“It is this unique blend of the good things in life – food, wine, music and friends that has seen the Barossa Vintage Festival grow into the state’s leading wine tourism event.
“We invite all to experience what the Barossa has to offer – to see our heritage, drink our wines, taste our foods and share our spirit and enjoyment as we celebrate.”
For further information visit www.barossavintagefestival.com.au.
Festival Programs are available by phoning the Barossa Visitor Information Centre on 1300 852 982.
Tickets can be purchased through Venue*Tix online at www.venuetix.com.au or via phone on (08) 8561 4299.

Dates of upcoming events in the Barossa

FEBUARY 2007
18th Declaration of the Vintage 11:30am Tanunda.
24th & 25 Angaston Show, Angaston.

MARCH 2007
10th Tanunda Show, Tanunda. See my Tourism links.

APRIL 2007
7th to 15th Barossa Valley Vintage Festival. 100 events all over the Valley - see my tourism links.
15th Barossa Airshow, Rowland flat aerodrome. See my Tourism links.

AUGUST 2007
11th & 12th Toyota Rally SA, Mt Crawford forest. See my Tourism links.
Sat 26th & Sun 27th Barossa Gourmet weekend.

OCTOBER 2007
Barossa under the stars.

Tour Down Under in the Barossa

The Tour Down Under came to the Barossa Valley on Wed of this week. My photo shows some of the riders going past vineyards not far from our place. The Barossa ranges are in the background. Results from the race can be found at http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/node.