Clouds over the hills around Healesville with mount St. Leonard (1028 m) to the left
As customary, we spent Christmas and New Years Eve with Michael, my brother in law, and his lovely wife Helen in their cosy family home in Healesville, Victoria. Boy did we have a great time. The time went by just too fast for the six of us.
The year 2008 is gone and with it the anxiety, the joy, the disappointments, the chagrin and the happiness. We deplore the losses, and welcome the changes.
The past year brought great changes to our family. We moved from Jakarta/Indonesia to Bangkok/Thailand, experienced a new job, a new school, a new environment, a new culture to get acquainted with and it will take us some more time to adjust, to understand, to appreciate, and to feel at home.
For 2009 our expectations are high. Our ambitions at Two Hills Vineyard are to continue to produce first grade fruit for excellent wines. Despite the loss of about 50% of our Pinot Noir grapes due to a severe frost at the end of October, we are very optimistic about the coming vintage. The Sauvignon Blanc fruit look very good, and our Merlot is in a good condition. The Chadonnay vines, now one year old, prosper and we have very few losses.
Tasting the 2008 Two Hills Merlot with Alan Johns, owner and winemaker of Yering Farm Wines
Our 2008 Merlot also showed promising first results. At Yering Farm, we tasted the young wine from various barrels. The wine was fruity, had good structure for a medium bodied wine, and the tannins were just right. We hope it will mature nicely so that we can present our customers with another excellent vintage of our flagship red wine from Two Hills Vineyard.
Two Hills Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc (left) and Chardonnay (right)
Temperatures are low for this time of the year but we had some rains which helped to make everything looking very green. A little digging, however, shows that the soil is still very dry and that we urgently need more rains. The general drought has bot been broken as yet.
A new year means new opportunities. Also in 2009 grapes will be grown, wines will be made, and we will get ample material to apply our taste buds to. Sampling fine wines and enjoy them with good food, either within the family or with our friends, will be our prime pastime in the 12 months to come. Hope you can join us. Cheers and a happy New Year to you all.
PS: I write this new blog entry from our vineyard. Yes, we installed a broadband internet connection on the last day of 2008. From now on, I do not have to hurry to a wireless spot (35 km from here) or any other place with an internet connection. Blogging will take a new dimension. Hurray!
The Man from Mosel River 
Hallo zusammen,
schön wieder von euch zu hören Leider sind unsere australischen Weinvorräte zur Neige gegangen, und wir sind wieder auf unsere pfälzische Hausmarke umgestiegen (Dornfelder halbtrocken, 3,5 €/l, dass gibt’s nur in “de Palz”).
Auch wir wünschen euch für die 2009er-Herausforderung das Beste!
Bis demnächst
die Jockgrimer (werd mich mal per email melden)
Hallo Ihr Lieben,
alles gute fuer ein erfolgreiches 2009. Kann ja nur gut werden!
Wir habne das neue Jahr gut eingetrunken mit einem 2005 Pinot Noir von Frankreich (sauteuer und okay) unde einem Pinot Noir von unserer Gegend (sau teuer, aber wert jeden cent). Er war non Norman Hardie ( http://www.normanhardie.com ). Dazu noch ein bisschen Musik, war gut!
Wir waren im Dezember meine Eltern besuchen, werden wohl wieder Ende Maerz/April gehen. Seid Ihr zufaellig auch in Deutschland. Waere schoen das zu koordinieren.
Wir haben eine Reihe von Hauskonzerten angefangen; was noch fehlt ist das Mendelsohn Oktett, habe nicht genuegend Geigen. Maedels in Australien! Uebt! Dann koennen wir uns hier zum Oktett spielen treffen! Quartett haben wir gerade mit Freunden von Hamburg gemacht.
Bis hoffentlich bald!!! Herzlichste Gruesse
Dominik und Kymm