Last supper

January 10, 2009

last-supper

The Merlot went very well with the pizza

I am not much of a cook but I can ‘heat things up’. My last dinner on the vineyard was very enjoyable. I sat on the terrace and watched the sun go down. With some sambal olek the pizza margherita was spiced up ( I did not use the tomato sauce).

Our ‘2001 Two Hills Merlot’ though already quite “aged” is holding well. My friend Timo Mayer (winemaker of Gembrook Hills) called this vintage an “umpf” wine, meaning that it is high in alcohol and shows strong tannins. The 2004 vintage in contrast produced a rather elegant Merlot. I am still pleasantly surprised that this wine aged so well and is still a very enjoyable drink.

The evenings on the vineyard are so peaceful. After the birds are gone to sleep, there is no sound. I love the quiet of the Australian country side.

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“Greek dinner” at the vineyard

January 6, 2009

greek-dinner

Australian olives and olive oil and Two Hills Merlot, what a treat !

From the outset, I apologize to all Greek people, Greece and Greek culture and so on. I did not in the least want to offend anybody or humiliate the great Greek culture.

What you see in this picture is of course not a Greek dinner, but just a modest dish of olives, Australian olives to be precise. They are coming from an olive groove in Tallarook. Juergen grew them and Michael cured them, and needless to say: they are delicious.

I am of course not known for being a (great) cook or a cook at all. Moreover, I am alone in the vineyard at Glenburn. However, before another session of fruit wire lifting in the evening, I made myself this little dish. The olive oil is also local coming from ‘down the road’. The bread comes from Giant Steps in Healesville and can match any rural bread from Europe.

I am almost done with the wire lifting, only the Pinot Noir is left. Hurrah!!!!

The evenings here are magic. You have to come and see for yourself one day.

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Geoff Achison at the Yarra Glen Grand Hotel

January 5, 2009

I will have to jump a bit regarding the time line. There is so much to write about. Some of it happened in 2008 but I still want so let you know. The live music with Geoff Achison took place on December 18th I think.

geoff1

Fortunately, it did not rain. We had been unloading containers the whole day and furniture and other stuff was all over the place. It was hard work and we were very much looking forward to the evening.

It was just my second evening in Australia. It should become a memorable event. Michael, my brother-in-law, had booked a table for a dinner with a music performance by Geoff Achison, a famous blues guitar player, at the Grand Hotel in Yarra Glen.

geoff2

The girls had a bottle of ‘2005 Yering Station Cabernet Sauvignon’, a very nice wine from the oldest vineyard in Victoria (founded in 1838 ) which is just around the corner from Yarra Glen.

geoff3

When I went to the bar, I discovered that they had a German beer on tap and could not resist (I was also the driver) to order a Beck’s. The food was solid and we enjoyed the atmosphere.

The Grand was packed with people, young and old to listen to the “legend”: Geoff Achison. He did not disappoint us.

Geoff had to give a few encores before the crowd allowed him to take a rest. Before departing I bought two of his CD’s and had a nice chat with him.

Michael had introduced me to his music years ago but so far there was no opportunity to see him live. His voice, is the voice of a black man and his virtuosity on the guitar is just amazing. Check out his webpage: www.geoffachison.com but Geoff is also on facebook and has a fan website. I love his music, especially the old blues pieces.

This pleasurable evening should be an auspicious start to my holidays in Australia, I thought. Thank you Geoff and cheers folks to four eventful weeks in the country.

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Sunday on the vineyard

January 4, 2009

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Two Hills Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc

The flapping of birds wings against the window woke me up this morning. I helped the young swallows out of our shed by opening the back window. It was about a quarter to seven and I had to hurry because I had promised my daughter Charlotte to take her on a morning walk through the vineyards. She was already waiting for me. It was the last morning on the farm for my three women before they had to return to Bangkok.

It was a glorious morning. The sun was up and bathed the rolling green hills in its tender light. We did not have to walk long before we bumped into a Kangaroo family. The mother and joey jumped through the rows of our Pinot Noir, downhill to get away from us. We saw the two two more times. We walked over the second hill down to Katy’s creek and back to the shed. ‘Father and daughter talk’ all the way.

After breakfast, we packed the suitcases into our new pick-up truck and off we went to Melbourne airport. The girls were very sad leaving the vineyard behind but there was no way of extending the stay in Australia. I am the lucky one, having another week in Australia to do some more work in the vineyard and around the shed.

We had lunch at the airport, then came the time to say good bye (intense as always). The three went through the passport control and I turned around and went back to the farm. I love driving through the Victorian countryside but first I had to get out of town. Endless suburbs with houses on quarter acres blocks, industrial estates, junk yards, and other disturbing urban land use had to be traversed. But I knew the open countryside was waiting for me just after Diamond Creek.

I listened to Country (and Western) music, opened the window, arm out and felt like a real Australian country bloke. Samson Hill Winery was the first vineyard I passed, then came Christmas Hills and in no time I reached Yarra Glen. I did some shopping in the local supermarket.

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The old gum tree and the Chardonnay block

After I reached the vineyard, I took a rest during the hot hours of the day. It was the hottest day since a long long time. After it had cooled down, I worked a bit in the garden, then lifted fruit wires for about two hours in the Merlot, witnessed a glorious sunset, prepared dinner, drank a bottle of ‘2001 Two Hills Merlot’ and went to bed. It was the warmest evening so far. The quiet country atmosphere brought back the necessary peace of mind.

PS: I wrote this blog from my terrace overlooking the vineyard. We are connected, hurrah!

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Welcome 2009

January 1, 2009

clouds2009

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.

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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.

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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!

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Homesick

December 4, 2008

Travelling alone often makes me homesick, longing for Australia. Not any Australia of course, to be precise, my Australia, my rural Australia in Glenburn and its surroundings.

In case it happens. I usually listen to the songs of one of my favourite Australian bands: The Waifs. They are not from Victoria but Perth, WA, but the feelings are very similar.

“Sun, dirt, water” was just the right song today. Life is so beautiful.

Here are the lyrics:

sundirtwater

would you trade me for all the pretty girls
all the ones who came before
who left you broken hearted
with your back up against the wall
would you cash in all your high times
for some lasting company
or a warm soft breast for you to lay your head on
for all of eternity

if you’re holding out for something
just reach and we’ll rise above
give me sun, give me dirt, give me water
give me sweet everlasting love

would you travel right across the world
to meet a woman that you didn’t know
if you thought that she might be the one
to put your roots down with and grow
would you take her hand and walk with her
through the narrow gate of life
gather your load, prepare to travel the road
that’s gonna lead you from trouble and strife

if you’re holding out for something
just reach and we’ll rise above
give me sun, give me dirt, give me water
give me sweet everlasting love

——————————————————————
PS: No exceptional wine tasted as yet in Germany due to a lack of opportunity and too much work!

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Jewels of the Upper Goulburn Wine Region Part I.

October 31, 2008

Today, I want to start a new series and introduce to you some wine and grape producers from our wine growers association, the Upper Goulburn Winegrowers Association. I plan to feature three to four wineries and vineyards at the time. The selection is random. I will start with the wineries with open cellar doors. Of the 30 odd members of our association, about 9 belong to this category. Another 12 are vineyards which also produce some wine under their labels but conduct wine tastings only by appointment. All the others are fruit producers only and do not sell wines commercially.

The first cohort of wineries to be presented consists of Kinloch Wines, Rees Miller Estate and, a small boutique winery, called Rocky Passes Estate. I want to be honest with you. I have tasted wines made by Malcolm Kinloch (Kinloch Wines) and David Miller (Rees Miller Estate) but not the ones made by Victor Oles (Rocky Passes Estate). I have visited the two former wineries (and I know Malcolm and David) but not the latter.

But this is no impediment to write about all three of them. Anyway, we are going to visit Australia for Christmas and we might take this opportunity to get to know the Rocky Passes people.

I am starting with Kinloch Wines. Malcolm and Susan Kinloch have established a wonderful wine business. The vineyard is located in the Booroolite Valley, about 15 minutes by car from Mansfield (almost next to another famous winery of our region: Delatite Winery).

This year at the Federation Sq Showcase Series the Kinlochs were rewarded two gold medals, one for their “2004 Mary Friend Cabernets-Merlot Blend” and another for their “2006 Don Kinloch Sparkling white”. Moreover, the “Mary Friend” red was judged the Overall Best Red Blend in its class at the Award presentation for the Victorian Wine Awards.

2008 was a most unusual year in the Upper Goulburn. Kinloch Wines harvested a record 34 tons of fruit of outstanding quality. From the 2008 vintage three wines have been released so far (cellar door prices in brackets):
-Unwooded Chardonnay (A$ 18)
-Sauvignon Blanc, and (A$ 22)
-a first rosè (A$ 18) made from Pinot Meunier grapes.

I have tasted earlier vintages of the two white wines and they are delicious. When we visited Kinloch Wines in winter, one could see Mount Buller in a not so distant distance, all in white with a beautiful snow cap.

How to find them:
Kinloch Wines
In the Booroolite Valley, the cellar door is warm and friendly and offers gourmet luncheon platters on weekends and public holidays.
Address: 221 Wairere Rd, Boorolite – 15 minutes from Mansfield
Open: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily
Tel: 5777 3447
Email: info@kinlochwines.com.au
Web: www.kinlochwines.com.au
Contact: Susan and Malcolm Kinloch

Rees Miller Estate is the next winery in my cohort. Located near Yea – about 15 minutes drive on the highway to Alexandra/Mansfield – Sylke Rees and David Miller own and operate a fully certified biodynamic vineyard and winery. Today about 7 ha are under vines, the farm has a total of about 64 ha. Sylke and David are both very much committed to the protection of the environment, and the organic production of food. They intend to produce pure products for consumption in a way that supports the land and its people.

We got to know Sylke and David when our wine stall was just adjacent to theirs at the 2007 Alexandra Food and Wine Expo. David conducted a very interesting wine tasting, actually my first wine tasting at such an event, and Sylke sold the wines. When we visited their cellar door some time later, they were both on Christmas holidays. To my great surprise Rees Miller wines were available at our duty free wine store in Jakarta, and we did not have to suffer any shortages of their beautiful reds.

How to find them:
Rees Miller Estate
Fully certified biodynamic vineyard situated on the Goulburn Valley Highway, just east of Yea.
Address: 5355 Goulburn Valley Highway, Yea
Open: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm daily
Tel: 5797 2101
Email: info@reesmiller.com
Web: www.reesmiller.com
Contact: David Miller or Sylke Rees

The last vineyard in this first cohort of Upper Goulburn wineries with cellar doors is Rocky Passes Estate, a small boutique vineyard of about 6 acres (5 acres Shiraz and 1 acre Viognier) located in Whiteheads Creek, near Seymour. I only know their one-page website and their listing in our membership directory. Rocky Passes Estate is another vineyard dedicated to organic grape growing and wine making (there are quite a few in our region). Cropping levels are kept low (about 2 tonnes per acre). The cellar door was opened in 2006. The wines can be ordered by mail, phone or e-mail.

How to find them:
Rocky Passes Estate
Situated at the southern end of the Strathbogie Ranges, the wines are made using organic practices and biodynamic preparations.
Address: 1590 Highlands Rd,
Whiteheads Creek, Seymour
Open: Sundays 11.00 am to 4.00pm or by appointment
Tel: 5796 9366
Email: rockypasses@activ8.net.au
Web: www.rockypassesestate.com.au
Contact: Victor Oles or Candy Westney

I hope I could stimulate your curiosity. The Upper Goulburn Wine Region is a rural place with real people who love what they are doing, have passion for their wines and commitment to the environment.

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As the river….

October 24, 2008

Most German wine regions (not all) take their name from the river which runs through the territory planted with grape vines. This is true for the Mosel, Saar, Ruwer, Rhine, and Nahe to name but a few. Vine growing in my native Germany is intrinsically linked to rivers and river systems which is partly due to the availability of steep slopes catching the last beams of sun.

The village of Schoden at the Saar river, in the background, the location Ayler Kupp (photo taken from the location “Herrenberg”)

Recently my writing style has been characterized as “meandering” (by David Harden, thanks David) and meandering I do. In fact the purpose of my whole blog is meandering. Meandering between the old and the new world and its wines, meandering between my actual live in a big Asian metropolitan city and my desired live in a rural place in Victoria, Australia, meandering between the many identities I have acquired over the years working in Asia and my future as an Australian vintner and wine maker.

Wuerzburg at the Main river and its vineyards

The second part of the title sentence goes as follows: “…so the wine”. This is certainly true for Germany. I have to find a similar “alliteration” for Glenburn and the Upper Goulburn Wine Region.

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Grape grower of the year in McLaren Vale

October 3, 2008

The Daily Wine News, an e-newsletter from the Australian Wine Industry Portal of Winetitles, carried the other day a summary of the McLaren Vale Annual Wine Industry Awards. One of the award winners (in the category ‘Grape grower of the Year Award’) was a vintner names Joch Bosworth of Edgehill Vineyards.

I went straight on to google the man and found a very interesting website (www.edgehill-vineyards.com.au). Joch’s wine label – the Battle of Bosworth -is named after a famous battle in England in 1485. The Bosworth family has grown grapes in the McLaren Vale region since the 1840’s. The Edgehill vineyard is located in Willunga, and was established by Peter and Anthea Bosworth, the parents of Joch, in the early 1970’s.

Needless to say that Edgehill Vineyard was converted to organic viticultural practices (in 1995) and today is a certified A-grade organic farm (certified by ACO www.australianorganic.com.au). It has some 50 acres under vines, planted to Shiraz (some more than 20 years old), Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc and Mourvèdre.

What I find remarkable too is the fact that the rows between the vines are left to a “vicious” weed, the Soursob, the picture of it featuring on the wine label. The Soursob produces a very pretty yellow flower. The life cycle of the Soursob complements the cycle of the grape vines in so far as it dies off in spring and flowers and uses water in winter when the vines are dormant. Would love to know wht his neighbours say to that system.

I present you a video which is posted on Joch’s website. I do this for two reasons:

1. It is interesting to watch and informative
2. It shows the relaxed atmosphere and vine growers culture of my adopted home Australia which I treasure so much.

Enjoy watching it.

I have visited the McLaren Vale wine region only once and enjoyed the triop tremendously, but next time I will look out for Edgehill Vineyards in Willunga.

Address:
Battle of Bosworth Wines
PO Box 11 McLaren Vale
South Australia 5171
(Ganney Road, Willunga, SA)
Tel.: +61-885562441
http://www.edgehill-vineyards.com.au

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From North to South

September 28, 2008

Pinot Noir grapes at the Ahr.

It’s vintage time in my native Germany. Reports I am reading about the harvest conditions seem to indicate that everything is going well. Also my German wine blogger colleagues seem to be content.

Down under in Victoria, we have springtime. Spring is usually Victoria’s wettest season. However, weather reports indicate that this September will be one with the lowest precipitation in history of Victoria.

Melbourne recorded only 16 mm of rain in September, the lowest since recording began in 1855. The long-term average is about 59 mm. Also average day temperature was well above the long-term average (19 instaed of 17 degrees celsius) which make September 2008 the warmest September since 2001. The same trend could be observed regarding night temperatures.

Reservoirs around the state are at a record low as well. That’s no good news for vintners and grape growers.

I wonder how full our two dams at Two Hills Vineyard are. So far we had always had sufficient water to bridge the 4-6 weeks of high summer. Last year we had hoped that the draught would be finally broken. That seems not to be the case.

But as always, we hope for a good harvest.

Lake Eildon low on water (only 23% of capacity, 09/2008)

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