December 2018, is nature regenerating?

We had just 360mm of rain this year until end Oct, then heaven sent 196mm in Nov/Dec. Our damaged pastures are slow to recover but the grapes are doing well and loving the hot weather. It looks as though 2019 harvest will be a bumper!
Since our last post, we have sponsored a sustainable farming conference held by Greening Bathurst,
and we have started bottling our 2018 vintages of Chardonnay, Rose and Pinot Noir. These wines are all robust full fruit wines, unusual for cool climate grape varieties.
The hot humid weather, but with cooler nights up here at 1000metres, means we have carried out some mildew protection with sulphur and copper sprays.

AUGUST 2018
just finished pruning and mulching the vines. Rain is still reluctant to come and the country will be slow to come back to life. I did hear frogs in the creek and birds are slowly starting to visit. Roll on Spring...

August 2018
In spite of 15mm of rain over the last two days we still suffer a green drought with hardly any grass and needing to give the grapes a little water from time to time.
We have nearly finished the winter prune, mulching the prunings and putting some lime and dynamic lifter fertiliser on the rows.
Its been a somber winter with little bird life , insects or spiders to show that the country is not completely dormant, holding it's breath...
We had a great june and july on the sales and publicity front

starting with the Bathurst Winter Winery Wander in June and followed by two Saturdays of the Bathurst Winter Festival with hundreds of cheerful visitors.
Our 2018 vintage is coming along well and our Chardonnay and Pinot are already Quite palatable!

MAY 2018
Still waiting for rain here. Sold 90 cattle to de-stock the pastures and preparing do do some direct drilling and seeding to remediate the farm. Even the eastern grey kangaroos have to go elsewhere for food now...
However the harvest although smaller than normal seems to be producing wines with concentrated flavour and colour, maturing in our oak barrels in the winery as we watch the vines drop their leaves in the vineyard below the winery.
We are looking forward to the Bathurst Winter Winery wander on 17th May 2018 where we are at BoxGrove reception centre with Al Dente catering and expecting 200 visitors over the day.
Look out for us at the Bathurst winter festival from 7th to 14th July when we shall be serving our famous Gluhwein made form 2010 Pinot Noirand our secret spice recipe.

FEB18TH 2018

We put the nets on yesterday. Its been a very dry summer after a late budburst, but our biodynamic soil has retained moisture and there is no mildew this year. Thanks to Kith and Tim and Doug and Helen for getting it all done in one day. Here's hoping for a good vintage!
Luckily we can swim in the dam after the days work.

On sept13th with the moon and saturn in opposition we sprayed our biodynamic soil preparations just before the heaven sent 20mm of rain and snow. Stirred for 1 hour back and forth for the vortex to absorb human and cosmic energy. There are more things in heaven and earth..........

september 2017

We are having a green drought now, not like these pics of last year

 are

JULY 2017
Regular frosts now so the vines are dormant and ready for a good hard prune ready for budburst in September/ October. We have been allowing the cows around the perimeter of the vines as the farm is struggling to find grass for them.
Wonderful Bathurst Winter Festival this year, selling glass after glass of hot spiced mulled wine that Bellbrook Friends Pioneered in 2014.
Our 2015 Pinot Noir is proving very popular and stocks are getting low. Lucky we have plenty of 2016 which is as good if not better.

Check out the winter moon and the friendly stalls

DECEMBER 2016
After a cool wet winter and spring our grapes were slow to start and as befits our cool climate vineyard at 1000m altitude we suffered some frost damage. All the vines survived and are now running about a month behind a normal year.
We had a wonderfully successful bottling in november with BELLBROOK FRIENDS... Alasdair McGregor, Jeff Rigby, Tudor Anderson, Nic and Josee Moodie (to be wed next year!), Scott and Karen Varker, Matt Lousada, Doug Rolfe, Dick and Coke Pollitt, Ross and Sally Smith and Felix and Corinna Clark. Diana Hosking and George Clark are looking forward to marketing our wine under our new labels designed by us in collaboration with the clever Elisa Wood. May fortune favour you all...

SPRING OF 2016

27th OCTOBER 2016
We have had a wet winter and we were bogged in places never wet before including twice in the vineyard while trying to control the grass between the rows. Very late budburst and frost lurking until 23rd October...
It is going to be a great spring for the grass and the weeds, and we marked and tagged 55 very fat calves yesterday.
We racked of our Rose, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from this year's harvest and look forward to bottling before Christmas under our new label design introducing colour for the first time!
Pruning was a big task again but look at the pile of prunings ready to reduce to ashes.

Vendage for 2016 nearly complete, after a record harvest all picked over three weekends in March.
Visit Australianpoetryandwine.com/ for full list of wonderful bellbrook friends. The harvest was started in high temperatures and finished in cooler autumn weather which brought the fverments under control.

A Good Start to Spring 2015

After a dry Sept in 2015 we had budburst on the first weekend in October and haven't had a frost since then. The rain fell in November and warm weather gave the grapes a big growth and the risk of mildew was reduced by our spraying program.
At this stage it looks like the best start to our season for quite a while.
Come and see us at the "Taste of Bathurst " on Sat 14th November with other vignerons and local food producers outside the Bathurst Regional Gallery. We will be showcasing our Pinot Noir wines from 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 as well as our gold medal winning Chardonnay from 2013.

Grapes dormant but a big prune will give us a great spring growth

Bathurst winter illumination festival was a lot of fun with iceskating, circus performers and a great gypsy band.

May 2015, Bathurst Bicentenary of Gov Macquarie's visit

Great week in Bathurst in spite of the cool weather and sprinkling rain. See new entry on <www.australianpoetryandwine.com> explaining picture below

Don't forget to drink more Pinot Noir and read poetry every day, as Ecclesiates says "there is no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink and be merry".

Country Life is fun...

May has arrived. Thanks to all Bellbrook Friends who helped with the bottling and the harvest. The wine is safely in tanks and barrels and the wine we bottled is selling well. We are still behind on our annual rainfall but the pastures are green again. Pictures below show activity at the Royal Bathurst show, parrots waiting to start the tumult of desire, and brochure for the upcoming night markets to celebrate the bi-centenary of governor Macquarie's visit to bathurst in May 1815. The latter will be a good party!

Nets on as grapes are ripening.

It's still too early to pick and we don't mind a long slow ripening period. The birds will have to make do with blackberries now. Bottling last years vintage is planned for early March so all the barrels and tanks are ready for the new seasons wine.

Here we go with 2015 coming good for harvest just after easter.
We are bottling the 2014 chardonnay, the pinot noir and the pinot rose soon.

Great News from National Cool Climate Wine Show

From 163 exhibitors with 824 wine entries from around Australia, Bellbrook Friends 2013 Chardonnay was awarded gold medal points and trophy for best wine from Bathurst Region.
Our 2013 Pinot Noir was awarded Bronze, Backing up our bronze last year fro the 2012 Pinot Noir.

The vines are dormant but great things are happening under ground and in the bottles

A few pics from the files.