g'day mates. recent activities invoving a serious earthmoving machine
are new fence lines, new tracks in steep country and ripping up rabbit burrows.

The crushing team

We needed a good cup of tea after all this!

Bellbrook Friends have done it again

Some more pictures to prove it. We have just finished the ferment of Chardonnay and Rose from Pinot in Stainless steel tanks, and Pinot Noir in a three year old oak barrel.
As you can see the weather has been perfect for barbeques by the billabong on wallaby hill...

( photo Claudia Terstappen )

 By the way, don't forget to look us up on

<www.australianpoetryandwine.com/> for more stories and photos...

Harvest of the Pinot Noir

At last we took the nets off on 18th April and finished the picking on 19th. WE crushed that evening and left to cold soak till morning of the 21st before pressing half of the must to make Rose, leaving the other half to ferment on the skins to make Pinot Noir.

The 2014 harvest has started

Just too busy to post the pictures...A smaller chardonnay harvest in line with the frost damage at the beginning of the growth year. But the chuckling swooping currawongs told me the Baume was 12.5, which is OK. So nothing added, as is the rule here, just the juice settling out the pomace before decanting and innoculating so natures little bugs can do their work.
Big crowd expected for Easter to harvest the Pinot Noir , hopefully to make a Rose for easy summer consumption.

2013 vintage safely bottled with the help of Bellbrook Friends

Family and friends enjoyed the bottling week with three generations in attendance...

Beautiful autumn days with rain around and green grass everywhere.
Trouble is we can't spray for mildew attack with the bird protection nets on and the chardonnay are suffering.
We will check the Baume levels soon, but I dont really want to pick until April and after I have bottled last years vintage.
We vignerons are both artists and slaves!!